The Vietnam War: The Longest Proxy Cold War

By Nicholas Phillips

The Vietnam War: Relive The 2nd Longest War in American History

 

Take a trip down the historic path to learn more about the Vietnam War. The conflict lasted 20 years and was fought on all fronts with the daunting Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north, the Viet Cong communist Guerillas in the south and escalating political pressure back home to withdraw from the war.

 

You'll discover:

 

• What the Vietnam War was about, how did it get started and who were the major players that were involved in the conflict
• What was the US's strategy in fighting the war, how was it tactically executed and what were the long-term effects and casualties on both sides
• How the war was brought to an end, who won it and what were the political repercussions that ensued

Americans woke up to a new socio-political reality in the aftermath of the Vietnam War which had exacted a great toll on both sides. Learn about The Pentagon Papers which is the top secret study of the US involvement in Vietnam. Understand the true cost of the war and how the everyday American helped to bring it to an end.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: MG Publishing
• Release date: Dec 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393592846

Book preview

THE VIETNAM WAR

The Longest Proxy Cold War

NICHOLAS PHILLIPS

CONTENTS

Introduction

Where it all began

North, South split

U.S. Involvement

U.S. Escalation

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Strategies

Doubts from  the U.S. citizens

The U.S. draft

Troops  and military equipment

Turning Point

Peace negotiations

Democratic National Convention 1968

Cambodia

Le Duan

Meeting  with the Soviets

Anti-war activists

The Pentagon Papers

Intensified attacks

LBJ's death

Paris Peace Accords

Prisoners of war

The 'post war' war

Fall of Saigon

After the war

Conclusion

Introduction

T

he Vietnam War, even for those who lived through it, is a confusing tale of facts and feelings as tangled and dense as the jungle paths of Vietnam itself. The story evolved from an attempt at colonization by the French to a wartime takeover by the Japanese and devolved into a quagmire that eventually entrapped the United States of America. It lasted just short of twenty years and took the lives of more than three million Vietnamese, 58,200 Americans, (including 100 Canadians), and over 5,000 others from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. It forever changed the lives of those who survived and one could argue it changed the culture and political climate of America, Vietnam, and the world.

Where it all began

T

he first stone that eventually led to an avalanche fell in the first half of the 17th century. In 1620 the Jesuit priest, Alexandre de Rhodes, arrived in Vietnam to bring the Catholic faith to the country. The missionary work by the French in Japan had collapsed and the church did not want the same fate to befall the Vietnamese converts. French Catholics sent bishops to bolster the work, which led to the establishment of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. The Vietnamese in part resisted the influence of the missionaries. Over time, the religious activity opened up actions taken in the political world. French adventurers obtained positions in the Vietnamese government and the French presence grew. In 1858, under the orders of Napoleon III, France attacked Vietnam in order to protect the missionaries who were being persecuted and to maintain the Catholic faith. The French continued to take control of more of the country and in October 1887, French Indochina was officially established. The French became well settled in this colony, growing out roots culturally and beginning to feel they had a rightful place in the land they had conquered. Now the French were in and once they were in, they found it difficult to get out.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson was attending the Versailles Peace Conference after WW I to offer his 14-point plan for peace, including the idea of self determination. A young Vietnamese man who had been traveling the world, and even working in the United States as a cook and waiter, was determined to speak to Wilson about his country's need for independence. The U.S. was still seen at the time as a revolutionary underdog in a world of colonial opportunists, at least by Ho Chi Minh. The indomitable Ho sent a letter to Wilson asking to meet him to discuss freeing Vietnam from French domination. There is no evidence to suggest that Wilson ever received the note. After being rebuffed in Paris, Ho traveled the world searching for a workable plan to bring about freedom for his oppressed people.

Ho Chi Minh began to actively seek out paths of deliverance for them.

He finally found his answer in the writings of Lenin, which led him to settle on communism as a solution. In his heart he was a Nationalist first, a Communist second. He loved his land and the people of his land. Ho had discovered his two ideological mistresses in chronological order. He had loved his country before he discovered his passion for communism. He would later come to be called Uncle Ho by the people who grew so fond of this determined young man. Relentless in his pursuits, he had what the Romans called severitas, total commitment to one's cause. In 1945, the freedom-loving leader began a speech with, All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Ho Chi Minh was born Nguyen Sinh Cung on May 19, 1890, in a French Indo Chinese village in central Vietnam. When he was 21 years old, he set out on a steamer to see the world. He traveled to Africa, Britain, and the United States, where he worked at the Palmer House