Why Did the USA Become Increasingly Involved in Vietnam? (AQA GCSE History): Revision Note
Exam code: 8145
US Involvement in Vietnam -Summary
Once France had withdrawn its troops from Southeast Asia, the USA became gradually more and more involved in Vietnam. Both presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy believed in the Domino Theory, and they believed that preventing a communist takeover of Vietnam was key to the future of the whole region and the outcome of the Cold War.
As a result, they sent more money and more military advisors to support Diem in his war with the Vietcong.
Domino Theory
At the end of World War II, every European country that had been liberated by the USSR’s armies had installed a communist government
In 1949, the USSR gained another important ally when China became a communist country
Both the USSR and China played a key role in:
Installing a communist government in North Korea
North Korea’s invasion of South Korea
Many Americans became convinced that the USSR and China were determined to spread communism around the world
They saw the North Korean communist government as evidence that communism would spread from one country to another unless it was stopped
The American fear was that country after country in South East Asia would “fall to communism”
This belief that communism spread from country to country became known as the Domino Theory and was widely believed in America
American citizens saw the spread of communism as a direct threat to the American way of life
Eisenhower’s intervention in Vietnam
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the US President from 1953 to 1961
After France was defeated, Eisenhower viewed the future of Vietnam as being important to the outcome of the Cold War
He referred to Vietnam as a domino when asked about Asia in a press conference on 7th April 1954
“You have what you would call the ‘falling domino’ principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.
Asia, after all, has already lost some 450 million of its peoples to the Communist dictatorship, and we simply can’t afford greater losses.
But when we come to the possible sequence of events, the loss of Indochina, of Burma, of Thailand, of the Peninsula, and Indonesia following … you are talking really about millions and millions and millions of people.
So, the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world.” (Part of President Eisenhower’s response to a question about the future of Vietnam in April 1954)
Despite Eisenhower’s fears, he refused to send American troops to fight in Vietnam
He did support Diem’s government in South Vietnam in other ways however:
He sent military advisors, weapons and vehicles to aid in the fight against the Vietcong
He supported Diem despite Diem breaking the Geneva Agreement by holding elections in South Vietnam only
He created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) along with Australia, New Zealand, France, Britain and Pakistan and invited South Vietnam to join
SEATO members agreed to work and fight alongside each other to prevent the spread of communism
Kennedy’s intervention in Vietnam
John F. Kennedy was the US President from 1961 until he was assassinated in 1963
Like Eisenhower, Kennedy believed in the Domino Theory
Also like Eisenhower, Kennedy refused to send US combat troops to fight in Vietnam
He increased the number of military advisors in Vietnam to train Diem’s army in counterinsurgency tactics
He increased the amount of money being sent to Diem’s military and provided helicopter pilots
Kennedy gave political support to Diem’s Strategic Hamlet Program, which forced Vietnamese peasants from their homes to fortified compounds
This was designed to stop peasants giving the Vietcong food and information
By 1963, over two-thirds of South Vietnam’s peasant population had been moved to these compounds or strategic hamlets
They were often far from their original homes and were deeply unpopular with the population
The Strategic Hamlet Program caused support for the Vietcong to rapidly increase
By 1963, Diem had few supporters either in South Vietnam or the USA
When Kennedy learned that some members of the South Vietnamese Army were planning to overthrow Diem, he did nothing to stop them
On 2nd November 1963, Diem was shot dead by members of his own Army
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