The Domino Theory

America’s fear of communism stretched beyond the western hemisphere; the Domino Theory became popular in the 1960s as the Vietnam War was increasingly seen as a threat to democracy in Asia. The Domino Theory is the belief that a communist victory in one nation would start a “chain reaction of communist takeovers in neighboring states. ”(Domino Theory) In the Vietnam War, this theory was used as a justification for American involvement. Communism, as understood by the American people, was a threat to peace and liberty.

The Vietnam war is known as the longest war in the U.S. history. It was situated in Vietnam, a country located in the southeast of China, during the cold war. Vietnam was a French colony and like in most colonies, the natives (Vietnamese people) were not treated right; Ho Chi Minh, that later became north Vietnam leader, asked for help to western countries, which was denied. The Soviet Union offered to help Vietnam, however, in order to do so they had to become communists, the country was divided into North Vietnam (communist) and south Vietnam (democratic), eventually North Vietnam wanted to take over South Vietnam. The U.S. got involved in Vietnam to keep communism from spreading, thus the country was divided because not all Americans agreed with the participation in this war, and the division between Americans made the U.S. foreign policies to change.

On March 8th 1965, America entered the Vietnam war. The United States entered the war in an effort to prevent the spread of communist beliefs. On May 30th, 1970, President Richard Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese army, along with American troops were going to invade the country of Cambodia. This was to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines. The news of the invasion struck people with anger and fear throughout America.

The Vietnam War was fought to stop the spread of communism that threatened the United States way of life. War strategies that were used were harsh, major battles bloody, and war opposition at home was high. The leaders of our countries decisions caused devastating effects that not only shook our country but the whole world. The United States had fought wars in the past to stop the spread of communism.

The Vietnam War divided the United States into two separate categories: Hawks and Doves. Supporters of the war were known as Hawks, while pacifists were known as Doves. The Hawks believed the aggression North Vietnam displayed forced the United States into war, whereas Doves felt the civil war in Vietnam was not the United States responsibility and it was causing unnecessary costs and deaths. Not too long before the Vietnam War, a movement called the “Red Scare” flourished throughout America.

Increasing opposition to the war was causing major division amongst the American people, and many feared that Vietnam could potentially see a victory. This war was by far one of the most unpopular wars to the American people that ended with the withdrawal of the United States, and the unification of Vietnam under Communist rule.

Vietnam was very gruesome and took half a million lives. These lives consisted of men that were drafted into the war by the Selective Services. These lives were mainly of a minority, or of lower social class. Protesters were against the draft because of the unfair rules.

During this time period, not long after the end of World War II, the USSR (Soviet Union) was on the rise, which led to the Cold War. The Cold War led to increased tension between the United States, and the Soviet Union due to competition and heavy conflict of interest. The involvement of the Soviet Union led to the dramatic fear of communism among the public after witnessing the horrific environment within the USSR. This helped develop McCarthyism, the idea of investigating, and accusing someone in power of being associated with communism. Joe McCarthy himself, the founder of his very ideal also gained much popularity within this time period due to many Americans fearing the rise of communist leaders and communism itself.

During the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was divided into the communist North and anti-communist South (Spector). The Vietnam War was the longest war in the United States history because it lasted for nearly twenty years. It caused the death of millions of Vietnamese and Americans. The Vietnam War is also known as the Second Indochina War. It takes place mostly in Vietnam, but also happened in Laos and Cambodia.

People lived in constant anxiety of America falling to Communist control. The fear of infiltration rose when Mao Zedong led Communists to take control of China as well as the Soviets detonating the atomic bomb. This caused the anxiety and fear to increase because even some American Scientists didn’t believe that the Soviets had the expertise to do so. American citizens began to believe that communist spies had been able to steal American technology. The detonation of the bomb started drills throughout America.

The American people feared the spread of communism and nuclear war in the aftermath of the Second World War, while President Eisenhower addressed these fears by having strong domestic and foreign policies. The fear of communism carved a deep sense of mistrust in American people. They believed anything that was said and blindly followed people who were in political power without any basis of evidence. The fear of communism created a sense of “hysteria” (Document A) within the general public and even in people in government.

The war escalated and North Vietnam increased its support to the Vietcong. By the end of 1968 the number of American troops was

In the 1950s, the United States was plagued by the Communist Red Scare and was defined by the McCarthy era. In this era, the American people were deathly afraid of the thought of Communism taking over the world. The very essence of Communist stood for everything the United States was not. The American people, at

Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin believed communism was the most daunting threat to the American government at the time. Moreover, most Americans had only heard of communism, but were generally unaware of the topic until McCarthy preached his opinions. After his speech to the Republican National Convention in 1952, American citizens suddenly felt a responsibility to rid the country of communists. Although the thought of communism did not pose a danger to the average American, McCarthy’s rampant speeches made unknowing citizens feel a sense of urgency toward the topic. One reason Americans heard little of communism is because the government did not want them to know.

Emperor Bao saw this as an attack and then sought other ways to try and regain control of that region. The Vietnam war officially began in 1954. After the battle at Dien Bien Phu, there was a treaty signed, “ the 17th parallel’, that assigned the south to Bao and the north to Ho. in 1963 Diem and his brother were killed. Lynson saw this vulnerability and decided to increase their involvement.