Vietnam War: Causes

• There were both long and short term causes of the Vietnam War.

Long Term Causes of the Vietnam War

• Only 20% of boys from the elite class and social hierarchy received French education.
• The French used a system of forced labor called La Corvée, where local people worked for little to no pay.
• Communism in Vietnam was in opposition to the anti-communist sentiment growing in the United States.
• The French administrators and resident superiors always favored the French political structure.

Short Term Causes of the Vietnam War

• The First Indochina War and the Geneva Accords of 1954, along with growing fears of the Cold War in the US contributed to the war
• There was a fear that communism would spread throughout Asia after the Korean War ended in 1953; known as the domino theory
• Authoritarian Diem claimed that he "won 98.2% of the votes in the South", denounced the communists, and executed people suspected of being communist without proper trial, and practiced nepotism, which created tensions in the South.
• In August 1964, the USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese ships in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• Although the U.S. Navy reported another attack on August 4, later evidence revealed that the attack never happened.
• The Tonkin Gulf Resolution resulted from the alleged attacks and led to an increase in American advisors: 23,000 before the incident in 1964, and 184,000 after the resolution in 1965.

Practices of War from PAVN & NLF perspective

• The AK-47 was a peasant's gun provided by the USSR and China, and transported through the Ho Chi Minh trails.
• Tunnel systems provided safe spots, rest stops, and a place for hiding, storing, and transporting supplies undetected.
• The USSR provided MIG Jets to defend North Vietnam from napalm bombing.
• The NLF infiltrated villages and countryside, which made it difficult to identify, easy to mobilize across many locations, and better for guerilla tactics.

Practices of War from ARVN & USA perspective

• Multi-Role Jets were used and carried 18,000 pounds of weapons.
• Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968) was the “Carpet Bombing” and attacked military, industrial infrastructure, and disabled 85 % of North Vietnam's petroleum storage and 70% of its power generation.
• The War of attrition was focused on wearing down troop numbers so that PAVN/NLF would be unable to recover.
• The War of Attrition was not very effective because PAVN could recruit around 10k soldiers each month.

Influence of foreign powers (USA)

• The USA provided a total of 8.7 million troops.
• Between 1959 and 1975, $276 billion was spent on the Vietnam War.
• The USA used 11.2 million gallons of Agent Orange, 3 gallons per acre.
• This prolonged the war.
• There were fewer casualties than opposition, which the US found good, but NV found indifferent.

Influence of foreign powers (US allies)

• South Korea provided the most troops and was in debt to the US after the Korean War.
• Canada provided $2.5 billion worth of materials and supplies.
• Taiwan provided transport aircraft.
• The Republic of Korea was paid by the US, and human mobilization was extremely brutal, resulting in the killing of 8-9k Vietnamese civilians.
• Australia manufactured helicopters, transport planes, and Canberra bombers.

Influence of foreign powers (China)

• China's Key objective was spreading communism throughout Asia, and had ties with Viet Minh.
• The Gulf of Tonkin increased their support.
• Between 1965-71, 320k Chinese troops were present, with 170k on the ground at one time in 1967.
• The peak of their economic aid was also in 1967, with $225 million.
• Between 1954-71, $1.8 Billion was spent.
• In 1950, China formed a diplomatic relationship with Hanoi.
• Some argue USSR and China aid / support caused the US's failure.

Influence of foreign powers (USSR)

• In 1950, the USSR acknowledged Ho Chi Minh's governance.
• The USSR originally denied military aid in order to preserve relations with Europe, and encouraged China to provide military support.
• A change in leadership with Alexei Kosygin made them more eager to assist, and they began to provide military aid in 1964.
• Increased aid to Hanoi in response to the US escalation in 1965.
• Communism was escalated in Asia in order to gain the upper hand within the western cold-war, which served Russian and Chinese interests.
• The USSR provided heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft batteries.
• The last year of the conflict, hand held anti- aircraft missiles were provided.
• The USSR provided Soviet SAM missiles (Surface to air missiles).
• The USSR had 3k soviet personnel between 1964-5.
• $3.6 billion was spent between 1954 and 1971.