How Did it All begin?

Those that remember the "cold war" also remember the scare the United States had when:

1. China went "Red" (Communist)
2. FDR gave away Eastern Europe to the Russians.
3. Sputnik
4. The Domino Theory: The domino theory argued that United States interests would be in trouble if Viet-Nam fell into the hands of the "Communists". The belief was that all 0f the Far East would fall if we did not make a stand in Viet-Nam. This included Korea, Japan, the Philippines etc.



Viet-Nam was partitioned into North and South Viet-Nam. The South was to be controlled by the West and the North "Independent". In reality, it appears that the partition was a way to "appease" China and Russia.

Of course, treaties were made by the Communists to be broken. The French acted as "military advisors" but were forced out by the "Viet-Minh" (a supposedly local revolutionary group that claimed they wanted to "liberate" South Viet-Nam from "Colonial Imperialism" and reunify the country.

The Reality is that, South Viet-Nam was a mostly agrarian (farming) society with a few urban centers. Most of the population (90%) were "subsistence farmers" that were more worried about eating then joining any revolution. They wanted stability and were caught in the middle of a war they never welcomed nor supported. Poorly educated, politically ignorant, and mostly a tribal society, they were easily infiltrated by the Viet Minh and thus it was virtually impossible to separate a peasant from a "subversive."

With the French "bailing" and pretty much ready to give up their colonial possession; Eisenhower worried about "containing" Communism and stopping it from making any more inroads anywhere else. He decided that Viet-Nam was a U.S. interest and that South Viet-Nam could not fall. As a result, he sent in military advisers to assist the French. Eventually, the United States was left to "go it alone".

When Castro succeeded in his Communist Revolution, it appeared that the whole Western hemisphere was going Red. This made the policy of "appeasement" a non-option. Viet-Nam became a "do or die" situation. JFK walked into a "hornet's nest". He announced that he was sending additional military adviser's (15,000) to "stabilize" the South.

The Viet-Minh were soundly defeated because they were mostly idealists. Fearing the North would "fall" to the American's, they were replaced with professional soldiers from the "North that were trained by the Chinese and Russian "military advisers" and equipped with arms by the same. These professional soldiers were able to replace the "Viet-Minh and pretty much take control of the rural areas. The United States held the Urban areas and were able to pretty much control the politics by "palace coups" that took out rulers that seemed "less-committed" to the cause than they should be.

One of these was Diehm. He brought great stability to the South, but ruled with an iron hand. When Buddhist monks started lighting themselves on fire to protest his "ruthless" tactics in dealing with his political enemies, Diehm became a public relations nightmare and had to be eliminated. This was done by a combination of American Soldiers and South Viet-Namese and became a good propaganda and recruitment tool for the Viet-Cong.