France’s Occupation In Vietnam And The Cold War Between The US And USSR

Introduction

The occupation of France in the state of Vietnam has provided ways for the start of the Cold War between the two superpowers of the world. The democratic and the communist forces have devised their plan to protect their interest in the region. The involvement of the United States in Vietnam began in the years of the nineteen fifty and reached its heights in the nineteen sixty. Countering the increasing influence of the US, the Soviet Union also got involved in saving its interest in the region. Moscow was mostly concerned about its credibility, and as a superpower, it was necessary to apply national and international legitimacy. The war in Vietnam led to the Cold War between the two democratic and communist forces from America and Russia.

Discussion

The Vietnamese were consistently demanding independence from the colonization of France. They prepared their cruel forces to achieve separation from the land of France. During the years of nineteen forty-five, after the bloody war, when France formally surrendered before the Allies, one of the famous leaders, Ho Chi Minh, announced the independence of Vietnam (Appy, 2016).^[1] With the realignment of the Allies, it was an unbearable situation for France to continue the war with opponents. The state was also unable to combat the internal anti-French resistance war and hence preferred to surrender before the Allies.

Conflict in Vietnam was not national, or between the two allies; it was an international dispute where the number of actors involved. China also play its role as it also has certain interest^[2]. The chaotic atmosphere of Vietnam around the Second World War has brought the attention of China, the US, France and the Russian States (Asselin, 2016). Every state was fighting for their interest. In the same way, France was consistently losing its control as the guerrilla forces of the Viet Minh took control over major parts of the territory. The United States, observing the situation, became furious, and the chief of joint staff of American forces proposed a nuclear strike in Vietnam[3] (Boyle, 2015). The massive Viet artillery barrage had attacked the French forces which they could not afford, and the tide of the battle was the move against France.

Around sixteen hundred soldiers were killed by the guerrilla forces of the Viet Minh. The same number of soldiers were missing, and five thousand were injured in the war. The war at the Dien was the last involvement of France in the affairs of Southeast Asia (Fear, 2017). The financial and military humiliation was unbearable for the French^[4]. The complete surrender of France came out in the Geneva Convention in the years of the nineteen fifty-four. However, during the war, France has sought the number of time the help of the US. The appeal made by South Vietnam and the Nixon policy of containment to the ideology has invited the US to play its role.

Drive by the human nature of suppressing and containing others, the US has faced severe loss in the war of Vietnam. It was the guilt of the US to provide communism and those ideas that belonged to socialist Russia. The breaking out of the communists by sending military forces to Vietnam was considered by the advisors a big mistake (Hartman, 2015). After the independence of Vietnam, the US, despite being defeated, continuously assisted the rebels against the communist governments[5]. The surrender of North Korea towards the South has further aggravated the situation and bound the US forces to bear the unfulfilled loss. The basic fear that overwhelmed the minds of Americans was the increasing spread of communist ideas and thoughts around the globe.

Before the official announcement of the war in Vietnam, there was a significant effect on the nationals of the US. The Americans were systematically educated about all the dangers that might influence the ideologies of the US. However, after a detailed discussion and negotiation between Vietnam and the American Paris Peace Accord was signed (Jones, 2014). The agreement was not fulfilled initially by South Vietnam, which President Nixon had ordered for the massive bombing and assured that they would protect the North region of Vietnam. After the agreement with the senior advisors of the US, the northern area surrendered their forces but consistently received aid from the states of Russia and China[6].

For the military and the defensive capability of the North, Vietnam Soviets have provided them the large-scale training along with the increased arms. The communist block also helps them in promoting political and economic strength (Nguyen, 2016). Similarly, after the signing of the Geneva Agreement, Vietnam has required assurance regarding its political independence[7]. The Vietnamese, after observing the situation, again initiated talks with the Western states for further correspondence in the agreement and other negotiations. They decided to end the war with the US by implying diplomatic means in nineteen seventy-two. They successfully negotiated with the Americans and made sure that the outcomes and the struggle for revolution would not be spared.

The hostility remained in the relationship between the US and Vietnam because of the factor that the latter did not want to surrender arms struggles (Nye 2015). The conflict ultimately ended until the time the South was liberated completely. On the other hand, the administration in the United States was also not wise and mature^[8]. The calculation regarding the skills came out as the war, and the negotiation came through diplomatic measures that required highly professional leadership. The president of the US was not able to realize the ground situation for the winning of the war. The Nixon administration put the loss of the war over the citizens and arm forces of America.

Nixon was one of the most controversial and problematic presidents in the history of the US^[9]. The number of supporters lauded his foreign policy initiatives. Those are the relationship building with China launching the defensive strikes against the Soviet Union. They also hail him for the end of the war with Vietnam and his ending of the American participation in the war. Many supporters also applaud the ideological and pragmatic approach of the president’s supporters. The playing of the China card to interact with Russia for smooth and the valuable relations. All the services and contributions of the president vanished away with the emergence of one of the worst political scandals in American history (Page, 2016). His policies might be a great lesson for the next generation of leaders, but they went away before they were recorded in history.

The policies and the decisions of the president are good but not relevant to nature and the manner in which he can bargain much more^[10]. Certain dealing reveals that he just gave up on the agreement of the strategic arms limitations. Moreover, the anti-war sentiment was persisting at that time in the US. It was the national voice to focus on home and not indulge in the war in Vietnam. The opposition to the Vietnam War was there in nineteen sixty-four, which progressively became a national movement (Paterson, 2014). With the play cards of the getting the hell out of Vietnam, the demonstrator demanded the getting out of the hell of the war.

The movement against the war has shaped the polarized and vigorous debate in the country. Many people, including the anti-establishment hippies, along with mothers and students, have participated in the opposition to war. The unions of the African American, Chicano, women’s movements and other sectors of organized labour have also contributed to restraining the administration not to indulging in the war[11]. The Tet Offensive and the rising of the Tet Mau Than in nineteen sixty-eight have provided an opportunity for the American forces to take part in the war (Reynolds, 2018). South Vietnam and the US regrouped and made a heavy loss to the North. The forces have also used the NAPLAN, which is a mixture of the gelling agent and gasoline. It was one of the dangerous liquids that was applied in the war in Vietnam. Other than these dangerous war tools, the US military has also used Agent Orange. There are a number of people affected by the attack of Agent Orange.

The chemical is such a destructive element that it possesses certain material which destroys the genes of the human body. The Red Cross of Vietnam has calculated that around one million people were disabled due to the attack on US forces by implying Agent Orange. The role was of the media highly important in the war of Vietnam. The intensive coverage of the graphics and relations of those issues with the opinion of the public was a great contribution. The US media has increased its value by progressing in the research base reporting of the news along with the professional style of interviews^[12]. They learn certain new tactics to cover the real story of the war of Vietnam (Robertson, 2017). The policy decisions of the Nixon administration were forced to follow the opinion of the public.

The United States, after a massive loss from the Vietnam War, began to withdraw its forces. However, the withdrawal does not force America to get out of Vietnam completely. They left the fragile state with the proper plan. In fighting with the communists, they assign the task and power to the South Vietnamese. Despite the signing of the Paris Peace Accord, the fighting continued. Similarly, in the US, there was a significant movement that was in action as a counterculture and the evolution of anti-Vietnam war^[13]. The war thus changed the situation and created new gaps and relations between the South and the North (Rydstrom, 2015). The anger came from the South Vietnamese over the injustices and the unequal treatment by the occupied and influential forces. There were a number of reasons which mounted the relationship between the southern and the northern regions. The anger lasted for many decades, and people instigated the injustices in their minds. The Soviet Union was the winner, and France, along with its allies, was defeated by the Vietnamese.

Conclusions

Concluding the discussion, the occupation of France in Vietnam led to the Cold War between Russia and America. The unusual and the fail occupation of France over Vietnam has invited the two superpowers of the time to confront each other. In the same way, China and the other powerful states had an interest in Vietnam. The multi-power conflict among various countries in the land of Vietnam has destroyed numerous precious lives of the Vietnamese.

End Notes

Appy, Christian G. American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity. Penguin Books, 2016.

Asselin, Pieere. “The 1954 Geneva agreement on Vietnam and the 1973 Paris agreement: diplomacy and the triumph of the Vietnamese revolution.” VNU Journal of Science: Social Sciences and Humanities 22, no. 5E (2016).

Boyle, Brenda M., ed. The Vietnam War: Topics in Contemporary North American Literature. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.

Fear, Sean. “Saigon Goes Global: South Vietnam’s Quest for International Legitimacy in the Age of Détente.” Diplomatic History (2017).

Hartman, Andrew. A war for the soul of America: A history of the culture wars. University of Chicago Press, 2015.

Jones, Matthew. “The End of the First Indochina War: A Global History by James Waite.” Journal of Cold War Studies16, no. 1 (2014): 231-233.

Nguyen, Duong T. The United States, and Vietnam Relationship: Benefits and Challenges for Vietnam. US Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth United States, 2016.

Nye Jr, Joseph S. “The decline of America’s soft power.” In Paradoxes of Power, pp. 39-44. Routledge, 2015.

Page, Caroline. US official propaganda during the Vietnam War, 1965-1973: the limits of persuasion. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.

Paterson, Thomas, J. Garry Clifford, Robert Brigham, Michael Donoghue, and Kenneth Hagan. American Foreign Relations: Volume 2: Since 1895. Vol. 2. Cengage Learning, 2014.

Reynolds, Phil W. “Long Wars: Demonstrating the Corrosive Effects of Irregular Wars on the Dominant States.” Social Sciences 7, no. 1 (2018): 43-54.

Robertson, Mitchell AJ. “Richard Nixon and the Conservative Revolt against the Legal Services Program.” Australasian Journal of American Studies 36, no. 1 (2017).

Rydstrom, Helle. “Politics of colonial violence: Gendered atrocities in French-occupied Vietnam.” European Journal of Women’s Studies 22, no. 2 (2015): 191-207.

1. Appy, Christian G. American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity. Penguin Books, 2016. ↑
2. Asselin, Pierre. “The 1954 Geneva agreement on Vietnam and the 1973 Paris agreement: diplomacy and the triumph of the Vietnamese revolution.” VNU Journal of Science: Social Sciences and Humanities 22, no. 5E (2016). ↑
3. Boyle, Brenda M., ed. The Vietnam War: Topics in Contemporary North American Literature. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. ↑
4. Fear, Sean. “Saigon Goes Global: South Vietnam’s Quest for International Legitimacy in the Age of Détente.” Diplomatic History (2017). ↑
5. Hartman, Andrew. A war for the soul of America: A history of the culture wars. University of Chicago Press, 2015. ↑
6. Jones, Matthew. “The End of the First Indochina War: A Global History by James Waite.” Journal of Cold War Studies16, no. 1 (2014): 231-233. ↑
7. Nguyen, Duong T. The United States and Vietnam Relationship: Benefits and Challenges for Vietnam. US Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth United States, 2016. ↑
8. Robertson, Mitchell AJ. “Richard Nixon and the Conservative Revolt against the Legal Services Program.” Australasian Journal of American Studies 36, no. 1 (2017). ↑
9. Page, Caroline. US official propaganda during the Vietnam War, 1965-1973: the limits of persuasion. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016. ↑
10. Paterson, Thomas, J. Garry Clifford, Robert Brigham, Michael Donoghue, and Kenneth Hagan. American Foreign Relations: Volume 2: Since 1895. Vol. 2. Cengage Learning, 2014. ↑
11. Reynolds, Phil W. “Long Wars: Demonstrating the Corrosive Effects of Irregular Wars on the Dominant States.” Social Sciences 7, no. 1 (2018): 43-54. ↑
12. Robertson, Mitchell AJ. “Richard Nixon and the Conservative Revolt against the Legal Services Program.” Australasian Journal of American Studies 36, no. 1 (2017). ↑
13. Rydstrom, Helle. “Politics of colonial violence: Gendered atrocities in French-occupied Vietnam.” European Journal of Women’s Studies 22, no. 2 (2015): 191-207. ↑