After France surrendered and retreated from Vietnam in 1954, U.S., Soviet Union, and other 4 countries signed the Geneva Record, a peace agreement.
According to the Geneva record, Vietnam was divided into South and North along the 17th parallel. Afraid of losing, the South Vietnam president who is also a strong anti-communist, refused to take part in the 1956 election. Willing to halt the spread the communism, the United States supported South Vietnam.
Although the Geneva Record temporarily ceased the fire, the war in Vietnam had just begun. Vietcong, a communist opposition group supported by North Vietnam, raised power in the South in 1957. After the president of South Vietnam was assassinated in 1963, the South Vietnam fall into anarchy. Instead of withdrawing its troops from Vietnam, the U.S. expended the conflict. President Johnson decided to send more troops to Vietnam in order to end the war sooner. In 1968, the number of U.S. military personnel in Vietnam reached about 53600. However, the Vietcong used hit-and-run tactic and guerrilla warfare to fight the U.S. well-armed forces. In response to Vietcong’s attack, President Johnson approved the operation Rolling Thunder, an aerial bombardment campaign. While the bombing attack caused great damage to Vietcong and other opponents, more than 58000 Americans, in total, are killed.
The long-lasting war caused the downfall of President Johnson’s popularity. In 1969, President Nixon, newly elected Republican President, began the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Vietnam. The American’s longest war eventually came to an end.
12 comments:
That's cool, I didn't know that they originally split the North and South on the 17th parallel. The picture also adds significance, showing what it really looks like to be in the Vietnam War.
This is clear and simple summary; however, it overlooks the lasting impacts of the war (e.g., how the war impacted American attitudes about government, how it showed the fallibility of the US, how it fueled a counterculture, how the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution expanded the President's military power, etc.)
This was a good short summary, but you missed some things. For example, you didn't mention that the fact that the U.S. didn't declare war and the effect of the war on Vietnam and the U.S.
Nice posting. I learned a lot of new information about the Vietnam war. Nice picture.
The picture really added an addition amount of depth into the war. It was very clear and informative.
good posting! i really liked the picture and then information in it was in depth and consise. very good
good information. you could add some of the after-effects of the war however.
god job! well written but you forgot to mention the fact that war was not declared, I think that this is an important piece of information.
it had the perfect amount of detail. :)
it was very informative but i agree that it needs more about the post war impact. overall though i thought it was a complete overview and summary of the war.
I appreciate the effort to try and include an entire summary of the war in one posting; however, I think a more focused and clear segment on the Vietnam War would have been a better choice :)
good posting!I really enjoyed reading this . It had many details, but it wasn't too long.
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