Vietnam is a country in Asia, part of the Southeast coast. Its neighbouring countries are Cambodia, Laos and China. Its capital is Hanoi.
The cause of the Vietnam War was that North Vietnam, which had won independence from the French and was Communist, wanted to unify all of Vietnam. The Americans didn’t want Vietnam to be communist though, because of the Domino Theory. The Domino Theory is that if one country becomes communist, its neighbour will too, and so on, like dominoes falling. At the time, the Americans and their allies were ‘fighting’ the Cold War against the Soviet Union and their communist allies. So the Americans sent advisors and troops to support the South Vietnamese government against the North Vietnamese. They also bombed the North Vietnamese.
The Americans really started getting involved in the war in 1965 -1969, ‘when a maximum level of 500 000 American troops were in Vietnam’. Most of these troops were full of young soldiers. The Americans had been sending army advisors and bombing North Vietnam beforehand, so the Americans had been in the war all along, like a shadow.
The cause of the Vietnam War was that North Vietnam, which had won independence from the French and was Communist, wanted to unify all of Vietnam. The Americans didn’t want Vietnam to be communist though, because of the Domino Theory. The Domino Theory is that if one country becomes communist, its neighbour will too, and so on, like dominoes falling. At the time, the Americans and their allies were ‘fighting’ the Cold War against the Soviet Union and their communist allies. So the Americans sent advisors and troops to support the South Vietnamese government against the North Vietnamese. They also bombed the North Vietnamese.
The Americans really started getting involved in the war in 1965 -1969, ‘when a maximum level of 500 000 American troops were in Vietnam’. Most of these troops were full of young soldiers. The Americans had been sending army advisors and bombing North Vietnam beforehand, so the Americans had been in the war all along, like a shadow.
The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) Colonel arrived on the 31st of January 1962, and his men three days later, initially only thirty men, while America sent 16 000 similar advisors. Australia pulled out its troops on the 8th of December 1972. 60 000 personnel went to war over the ten year period.
At first, the Australians were, like the Americans, very afraid of the Domino Theory. But as the War continued, people began to question the wisdom of fighting against communism. Indeed, someone managed to film the Vietnam War in colour, unlike World War I and World War II, and then broadcast around the world, which made a lot of countries, including Australia, doubt they would be ‘threatened by the communist influence’. The revelation of the My Lai Massacre, and the bombing of innocent villages also convinced some Australians to make the decision to not acknowledge their conscription papers and to participate in mass demonstrations.
At this point, America seemed to realise she could not win against the North Vietnamese, and she retreated, letting communism take over South Vietnam. 2 000 000 people left South Vietnam, most of them in small and over-crowded fishing boats, to sail in the South China Sea. Some of them stayed years in refugee camps before being allowed into other countries. 94 000 refugees arrived in Australia ten years from 1976 from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and around 2 000 of them arrived by boat, thus called Boat People. Boat People often drowned or got sold as slaves, or attacked and killed by pirates. On arriving in a country, they would often get imprisoned or rejected, before finally finding a country that would take them. ‘The United States accepted 823,000 refugees; Britain accepted 19,000; France accepted 96,000; Australia and Canada accepted 137,000 each.’ The Australian refugees formed large communities in Sydney and Melbourne, and they have achieved a similar level of prosperity to other Australians. Many Vietnamese migrants have joined them.
In Vietnam, 3 500 000 people had died, leaving the country in ruins. The Boat People were essentially running away from re-education camps, to where around a million Vietnamese were sent after the end of the war. They were also fleeing from subsequent wars with Kampuchea (Cambodia) and China. Vietnam struggled economically until a new reformist leadership introduced a transition from a planned economy to more of a market-economy, which has slowly made Vietnam more prosperous and accepted by other countries.
Outside Vietnam, especially in the USA, the Vietnam War is still considered a ‘shadow hanging over military endeavour overseas. No one wants another Vietnam.’
Outside Vietnam, especially in the USA, the Vietnam War is still considered a ‘shadow hanging over military endeavour overseas. No one wants another Vietnam.’
Bibliography
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_where.cfm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/vietnam_war0.htm
http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au/vietnam-war/australia-enters-1962.php
http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Changing-Attitudes-In-Australia-Towards-226198.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_did_Australia's_attitudes_toward_the_Vietnam_war_change#slide=8
http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au/aftermath/
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/vietnam_boat_people.htm
http://www.vvaa.org.au/calendar.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_boat_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamhttp://www.awm.gov.au/database/collection.asp