To What Extend Were the Us Anti-War Movements Responsible for Communist Victory in the Second Indochina War?
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- Category: History
- Date Submitted: 05/09/2011 02:49 AM
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The American anti-war movement which opposed the Second Indochina War during the 1960’s up to the late 1970’s were responsible for the communist victory to a great extent. This was due to a number of reasons including the division of US citizens at the beginning of the war, the secrecy of the US government towards the US public, the media coverage of the war and most importantly the length of the war. These all led to a gradual rise in anti-war movements from the early 1960’s to the early 1970’s.
At the beginning of the 2nd Indochina War, the American people and the American politicians had divided views on wether US involvement in the war in Indochina was necessary, but as the US sought itself as a powerful nation, it used the Tonkin incident as an excuse to move into South Vietnam. The US also used the idea of containment of communism to gain support of the people and the support of the hawks (politicians supporting the war) to have American involvement in the war. At this point the US public and Government thought that it would be a short war and an easy win for the US thus there was some support for the war. The anti-war movements at this stage were at its lowest.
The anti-war movement grew as more people began to know about the extent of the war in Indochina at the time. Until the mid 1960’s the government had been able to keep the flow of information and the extent of involvement in the war hidden from the public but due to large media coverage and the newly arrived television this was no longer the case. This being the period of Kennedy and Johnson the hawks were still over powering the doves (candidates who opposed the involvement in the war) and American involvement was increased in the number of troops and funding regardless of the rising anti-war movements. At this stage more of the public was opposing the war and supporting the anti-war movement but the war was intensifying with higher casualty rates than before.
Another reason why the anti-war...
At the beginning of the 2nd Indochina War, the American people and the American politicians had divided views on wether US involvement in the war in Indochina was necessary, but as the US sought itself as a powerful nation, it used the Tonkin incident as an excuse to move into South Vietnam. The US also used the idea of containment of communism to gain support of the people and the support of the hawks (politicians supporting the war) to have American involvement in the war. At this point the US public and Government thought that it would be a short war and an easy win for the US thus there was some support for the war. The anti-war movements at this stage were at its lowest.
The anti-war movement grew as more people began to know about the extent of the war in Indochina at the time. Until the mid 1960’s the government had been able to keep the flow of information and the extent of involvement in the war hidden from the public but due to large media coverage and the newly arrived television this was no longer the case. This being the period of Kennedy and Johnson the hawks were still over powering the doves (candidates who opposed the involvement in the war) and American involvement was increased in the number of troops and funding regardless of the rising anti-war movements. At this stage more of the public was opposing the war and supporting the anti-war movement but the war was intensifying with higher casualty rates than before.
Another reason why the anti-war...