Overview
The Vietnam War was a war that lasted about twenty years, from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the North Vietnamese Army who were backed by communist groups such as the China and the Societ Union, and South Vietnam who were supported by anti communist countries such as the United States and France. The reasoning for U.S involvement was to stop the spread of communism in the south asian area, and for the Soviet Union and China to spread communism.
Pre-American Involvement
Before U.S involvement in the war the Vietnamese people were under French rule, had been fighting for years before, and were invaded by Japan in 1940. In 1941 a communist leader named Ho Chi Minh made a base in Vietnam and aimed to push the French and Japanese out of Vietnam. "You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours, but even at those odds you will lose and I will win." - Ho Chi Minh. Ho's goal was to create a new Vietnam named the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, but France did not accept this and decided to fight back. The French fought until 1954 when they lost at Dien Bien Phu. After the French defeat, many countries came together at the Geneva conference where they created the Geneva Accords for France to leave Vietnam peacefully and split Vietnam into a nothern communist side and a southern non communist side.
Ho Chi Minh pictured above
American Involvement
In 1956 the Vietnamese held an election to determine a new leader and government. The U.S didn't want to take a chance with a communist leader and helped South Vietnam hold it's own election and put Ngo Dinh Diem in power. In 1963 after years of bad leadership the U.S staged a coup that ended with the dead of Ngo Dinh Diem. It wasn't until August 2, 1964 when North Vietnam attacked two U.S ships in international waters that the U.S . Finally in March of 1965, president Lyndon Johnson sent American troops into Vietnam.