The Vietnam War (November 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975)
Who Fought:
The Vietnam War was first a civil war between the Soviet backed North Vietnam, who were Communist, and South Vietnam, who were in favor of Capitalism, and were backed behind the United States of America. North Vietnamese forces, known as the Viet Minh were allied with Southern Vietnamese who wanted Communist reign over Vietnam, who were called the Viet Cong. On the Capitalist side of the war, Southern Vietnamese forces in favor with Capitalism were allied with U.S. Troops.
INVOLVEMENT of the United States:
The United States of America did not actually begin fighting North Vietnam until about 1965, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. However before then, the United States sent military and financial aid to South Vietnam and before that, to the French when they still were wrestling control for Vietnam. The U.S. also sent many advisers overseas to help train the South Vietnamese army in combat, so that hopefully they would be able to defend themselves against North Vietnam. America was extremely concerned with the conflict in Vietnam because President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the time strongly believed in the Domino Theory, which meant that once one country fell to Communism, others would soon fall after, like dominoes. The U.S. were in a Cold War with the Soviet Union at the time, so preventing any spread of Communism would give the U.S. an advantage over the U.S.S.R.
Outcome:
Last of the American troops evacuating South Vietnam
After 19 years, 5 months, 4 weeks, and 1 day of brutal fighting, the North Vietnamese army were victorious in their war against South Vietnam. Today Vietnam is Communist, and is known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the Domino Theory proposed by Dwight D. Eisenhower became true once countries like Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand fell to Communist control soon after. Many Americans believe that Vietnam was a utter defeat, and was a waste of time. However further studies of the war today prove that if the U.S. would have stuck in the war a few more years, South Vietnam and the U.S. would have been victorious, but since the U.S. civilians back home in America were protesting more and more over the war, the U.S. had no choice but to withdraw troops, or risk revolution at home.