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THE COLD WAR
THE COLD WAR
The United States and other western democracies joined forces with the Soviet Union to defeat Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Although this international alliance successfully led the Germans to surrender in 1945, the union quickly collapsed under the weight of geopolitical tensions. In 1947, the Soviet Union began installing communist governments throughout Eastern Europe to fill the power vacuum formed in Germany’s absence. The United States, interested in expanding its own political influence abroad, sought to curb Soviet Union power by protecting and forming democratic governments throughout the world. The two superpowers, along with their respective allies, began a decades-long struggle for political, economic, and ideological supremacy in a period known as the Cold War (O’Riordan).
Although the era was considered “cold” due to the absence of military clashes between the United States and the Soviet Union, many countries found themselves becoming the stages of violent proxy wars instigated by the international powers (The National Museum of American Diplomacy).
DOMINO EFFECT:
if one nation falls to communism,
the entire region will follow.
(Keefer and Sampson 485)
THE VIETNAM WAR
THE VIETNAM WAR
The Vietnam War was the most significant proxy war of the Cold War period. While it began in 1955 as an effort by the Viet Minh, a national independence coalition led by Ho Chi Minh, to end French colonization, international superpowers with political interests in Vietnam exploded the conflict. Beginning with the Eisenhower Administration, the United States government believed stopping communism from pervading Southeast Asia necessitated interference in its conflicts. Whether through financial or military support, the United States was determined to curb Soviet power before it eclipsed American influence. Vietnam accordingly became a major piece in the geopolitical competition of the Cold War. On one side, the Soviet Union, allied with the People’s Republic of China, supported the communist government of North Vietnam. On the opposing side, the United States and other NATO countries backed the anti-communist government of the South (Chapman).
The conflict lasted for over two decades and amassed over three million deaths. After years of widespread disapproval from the American public and politicians, the United States entered negotiations for a ceasefire with the North Vietnamese in 1973. The Paris Peace Accords resulted in the complete withdrawal of U.S. ground forces from Vietnam, marking the end of American military involvement in Southeast Asia (Logevall). Although President Richard Nixon promised to hold the North to the agreement, lack of support from American citizens and the Watergate scandal preoccupied the United States and provided the North Vietnamese an opportunity to strike. The North seized South Vietnamese cities and threatened its citizens with high taxes, reeducation camps, and violence, sparking a mass evacuation of South Vietnamese to western nations (“The Fall of Saigon (1975): The Bravery of American Diplomats and Refugees”).
Top Image from University of Virginia (UVA) VA Miller Center; Bottom Image from Associated Press
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