The Vietnam War thus could not be measured in miles gained or territory conquered. The United States arrived in South Vietnam to ensure the republic’s survival, but never aimed to conquer North Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was never destroyed and proved to be one of the ultimate logistical advantages the North held over its enemies.īody count rhetoric dominated the American mission in Vietnam, and has been heavily controversial ever since. The trail was always quickly repaired and reinforced, often with anti-aircraft weaponry. American officials frequently bombed the trail with extraordinarily high amounts of explosives, but could never more than temporarily stop the flow of supplies. Through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Viet Cong fighters in the South remained well-supplied and received reinforcements from the North. Movement along the route was conducted primarily at night, and trucks stopped in camouflaged posts along the way to avoid American bombing. The trail snaked through Laos and Cambodia, entering South Vietnam primarily in the Central Highlands. Continual construction was carried out with Soviet and Chinese support, turning the initially rough trail into a veritable gateway to the south, albeit a well-concealed one.
DOMINO THEORY DEFINITION SERIES
The path was not one singular road, but rather a series of roads, bridges, trails, and depots that formed a network into the South. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the principal supply route by which the Democratic Republic of Vietnam funneled supplies and troops south into the Republic of Vietnam. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson both cited the principle of the domino theory in explaining the need for American involvement in Vietnam, and the theory continues to define the discussion of American involvement in the war. Logically, it could be assumed that if Vietnam were to fall to communism, then Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and perhaps more nations would become communist as well. For an American nation fearful of losing ground in a global strategic battle, one only needed to point to Soviet influence in China, and China’s subsequent influence in Korea, followed by the rising communist power in Vietnam to prove the point. The process would eventually continue until all of Asia was under communist influence. The general fear suggested that if one Asian nation were to fall to communism, then a neighboring nation would suddenly find itself coming under the communist yoke, and it too would fall. Fearful of similar events transpiring in Southeast Asia, Washington buttressed its Asian allies and worked to strengthen the American position across the Pacific. Building on Cold War tensions, American leaders watched warily as Eastern Europe fell to communist control. The domino theory formed a staple of the U.S. The Geneva Accords also called for a 1956 general election across Vietnam as part of a peaceful reunification plan. Hundreds of thousands migrated during this time, particularly Catholics wary of the communist North.
For 300 days, the peoples of both nations were granted unrestricted movement to adjust to the new political situation. On July 20, 1954, France signed a cease-fire agreement with the DRV, Laos, and Cambodia which granted independence to all three while partitioning Vietnam at the seventeenth parallel between the southern State of Vietnam (soon transformed into the Republic of Vietnam) and the northern Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Representatives from the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, France, Cambodia, Laos, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), and the State of Vietnam (a small southern polity under former emperor Bao Dai, which received Western backing) all took part in the conference.
With a goal of ending the war between France and the Viet Minh, the conference began discussions of Indochina on May 8, 1954, the day after the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The Geneva Conference was convened to discuss both the lingering issues of the Korean War and the Indochina issue, but the legacy of the conference was the agreement produced regarding Vietnam. The Geneva Accords of 1954 created the independent states of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
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