What factors contributed to the origin and course of the Vietnam War? What were the important effects of the war on neighboring countries, and with what results?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Vietnam became a colony of France in the 1880s. France continued to hold onto Vietnam into the late 1950s. At the time, the U.S. became concerned about the potential that Vietnam would become a communist regime and invoked the "domino principle" to make its case. The U.S. became involved, first as advisors, then by sending in its own military. The United States heavily supported the fledgling state of South Vietnam but could never impose its will over the countryside which grew increasingly closer to the Vietcong who were the guerillas backed by the regime in North Vietnam (which in turn was getting armaments from both China and the Soviet Union. Over time, the war expanded, spilling over into Laos and Cambodia. In the end, the U.S. withdrew, South Vietnam collapsed and a reunified Vietnam adopted a communist economic system held in place by dictatorial regimes.