In American History "The sixties" was define as era of new movements and ideas. International conflicts and domestic issues that constantly and consistently changed and challenged the status quo. One of the international conflicts Vietnam war was the most unpopular war of twentieth century of American history. Vietnam war was the longest war that had been fought between 1963 to 1973. The Vietnam war was started with the French Indochina war in 1946 to 1954. After that war Vietnam divided into two division the north Vietnam which was called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the other south division was called State of Vietnam later on renamed to Republic of Vietnam by Geneva conference in 1954. In 1955 an revolutionary rebellion by the north Vietnam against the south Vietnam started the 'Vietnam' war in which America involved in 1963 and then the war known as 'American war'. Vietnam war ended when the north Vietnam army, supported by the communist aliens, capture the capital city Saigon of south Vietnam in 1975. In Vietnam war estimated 2million vietnamese and around 60,000 American soldier died. It is still now argued in American politics that whether the Vietnam war was necessary or fought for a noble cause. This paper will focus on American government policy the 'Vietnamization' in the Vietnam war which leads American force withdraw from the war. Here I tried to explore the vietnamization, why American government take this policy, impact and consequence in the Vietnam war.
History of Vietnam War:
In 1954, French army ware defeated in the battle field Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam. Then a peace conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland, there French and Vietnamese agreed to divide Vietnam in to two division, a non-communist South Vietnam named State of Vietnam latterly renamed to Republic of Vietnam leaded by Emperor Bao Dai and a communist North Vietnam named Democratic Republic of Vietnam leaded by Ho Chi Minh. In that conference they also decided that a general election will be held in 1956 for the re-unification of Vietnam. The south Vietnam Emperor Bao Dai was toppled by his prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem in 1955 and became the first president of Republic of Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem's new south Vietnam government refuse to participate in the general election of 1956 which was according to the Geneva peace conference, led north Vietnam government to doubt diplomacy as a way to reach a resolution. After refusing the election Diem arrested nearly 100,000 people whom he think was his opponent and send them to prison camps. Most of the arrested peoples was communist and socialist. 1960 the political opponents of Diem realized that Diem had no intension of holding general election, they looks for the another way to achieve their objective of Geneva peace conference, formed a armed group called National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NFL) to fight against the South Vietnam Government. This group was also known as " Viet Cong" involved in a guerrilla war with the South Vietnam Army (ARVN). In the earlier year in 1959, North Vietnam government also approved armed fight against South Vietnam government to achieve the re-united of these two countries. In 1963 direct involvement of American army to the war against NFL and North Vietnam army called Vietnam people army escalated the war. But in that year, the political crisis increased when many innocent people were killed in a assemble on birthday of the Buddha. This crisis lads to the military coup, death of Diem and his family and instability of government of south Vietnam. This instability encourage NFL and North Vietnam army and escalated their attack in different cities. In 1965 NFL attack in different garrison in south Vietnam in parallel and killed several American soldiers led American army to attack north Vietnam capital city Hanoi. On 1968, North Vietnam army and NFL forces simultaneous attack on major cities, towns and through the south Vietnam which is known as the 'Tet Offensive'. Tet offensive proved that the American commanders strategy in the war was not succeeding and became the turning point of the war. After Tet offensive the American policymakers and people start to believe that the war was being to lost and demand the immediate withdraw of American forces from the war. In 1973 American army left the south Vietnam battle field. After that, serious fighting had broken out between NFL, north army and south army. NFL and north army continuously gaining victory over south army and capturing different cities in south Vietnam. On April 30, 1975 north Vietnam army capture the Saigon, brining the end of Vietnam war. [J. Simkin, 2004]
In American history , the involvement of American in the Vietnam war was in 1963 in "Long sixties", but the actual involvement was in 1954 when the Vietnam were divided in to two states. American government took side of non-communist South Vietnam instead of north Vietnam communist government because , American policy makers and most people think, communists scorned democracy, sullied human rights, pursued military attack, and formed a closed state economies that hardly traded with capitalist countries. They think , communism is a transmittable disease. If it took seize in one nation, contiguous nations to fall to communism. When communist party came to command china, American policymakers feared Vietnam would became the next. So they helped south Vietnam government to develop a non-communist nation. [A.J. Rotter, 1999]
American government took several policy for fight against communist government of North Vietnam by mounting propaganda campaign to persuade the Vietnamese people against communism, send intelligence agents for psychological battle. In 1955 American government first send military adviser to south Vietnam to help the government maintain their independence. President D. Eisenhower in one speech said "You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock the first one, and others will fall". The president want to justified his decision of sending adviser and in fear that if America loss a strategic ally in Southeast Asia would effect in the loss of others.
D. Eisenhower increase the supply of military aid for the south Vietnam government. In 1960 when the J.F. Kennedy become the president of America, the continue support the south Vietnam government and argued that if south Vietnam became a communist state then the other non-communist government would be in threat. For his continued support, in 1961 he increase more financial aid and send more than 12,000 military adviser, 300 helicopters to south Vietnam to train the south Vietnam army which broke the term of Geneva peace agreement, hiding from American people. In 1962 Kennedy introduce "Strategic Hamlet" program in which the peasants were moved into a new villages in south Vietnam army controlled area surrounded by stocked and patrolled by the armed squads. The intention was to neutralize the peasants from the influence of NFL but this strategy failed and the enlarged hostility of the peasants towards the south Vietnam government which leads the increase of NFL member by joining of the peasants. [J. Simkin, 2004].
In November 1963 after the assassination of J.F.Kennedy the vice president Lyndon B. Johnson become the president of America. Johnson also a strong supporter of 'Domino Theory' and believed that for American defense it was necessary to prevent NFL victory in south Vietnam. He said: "If we quit Vietnam, tomorrow we'll be fighting in Hawaii and next week we'll have to fight in San Francisco". In the following year 1964, a report was published that north Vietnam army attack an American destroyer off the Vietnam coast, American senate passed the Gulf Of Tonkin resolution. Which let the American president the full power to take necessary act. Since then the America involved in direct war with north Vietnam army and the NFL. The war was then called "The American War". After winning the election in 1964, Johnson lunched operation rolling thunder in south Vietnam. The operation was to bombing in the different city of North Vietnam from air raids in regular basis. The idea was to destroy the North Vietnam economy and to them stop helping NFL fighter. That operation last for next three years and American army dropped about 1million tons of bomb in Vietnam. In 1965, different separate attack killed eight American soldier in a garrison near Pleiku in south Vietnam, announce that the communists were escalating war. Johnson believed that he had five choices. One was to blast North Vietnam of the map by bombing. Second was to pack up come back home. Third was to stay as we were and gradually lose territory and suffer more casualties. Fourth option war to go on a wartime footing and call up the reserves. The last was to expand the war without going on a wartime footing. He announced that history state that, America use its strength to resist aggression, then he ordered to send 210,000 American ground troops to Vietnam.[ J. Simkin, 2004]
In 1967 Johnson government took a strategy of search and destroy missions in the south Vietnam and calibrated bombing in the north Vietnam to weaken the opposition but this strategy was proven ineffective. Though American army had over 500,000 soldier, fail to cut the supply line of NFL from the north through the Ho Chi Minh Trail which ran along the border through Laos and Cambodia. After failure of the strategy American army try less about saving south Vietnam and more about avoiding a humiliating defeat.
In 1968 the 'Tet Offensive' which was led by North Vietnam army and NFL forces launched parallel attacks on cities, town and military base throughout south Vietnam. A number of NFL force wearing south Vietnam army's uniform seized part of American embassy in Saigon. The Tet Offensive turned many American policymakers and people against the war. The American secretary of defence told his opinion that America could not win the war and suggest Johnson to withdraw army from Vietnam. Few week later Johnson told American people that he was reducing the air-raids on north Vietnam and intentional to seek a conferred peace [ J. Simkin, 2004]. In that year in election Richard Nixon won and become the president of America. In election campaign he promise to the American people the end of war and obtaining an 'honorable peace'. Nixon introduce a new policy of Vietnam war call "Vietnamization" and in 1969 he announced the first withdrawal of American army from Vietnam. That year 85000 American soldier was withdrawal from 540,000 soldier. It takes Nixon five years to withdrawal all soldiers from the war. In 1972 the American army began a large scale bombing in north Vietnam and force them for peace talk by order of Nixon. It was the most powerful bombing attack in world history and the destructive power was equivalent to the five times that of the atom bomb used on Hiroshima. Around 100,000 bombs were dropped on north Vietnam and it was condemned throughout the world. In 1973, Nixon agreed and north Vietnam signed a peace agreement and Nixon withdrawal American forces from Vietnam. The historian still do not agreed that Nixon believed that the agreements gave south Vietnam a true possibility to survive as an independent nation, or whether he viewed the agreement as a face-saving apparatus that gave American a way to remove from the war with honor. In 1975, North Vietnam army's seven tanks rolled down and crashed through the gates of South Vietnam presidential palace in Saigon ended the war. [S. Mintz, 2010]
Vietnamization:
Vietnamization policy was to support the South Vietnam army to take responsibility for fighting the war which in the end enable the Americans government to removal gradually all their soldiers from Vietnam. After winning election President Nixon's administration introduce the policy 'Vietnamization' in 1969 to alter the war how was fought to decline the American losses and change the responsibility of the war to the south Vietnam. Even though Vietnamization clearly led to retirement of American army's, and a subsequent reduction in American's deaths. Nixon administration's focus on obtaining two objective through Vietnamization. One was by reducing the level of death of American troops and the second one was changing the relationship between America and south Vietnam forces in accomplishing the war.
Vietnamization was planned to modernize and improve the South Vietnam Army so that they might take key responsibility for the war, allowing American forces to change roles from combatant to supporter. These transformation were designed to change the war's structure. Under the policy the American soldier train the south Vietnam army and involve them in ground and air combat. Though it was very tough to train them because South Vietnam soldier was not familiar with modern war equipments and the language barrier. But Vietnamization was having its effect, in 1972 North Vietnam Army launched the 'Easter Offensive'- the first large-scale attack to South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army. The south Vietnam army stopped the largest communist attack since Tet. [S.S. Gartner, 1998]
Prior to Vietnamization, American forces conducted search and destroy operations against North Vietnam and NFL main force units. The south Vietnam army operated separately, within the "shield" apparently formed by the American soldier efforts. Basically, two wars were occurring, the main one- the American forces against the communists- and the minor one-the south Vietnam army against the communists with tiny coordination between the two. 'Vietnamization' attempted to execute one war situation, in which the south Vietnam army would fight the communists and the Americans would advise and support it. [S.S. Gartner, 1998]
Impact of Vietnamization:
Vietnamization had more strong impact on the battle than historical accounts usually identified. The policy did more than just lead to the withdrawal of soldiers from south Vietnam. The primary goal of the policy was achieve by reducing the casualties of American soldiers from 1969 to 1973. A study shows that after implementing the vietnamization policy, the monthly American casualties fell noticeably. The possibility that an individual American would die in combat reduced significantly. The other goal to train and improve the south Vietnam army had largely achieved by the spring of 1972 when north Vietnam army attack the south Vietnam army in large-scale and they prove to defend their selves. Though the vietnamization showed some success and positive effects, it gradually weaken the south Vietnam government which was largely dependent on Americans. After 'Watergate', the president Nixon forced to resign and the senate delimit the presidential power of war made the American government incapacitated the south Vietnam. As a result in 1975, North Vietnam army achieved victory over south Vietnam. The demonstrations of these weaknesses, which disputed the earlier claims of success, are evident in after war evaluations of Vietnamization. [S.S. Gartner, 1998]
Nixon policy did reduce combat casualties but also changed American foreign policy upside down. Nixon declared that America would no longer assign soldiers to stop communist revolutions, successfully revoked Eisenhower's, Kennedy's, and Johnson's policies of using the American army to stop Communism from spreading. [S. Mintz, 2010]
Conclusion:
After the Tet offensive, the dramatic protests certainly strengthen the conclusion that the continuous use of American ground force in south Vietnam was no longer politically possible and the Vietnamization was politically necessary. Though Vietnamization helped Nixon continue an unpopular war and made him win in letter election. The American senate, supported by home and global public opinion, had demanded an end to the war with growing ferocity throughout Nixon's first term. Political objectives such as decreasing American casualties and overall pledge to the war in respect to peace protests at home seriously influenced and dominated to impose Vietnamization.
Impact of Vietnamization in military, unties the aspect for exploration of other important topics such as, while American government change their policy, how the battle was fought which did not saved the south Vietnam government. What the other factors influenced that outcome and, what situation lead them to captured? The answer of this questions would be interesting if the officials who claim that situation influenced them to leds to that decisions, was asked to explain. [S.S. Gartner, 1998]
Though we can say that Vietnamization was basically a political policy, implicitly or explicitly, make the little effect beyond withdrawing American army's and appeasing domestic concerns. But this policy had done much more if we explore deep through Vietnamization.
