Causes Of The Vietnam War
Mayra Rivera
The Vietnam War
Government
When Vietnam was ruled by France few people fought hard to make their country independent. A person that fought for Vietnam's independence was Ho Chi Minh, the communist leader of North Vietnam. The leader of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem, a dictator who was corrupt and oppressive. Citizens of South Vietnam felt like they were being treated unfairly. Some citizens even moved from South Vietnam to North Vietnam because they'd rather be ruled by a communist government than by a dictator. For the Vietnamese Minh was their George Washington because he fought for them and they loved him. Minh was going to be Vietnam's only leader if Vietnam would've been reunited. It is obvious that he would've won the election because Vietnamese admired and respected him.
Image Credit: http://www.jewsandmoney.com/us_vietnam_war.htm
Human Rights
During the Vietnam War, North Vietnam had a Buddhist religion, everybody in Vietnam was Buddhist. Diem, the leader of South Vietnam was a Catholic. Since he was an oppressive leader he made sure everyone in South Vietnam became a Catholic. The soldiers that worked for him had to become Catholics or their ranking would be lowered. Whoever was a Catholic or a landlord got favored by Diem automatically. These people would get benefits that Buddhist Vietnamese would not get. Diem gave these people public services, land grants, tax exemptions and even freed them from working in unpaid state enforced jobs. Vietnamese who were not Catholics could not carry guns at all, meaning those who were in the military. The only flag that Vietnamese could hang in South Vietnam was South Vietnam's flag. Diem prohibited his citizen's from having any type of freedom. Due to this many Buddhists in South Vietnam did protests against him. They decided to light themselves on fire in public and others just decided to join the Viet Cong which was North Vietnam's army.
Environment/Natural Resources
Image Credit: http://www.womansday.com/life/a1640/10-worst-manmade-environmental-disasters-108045/
How did splitting Vietnam into two cause the Vietnam War?
Annotated Bibliography
- Shmoop Editorial Team. "Religion in The Vietnam War." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. This editorial was written many years after the event had occurred. This article was posted in the Shmoop newspaper. The purpose for this article being written is to inform people on what was happening during the Vietnam War. This article adds value because many people can view it, but it also has a limitation because it only contains a summary of events. It does not give details about the events.
- "The Causes of the Vietnam War - History Learning Site." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. This article was written after the events had occurred. The purpose of this is to inform people about the causes of the Vietnam War. This adds value because it talks about what started the war in the first place. A limitation is that it can only be accessed online. Also it doesn't really give much detail about the war, it only talked about the government.
- Wright, David K. Causes and Consequences of the Vietnam War. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1996. Print. This book was published in the year 1996 in Austin, Texas. The purpose of this book was to talk about certain events that occurred in the Vietnam War. This adds value because its talks about how the causes affected the outcome of the war. A limitation to this source is that many may not know this book even exists, do to when it was published.
- "Vietnam War." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2015. Web. 20 Sep. 2015.
- "Military." Vietnam War. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.
- "Vietnam War Overview Part 3: 1955-1963." Vietnam War Overview Part 3: 1955-1963. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.