The Vietnam War was generally a manifestation of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and its allies and the United States (Spector, 2022). The Indochina wars and North Vietnam’s desire to unite Vietnam into a communist state after the French colonial occupation of the region are known as the causes of the conflict (Eyerman et al., 2017). On the other hand, the South Vietnamese government wanted to establish a government that was closely allied with the West. However, the increasing costs and rising casualties, coupled with increasing pressure from American society, forced the US to withdraw its troops from Vietnam, which further exacerbated the conflict between North and South Vietnam. By the end of the Vietnam War, nearly three million Vietnamese were killed and approximately 90,000 Americans lost their lives (Spector, 2022). In this way, the Vietnam War is regarded as one of the most important wars of the 20th century, and it played a role in the instigation of the Cambodian genocide.
Origin of the Conflict
The US government, which was committed to stopping the spread of communism in Asia, started to increase its presence in Vietnam by sending military advisers to South Vietnam from the early 1950s up to the 1960s. In 1965, the US introduced active combat units to assist South Vietnam in its fight against North Vietnam, and nearly five hundred thousand military troops were stationed in Vietnam by the end of 1969. At the same time, China and the Soviet Union, being allies to North Vietnam, provided advisors, combat troops, weapons, and other military supplies, political direction, and support to assist North Vietnam (Spector, 2022). However, the casualties linked to the growing war forced the US to withdraw its troops and end its support to South Vietnam by 1973. According to Khorram-Manesh et al. (2022), the number of casualties in the Vietnam War is the second highest in the history of wars involving America. Figure 1 indicates that the total number of American casualties in the Vietnam War was 90,220, coming second after World War II in which 405,399 Americans lost their lives (Figure 1).
Additionally, the high costs linked to maintaining the American military presence in Vietnam resulted in the withdrawal of the troops. The Vietnam War was the most expensive in American history, and Figure 2 illustrates the fatality costs incurred by the US ($114.31 billion). The Afghanistan War incurred $38.03 billion in government costs. Post-911 wars cost the American government $95.31 billion. Finally, the Iraqi War cost the government $57.28 billion (Viscusi, 2019) (Figure 2). Therefore, it would be right to state that Vietnam resulted in the second-highest number of casualties realized by America in any war. It was also the most expensive war fought by the US in terms of fatality costs.
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Importance of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War is usually regarded by historians as one of the most important wars that took place in the 20th century. The observation is based on its effect on the social and cultural life of the US, global impact, the geopolitical perspective of the war, and forced reappraisal of America’s capabilities and moral conscience. With regards to the Vietnam War’s effect on the social and cultural life of the US, the conflict took place during the 1960s, which was a turbulent time in US history. In the nation, the 1960s were characterized by the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the counterculture that nearly resulted in heightened tensions among the masses. The widespread high-profile assassinations of key leaders of the Civil Rights Movement led many observers to believe that the country was on the brink of a second American Revolution. Consequently, the US decided to gradually withdraw its military and stop its active involvement in the Vietnam War due to the elevated societal tensions back at home and growing public disapproval of the struggle. The effects of the conflict were also felt beyond the US in terms of the social upheaval that was experienced in Europe, the “Killing Fields” of Cambodia, the discord in Australian society over the country’s involvement in the war, and the cleansing of the Hmong tribesmen in Laos (Wiest, 2002). In terms of a geopolitical perspective, the Vietnam War was a flashpoint in the Cold War. The countries that are found along the geopolitical fault lines are commonly used as pawns in conflicts between rival powers. Consequently, the Soviet Union and the US used the Vietnam War to promote their ideologies and propagate the Cold War (Mateescu, 2018). Finally, the forced reappraisal of America’s capabilities and moral conscience were other important aspects of the Vietnam War since most Americans believed that their country was morally upright and did everything right after the great moral crusade of the Second World War. However, the great social conflict and unrest in the 1960s and America’s defeat in Vietnam forced the country to conduct a cathartic reappraisal of its society. The American military had always won wars and battles, but the loss in Vietnam made the US realize that it could make mistakes, commit atrocities, or war crimes, and most importantly lose (Wiest, 2002). In this regard, the Vietnam War forced America to come of age and reflect on how the world’s greatest superpower could be defeated by a rudimentary guerilla force and the moral capabilities and conscience of the nation. Therefore, the Vietnam War was important since it affected the social and cultural life of the US, had a global impact, involved geopolitics in the war, and showed the need for the US to reappraise its capabilities and moral conscience.
Vietnamization and its Effects on the Cambodia Genocide
The gradual withdrawal of the US. troops from Vietnam, also known as Vietnamization, played a role in triggering the Cambodian genocide. When Henry A. Kissinger, President Nixon’s close advisor, and President Nixon realized that the US could not win the Vietnam War, they concluded that the conflict could be ended peacefully. Increasing pressure from American society and the South Vietnamese army’s surprisingly good performance in the Tet region gave the Nixon administration confidence to withdraw the US troops from Vietnam. Consequently, the Nixon administration decided to accelerate the withdrawal of American troops by providing high-quality training and programs, and weapons to equip the South Vietnamese army to take over military action (Spector, 2022). As the Vietnamization program proceeded, the situation in South Asia, especially Cambodia, became worse. Cambodia, under Prince Noradoom Sihanouk, played a neutral role in the Vietnam War (Bennett, 2018). Sihanouk effectively managed to keep Cambodia away from the negative effects of the Vietnam War by giving the communist side unrestricted access to the Cambodian border areas while also permitting the Allied forces to use the country’s territory. However, a pro-allied forces general, Lon Nol, ordered all North Vietnamese out of Cambodia after overthrowing Prince Sihanouk. Reluctant to relinquish their logistic support areas and safe havens, North Vietnam found a common cause with the Khmer Rouge to overthrow the Lon Nol regime (Wiest, 2002). With Sihanouk deposed and forced to seek refuge in Beijing, he became a great proponent of the communist Khmer Rouge insurgents, and eventually, Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975 (Power, 2017). The occupation of Cambodia set into motion the Cambodian genocide, which resulted in the deaths of nearly three million Cambodians (Eyerman et al., 2017). In this way, Vietnamization led to the strengthening of the Khmer Rouge regime, which resulted in the Cambodian genocide.
Conclusion
All in all, the Vietnam War is considered by historians to be one of the most important wars of the 20th century, and it played a role in the instigation of the Cambodian genocide. The origins of the conflict can be traced to regional struggles linked to the Indochina wars and North Vietnam’s desire to unite the country under a communist regime. Historians consider the Vietnam War to affect the social and cultural life of the US, global effects, geopolitical perspective, and forced a reappraisal of America’s capabilities and moral conscience by American society. In terms of a geopolitical perspective, the Vietnam War was a flashpoint in the Cold War in terms of its location and military powers involved in the conflict. The importance of the Vietnam War was the forced reappraisal of America’s capabilities and moral conscience and Vietnamization, which played a role in triggering the Cambodian genocide. In this way, the Vietnam War is an interesting topic to investigate. It provides many important facts about the geopolitics of that time and allows us to understand the true intentions of the conflicting parties.
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