End of the War | davisonhistory

CONTAINMENT

After Vietnam the Containment policy was in tatters. It had failed MILITARILY – even America’s huge strength couldn’t stop the spread of Communism.

It failed POLITICALLY – South Vietnam became Communist & the US bombing of Laos and Cambodia helped Communist forces win support there, speeding up the domino effect.

PROPAGANDA DISASTER – America presented the war as a moral crusade, but the atrocities committed by the American’s & the use of chemical weapons damaged their reputation. The US public did not support their government.

After Vietnam America tried to improve relations with Communist states. The ended the block on China’s membership of the UN. The president visited China. They entered a period of greater understanding with the USSR. America became very suspicious of getting involved in a conflict which they could not easily win. This attitude continues into the 21st century.

ENVIRONMENT

Chemical warfare damaged crops=food shortages

Destroyed 5.4 million acres of forest

Poisoned streams and rivers.

US TROOPS

Drug addiction: Heroin use 30%
Confusion and bitterness. The troops were not welcomed as heroes. Some were judged “baby killers”. Many found it hard to adjust to civilian life.
Post traumatic Stress
Cancer from handling Agent Orange

VIETNAMESE SOCIETY

Fighting created homelessness and shanty towns where poverty, prostitution and drug addiction were common.
US forces were supplied with luxuries which created a black market with corrupt South Vietnamese officials.
Buddhist priests protested by burning themselves
5 million South Vietnamese were refugees due to bombing.
Vietnam took over 20 years to recover from the war. Poverty, communist policies and the hope of a better life elsewhere led to a million “boat people” escaping Vietnam in the late 1970s. In the mid-1990s America ended its trade ban with Vietnam and the World Bank was finally allowed to invest in Vietnam.