Vietnam War

== Background ==
{{Main|French conquest of Vietnam|French Indochina}}
Vietnam had been under French control as a part of [[French Indochina]] since the mid-19th century. Under French rule, Vietnamese nationalism was heavily suppressed, and as a result Vietnamese revolutionary groups often conducted their activities abroad, namely in France and China. One such nationalist, [[Nguyen Sinh Cung]], established the [[Indochinese Communist Party]] in 1930, a [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] political organization which operated primarily in [[Hong Kong]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. The party aimed to overthrow French rule and establish an independent communist state in Vietnam.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Umair Mirza |url=http://archive.org/details/thevietnamwarthedefinitiveillustratedhistory_202002 |title=The Vietnam War The Definitive Illustrated History |date=2017-04-01}}</ref>

=== Japanese occupation of Indochina ===
{{Main|Japanese occupation of French Indochina|French Indochina in World War II|1940–1946 in French Indochina}}
In September 1940, the [[Japanese Empire]] [[Japanese invasion of French Indochina|invaded]] French Indochina, following France's [[Battle of France|capitulation]] to [[Nazi Germany]] two months prior. French influence was suppressed by the Japanese, and in 1941 Cung, now known as [[Ho Chi Minh]], returned to Vietnam to establish the [[Viet Minh]], an anti-Japanese resistance movement that advocated for Vietnamese independence.<ref name=":3" /> Throughout the war, the Viet Minh received aid from the [[Allied Powers (World War II)|Allied Powers]], namely the United States, Soviet Union, and [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]. Beginning in 1944, the U.S. [[Office of Strategic Services]] (O.S.S.) began to provide the Viet Minh with weapons, ammunition, and training to fight the occupying Japanese and [[Vichy France|Vichy French]] forces.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-15 |title=The OSS in Vietnam, 1945: A War of Missed Opportunities by Dixee Bartholomew-Feis |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/oss-vietnam-1945-dixee-bartholomew-feis |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=The National WWII Museum {{!}} New Orleans |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] was an ardent supporter of Vietnamese resistance, and proposed that Vietnam's independence be granted following the end of the war.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=Gary R. |date=1972 |title=Franklin Roosevelt and Indochina |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1890195 |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=353–368 |doi=10.2307/1890195 |jstor=1890195 |issn=0021-8723}}</ref>

Following Japan's [[Surrender of Japan|surrender]] on August 15, 1945, the Viet Minh launched a [[August Revolution|revolution]] in Indochina, overthrowing the Japanese-backed [[Empire of Vietnam]] and seizing weapons from the surrendering Japanese forces. On September 2, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the [[Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam]], declaring Vietnam an independent nation.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Page:Pentagon-Papers-Part I.djvu/30 - Wikisource, the free online library |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Pentagon-Papers-Part_I.djvu/30 |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=en.wikisource.org |language=en}}</ref> However, on September 23, French forces overthrew the DRV and reinstated French rule in Vietnam.<ref name=":5" /> American support for the Viet Minh promptly ended, and O.S.S. forces left Vietnam as the French sought to reassert their control of the country.

=== First Indochina War ===
[[File:Bao Dai and Ho Chi Minh.jpg|thumb|[[Bảo Đại]] (right) as the "supreme advisor" to the government of the [[Democratic Republic of Vietnam]] led by president [[Hồ Chí Minh]] (left), 1 June 1946]]{{Main|First Indochina War|War in Vietnam (1945–1946)}}

Tensions between the Viet Minh and French authorities had erupted into full-scale war by 1946, a conflict which soon became entwined into the larger [[Cold War]]. On March 12, 1947, U.S. president [[Harry S. Truman]] announced the [[Truman Doctrine]], an [[Anti-communism|anticommunist]] foreign policy which pledged U.S. support to nations resisting "attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Administration |first=United States National Archives and Records |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqDA6OGvhmUC&pg=PA194 |title=Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives |date=2006-07-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-530959-1 |language=en}}</ref> In January 1950, the [[communist state]]s of [[China]] and the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh's [[North Vietnam|Democratic Republic of Vietnam]], based in Hanoi, as the legitimate government of Vietnam. The following month, the [[capitalist state|capitalist countrie]]s of the United States and United Kingdom recognized the French-backed [[State of Vietnam]] in [[Saigon]], led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, as the legitimate Vietnamese government.<ref name="McNamara">{{Cite book |last1=McNamara |first1=Robert S. |url=https://archive.org/details/argumentwithoute00mcna |title=Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy |last2=Blight |first2=James G. |last3=Brigham |first3=Robert K. |last4=Biersteker |first4=Thomas J. |last5=Schandler |first5=Herbert |date=1999 |publisher=[[PublicAffairs]] |isbn=978-1-891620-87-4 |location=New York |author-link=Robert McNamara |author-link4=Thomas J. Biersteker |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|377–379}}<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|88}} The outbreak of the [[Korean War]] in June 1950 convinced many [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] policymakers that the war in Indochina was another example of communist expansionism directed by the Soviet Union.<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|33–35}}

Military advisors from China began assisting the Viet Minh in July 1950.<ref name=Ang/>{{Rp|14}} Chinese weapons, expertise, and laborers transformed the Viet Minh from a guerrilla force into a regular army.<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|26}}<ref name="HistoryPlace">{{Cite web |title=The History Place – Vietnam War 1945–1960 |url=http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html |access-date=11 June 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312070611/http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html|archive-date=March 12, 2023}}</ref> In September 1950, the United States enforced the Truman Doctrine by creating a [[Military Assistance Advisory Group|Military Assistance and Advisory Group]] (MAAG) to screen French requests for aid, advise on strategy, and train Vietnamese soldiers.<ref name="Herring">{{Cite book |last=Herring |first=George C. |title=America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975 (4th ed.) |date=2001 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-253618-8}}</ref>{{Rp|18}} By 1954, the United States had spent $1&nbsp;billion in support of the French military effort, shouldering 80 percent of the cost of the war.<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|35}}

==== Battle of Dien Bien Phu ====
{{Main|Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Operation Vulture}}

During the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] in 1954, U.S. [[Aircraft carrier|carriers]] sailed to the [[Gulf of Tonkin]] and the U.S. conducted reconnaissance flights. France and the United States also discussed the use of three [[tactical nuclear weapon]]s, although reports of how seriously this was considered and by whom are vague and contradictory.<ref name="Maclear">{{Cite book |last=Maclear |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/tenthousanddaywa00mich/page/57 |title=The Ten Thousand Day War: Vietnam 1945–1975 |date=1981 |publisher=Thames |isbn=978-0-312-79094-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/tenthousanddaywa00mich/page/57 57]}}</ref><ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|75}} According to then-Vice President [[Richard Nixon]], the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up plans to use small tactical nuclear weapons to support the French.<ref name=Maclear/> Nixon, a so-called "[[War Hawk|hawk]]" on Vietnam, suggested that the United States might have to "put American boys in".<ref name=Tucker/>{{Rp|76}} President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] made American participation contingent on British support, but the British were opposed.<ref name=Tucker/>{{Rp|76}} Eisenhower, wary of involving the United States in a land war in Asia, decided against military intervention.<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|75–76}} Throughout the conflict, U.S. intelligence estimates remained skeptical of France's chance of success.<ref name="Gravel">{{Cite book |title=The Pentagon Papers (Gravel Edition), Volume 1 |pages=391–404}}</ref>

On 7 May 1954, the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrendered. The defeat marked the end of French military involvement in Indochina. At the [[Geneva Conference (1954)|Geneva Conference]], the French negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the Viet Minh, and independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vietnam.vassar.edu/overview/doc2.html|title=The Final Declarations of the Geneva Conference July 21, 1954|work=The Wars for Viet Nam|publisher=[[Vassar College]]|access-date=20 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807062726/http://vietnam.vassar.edu/overview/doc2.html|archive-date=7 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Geneva Accords {{!}} history of Indochina {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Geneva-Accords |access-date=28 October 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>