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| "Agent Orange"- US spraying Vietnam with herbicides |
The most obvious and immediate effect of the Vietnam War was the great amount of deaths that needed to be dealt with. The war killed approximately 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.1 million North Vietnamese troops, 200,000 South Vietnamese troops, and 58,000 US troops. The US's use of herbicides in Vietnam damaged Vietnam's natural environment and caused many health problems that have been ongoing for decades.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam
In 1976, Vietnam was officially reunited as The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and its capital is located at Hanoi. Conflict was still not over; communist dictator Pol Pot and his forces began a reign of terror murdering another 2 million. Although, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was able to stop this, China felt threatened by Vietnam's growth of power and began to build a border wall. In the 1980s and 1990s, Vietnam began to turn to capitalism and a liberal economy.
US Society
US grew less and less interested in Vietnam, but the war had inspired widespread international public distrust of the US making the military less popular. There were many films in America to deal and help with the trauma of American citizens after seeing the brutality in the Vietnam War.
The Psychological Effects of the Vietnam War
It was seen as a failure and a national disgrace. It was a waste of time, taxes, resources, and lives. The psychological effects of the soldiers were and are still the worst. They went through stress and anxiety in Vietnam and when they came back to the United States, they were almost not invited back. There were no welcome back celebrations and such. Instead, they were portrayed as murderers who had no morals and control over their actions. It was hard for them to find jobs and make connections with others. Most of these veterans developed PTSD as a result. Drugs and alcohol became what a lot of soldiers depended on.
4 comments:
The Vietnam War seems to represent an American failure to learn from our mistakes and admit defeat. The fact that so many Americans died and yet they killed almost fifty times more Vietnamese citizens is an example of this.
I think that the Vietnam war was a unique event in that it was both unpopular and there was no real reason for the Americans to be involved. In the end, our intervention led to countless deaths and other costs that the Vietnamese people were forced to pay. Also, we only hurt ourselves by trying to gain power over the area.
While many other wars were fought on a volunteer basis, the Vietnam war was fueled through a draft system, which must have put a huge psychological toll on the hundred of thousands who didn't want to be departed from their lives.
the Vietnam War is very interesting in that its effects and the treatment of the population as a whole were very polarizing. In the United States, the society was divided heavily on the involvement of the US, and in Vietnam, the society was divided heavily in their sociopolitical views.
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