BackgroundBefore World War 2 the French had control of Indochina, which is Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia today. After the Second World War, the Vietnamese wanted govern themselves and enter a communist state, but the French wanted to maintain control over Vietnam. A Vietnam communist leader Ho chi Minh wanted to make Vietnam an independent country. Soon a war broke out in Vietnam between Ho chi Minh followers and the French. This ended in 1954 after the French lost an important battle in Dien Bien Phu. After this event Vietnam was split into two, North and South Vietnam. In November 1955, war broke out, between North and South Vietnam.
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North Vs. SouthNorth Vietnam was lead by Ho chi Minh fighting for independence, while the South is backed by the French and later the Americans. America did not joined the war because they wanted to help their french ally to maintain their colonial in Indochina, but because they feared how fast spread of communism, they feared they if Vietnam falls to communism, more countries would follow this was known as ‘The Domino Theory’, it was a famous theory during the 1950s to 1980s, that propose the fact that if one country came under the influence of communism, then the neighboring countries would follow, like a domino effect. In 1965 New Zealand reluctantly agreed to send troops to support America, partly because they signed the ANZUS treaty for Us protection during the cold war allowing Us nuclear arms or nuclear powered ships in NZ ports, since New Zealand didn’t have any nuclear weapons to protect themselves, but also they wanted to show their support and prove america that they are good allies.
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