Question

Why did President Eisenhower support the new anti communist government of South Vietnam?

Answer 1

Hint: The partition of Vietnam resulted in the division of Vietnam into Communist and Pro Western.The North Vietnam was Communist and the South was pro Western.

Complete answer: The South Vietnamese government was anti-Communist.This was supported by the US President Eisenhower because it helped to stop spreading Communism. North Vietnam, which was Communist was supported by China and the Soviet. Eisenhower spent huge sums of money and military troops in South Vietnam and supported the brutal regime of Ngo Dinh Diem.
As the cold war was intensifying, US President Eisenhower made strong anti policies against the Soviet Union and towards the spread of Communism. He pledged to support Diem. The US army began training the South Vietnam army. The equipment was provided by American military and the CIA. Using these the South Vietnamese army could arrest defeat and execute several people from North Vietnam. The opponents of South Vietnam by 1957 began fighting back against the South Vietnamese government and attacked government officials and other targets. They also began engaging in firefights.

Note: In 1961 President John .F. Kennedy increased military support and other war materials in South Vietnam. He believed in the ‘Domino effect’, according to which if one country in South Asia fell to the Communists, the rest would follow. The US military presence increased almost 9000 by 1962 which by 1967 had reached 500,000. The protests began in the USA against the government along with the mistrust of the soldiers who believed that they had no reason to be there anymore. The people wanted the withdrawal of the war.