Hi, I'm currently doing an essay for my Vietnam module, I have 2 main questions I have thought of, don't quite know which to use yet, however I'm struggling for exactly what information should be included, any pointers would be much appreciated.
Here are the questions I have thought of:
1) Was war inevitable after Geneva, 1954?
or
2) Did the origins of the second Indochina war lie in US foreign policy or in Vietnam itself
For the second question, so far I have devised a plan to look at the problems in South Vietnam after Geneva, eg the corruption of the Diem government, the failure to hold free elections which were scheduled for 1956 under the Geneva accords, other problems would include Diem's poor policies of repression of the Buddhists, other oppositionary groups in SVN such as the Binh Xuyen, Hao Hoa, and Cao Dai, and Diem's anti-communist policies provoking the NLF to arise. Also looking at the north's role, the help to the insurgencies such as the NLF. And finally looking at America's role, the policy of containment, the domino theory, problems over the cold war context.
In terms of 'origins of the war' my argument would be ultimately the origins lay with the USA since they always focused on the region since WW2, this was evident in the economic support given to the French in the first indochina war, and the us were also seen as yet another foreign invader to the Vietnamese, however a culmination of events can also be argued as origins of the war, with problems sparking conflict in both North and South Vietnam.