The Vietnam War International and domestic turmoil
The Vietnam War caused political turmoil both internationally and domestically. While the divide between the international and domestic politics was great, both experienced a large amount of unrest. Above is pictured an image of soldiers running into battle with helicopters hovering overhead while the image below depicts young adults holding signs as they protest the war in Vietnam. Here you can see that the Vietnam War not only left a lasting impression on the international relations of the day, but also on the domestic politics of the era. The popularity of television at the time of the war helped to show citizens what was really going on in Vietnam. Many of the images pictured here were originally shown during the war. The image above is a drastic contrast to the one depicted below in order to show how different the domestic issues were compared to the international issues.
Students, like those pictured above, and citizens began protesting the Vietnam War from the onset of the war. Initially, a majority of those involved in the peace movement were know as "hippies" and were stereotypically known as the "druggies" and those who defied "the man." Many failed to show this movement any real attention in the beginning due to who made up these groups of people. It wasn't until after events such as those at Kent State and the death of Norman Morrison, who burned himself, that this movement became popular and was seen as an actual movement.
Kent State Shooting
May 4, 1970 would become know as a day that would change the tide of the Vietnam War. This incident is when students on the Kent State campus rioted when they heard more people were going to be drafted into the military. In their anger they set fire to the school’s ROTC building which then resulted in the National Guard being sent in. The National Guard opened fire on the students killing four and wounding nine. This incident set society ablaze with anger as they realized the impact of this war and the power of the federal government.
Initially, the peace movement against the Vietnam War started on college campuses, but after awhile a group of out spoken liberal members of society joined the movement. Thus a multitude of students and citizens joined the protest against the war. According to History. com, January 1968, after the Tet Offensive, became the peak of protests against the war in Vietnam. This is when Americans started to call for new leadership in the Executive Branch and President Johnson's approval ratings started slipping. Here the peace movement proved their ability to make a change in domestic politics by speaking up when no one else would.
On the Battlefield
Not only was domestic politics greatly impacted from the Vietnam War, but also international politics. The Vietnam War is what is known as a proxy war. This means that it was a way for the United States to "fight" USSR without actually fighting each other. This war insured that neither party would be able to use nuclear weapons, which they both possessed at the time, and reaffirmed the belief that the other side, communism or democracy, were evil and should be stopped. Thus the Vietnam War began as a way to stop the "Domino Effect" of taking place in Asia. The United States used this idea to justify the war.
By November 1967 there were 500,000 deployed to Vietnam. This number reached an all time high in 1969 with 549,500 troops deployed. Many soldiers, like the one pictured above served in Vietnam. The ages of soldier ranged from 16 to 62. This shows how a large majority of Americans males were drafted into the war due to the demand in Vietnam. While the age range was large a majority of those who served were 21 or younger. Since such a large amount of young men were being drafted this led to civil unrest, like those seen at Kent State and other campus riots.
Many of the images initially shown during the Vietnam War are hard to look at and may be disturbing for some. There were a multitude of images shown that depict what the soldiers went through. Such as the image above which shows soldiers helping carry their comrades to safety in the midst of the war. The image depicted below is a truly graphic one as it shows young Vietnamese children running away from their city. The young children's city is being hit by an aerial strike of napalm because it was a suspected Viet Cong hide out. Images like these were originally shown to citizens during the war. These images caused a call of public cry out as citizen realized that the government was lying about what they were doing in Vietnam and why they were doing it. These images became a catalyst for much of the riots, such as the one at Kent State.
The End of the War
The Vietnam War ended after a long twenty years of fighting on April 30, 1975. The image above is a newspaper printed in 1973 saying the end of the war was near, but unfortunately it went on for two more years. The image below depicts Lt. Col. Robert Stirm returning to his family after being in North Vietnam for five years. The image above shows how society was lied about the length of the war because they assumed the war would be over multiple times before it was actually over. The image below is a good representation about how everyone felt during the war and the joy they felt upon being told that the war was over and their loved ones could return home.
