The Vietnam War was officially a war between North and South Vietnam. The North had allies in China, the Soviet Union, and other communist allies. The South had allies in the Philippines, the United States, and other anti-communist allies. This war ran from 1955 through to 1975.
The United States involvement in this war was viewed by the US government, and indeed the US citizens, as them preventing a Communist takeover of South Vietnam. The US wanted to carry out a containment policy wherever possible, to stop the spread of communism.
The US held a presence in Vietnam from 1950, but their involvement didn’t really escalate until the early 1960’s. A year after that, in 1961 they tripled their amount of troops and repeated this move the following year also. In 1964 they gained the US Presidents authorization to further increase US military troops in the region; this was after a battle between one of their USS destroyers and a North Vietnamese fast attack craft. From 1965, the US were deploying regular combat units to further boost troops on the ground in Vietnam.
This video footage looks at what life would be like if the outcome had been reversed and the US had won this war – how different would life be? What would have happened in Communist China? Would Cambodia have ended up under the rule of Pol Pot?
This video also considers what would have happened if someone else was making all of the important decisions – if John F. Kennedy had lived, how would that have affected the Vietnam War and its outcome?
What if’s are always fascinating, on any topic, and can have countless conclusions. Let us see how the world could have been if the United States had won.