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How did the Vietnam war affect the policy of containment? - Coggle Diagram
How did the Vietnam war affect the policy of containment?
Failure militarily
They struggled with the Viet Cong guerilla tactics
The war had shown on successive occasions that despite the USA's far superior military power they could not stem the spread of communism
Failure strategically
The US failed to stop the South of Vietnam turning communist, they failed to convert the North
The bombing of countries bordering Vietnam Laos and Cambodia turned their support towards the communists. By 1975 both countries had communist governments.
Instead of slowing down the domino effect, the Vietnam war actually did the opposite
Failure in terms of propoganda
Certain atrocities such as the My Lai massacre and the persistent use of chemical weapons had tarnished the USA's reputation
In terms of a crusade for democracy the American's had been financially supporting a South Vietnamese government that no longer had the support of the majority of the country
The campaign against the communists had always been portrayed by the American government as a moral crusade
Effects of the Vietnam War
There was a definite change in relationship with communist states
The USA's relationship with both the USSR and China improved
Nixon visited the USSR meeting the new Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev
The 1970s thus became known as the period of détente (a period of improved relations)
The USA allowed China to be a part of the UN
Nixon visited China which was a huge step in terms of the relationship between the countries
The end of containment?
US attitudes to foreign policy changed
After Vietnam they were wary about sending troops out unless they were sure that they would win
Whether the policy of containment was ever a closed book is open to debate, it is better to say that tensions with communism eased and the period of détente followed.