Before the Vietnam War The Southeast Asian country Vietnam was under French control since the 1800s and passed through French rule. Later, during World War II, the Japanese invaded Vietnam and around the same time, the Vietnamese political leader named Ho Chi Minh created the “Viet Minh” or “Vietnam Independence League”. The Viet Minh was heavily influenced by Chinese and Soviet communism and wanted to fight the Japanese army as well as the French colonial rulers. After Japan's defeat in World War II by America, they left Vietnam, giving the Viet Minh the opportunity to overthrow the French rulers in their country. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayViet Minh forces took control of the major city of Hanoi in northern Vietnam and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh in power. The French did not like this, and in order to regain colonial control of the region, they started the "First Indochina War" or the "French Indochina War". This war between French forces and the Viet Minh took place from 1946 to 1954. Most of the war took place in northern Vietnam, notably in the city of Tonkin, but the conflict affected the entire of the country, including neighboring countries. Rural guerrilla tactics were only used in conflict, but by 1949 the war evolved into full-scale conventional warfare. This was mainly because the Chinese and Soviets began to massively support the Viet Minh with weapons, while the United States did the same for the French forces. Vietnamese use of anti-aircraft guns to stop aerial supplies, effective guerrilla tactics, convoy ambushes, and the use of Soviet combat tactics were some of the reasons the Viet Minh was able to defeat the French during the First Indochina War and the last decisive battle of the war “Battle of Dien Bien Phu”. During peace talks held in Geneva, it was decided that Vietnam would be divided into two: communist North Vietnam and pro-Western South Vietnam. The Geneva Accords were not really respected and the North Vietnamese powers did not agree with the division of the country. The Vietnamese are a fiercely independent people and do not accept a foreign country being in power in their country. These disagreements eventually escalated into the “Second Indochina War” or Vietnam War that we know so well in America. the country. So, in February 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder began. This operation was the nickname for a bombing campaign carried out by the United States on parts of North Vietnam. Then, on March 8, 1965, 200,000 volunteer American combat troops arrived in South Vietnam. It was the first time American troops entered Vietnam. The decision to go to war was highly criticized by many people and significant anti-war movements arose. Conscription was one of the main reasons many were unhappy with the war because of how it threatened the lower and middle classes. As the volunteers would not be enough to survive the entire war, they needed more men, so they conducted a conscription. At the start of the war, the names of all American men of military age were collected by the Selective Service System. When a person's name was called, he had to report to his committee of.