The Vietnam War is one of the most famous conflicts of the 20th Century. Lasting from 1955 to 1975, it saw America send thousands of troops to Southeast Asia to support the regime of South Vietnam against the Communist North Vietnamese.
Looking at the basics of the war – America supporting a free country against Communist aggression, most would think that people would have supported the war. However, watch any Vietnam War movie or documentary on the 1960s and one thing that always comes up is the huge protests against the war. But why? Why was the Vietnam War so unpopular?
1. The Draft Was Massively Unpopular
A first reason why the Vietnam War was so unpopular was because of the draft.
A military draft is when the state mandates that people must join the armed forces. In 1940, the US government introduced the Selective Training and Service Act. This conscripted many men aged between 21 and 36 into the US armed forces. When the US escalated its involvement in Vietnam in 1965, the draft was still in-place. The Selective Training and Service Act lasted until 1973. As a result, large numbers of young men were conscripted to fight in Vietnam.
The military draft was one of the biggest reasons why the Vietnam War was so unpopular. It meant that young men were forced to join the army and fight in Vietnam. People called up by the draft had very little choice but to join the army. Many in America saw a big difference between professional soldiers who had volunteered for the army being sent to war, and ordinary young men being pulled from their regular lives and forced to fight.
Over two million men were conscripted to fight in Vietnam between 1964 and 1973. Thousands died during the war. The use of conscription during the Vietnam War was one of the largest factors contributing to the war’s unpopularity.
2. Much Of The American Media Was Critical Of The War
A second reason why the Vietnam War was hugely unpopular was because the American media was highly critical of the war.
By the 1960s, print, and especially broadcast, journalism was consumed by millions of Americans on a daily basis. Although there was a wide range of programmes and publications covering a range of viewpoints, public opinion was significantly influenced by what the media portrayed.
Much of America’s medica was critical of the Vietnam War. Publications such as the Washington Post and TV news stations such as CBS famously ran stories highlighting atrocities and showing the brutality of the war.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, more Americans began having TVs in their homes. This meant that film and images from the war could be broadcast directly into people’s homes. This showed people the full horror of what was happening in Vietnam and turned many people against the war.
In previous wars, propaganda and censorship controlled the narrative the general population saw. The Vietnam War was one of the first where journalists were able to report almost freely what they saw and felt about the war. This resulted in a highly critical media in the United States and further fuelled the wars unpopularity.
3. The United States Wasn’t Directly Under Threat
A third reason why the Vietnam War was so unpopular was because there was no direct threat to the United States.
Vietnam is over 8,500 miles from America. There was never an attack by Vietnamese forces on the US, or American troops. America entered the Vietnam War originally to help train and equip the US-backed South Vietnamese. They later sent combat troops to repel attacks by the Communist North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. Although the Vietnam War was a proxy-conflict between the Soviet Union and the US, America was never directly under threat from Vietnam. This is a key reason why the war was unpopular.
Essentially, many people in the US didn’t see why America should send young men to fight and die thousands of miles away when there wasn’t a direct threat against the US. Although there were those who supported stopping the spread of Communism, millions of American’s were against the Vietnam War because they didn’t see a just reason for fighting.
The lack of direct threat or attack against America by Vietnam was a key reason why the Vietnam War was unpopular with many people.
4. The Vietnam War Was Incredibly Brutal
Another reason why the Vietnam War was so unpopular with many people was because of its brutality.
58,220 American’s died during the Vietnam War, and over 150,000 were wounded. Over three million Vietnamese died during the conflict. This includes both combatants, but also the huge number of Vietnamese civilians who were killed. The enormous death toll on both sides of the conflict is a major reason why people were against the war.
As well as the huge number of lives lost during the Vietnam War, the ferocity of the fighting added to the war’s unpopularity. The indiscriminate bombing of North Vietnam, killing many civilians, as well as the use of napalm, were especially unpopular in the US. American tactics, including forcibly displacing civilians, burning villages, and destroying food stocks, were also seen as heavy-handed. The way America fought the Vietnam War was one reason why it was unpopular.
The Vietnamese, both North and South, also committed atrocities during the Vietnam War. Reports of these further added to the negative feelings against the war.
The fighting during the Vietnam War was truly brutal. The massive extent of violence, combined with large numbers of American’s and Vietnamese being killed, was a major factor in why the war was unpopular.
5. Many Saw The War As American Imperialism
One reason why the Vietnam War was unpopular, both in America and around the world, was because it was seen as American imperialism.
Vietnam was part of the French Empire from 1858 until 1954. The First Indochina War was fought from 1946, and in 1954 French Indochina was given independence – the states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were formed. Vietnam was divided upon independence between a Communist North and American-backed South, officially until joint elections could be held to reunify the country. However, America feared these elections would result in a Communist victory and so ensured they were not held.
Once it began clear Vietnam was not going to be reunited through an election, the Communist North began combat operations in the South, mainly by supporting the Viet Cong guerrillas. America first supported the South Vietnamese regime with training and equipment, from 1955, and then began combat operations in direct support, from 1965.
Many in the US and around the world saw America’s involvement in Vietnam as imperialism. They felt that after the French departed the Vietnamese should be free to run their own country without outside interference. The Vietnam War was unpopular because many saw it as another act of colonialism.
6. There Were Fears Of The Conflict Escalating
Another reason why the Vietnam War was unpopular was because many feared it would escalate into a larger and even more deadly conflict.
The Vietnam War as a proxy conflict between the Soviet Union (and Communist China) and America. It took part during the Cold War – a period of geo-political tension between the Communist countries, led by the USSR, and the West.
The Soviet Union backed the North Vietnamese Communists during the Vietnam War. Communist China also lent support to the North Vietnamese regime. Both the USSR and China were nuclear armed powers by 1964. Tensions between the Communist countries and America had ebbed-and-flowed throughout the 1950s and 60s. However, there were fears that a miscalculation in Vietnam could pull either China or the Soviet Union into the war and this was a reason why the conflict was unpopular.
The fear of nuclear war was very real in the 1960s and 70s. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis saw America and the USSR almost go to war. This was fresh in people’s minds during the Vietnam War. The risks of the conflict escalating into a wider war between the Soviet Union, and/or China, and America was very real, and this is a key reason why the Vietnam War was unpopular.
7. The South Vietnam Regime Was Undemocratic And Corrupt
An important reason why the Vietnam War was hugely unpopular was because the South Vietnamese regime was undemocratic and corrupt.
America entered the Vietnam War to support the regime of South Vietnam. The US saw South Vietnam as a key buffer state to stop the spread of Communism. The feeling in Washington was that if Vietnam fell then Communism would continue to spread through South and Southeast Asia.
Although the US government saw the need to support the regime in South Vietnam for geo-political reasons, it did not do so because the regime was in any way benevolent. South Vietnam was a dictatorship throughout its existence. Human rights abuses, persecution of minorities, attacks on freedom of speech, religion and assembly and widespread nepotism and corruption plagued the regime of South Vietnam. These factors were well known to the American public and were a major factor why the war in Vietnam was not supported by many.
8. Opposition To The War Was Part Of A Wider Counterculture Movement
A final reason why the war in Vietnam was unpopular was because of the wider counterculture movement taking place throughout America at that time.
The 1960s and early 1970s were a time of great change in America. The United States went through a significant economic boom in the 1950s and 60s. As well as an economic boom, the US had a baby boom following World War Two and many of these young people became teenagers and adults in the 1960s. These two factors combined to make the 1960s a time of great innovation – from popular culture to new technologies. However, it also led to a significant counterculture movement in the US.
The American counterculture of the 1960s is legendry. Hippies, beatniks, rock ‘n’ roll, LCD trips, and the popularity of left-wing intellectualism are all stereotypes of America in 1960s. Although not everyone was drawn to the new counterculture theories and ways of life, many young American’s were.
The wider acceptance of alternative and counterculture thinking, combined with broader anti-establishment ideas among young people, were key reasons why the Vietnam War was unpopular. The Vietnam War, in-turn, fuelled counterculture, and anti-establishment feeling, especially among young people in the US.
The counterculture movements in America throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s were hugely opposed to the war in Vietnam. As more people were drawn to counterculture movements, it only added to the war’s unpopularity.