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The Domino Theory, which President Harry Truman first articulated in the 1 ass’s, is the belief that the fall of one miscounts state to communism would precipitate the fall of other neighboring miscounts states (Shabbiest). This theory is the identical strategy that Communist China planned to achieve, with Vietnam as on of their first targets. Mao TTS-Dung’s 1 953 proposal to the Soviet Union brought to life the very ear that the domino theory foreshadowed.
The plan entitled, “Memorandum on a New Program for World Revolution”, was a detailed plan for world conquest, in which every country, except the United States, would be communist-controlled by 1973 (Riviera). The first phase was to be completed by 1960 and called for Korea and Indochina to be under Chinese control. The Korean War of the early nineteen-fifties can be viewed as proof that these were serious plans China intended to follow. The end of the war resulted in a divided Korea in which China, along with the USSR, aided in establishing
North Korea as a communist state where American support influence democracy in the south. The “domino theory’ became popular belief in 1 954 when President Eisenhower applied its premise to the ongoing struggle in Vietnam. Eisenhower stated in a news conference “… The possible consequences of the loss [of free countries in Southeast Asia] are just incalculable to the free world. ” The loss Eisenhower speaks of is more than just the loss of a country to communism, but the loss of major resources and trade that the entire world receives from the Southeast Asian countries.
Materials such as tin and unseen, which is used to make light bulbs and such, are located in this region. The President goes on to predict that it would only be a matter of time that Japan and Australia would be pushed into communism merely because their close proximity to Southeast Asia. Eisenhower believed that the domino theory would begin or end with the loss or victory of the war in Vietnam. Hence forth, the united States sent military aid and resources to help the French who were fighting in Vietnam. From this time forward America is extremely invested in a political and economic war against
Communism in Vietnam. However after the war, President Henry Ford, in an address to faculty and students at the University of Norte Dame, summarizes the very essence of why the war in Vietnam was so vital and why we held on for so long. “If we have one country after another – allies of the United States – losing faith in our world, losing faith in our agreements with them, yes, I think the first one to go could vitally affect the national security of the United States… Foreign aid is part of the price we must pay to achieve the kind of world we want to live in. ” (Shabbiest)
With the loss of the Vietnam War did come the fall of Southeast Asia to Communist control. The fear the domino theory entailed came true however, not as tragic or lasting as it foretold. It was inevitable for the Americanization of the war in Vietnam because it was seen as the pivotal event that could possibly restructure global politics. The domino theory was not only directed just toward Southeast Asia; it was only the beginning of what was believed to be and ongoing chain of events that could alter the structure and power of international relations.