Why and for what reason was the vietnam war fought and why did usa support south vietnam?
After World War II, the French wanted to regain control of Vietnam, which had been their colony. Most Vietnamese opposed this. The US needed France as an ally in Europe against the Soviet Union, so we supported the French. The Soviet Union supported the Viet Minh, a pro-communist Nationalist group. In 1954 The Viet Minh defeated the French, and the country was split into North and South zones, the Viet Minh ruling the North and Vietnamese elements of the French Colonial administration ruling the South. Originally there was to be an election in 1956 to re-unify the country but that was never held because, according to President Eisenhower, the Viet Minh would have gotten over 80% of the vote. Instead, the US created a seperate govenment in South Vietnam to keep the Viet Minh from gaining control of the whole country.
