Comparison of the Vietnam War and Trojan War :: compare contrast

The Vietnam War and the Trojan War were two separate tragedies that took place in very different time periods yet. They have many things in common such as their senselessness, the brutality shown, and the way the soldiers were treated when they returned to their homeland. In this paper we will touch on those three topics explaining the petty causes of the war and how cruelly the opposing potencies attacked the enemy. Also, we will discover the great similarity in how the soldiers were treated upon returning from the war and how the war affected their lives. Most historians view the nature of the Vietnam War as rooted in the history of the French colonies in Vietnam and the growing ethnic, political, and economical division between Catholic and Buddhist Vietnamese. (Brigham, Robert, Hoffman, Kenneth) At the end of World War II, Japanese forces in Indochina turned over power to Vietnamese Nationalists. Japan had created an independent Vietnamese government. Japan allowed this government to be displaced by the Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh. (The History Place, Beginner’s Guide) The next month, a British force landed in southern Vietnam and occupied Indochina. (The History Place) The French eventually gained back some control over parts of Vietnam. In early 1946, the French began a series of dual negotiations with the Chinese and Viet Minh over the future of Vietnam. After failed negotiations with the French over the future of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh retreated into remote parts of the countryside to fight a small-scale insurgency against the French. (The History Place, Beginner’s Guide) Though the U.S had no direct role in the return of the French to Indochina, Washington’s desire for a more uniform European economy and European cooperation on a variety of other things required French cooperation. Because successive French governments threatened to become more uncooperative in Europe if the United States refused to accede to their demands overseas, Washington committed itself to a policy of supporting the French in Indochina. (The History Place, Wikipedia) In this way we can see that the United State’s involvement in the Vietnam War was manipulated and â€Å"arranged† by the French who needed help and knew that the United States would have no choice but to accede to their proposal. The Trojan War was also manipulated although not in the same way. Eris or Strife, the goddess of discord, after not being invited to a wedding party for the gods devised a plan to spoil the wedding.