Transcript The Domino Theory

The Domino Theory
Joanna Creason, Liza Lampros,
Priyanka Patil
What is it?
• The idea that if one key nation in a region fell to control of communists,
others would follow like toppling dominoes.
• According to the theory, nations on the borders of communist nations
could be considered under threat, potentially falling like dominoes to
communist influence and setting up a situation in
which communism would rapidly spread across a region or perhaps even
an entire continent.
• The domino theory is a theory which was promoted by American foreign
policy analysts during the 1950s and 1960s.
• The theory built on worldwide fears about communism, using the spread
of the communism after the Second World War to illustrate the power of
communist nations to seize and influence their neighbors.
Facts
• Domino theory governed most of US foreign policy laws in early
1950's.
• The first mention of the domino theory occurred in a speech by
Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.
• Eisenhower used this theory to explain why American intervention
in Asia was crucial, because he suggested that it could lead to the
spread of the “iron curtain” of communist control.
• Walt Rostow and Lee Kuan Yew have argued that the U.S.
intervention in Indochina, by giving the nations of ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) time to combine and
engage in economic growth, prevented a wider domino effect.
Eisenhower's Speech
• During a press conference on April 7, 1954, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower laid out the first major defense of the domino theory.
• He was referencing the battle between French forces and
the Vietminh (the communist forces of North Vietnam), and he
began by explaining how economically important Vietnam was to
the U.S.
• If South Vietnam fell, then Laos would be next; and after that,
Thailand and Burma, and that would lead communists to the
doorstep of India, a strong ally of the United States.
• Even Japan, Eisenhower warned, could be in danger of toppling,
another domino in the row.
*** All of this is in correlation to the Vietnam War
History
•
September 1945- Vietnam claimed independence from France
•
Began war that caused Ho Chi Minh's communist led North Vietnam against a French- backed non- communist
South Vietnam
•
Under Harry S. Truman, the US gov. provided military and financial aid to South Vietnam
•
In addition to protecting free states, of course, this intervention would also ensure that the United States would
have an entry point into regions of interest, and it could maintain profitable trade agreements with these nations.
•
The domino theory heavily influenced American foreign policy during the 1950s and 1960s, setting the stage for
the invasion of Vietnam and justifying American activities in Korea during the Korean War.
•
In the 1980s, the domino theory cropped up again, used by the Reagan administration to support invasion of
several South American countries by American troops.
•
Most European nations were fatigued and economically exhausted after years of war. Their governments were
weak and their people depressed, desperate and starving.
•
This made them easy prey to communist infiltration and propaganda.
History pt. II
•
Asia was just as susceptible to communist incursion.
•
The governments and military forces of most Asian nations were comparatively weak. Their populations contained large
numbers of peasants, who were susceptible to communist propaganda and recruitment.
•
Nationalist and independence movements in Asia were considered ideal ‘hiding places’ for communist infiltrators. Asian
borders were not well policed and were largely insecure, so communists could move in and out of target countries with
ease.
•
The Domino Theory was also underpinned by assumptions about Chinese expansion.
•
Western planners believed that China would act as a vanguard for advancing communism in Asia, much as Soviet Russia had
done in eastern Europe.
•
Chinese troops supported the communist invasion of South Korea during the Korean War (1950-53).
•
As Chinese economic and military capacity increased, the West believed China would export communism to create a buffer
between itself and potential threats.
•
This placed a number of countries at risk of communist aggression, including South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, the
Philippines, Thailand, Burma, Tibet, Malaya, Singapore and Indonesia.
Arguments
In Favor
•
The main evidence for the domino theory was the communist takeover of 3 Southeast
Asian countries.
•
This had happened after the United States pulled its troops out of the region after the
Vietnam War.
•
Some supporters of the Domino Theory also note the history of governments that were
communist that were supplying aid to communist revolutionaries in neighboring countries.
For instance, China supplied the North Vietnamese Army with troops and supplies and the
soviet union provided them with tanks and heavy weapons.
•
The fact that Pathet Lao and Khemer Rouge both started as part of the North Vietnamese
army gives even more proof to the theory.
•
However, proponents ultimately believe that the efforts during the containment (i.e.
Domino Theory) period, ultimately led the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the
Cold War.
•
"The weaker and poorer a country is, the more dangerous it is as an example. If a tiny,
poor country like Grenada can succeed in bringing about a better life for its people, some
other place that has more resources will ask, 'Why not us?'"
Arguments pt. II
Against
• The main evidence against the domino theory is the failure
for communism to take over Thailand, Indonesia, and other
large Southern Asian countries after the end of the Vietnam
war as Eisenhower's speech warned that it could.
• Some proponents of this theory, though, will argue that this
is due to the effects of both the Korean and Vietnam
conflicts. People who were against the theory said that
Indochinese were largely indigenous or nationalist and that
"world communism" could not exist.
Examples of Different Domino Effects
What does this have to do with us?
•
The French lost a major battle to Minh's forces at a place called Dien Bien Phu,
which led ultimately to France's withdrawal from Vietnam.
•
In the years that followed, the United States under Eisenhower and then
under John F. Kennedy supported the South Vietnamese government, even as it
remained locked in an ongoing struggle with the North Vietnamese, as well as
South Vietnamese communist guerrillas who called themselves the Vietcong.
•
As the fighting between the Vietcong and South Vietnamese forces intensified
through 1963, American military leaders began to clamor for increased
involvement.
•
The death of John Kennedy in November 1963 brought a new president, Lyndon
Johnson, who also promoted the domino theory as justification for U.S.
involvement in Vietnam.
•
Under his administration, the U.S. would openly send combat troops into Vietnam
for the first time.
Thank You!