Monday in class when Shanil and Ed presented, one of my favourite moments was they mentioned the domino effect and showed this image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Domino_theory.png. I had never heard of the domino effect in terms of communism, so I decided to look up some information on it.
As it turns out, Eisenhower coined the term domino theory as justification for the Vietnam War. As the image shows, if Vietnam fell to communism, Laos would be next, and then Cambodia, an then Thailand… All the way to India—a major trading country with the US (more so now than in the Vietnam era, but nonetheless). Eisenhower even argued in 1954 that Communists would have a geographical advantage that would enable them to take over Japan, the Philippines, and even Australia.
Clearly the domino theory is applicable in terms of the Vietnam War; after 1975, South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were all “taken over” by Communism. Supporters of the domino theory claim that the US’s intervention in Indochina kept Communism from spreading further. Of course, at the same time Communism did not take hold in Thailand or Indonesia as Eisenhower predicted it might. Critics of the theory say that Communism was not a world force, and would not be able to spread beyond some fractured countries (after all, with both Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam had ambitions in those countries and outright attacked them until they could no longer defend themselves).
Personally, I think the domino theory is a bit too dramatic. Eisenhower used it as justification for Vietnam, and I have trouble imagining anything that could justify that war. When Germany first came under Nazi control, there was no domino effect. It took very aggressive actions on the part of the Germans before Poland came under Nazi control, and even afterwards Nazism would not have spread without some very deliberate and forceful work. (it’s not the perfect example, but it works.)
Any thoughts? Does the domino theory have any validity? Can you think of better examples than mine (I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to)?
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5 comments:
To find another example of the Domino Theory you can look to Eastern Europe. Those countries, just as Tess says the countries of Indochina did, only succumbed to communism because they were forced to (by the Soviet Union rather than Vietnam). But the mere fact that they did 'fall' to communism is proof that Eisenhower's fear of the Domino Theory was accurate. I'm not saying I support what the United States did in Indochina I'm simply saying that their is evidence to prove Eisenhower's phobia.
I personally think that there is some truth to the domino effect. First, revolutions and ideologies tend to spread when they are up and coming. During the time of the Vietnam War, communism was the "cool new thing" among political ideologies of nations.
What's more important is a government's decision to intervene or not. In this particular case, it occurs to me that Vietnam was more of a strain for this country than an aid to stopping global communism. I think we, as a free nation, have the responsibility to allow other nations to make their own decisions.
Tess interesting take on the Domino Theory. I think that Eisenhower had this theory to put fear into people's mind. Russia was the second most powerful nation durning this time and with weak countires surrounding Russia, they were able to spread the idea of Communism easily throughout Asia, and then eventually all of Europe. The Soviets believed that Communism would be loved by weak economical countries, the idea of all for one and one for all. That is why the Russians were so convident that Communism would role over the whole world
I don't think nazism and communism can really be compared under the same theory. Nazism is an ideology of hate, whereas communism is an ideology of equality. Even though it never works people want to be equal. Nazism thinks all non-blue eyed blond haired white people should go die. I don't think that's going to catch on
I kind of agree with Nick. Eisenhower did have some sort of a reason to be scared of this domino theory. Considering that the Soviet Union and the U.S were very edgy with each other then it wouldn't be too far fetched for him to imagine a hostile Communist take over. Perhaps now fighting over communism is stupid but I'm sure back then it seemed necessary.
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