what was vietnam war fought for?
Communism
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 The Vietnam War , was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( DRVN , DRV or North Vietnam ) and the Republic of Vietnam ( RVN or South Vietnam ) , which eventually involved their respective allies . In 1959 , the United States sent military advisors to train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . By 1965 , there were 25 @,@ 000 military advisors in South Vietnam and on March 8 , 1965 , the United States Marines became the first US combat troops to land in South Vietnam , with a force of 3 @,@ 500 . 

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 The Vietnam War , was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( DRVN , or North Vietnam ) and the Republic of Vietnam ( RVN , or South Vietnam ) , which eventually involved their respective allies including the United States . 

neutral
 The Vietnam War ( 1955 – 1975 ) was an important issue on college campuses across the United States in the 1960s and 1970s . As a belated response to Vietnam War protesters who believed that funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ) made the university part of the military – industrial complex , the Stanford Research Institute split from Stanford University in 1970 . The organization subsequently changed its name from the Stanford Research Institute to SRI International in 1977 . 

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 Following World War II , the communist @-@ dominated Vietminh fought the French colonial forces in an attempt to gain Vietnamese independence . After the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 , Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel , pending national reunification elections in 1956 . The elections were canceled , resulting in the long @-@ term existence of communist North Vietnam and anti @-@ communist South Vietnam as separate states . In the late @-@ 1950s , South Vietnamese guerrillas known as the Viet Cong — covertly supported by North Vietnam — began an insurgency with the aim of forcefully reunifying the country under communist rule . With the Cold War at its height , the United States — the main backer of South Vietnam — sent military advisers into the country to help train and guide the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) in their fight against the Vietcong . By 1964 , there were 23 @,@ 000 American military personnel in the country . The communists viewed the Americans as colonizers and the South Vietnamese as their puppets , and attacked both with force . 

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 The struggle was complicated by the influence and actions of the allies of the two warring sides . People 's Army of Vietnam ( North Vietnamese Army ) involvement was designed to protect its Base Areas and sanctuaries in eastern Cambodia , without which the prosecution of its military effort in South Vietnam would have been more difficult . The Cambodian coup of 18 March 1970 put a pro @-@ American , anti @-@ Vietnamese government in power and ended Cambodia 's neutrality in the Vietnam War . The North Vietnamese Army ( PAVN ) was now threatened by a newly unfriendly Cambodian government . 
