Library Guides: America's Wars, Causes of: Vietnam War

Terminology

Vietnam War
Viet-nam War
Vietnamese War
Vietnamese Conflict
Indo-China War (the broader Vietnam, Lao, and Cambodia v. France and the U.S War)
IndoChina War (the broader Vietnam, Lao, and Cambodia v. France and the U.S War)

Reference Sources

Dictionnaire de la Guerre d'Indochine : 1945-1954 by Jacques. Dalloz
ISBN: 9782200269258
Publication Date: 2006
General Collection DS 553.1 .D33 2006
Dictionary of the Vietnam War by James S. Olson (Editor)
ISBN: 0313249431
Publication Date: 1988-02-11
General Collection DS 557.7 .D53 1988
The focus of this historical dictionary is the deepening US military and political involvement in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the decades from 1945 to 1975.
Historical Dictionary of the Vietnam War by Edwin E. Moise
ISBN: 0810841835
Publication Date: 2001-12-17
General Collection DS 557.7 .M63 2001
The author highlights the essential elements, presenting significant military and political persons, battles and confrontations, weapons, places and events. The chronology traces the long course of the war and the introduction discusses the issues that have been and still are in dispute among historians. Also contains a bibliography, an index of names, and an index of operations.
The Vietnam War by James S. Olson
Call Number: General Collection DS 558 .V58 1993
ISBN: 0313274223
Publication Date: 1993-04-13
This one-volume major reference covers all genres of literature, primary and secondary sources, personal narratives and oral histories, fiction and non-fiction, popular accounts, expert studies of military strategy and operations, Indochinese studies, books about the involvement and role of women and blacks, and discussions about Indochinese refugees, prisoners of war, those missing in action, veterans and post-traumatic shock.
Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War by Spencer C. Tucker (Editor)
ISBN: 0874369835
Publication Date: 1998-09-18
Reference Collection [2nd Floor] DS 557.7 .E53 2000
The largest and most comprehensive study to date of one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history.
The Vietnam Experience by Kevin C. Hillstrom; Laurie Collier Hillstrom
ISBN: 0313301832
Publication Date: 1998-02-24
General Collection DS 557.73 .H55 1998
A concise encyclopedia of American literature, songs, and films.

Search Suggestions

Books, Videos, etc.

For books, etc. held by Notre Dame analyzing the causes of World War II use:

ND Catalog
Advanced Search
Subject
Is (exact)
and enter:
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Causes
OR
- Indochinese War, 1946-1954 -- Causes

Articles

For scholarly articles:

In one or more of the recommended article databases
Do a "keyword" search for:
- ("vietnam war" OR "viet-nam war" OR "vietnamese war OR "vietnamese conflict OR "indo-china war" OR "indochina war") AND (cause* OR origin OR origins)
If retrieval is too great or too small,
- limit search terms to title, subject or abstract,
- adjust search by adding or removing or modifying search terms, and/or
- limiting search results to "peer reviewed" or "refereed" articles.

For pre-war popular opinion & analysis:

In one or more of the recommended article databases
Do a "keyword" search for:
the names of countries and their foreign policy ("foreign relations") with each other such as:
- vietnam* AND (policy or relations) AND "united states"
- (france OR french) AND (policy or relations) AND vietnam*
- (china or chinese) AND (policy or relations) AND vietnam*
- ("vietnam* AND "democratic republic") OR ("democratic republic of vietnam" OR "north vietnam*") AND "united states"
- ("vietnam* AND republic) OR ("republic of vietnam" OR "south vietnam*") AND "united states"
- vietnam* AND "history 1945-1975"
- vietnam* AND "politics and government 1945-1975"
OR
Search for specific points of friction or events.
- Geneva Conference (1954)
Limit results to:
- 1945-1955
If retrieval is too great or too small,
- limit search terms to title, subject or abstract,
- adjust search by adding or removing or modifying search terms

For post war (1975-2018) popular opinion and analysis

In one or more of the recommended article databases
Do a "keyword" search for:
- ("vietnam war" OR "viet-nam war" OR "vietnamese war OR "vietnamese conflict OR "indo-china war" OR "indochina war") AND (cause* OR origin OR origins)
Limit results to:
- 1975 to 2018
If retrieval is too great or too small,
- limit search terms to title, subject or abstract,
- adjust search by adding or removing or modifying search terms, and/or
- limiting search results to "peer reviewed" or "refereed" articles.

Tip: Do not truncate (use the *) with origin. This will retrieve "original" material dealing with the actual conduct of the war rather than its causes. Therefore it may produce many irrelevant records.

Primary Sources

Published Document Collections

A Vietnam Reader by George D. Moss
ISBN: 0139466258
Publication Date: 1990-12-01
General Collection DS 557.4 .V56 1991
A collection of 61 important primary source documents used by all scholars of the Vietnam War.

Vietnam War Reader
A documentary history from American and Vietnamese perspectives

America in Vietnam by William Appleman Williams; Thomas McCormick (Editor); Lloyd C. Gardner; Walter LaFeber (Editor)
ISBN: 0393305554
Publication Date: 1989-05-17
General Collection DS 558 .A44 1989
Through a wide variety of documents--including newly opened presidential papers, congressional debates, military reports, treaties, and newspaper articles--the authors trace the origins of the war back to pre-World War II attitudes and then proceed through the development of the "domino theory" and the policies of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon to the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.
The Cold War in Asia by Jian Chen
Publication Date: 1996
General Collection DS 518.1 .C64 1996
Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Vietnam Documents by George Katsiaficas
ISBN: 0873328973
Publication Date: 1992-06-27
General Collection DS 557.4 .V55 1992
Fifty documents, including Vietnam's declaration of independence in 1945, the final declaration of the 1954 Geneva Conference, CIA reports, US presidential addresses, anti-war leaflets, thoughts by Vietnamese and American intellectuals, and statements by the Vietnamese government and NLF.
Landmark Speeches on the Vietnam War by Gregory Allen Olson
ISBN: 9781603441810
Publication Date: 2010-02-23
General Collection DS 557.4 .L36 2010

Popular culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Rock and roll, counterculture, peace and protest contains original archival materials about popular culture in the U.S. and U.K. from 1950 to 1975. Topics include student protests, civil rights, consumerism, and the Vietnam War. The collection includes pamphlets, letters, government files, eye witness accounts, underground magazines, visual and video materials and ephemera and memorabilia.

See the "American Memory" project at Library of Congress Collections

For other collections of primary source held by Notre Dame search:

ND Catalog
Advanced Search
Subject
contains
and enter:
- (Vietnam* OR Indochin*) AND causes AND (sources OR documents)

Primary Sources: United Nations

1946 to date.
Use to identify pre-1968 documents. Once identified, search the ND Catalog for call number.
Provides UN document number for documents in the Hesburgh Library Microtext Collection (Lower Level) and for use with Interlibary Loan.

DAG Digital Library
Contains: Current digitized Security Council documents; digitized documents of other UN bodies;
links to other UN libraries and resources. Note: See especially "About Dag Depository" and its links to additional resources.