What was one of the primary causes of the Vietnam War?

The primary cause of the Vietnam War was the United States' policy of containment regarding communism. After World War II, the U.S. adopted a strategy to prevent the spread of communism, which was seen as a threat to democracy and capitalism. This concern was heightened by the domino theory, which suggested that if one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, others would follow. As a result, the U.S. became involved in Vietnam, initially supporting the French colonial forces and later backing the South Vietnamese government against the communist North led by Ho Chi Minh.

This commitment to stop the spread of communism was based on broader geopolitical concerns during the Cold War, which led the U.S. to engage militarily in Vietnam after initial political and financial support was deemed insufficient. Such a response aligned with the global strategy of containing communist influences, marking it as a defining factor in the escalation of the Vietnam War.

In comparison to other choices, while economic opportunities, desires for independence, and support for Soviet policies played roles in the broader context of the conflict, they were secondary to the overarching goal of containing communism as articulated by U.S. policy at the time.