ABSTRACT
The Vietnam War provoked global controversy. By the late 1960s opposition to the Vietnam War crossed national, class, and gender lines, not just in the United States, but internationally. Beginning in 1960, nationalist–communist forces renewed their efforts to unify Vietnam. When the United States and its allies realized that the forces led by Ho Chi Minh would prevail, they decided to intervene more forcefully. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was another close ally of the United States, although unlike Australia, West Germany did not contribute militarily to the Vietnam War. Japan, was a staunch Cold War ally of the United States, and while it did not commit troops to or directly support the war in Vietnam, Japan was in many respects a "silent partner" of the American intervention in Vietnam. In 1969, stung by rebellions, both militarily and domestically, the United States began withdrawing its forces from Vietnam.
