The Vietnam War was started as a result of the U.S. strategy of containment during the Cold War. This strategy was called containment because it would “contain” communism and keep it from spreading. Communism is when the government owns property and decides how people can use it. Vietnam was a French colony until 1954, which is when they signed a treaty at Geneva conference. Which temporarily separated the North communists from the South anti-communists, after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The French lost control of Vietnam around the end of the Korean War. Which left the country separated into the North or South Korea with China and USSR supported the North communist government. Then the U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower regarded Vietnam as Korea all over again and feared the whole Southeast Asia would fall into communism in a domino effect. Similar as to what had happened in Eastern Europe (Domino Theory). The loss of essential regional trading area would encourage others (Taiwan, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand) to compromise politically with communism. As a result, the US got involved with Vietnam to keep the South Vietnamese “domino” from falling.