Summary:
The Vietnam War occurred in
present-day Vietnam, Southeast Asia. It represented a successful
attempt on the part of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North
Vietnam, DRV) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Viet
Cong) to unite and impose a communist system over the entire nation.
Opposing the DRV was the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam, RVN),
backed by the United States. The war in Vietnam occurred during the
Cold War, and is generally viewed as an indirect conflict between the
United States and Soviet Union, with each nation and its allies
supporting one side.
When was the Vietnam War?:
The
most commonly used dates for the conflict are 1959-1975. This period
begins with North Vietnam's first guerilla attacks against the South and
ends with the fall of Saigon. American ground forces were directly
involved in the war between 1965 and 1973.
Causes:
The
Vietnam War first began in 1959, five years after the division of the
country by the Geneva Accords. Vietnam had been split into two, with a
communist government in the north under Ho Chi Minh and a democratic
government in the south under Ngo Dinh Diem. Ho launched a guerilla
campaign in South Vietnam, led by Viet Cong units, with the goal of
uniting the country under communist rule. The United States, seeking to
stop the spread of communism, trained the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam (ARVN) and provided military advisors to help combat the
guerillas. Causes of the Vietnam War
Americanization of the War:
In
August 1964, a US warship was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo
boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following this attack, Congress passed the
Southeast Asia Resolution which allowed President Lyndon Johnson to
conduct military operations in the region without a declaration of war.
On March 2, 1965, US aircraft began bombing targets in Vietnam and the
first troops arrived. Commanded by General William Westmoreland, US troops won victories over Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces around Chu Lai and in the Ia Drang Valley that summer. Americanization of the Vietnam War
The Tet Offensive :
Following
these defeats, the North Vietnamese avoided fighting conventional
battles and focused on engaging US troops in small unit actions in the
sweltering jungles of South Vietnam. In January 1968, the North
Vietnamese and the Viet Cong launched the massive Tet Offensive.
Beginning with an assault on US Marines at Khe Sanh, the offensive
included attacks by the Viet Cong on cities throughout South Vietnam.
Though the North Vietnamese were beaten back with heavy casualties, Tet
shook the confidence of the American people and media who had thought
the war was going well. The Tet Offensive
Vietnamization:
As
a result of Tet, President Lyndon Johnson opted not to run for
reelection and was succeeded by Richard Nixon. Nixon's plan for ending
US involvement was to build up the ARVN so that they could fight the war
themselves. As this process of “Vietnamization” began, US troops
started to return home. The mistrust of the government that had begun
after Tet worsened with the release of news about US soldiers massacring
civilians at My Lai (1969), the invasion of Cambodia (1970), and the
leaking of the Pentagon Papers (1971). Vietnamization of the Vietnam War
End of the War and the Fall of Saigon:
The
withdrawal of US troops continued and more responsibility was passed to
the ARVN, which continued to prove ineffective in combat, often relying
on American support to stave off defeat. On January 27, 1974, a peace
accord was signed in Paris ending the conflict. By March of that year,
American combat troops had left the country. After a brief period of
peace, North Vietnam recommenced hostilities in late 1974. Pushing
through ARVN forces with ease, they captured the Saigon on April 30,
1975, forcing South Vietnam’s surrender and reuniting the country. The End of the Vietnam War
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