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4 days ago · The Vietnam War (1954–75) was a conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. It was part of a larger regional conflict as well as a manifestation of the Cold War.
- The U.S. Role Grows
To the new administration of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy, who...
- Fall of Saigon
Vietnam War - Fall, Saigon, US Withdrawal: In early March...
- French Rule, Division, Conflict
The Vietnam War had its origins in the broader Indochina...
- My Lai Massacre
My Lai, a subdivision of Son My village, was located in the...
- Indochina Wars
Indochina wars, 20th-century conflicts in Vietnam, Laos, and...
- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson put the Gulf of Tonkin...
- Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a complex naval event in the...
- Diem Regime, Viet Cong, Conflict
Summarize This Article The Diem regime and the Viet Cong....
- Tet Brings The War Home
By 1967 growing numbers of Americans were becoming...
- The U.S. Role Grows
Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975, while the 1975 spring offensive saw the Fall of Saigon to the PAVN, marking the end of the war. North and South Vietnam were reunified on 2 July the following year. The war exacted enormous human cost: estimates of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 970,000 to 3 million.
- Roots of The Vietnam War
- When Did The Vietnam War Start?
- The Viet Cong
- Domino Theory
- Gulf of Tonkin
- William Westmoreland
- Vietnam War Protests
- Tet Offensive
- Vietnamization
- My Lai Massacre
Vietnam, a nation in Southeast Asia on the eastern edge of the Indochinese peninsula, had been under French colonial rule since the 19th century. During World War II, Japanese forces invaded Vietnam. To fight off both Japanese occupiers and the French colonial administration, political leader Ho Chi Minh—inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism—for...
The Vietnam War and active U.S. involvement in the war began in 1954, though ongoing conflict in the region had stretched back several decades. After Ho’s communist forces took power in the north, armed conflict between northern and southern armies continued until the northern Viet Minh’s decisive victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phuin May 1954. ...
With the Cold War intensifying worldwide, the United States hardened its policies against any allies of the Soviet Union, and by 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhowerhad pledged his firm support to Diem and South Vietnam. With training and equipment from American military and the CIA, Diem’s security forces cracked down on Viet Minh sympathizers in t...
A team sent by President John F. Kennedyin 1961 to report on conditions in South Vietnam advised a build-up of American military, economic and technical aid in order to help Diem confront the Viet Cong threat. Working under the “domino theory,” which held that if one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, many other countries would follow, Kenn...
A coup by some of his own generals succeeded in toppling and killing Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, in November 1963, three weeks before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The ensuing political instability in South Vietnam persuaded Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamarato further increase U.S....
In contrast to the air attacks on North Vietnam, the U.S.-South Vietnamese war effort in the south was fought primarily on the ground, largely under the command of General William Westmoreland, in coordination with the government of General Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. Westmoreland pursued a policy of attrition, aiming to kill as many enemy troops a...
By November 1967, the number of American troops in Vietnam was approaching 500,000, and U.S. casualties had reached 15,058 killed and 109,527 wounded. As the war stretched on, some soldiers came to mistrust the government’s reasons for keeping them there, as well as Washington’s repeated claims that the war was being won. The later years of the war...
By the end of 1967, Hanoi’s communist leadership was growing impatient as well, and sought to strike a decisive blow aimed at forcing the better-supplied United States to give up hopes of success. On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 DRV forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet Offensive(named for the lunar new year), a coordinated series o...
Nixon sought to deflate the anti-war movement by appealing to a “silent majority” of Americans who he believed supported the war effort. In an attempt to limit the volume of American casualties, he announced a program called Vietnamization: withdrawing U.S. troops, increasing aerial and artillery bombardment and giving the South Vietnamese the trai...
The next few years would bring even more carnage, including the horrifying revelation that U.S. soldiers had mercilessly slaughtered more than 400 unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai in March 1968. After the My Lai Massacre, anti-war protests continued to build as the conflict wore on. In 1968 and 1969, there were hundreds of protest marches...
Sep 13, 2017 · The Vietnam War started in the 1950s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the 1800s.
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The Vietnam War pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the United States. The war ended when U.S. forces withdrew in 1973 and Vietnam unified under...
Jul 3, 2019 · The Vietnam War ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon. With the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973, the United States ended its direct involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1974, North Vietnam began offensive operations against South Vietnam.
Ending the Vietnam War, 1969–1973. President Richard M. Nixon assumed responsibility for the Vietnam War as he swore the oath of office on January 20, 1969. He knew that ending this war honorably was essential to his success in the presidency.
