VIETNAM WAR: COMBATANTS, CAUSES, DEVELOPMENT, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Vietnam War was a warlike confrontation between South Vietnam and North Vietnam. The country had been divided after the Indochina war. The south adopted a capitalist system, while the north came under a communist government. Attempts at reunification were boycotted by the South Vietnamese.

The conflict began in 1955 as a civil war in South Vietnam between the government, which enjoyed US support, and the guerrillas, which had North Vietnamese help. In 1964, the United States actively entered the war, which ended in 1975 with the victory of North Vietnam.

US Marines in Vietnam (July 1966) - Source: Unknown United States Marine

The North Vietnamese side, which enjoyed help from the Soviet Union and China, opted for guerrilla warfare that was impossible to defeat. Not even the strength of the American army was able to put an end to the resistance and, furthermore, the war met with great internal opposition in the United States itself.

The end of the war allowed the reunification of Vietnam under the communist rule of the north. The 20 years of conflict caused a large number of victims. The use of chemical weapons by the Americans not only caused many casualties, but significantly affected the environment in the area, in addition to seriously polluting farmland.

Background

«Alpha» 1st tank, 1968. In the north of the Perfume river near the Citadel.

In the mid-19th century, in the midst of the European race to colonize territories, the French Emperor Napoleon III took advantage of the murder of some religious from his country to invade Vietnam. Already at that time, it met with fierce local resistance.

French control over Vietnam lasted until World War II. In 1941, Japan invaded Vietnamese territory and drove out the French. The only force that stood up to the Japanese was the guerrilla led by Ho Chi Minh.

After the end of the war and the Japanese defeat, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independence under the name of the Republic of Indochina. However, he only controlled the north of the country. France, a former colonial power, refused to grant independence.

Indochina War

At first, a front formed by nationalists and communists called the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) was created.

Within the Viet Minh there were the supporters of Ho Chi Minh, who preferred to await events, and those of Vo Nguyen Giap, who were committed to fighting against the French. Finally, in 1946, the so-called Indochina War broke out.

France found support among the Vietnamese monarchists. However, the government in Paris, fresh out of World War II, did not want to send recruits and spend too many resources on the conflict. For this reason, they asked the United States for help to buy weapons.

US President Harry S. Truman gave a figure that, in 1950, accounted for 15% of military spending. Just four years later, President Eisenhower raised that figure to 80% of expenses. In addition, in 1950, the United States recognized the government established in Saigon and that it was contrary to the theses of Ho Chi Minh and his own.

Despite American funding, France was defeated by Vietnamese forces. After the defeat suffered at Dien Bien, the French had to agree to a conference to negotiate the conditions that would put an end to the conflict. The conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland in 1954.

Country Division

Representatives from Vietnam, from both the north and south, attended the Geneva Conference. Similarly, delegates from France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, Laos, Cambodia and the United States were also present.

According to the final agreement, France was to withdraw from all of Indochina and Vietnam would be temporarily divided into two countries: North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Likewise, the date of future joint elections to unify the country was decided: 1956.

However, the Cold War was in its infancy. The United States feared the spread of communism and Vietnam became a key player in preventing it. He soon began to support South Vietnam militarily and sponsored covert actions against the North Vietnamese.

In 1955, through a referendum labeled by some historians as a true coup, it resulted in the removal of the South Vietnamese ruler, Bao-Dai, and the coming to power of Ngo Dinh Diem. At that time the creation of the Republic of South Vietnam was proclaimed.

The government of Ngo Dinh Diem, with US support, was a true dictatorship. In addition, one of his first decisions was to annul the elections scheduled for 1956 that were to unify the country, since the victory of the communist parties was feared.

Resistance against Ngo Dinh Diem

The South Vietnamese government soon faced resistance from the population. On the one hand, there was no awareness of being an independent country and, on the other, the enormous corruption caused the unpopularity of Ngo Dinh Diem.

Another factor that generated antipathy towards the government was the large number of Catholics in its composition, since the majority of the country was Buddhist. The authorities used force to repress the Buddhists, who protested even burning themselves in the street.

All this environment led to the emergence of an organized resistance movement. This was the germ of the National Liberation Front of Vietnam, better known as the Viet Cong. Although they were not its only members, there was a prominent presence of communists.

North Vietnam began supporting the southern resistance by handing over weapons and supplies.

For its part, the United States provided the Diem government with aid worth $ 1.2 billion. In addition, Eisenhower sent 700 military advisers. His successor, Kennedy, maintained the same policy.

Fighters

The war pitted North Vietnam and South Vietnam against each other. The latter country also went through a civil war in the first phase of the conflict.

On the other hand, as would happen throughout the Cold War, each side received the support of various countries according to their political orientation.

The Vietcong

Cinema has made the name Vietcong popular, but in reality the organization's actual name was Vietnam National Liberation Front (Vietnam Cộng-sản in their language).

The Vietcong had a presence in South Vietnam and Cambodia and had its own army: the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF). It was this that faced the South Vietnamese and American soldiers during the war.

In addition to the regular units, the Vietcong had forces prepared for guerrilla warfare, a decisive factor given the characteristics of the terrain where they fought. Most of its members came from South Vietnam itself, but they also attracted recruits linked to the North Vietnamese army.

North Vietnamese Army

The regular army of North Vietnam officially entered the conflict a few years after it started. In 1960 it had about 200,000 men and they had great experience in guerrilla warfare.

South Vietnamese Army

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam consisted of about 150,000 men. In principle, it vastly outnumbered the Vietcong and the first units sent from North Vietnam.

However, this circumstance was misleading. Desertions were very numerous: almost 132,000 in 1966 alone. According to experts, he did not have the necessary power to confront his enemies.

North Vietnam Props

China, also with a communist government, was the first country to announce its support for North Vietnam. Later, other countries of the communist orbit also lent their collaboration, such as the Soviet Union, North Korea, East Germany or Cuba.

In addition to these countries, North Vietnam also received support from the Cambodian Khmer Rouge or the Lao Communists.

South Vietnam Supports

Without a doubt, the main support that South Vietnam received came from the United States. From this country they received funds, material and advisers. Later, the Americans will send their own contingents of troops.

Apart from the US, North Vietnam was supported by South Korea, the Philippines, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan or Spain.

U.S

In the early years of the conflict, the United States limited itself to sending war materiel, money, and what it called military advisers to support the South Vietnamese government.

However, by 1964, the war was clearly moving towards the North Vietnamese side, prompting the US government, led by Johnson, to send troops to the field. Almost half a million soldiers were fighting in South Vietnam in 1967.

Causes

The Indochina War not only involved Vietnam and France. Within the first country, two quite clear ideological camps appeared and, in addition, the United States collaborated with the French, first, and with the South Vietnamese, later.

Breaches of the agreements signed in Geneva

The agreements signed in Geneva to end the Indochina War marked the temporary division of the country. According to what was negotiated, in 1956 elections were to be held to reunify it.

However, the South Vietnamese government feared the victory of the communist forces and decided to annul the voting and proclaim the independence of the Republic of South Vietnam. Western countries supported this breach of the treaty.

Attempt to remove the government of South Vietnam

The government of South Vietnam, led by Diem, implemented a policy of repression against its rivals. As early as 1955, arrests and executions of Communists and Buddhists were frequent. This, together with the prevailing great corruption, caused the outbreak of a civil war.

Cold War

After World War II, the world was divided into two camps. On the one hand, the United States and Western countries. On the other, the Soviet Union and its communist allies. Thus began the so-called Cold War, an indirect struggle between the two great powers to expand their power.

In the United States, the Cold War sparked the emergence of two geopolitical theories: the Containment Doctrine and the Domino Theory. The latter had a lot to do with US support for South Vietnam and its subsequent entry into the war.

According to the Domino Theory, if Vietnam finally became a communist country, the rest of the nations in the region would follow the same fate.

Development

Although armed clashes within South Vietnam began in 1955, it was not until 1959 that the conflict escalated.

That year, various groups opposed to the South Vietnamese government (communists, former anti-colonial guerrillas, peasants, Buddhists, and others) came together to form the National Liberation Front.

His first goal was to bring down the authoritarian government of Ngo Dinh Diem. In addition, they sought the reunification of the country. One of his best-known mottos was "We will fight for a thousand years," which showed his determination to fight.

Civil war in South Vietnam

The first years of conflict were basically a civil war in South Vietnam. The Vietcong militants opted for guerilla tactics, in which they had a lot of experience after using them during the Indochina War.

During this period, the insurgents attacked military bases, such as Bien Hoa, where the first Americans were killed. However, their main target was local leaders who were pro-Saigon government.

North Vietnam, for its part, took several years to recover from the war against the French. Finally, in 1959, they began shipping supplies and weapons to their Vietcong allies. For this they used the so-called Ho Chi Minh Route, a network of roads, tunnels and variants that reached the south through Cambodia and Laos.

For its part, the regular army of South Vietnam proved to be rather ineffective in fighting the guerrillas. Its soldiers had little training, the means were scarce and, to top it all, there was great corruption among its officers.

To try to fix those problems, the Americans sent military advisers to train the South Vietnamese, in addition to providing weapons.

Coup in South Vietnam

The change of president in the United States did not imply any change in his policy. The new president, John F. Kennedy, promised to continue sending arms, money and supplies to the government of South Vietnam.

However, the South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, was in serious trouble. He was an ultra-conservative and authoritarian politician and even on his side they were not well regarded. Finally, in 1961, the United States supported a coup against him after sending 16,000 more military advisers.

His successor in the presidency was Van Thieu, although from that moment the political instability was constant.

North Vietnamese Army Intervention

The victories achieved by the Vietcong against the ineffective South Vietnamese army had allowed the insurgents to control much of the territory. The entry into the war by the regular army of North Vietnam further increased its advantage.

The Hanoi government sent soldiers in the summer of 1964. With the help of China and the Soviet Union, the goal was to conquer all of South Vietnam.

Despite North Vietnamese military superiority, the South Vietnamese government managed to hold out. His army was losing ground, but was helped by mistrust between the Vietcong and their North Vietnamese allies. Similarly, not all the inhabitants of the south were happy to see the establishment of a communist government.

United States and its advisers

During the 1960s, the United States had suffered some casualties in isolated clashes. This phase, called the "advisers stage," was marked by the presence of US advisers theoretically dedicated to training the South Vietnamese soldiers and maintaining their aircraft.

According to these advisers, the US military did not have permission to engage in combat. Despite this, on many occasions they ignored this prohibition.

By 1964, these advisers confirmed to the Washington government that the war was being won by its enemies. According to their reports, 60% of South Vietnam was in the hands of the Vietcong and it was not expected that the situation could be reversed.

Gulf of Tonkin incident

As it became known later, the decision of the United States to enter the war had already been made. It was only necessary to find a pretext for it.

Two clashes between ships from North Vietnam and the United States were the cause the United States needed. These confrontations have received the name of Incident of the Gulf of Tonkin and took place on August 2, 1964, the first, and on August 4 of the same year, the second.

Documents declassified by the US government have shown that at least the second attack never existed. There are more doubts about whether the first confrontation was real or caused by the Americans themselves, but the evidence seems to lean towards the second option.

President Lyndon Johnson, who had succeeded Kennedy after his assassination, presented a proposal to Congress to become more directly involved in the conflict. The vote approved the presidential petition. From that moment on, the US began a campaign of intense bombing and sent almost half a million soldiers to South Vietnam.

Operation Rolling Thunder

Lyndon Johnson authorized the start of Operation Rolling Thunder on March 2, 1965. This consisted of bombing North Vietnamese facilities by 100 fighter-bombers, each loaded with 200 tons of bombs. In addition, that same month, 60,000 soldiers were displaced to the Dan Nang base.

In those first moments, public opinion in the United States was in favor of participating in the war, although some opposing voices have already appeared.

On the other hand, the United States had not formally declared war on North Vietnam, so, according to international law, the situation was not at all clear.

The bombings caused extensive damage to the transport routes, crop fields and industrial centers of the two Vietnams. They also produced an enormous number of deaths. According to estimates, one million civilians died from it. However, neither the Vietcong nor the North Vietnamese Army gave up their fight.

Effects of the bombings

The bombardments started by the Americans had the opposite effect to that desired. Although they managed to destroy many infrastructure, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong used them to reinforce nationalist sentiment and resistance.

On the other hand, news of the casualties caused public opinion in the United States to begin to change. In the following years, the protests were identified and the Vietnam War became highly unpopular.

In late March 1965, Johnson halted air strikes against civilians in North Vietnam. The government of that country reacted positively. This allowed peace talks to begin in Paris in May. The result was negative and the war continued.

Ia Drang Valley

The first direct confrontation between US and North Vietnamese soldiers occurred in the Ia Drang Valley. The battle took place in November 1965 and prevented the North Vietnamese from taking over several cities.

The confrontation resulted in 1,500 North Vietnamese and 234 American casualties. Despite the end result, North Vietnam declared that it had won.

American optimism

Despite the casualties suffered and the growing demonstrations against the war, the US high command considered that the conflict was on the right track. During the previous years they had achieved victory in several battles, although guerrilla actions did not diminish.

Intelligence reports announced a possible major offensive by the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army, but analysts did not consider them to be very reliable.

The site of Khe Sanh

The offensive announced by intelligence sources began on January 21, 1968. On that day, divisions of the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong troops began to bombard the Khe Sanh base with force. It was besieged for 77 days, causing concern among Americans at the possibility of losing it.

The efforts to maintain control of the base were enormous. First, by sending planes with supplies. Later, when the landings were impossible, they used parachutes so that they would not lack supplies.

In addition, the Americans massively shelled the positions of their enemies and sent 30,000 troops to the area. This caused that they had to leave without defenses to other localities, like Lang Vei, that fell into North Vietnamese hands.

Finally, the site of the base was broken after an attack on the North Vietnamese positions in which napalm bombs were used. Interestingly, the base was abandoned on July 5, drawing strong criticism after having wasted so many resources to maintain it.

Tet offensive

At the end of January 1968, during the holiday of Tet (the Vietnamese New Year), a new offensive against the Americans and their allies took place.

North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces attacked 38 of the 52 capitals of South Vietnam. Many of them were conquered and Saigon was totally besieged. The American embassy in that city was attacked by a suicide squad.

The Americans and the South Vietnamese were caught off guard, despite intelligence reports warning of the operation. Despite this, to the surprise of almost everyone, the South Vietnamese soldiers resisted the attacks and even won some battles.

When the element of surprise wore off, the Americans used their airpower to sweep away the guerrillas. These suffered some 40,000 casualties and, in a few days, lost almost all the ground they had conquered.

Collapse of morale

Although the Tet offensive had been a victory for the Americans, the consequences for their morale were quite negative. After years of war, massive bombers and multiple casualties, they found that their enemies maintained their ability to attack effectively.

The war, moreover, was receiving more and more response within the United States. The protests were more and more numerous and intensified after the publication of the massacre committed by American soldiers in My Lai.

President Johnson chose not to run for reelection due to the unpopularity of the war and the fright caused by brutal military methods.

In June 1971, the publication in The New York Time of the so-called Pentagon Papers further worsened the political environment in the country. These documents proved that the US government had taken secret actions to provoke the North Vietnamese reaction and thus be able to enter the conflict.

Change of course

There is no consensus as to whether Johnson's decision to abandon the war came after the Tet Offensive or after the subsequent Battle of Hamburger Hill. At the time, most believed that the war was impossible to win, and although the US sent more troops in 1969, preparations for withdrawal began.

As noted, Johnson resigned from running for election again. His successor was Richard Nixon, who made the progressive withdrawal of troops a priority.

Other of his measures on the war were the maintenance of economic support to South Vietnam, trying to negotiate peace with North Vietnam and not extending the attacks to other countries.

This Nixon policy has been called the Vietnamization of the conflict. This consisted of turning the war into a confrontation between the Vietnamese and ending their internationalization.

Negotiations in Paris

The measures proposed by Nixon were only partially fulfilled. The Americans continued their bombing campaign in the following years, while the North Vietnamese continued to put up resistance.

Meanwhile, the peace talks had resumed in Paris. A first agreement between the United States and North Vietnam was not accepted by the South Vietnamese. This rupture marked a new bomber campaign: Operation Linebacker II. For 11 days, the US dropped 40,000 tons of bombs.

Nixon's presidential reelection paved the way. This included the withdrawal of US troops and the unification of both territories.

End of the war

The Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, caused the Vietnam War to fade into the background in the United States.

Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong had succeeded in taking most of the southern cities and besieging Saigon. The fall of South Vietnam was only a matter of time.

The South Vietnamese president, Thieu, accused the United States of leaving the country to its fate and went into exile. The Americans, for their part, organized the evacuation of Saigo through a plan called Operation Frequent Wind.

During April 1975, some 22,000 South Vietnamese who had collaborated with the Americans were evacuated by helicopters from the rooftops of the capital. The last marines, those who were in the embassy, ​​left Saigon when the North Vietnamese troops were entering its streets.

Consequences

As has been noted, Saigon fell into North Vietnamese hands in 1975. Vietnam was thus reunified, although the war had left it totally shattered.

Human casualties

The casualty figures, both civilian and military, make clear the severity of the conflict. Two million Vietnamese on both sides lost their lives and another three million were injured. In addition, several hundred thousand children were orphaned.

The war also caused the appearance of more than a million refugees, who were sent to more than 16 different countries. Half a million tried to escape Vietnam by sea, but 10-15% lost their lives en route.

Among the US troops the casualties were lower, although significant. The deceased totaled 57,685, in addition to 153,303 injured.

When the ceasefire was agreed, there were 587 prisoners of war. Although all were later released, some sources indicate that there are still some 2,500 missing persons.

National trauma in the United States

Beyond the significant number of casualties, the military defeat in Vietnam caused a real trauma in the United States. The great power had been defeated by a very inferior enemy and its pride was wounded. This, moreover, was a very important moral blow in the context of the Cold War.

On the other hand, the veterans of the war suffered multiple penalties when returning to their country. The so-called Vietnam syndrome appeared and many ex-combatants ended up on the streets or addicted to drugs.

The great internal response to the war also meant a great change in the mentality of the country. For the first time, the army was questioned in his own home.

Lastly, the work of the media, whose information on the atrocities committed and on the preparations for entering the conflict were essential for the population to take a position against it, was limited in future conflicts.

From that moment on, war journalists had to be embedded with military units so that the information was more controlled.

Effects of chemical weapons

The United States did not hesitate to use chemical weapons in its attacks in Vietnam. Having to face a guerrilla hiding in all the localities, the napalm killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, including children.

Another widely used product was called Agent Orange, which removed the plant cover. This defoliant devastated the cultivated fields, in addition to causing physical consequences in the inhabitants who had contact with the product.

Vietnam

For many leftist and anti-colonial movements around the world, Vietnam became a role model.

The country, in addition to having to rebuild almost completely, later went through several moments of tension with its neighbors. First, with China, since the Vietnamese government feared that it had annexationist pretensions.

However, the most serious conflict faced Cambodia. There, a communist faction called the Khmer Rouge had come to power, supported by China. Their genocidal practices soon provoked a confrontation with the Vietnamese government, pressured by its population.

Vietnam occupied Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1975. In 1979, China, an ally of the Cambodians, unsuccessfully attacked Vietnam, although it did succeed in getting the Vietnamese to leave Cambodia.

From that moment on, the situation in that area of ​​Asia began to relax. Vietnam, with its communist government, joined ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian States) and began to develop a very careful policy towards China.

Unlike what happened with North Korea, Vietnam and the United States re-established relations. In 2000, President Bill Clinton was received in the capital of his old enemy.

References

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