Vietnam_War

Vietnam War Part of the Cold War A UH-1D helicopter climbs skyward after discharging a load of US infantrymen on a search and destroy mission. Date September 26, 1959[1] – April 30, 1975 Location South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos Result North Vietnamese victory Eventual communist takeover of South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Territorial changes Unification of North and South Vietnam Belligerents Anti-Communist forces: South Vietnam United States South Korea Australia Philippines New Zealand Khmer Republic Thailand Kingdom of Laos[citation needed] Republic of China Communist forces: North Vietnam Viet Cong Khmer Rouge Pathet Lao People's Republic of China Soviet Union North Korea Commanders Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Ngô Đình Diệm Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon William Westmoreland Creighton Abrams ...more Hồ Chí Minh Lê Duẩn Võ Nguyên Giáp Trần Văn Trà ...more Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) South Vietnam: ~650,000 United States: 553,000 (1968)[2] South Korea: 312,853,[3] New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines: 10,450[4] Australia: 49,968 (1962–1973)[5] ~520,000 (1968) North Vietnam: ~340,000 PRC: 170,000 (1969) Soviet Union: 3,000 North Korea: 300 Casualties and losses South Vietnam 220,357 dead;[6] 1,170,000 wounded US 58,159 dead;[6] 1,724 missing; 303,635 wounded[7] South Korea 4,960 dead; 10,962 wounded Kingdom of Laos 30,000 killed, wounded unknown [8] Australia 520 dead;[6] 2,400* wounded New Zealand 37 dead; 187 wounded Thailand 1,351 dead[6] Total dead: 315,831 Total wounded: ~1,490,000+ North Vietnam & NLF 1,176,000 dead/missing;[6] 600,000+ wounded[9] P.R. China 1,446 dead; 4,200 wounded Soviet Union 16 dead[10] Total dead: ~1,177,446 Total wounded: ~604,000+ South Vietnamese civilian dead: 1,581,000*[6] Cambodian civilian dead: ~700,000* North Vietnamese civilian dead: ~2,000,000[11] Laotian civilian dead: ~50,000* * = approximations, Vietnam 1945 to 1975: timeline 1945 - Viet Minh - a broad front of Vietnamese patriots and nationalists controlled by the Communist Party - seize power. Ho Chi Minh announces independence. 1946 - French forces attack Viet Minh in Haiphong in November sparking the war of resistance against France. 1950 - Democratic Republic of Vietnam is recognised by China and USSR. 1954 - At Geneva Conference Vietnam is split into North and South at the 17th Parallel. 1956 - South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem begins campaign against political dissidents. 1957 - Beginning of communist insurgency in the South. 1959 - Weapons and men from North Vietnam begin infiltrating the South. 1960 - American aid to Diem increased. 1962 - Number of US military advisors in South Vietnam rises to 12,000. 1963 - Viet Cong, the communist guerrillas operating in South Vietnam, defeat units of ARVN, South Vietnamese Army. President Diem overthrown. 1964 - US destroyer allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats. This triggers start of pre-planned American bombing raids on North Vietnam. 1965 - 200,000 American combat troops arrive in South Vietnam. 1966 - US troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 400,000, then to 500,000 the following year. 1968 - Tet Offensive - a combined assault by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army on US positions - begins. More than 500 civilians die in My Lai massacre. 1969 - President Nixon draws back US ground troops from Vietnam. 1970 - Nixon's National Security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho, for the Hanoi government, start talks in Paris. 1973 - Ceasefire agreement in Paris, US troop pull-out completed by March. 1975 - North Vietnamese troops invade South Vietnam and take control of the whole country after South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh surrenders. Reasons for outbreak: • To stop the spread of communism. • Ngo Dinh Diem had a corrupt government. • The US wanted to help France and South Vietnam • For the Vietnamese to become an independent nation (they had to fight the French who were supported by the U.S.) • The elections (promised by the Geneva Convention in July, 1954) were never held - Ho Chi Minh would have won • For the Vietnamese to unify the country (they had to fight the corrupt dictator Diem's corrupt regime - "South Vietnam) • The United States increased its military presence after the Gulf of Tonkin (a trumped-up incident which gained President Johnson the approval of Congress to fight an undeclared war) • After the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the Korean War in 1950, the U.S. drastically changed its foreign policy towards Asia • The "Domino Theory" (By the late 1950’s the Americans developed the “Domino Theory” as a justification for the involvement. This theory stated, “If South Vietnam falls to the Communist, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, India and Pakistan would also fall like dominos. The Pacific Islands and even Australia could be at risk”). • The American Government underestimated the will of the Vietnamese people to fight (they had fought the Chinese, and the French), the American people never understood the Vietnamese • After being denied assistance by the Western nations, such as the U.S., Vietnam accepted assistance from China and the Soviet Union (turning the conflict into a Cold War stand off between democracy and communism) • After World War II, the French wanted to regain control of Vietnam, which had been their colony. Most Vietnamese opposed this. The US needed France as an ally in Europe against the Soviet Union, so they supported the French. The Soviet Union supported the Viet Minh, a pro-communist Nationalist group. In 1954 The Viet Minh defeated the French, and the country was split into North and South zones, the Viet Minh ruling the North and Vietnamese elements of the French Colonial administration ruling the South. Originally there was to be an election in 1956 to re-unify the country but that was never held because, according to President Eisenhower, the Viet Minh would have gotten over 80% of the vote. Instead, the US created a separate government in South Vietnam to keep the Viet Minh from gaining control of the whole country. Results: The course of American History was drastically changed by the Vietnam War. The American policies on foreign affairs, domestic politics, and cultural and social history were greatly changed by this event: • On January 23, 1973 the United States and the North Vietnamese agreed to cease-fire arrangements. After this agreement the United States supplied only money to the South Vietnamese. • It was the first time the United States as a whole country had lost a war • Americans began to feel that other nations should determine their own destinies and that the United States should take a less active role in foreign policy. • Therefore they backed the colonial expansion French government after the war for fear of Ho Chi Minh and his communist group taking over. • In 1966 President Johnson lied about actions in Vietnam and because of this he lost favour with the American public. Therefore he did not seek re-election in 1968. • Before his injustices Americans had great trust in their leaders and in their government. After the exposure of this in the media Americans lost their innocence and henceforth the media became more of a watchdog in domestic politics. • Upon returning from Vietnam American soldiers received a cold welcome from the public. It stemmed from a deep hatred felt by many Americans for the war and the way it ended. This made many veterans feel alienated • Another problem faced by service people was exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange. • Veterans also suffered from PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) which is an emotional illness caused by a certain incident such as combat, and this causes great stress.