One of the most gruesome wars in the history of the world, the Vietnam War was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam in the mid-20th century. The war started in Vietnam, and eventually spread to the neighboring nations of Cambodia and Laos. While North Vietnam was supported by its communist allies, South Vietnam got support from the United States of America and other anti-communist nations of the world. The Vietnam War is best remembered for the employment of guerrilla warfare techniques on a massive scale.
Each of the sides involved in Vietnam War had their vested interests to do so - for North Vietnam, this was a colonial war against South Vietnam which the North Vietnamese believed was a puppet in the hands of the United States. It was kind of a continuation of the earlier colonial war against France, which was again backed by the United States. The United States, on the other hand, got involved in this war as a part of their Containment policy, as per which the American government intended to curb the spread of communism by resorting to military, economic and diplomatic strategies.
Vietnam War (1955-1975)
The Vietnam War was fought between 1st November, 1955, and 15th May, 1975, in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It was one of the most intense wars of the 20th century, which resulted in more than 2 million deaths and scores of injuries on both sides. Basically, the involvement of the United States military forces in Vietnam began in early 1950s and started intensifying in course of time. In 1961, the number of US combat troops in Vietnam was increased to thrice the size, and the same process was repeated in 1962. By 1965, the war had crossed over the borders, and reached neighboring nations of Laos and Cambodia. The brutalities of this war reached its peak with Tet Offensive which began on January 31, 1968.
After the Tet Offensive, the U.S. administration under the leadership of President Richard Nixon came up with a policy they termed Vietnamization. It hinted at the new role of the US military troops in Vietnam. As per this policy it was decided that the U.S. soldiers would train the South Vietnamese soldiers. The policy also highlighted the fact that involvement of the U.S. combat troops in the Vietnam War would be reduced gradually. In 1973, both the sides signed the Paris Peace Accord, in a bid to stop the ongoing conflict and bring about peace in Vietnam. It also restricted the involvement of U.S. troops in the Vietnam War. The Paris Peace Accord did help is stopping the war between North and South Vietnam for some time, but the conflict resumed soon after.
Yet another crucial moment in the Vietnam War timeline came on 15th August, 1973, when the U.S. Congress passed the Case-Church Amendment, which restricted the deployment of U.S. troops in Vietnam without the approval of Congress. The Vietnam War finally came to an end on 30th April, 1975, when the North Vietnamese army captured Saigon. The last of the U.S. involvement in this war came on 15th May, 1975, when the U.S. Marines got into a direct conflict with the Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia. The War did stop, but it was only after millions of soldiers from both the sides, including 58,159 U.S. soldiers, lost their lives.
After the war, North Vietnam carried out the dissolution of South Vietnam. The following year marked the unification of Vietnam under the North Vietnamese government. The war resulted in Communist government coming to power in the neighboring nations of Cambodia and Laos and withdrawal of the American forces from Indochina.
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