Vietnam War?

Question

truthfully history is probably my worst subject...I need information on the vietnam war, why was the cause, what happened...just a breif summary really...
Please help!!!! thank u!

Answer 1

The Vietnam War was a war fought between 1964 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos, and in bombing runs over North Vietnam.

Fighting on one side was a coalition of forces including the United States, the Republic of Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Fighting on the other side was a coalition of forces including the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the National Liberation Front, a communist-led South Vietnamese guerrilla movement.

The USSR provided military aid to the North Vietnamese and to the NLF, but was not one of the military combatants.

The war was part of a larger regional conflict involving the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos, known as the Second Indochina War. In Vietnam, this conflict is known as the American War (Vietnamese Chiến Tranh Chống Mỹ Cứu Nước, which translates into English as "War Against the Americans and to Save the Nation").

In many ways the Vietnam War was a direct successor to the French Indochina War, which is sometimes referred to as the First Indochina War, when the French fought to maintain control of their colony in Indochina against an independence movement led by Communist Party leader Ho Chi Minh.

Citing progress in peace negotiations, On January 15, 1973 President Nixon ordered a suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam which was later followed by the unilateral withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam. The Paris Peace Accords were later signed on January 27, 1973 which officially ended US involvement in the Vietnam conflict.

The peace agreements signed at the Paris Peace Accords did not last for very long. In early 1975 the North invaded the South and quickly consolidated the country under its control. Saigon fell on April 30, 1975. North Vietnam united North and South Vietnam on July 2, 1976 to form the "Socialist Republic of Vietnam". Hundreds of supporters of the South Vietnamese government were executed, thousands more were imprisioned. Saigon was immediately re-named to "Ho Chi Minh City", in honor of the former president of North Vietnam. Communist rule continues in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the present day.

Answer 2

The Vietnam war can be looked at as spanning from 1946-1975 (First Indo-china war 1946-1954, second indo-china war 1963-1975). The first was fought against the former colonial master France and the second against the United States and allies. All of Indo-china (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) were not spared from the ravages of this war. All three countries fell to communist regimes roughly at the same time. Post 1975 Indo-china was indeed a mess.

From a Vietnamese perspective the Vietnam war was fought over nationalism, self-determination and the idea of reunifying Vietnam into a single country. Communism was a rising trend in politics and furthermore the Vietnamese had felt betrayed at Versallies (they didn't gain independance and the call for self determination for all peoples fell on deaf ears) and later after WWII (they called on the United States to help them secure their independance...Truman gave the French the green light to retake their "possesions")

From an American perspective it was fought over halting the spread of communism and preventing the domino theory (i.e. if Vietnam falls then the whole of Southeast Asia will fall as well) from taking effect and enforcing containment.

It is important to note that the United States military won every single major engagement of the war and yet the NVA and Viet Cong still prevailed. Even with all the technological advances of the United States military they could not defeat the will of the Vietnamese people. After the pull out of American forces in 1973 the NVA stepped up their military actions and eventually defeated the south in april of 1975.

Answer 3

You are not alone - there are dozens of people who come here and ask the very same question. A brief summary will still not answer many of the questions as to why the war was fought, who fought in this war, and what happened...!
I think kimison has written a very objective and brief summary. I would just like to add for the people of Vietnam (many people here ignore them when they answer this question) the 30-year war concluded in 1975 and finally unified the country which was only divided by other nations to solve a political problem.

Answer 4

2 Sep 1945 - April 1975 and you pick 0.5 a internet site? you're conscious there have been 3??????? or are you a member of the lavatory Kerry fantasy club? SSG US military seventy 3-80 two A time line would be got here across at decrease than. the different 2 are purely fantasy busters. Chuq Mung Nam Moi (Chuke Mung Num Moyee)

Answer 5

Vietnam was a French Colony and they were trying to put down a civil war. When France pulled out the US got involved. We wont know the truth for about another 10 years when the restrictions on government infor is released

Answer 6

Here's a website http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/vietnamwar/summary.html

Answer 7

The best source that I get all my information from is wikipedia. This site is the absolute best! :)

Hope this helps!