Why the partition of Vietnam?

Question

Why was vietnam separated on parallel 17? What was the purpose? Who decided this? I would like to know why if the country was already united. thanks.

Answer 1

Vietnam was a French colony until about 1954, when independence fighters led by Ho Chi Minh fought them out and forced them to withdraw. The French, to patch over their defeat, created a separate state in South Vietnam, over which they retained partial control, in order to (a) keep some control of the territory and (b) keep the communist Viet Minh from getting control. When, later, the French interest in Vietnam was sort of "passed" into American hands, the U.S. continued the practice, supporting the dictator Ngo Dinh Diem (until he proved to be an idiot and they assassinated him in 1963).

Note that there probably wasn't much of a mandate for this. The "Vietnam War" was fought largely in the south. The "Viet Cong" or National Liberation Front (NLF) was composed mostly of SOUTHERN fighters, though later they had assistance from the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). So the government in the south was not well-supported and was really always seen as a tool of colonialists, first the French, then the Americans.

Answer 2

Ho chi minh monopolised the anti-French resistance by killing all the leaders of the other fractions and/or selling them to the Japanese occupiers (and later the French secret police). Nevertheless enough people knew that to be less than overjoyed at the prospect of having Ho as the dictator.

After the cease fire was signed between Ho and the French the Vietnam part of French Indochina (created originally from 3 separate kingdoms) was divided "temporarily" at the 17 th paralel- the french were on the south (and evacuating) while the north went to Ho. It was intended to make free elections after the completion of the ceasefire- however in that period Ho exterminated all other opposition movements in the North. Only about 200 000 Christians managed to emigrate to the South- everybody else got the bullet or toed the line. In these conditions elections would be a farce- a contest between a democracy in the south and a totalitarian regime in the North.

The South decided to go off alone (a major part of the opinion was made by the ex-northern refugees). Hochi minh responded by invading the south. Since he did not have the military power at first, he used infiltrators and they in turn tortured, blackmailed or brainwashed people into support.

Mind you, the southern society was pretty unequal, but it was still heaven as compared to the north. except that in the south protests were heard, while in the north the protesters were swiftly executed.

After a "insurgency" beginning, Ho chi minh began sending whole divisions of North Vietnamese Army (conscripts) into the south. That is the time Kennedy (JFK) got the US involved in the war.

In the end, Ho chi minh lost the war, but managed to turn the tables on the US on the "home front" propaganda. Essentially the US withdrew and left South Vietnam not only alone, but also cut off from all aid and supplies. North Vietnam attacked and got beaten off by South Vietnam. Since no sanctions followed, NVA rearmed (Supplies from the USSR and China) and attacked again. By that time the RVN troops had nothing to fight them off with.

After the South was conquered, some 4 milion people were murdered by the Northern secret police in "re-education camps"

And they are still being murdered.