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The question of who won the Vietnam War has been a subject of debate, and the answer depends on the definition of victory. Those who argue that the United States won the war point to the fact that the U.S. defeated communist forces during most of Vietnam’s major battles.
- Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1954–75) was a conflict that pitted the...
- Vietnam War
Jul 19, 2024 · The Vietnam War (1954–75) was a conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. It was part of a larger regional conflict as well as a manifestation of the Cold War.
- Ronald H. Spector
- The United States had provided funding, armaments, and training to South Vietnam’s government and military since Vietnam’s partition into the commu...
- By nearly every metric, the Vietnam War was, in the common sense of the word, a war. The United States committed some 550,000 troops to the Vietnam...
- The question of who won the Vietnam War has been a subject of debate, and the answer depends on the definition of victory. Those who argue that the...
- In 1995 Vietnam released its official estimate of the number of people killed during the Vietnam War: as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides...
After failed attempts to negotiate, Vietnam invaded Democratic Kampuchea in 1978 and ousted the Khmer Rouge, who were being supported by China, in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. In response, China invaded Vietnam in 1979. The two countries fought a border war: the Sino-Vietnamese War.
- North Vietnamese victory
- Roots of The Vietnam War
- When Did The Vietnam War Start?
- The Viet Cong
- Domino Theory
- Gulf of Tonkin
- William Westmoreland
- Vietnam War Protests
- Tet Offensive
- Vietnamization
- My Lai Massacre
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Vietnam, a nation in Southeast Asia on the eastern edge of the Indochinese peninsula, had been under French colonial rule since the 19th century. During World War II, Japanese forces invaded Vietnam. To fight off both Japanese occupiers and the French colonial administration, political leader Ho Chi Minh—inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism—for...
The Vietnam War and active U.S. involvement in the war began in 1954, though ongoing conflict in the region had stretched back several decades. After Ho’s communist forces took power in the north, armed conflict between northern and southern armies continued until the northern Viet Minh’s decisive victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phuin May 1954. ...
With the Cold War intensifying worldwide, the United States hardened its policies against any allies of the Soviet Union, and by 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhowerhad pledged his firm support to Diem and South Vietnam. With training and equipment from American military and the CIA, Diem’s security forces cracked down on Viet Minh sympathizers in t...
A team sent by President John F. Kennedyin 1961 to report on conditions in South Vietnam advised a build-up of American military, economic and technical aid in order to help Diem confront the Viet Cong threat. Working under the “domino theory,” which held that if one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, many other countries would follow, Kenn...
A coup by some of his own generals succeeded in toppling and killing Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, in November 1963, three weeks before Kennedy was assassinatedin Dallas, Texas. The ensuing political instability in South Vietnam persuaded Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamarato further increase U.S. ...
In contrast to the air attacks on North Vietnam, the U.S.-South Vietnamese war effort in the south was fought primarily on the ground, largely under the command of General William Westmoreland, in coordination with the government of General Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. Westmoreland pursued a policy of attrition, aiming to kill as many enemy troops a...
By November 1967, the number of American troops in Vietnam was approaching 500,000, and U.S. casualties had reached 15,058 killed and 109,527 wounded. As the war stretched on, some soldiers came to mistrust the government’s reasons for keeping them there, as well as Washington’s repeated claims that the war was being won. The later years of the war...
By the end of 1967, Hanoi’s communist leadership was growing impatient as well, and sought to strike a decisive blow aimed at forcing the better-supplied United States to give up hopes of success. On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 DRV forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet Offensive(named for the lunar new year), a coordinated series o...
Nixon sought to deflate the anti-war movement by appealing to a “silent majority” of Americans who he believed supported the war effort. In an attempt to limit the volume of American casualties, he announced a program called Vietnamization: withdrawing U.S. troops, increasing aerial and artillery bombardment and giving the South Vietnamese the trai...
The next few years would bring even more carnage, including the horrifying revelation that U.S. soldiers had mercilessly slaughtered more than 400 unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai in March 1968. After the My Lai Massacre, anti-war protests continued to build as the conflict wore on. In 1968 and 1969, there were hundreds of protest marches...
Learn about the origins, course and consequences of the Vietnam War, a long and divisive conflict between communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam and its ally, the United States. The war ended with a communist victory in 1975, after claiming over 3 million lives and deeply affecting both countries and the world.
- Casualties in the Vietnam War. The U.S. suffered over 47,000 killed in action plus another 11,000 noncombat deaths; over 150,000 were wounded and 10,000 missing.
- North Vietnam, South Vietnam. Vietnam has a long history of being ruled by foreign powers, and this led many Vietnamese to see the United States’ involvement in their country as neo-colonialism.
- United States Military Advisors in Vietnam. The U.S., which had been gradually exerting influence after the departure of the French government, backed Diem in order to limit the area under communist control.
- American Military Involvement Escalates. American involvement began to escalate under President John F. Kennedy’s administration (January 1961–November 1963).
President Richard M. Nixon assumed responsibility for the Vietnam War as he swore the oath of office on January 20, 1969. He knew that ending this war honorably was essential to his success in the presidency.
Jul 3, 2019 · The Vietnam War ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces. The United States had withdrawn from the conflict in 1973 after signing the Paris Peace Accords, which failed to achieve a lasting peace.
