A Brief History of Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was birthed from the conflict that started between the French and Vietnamese in 1950. France colonized the Indochina region in the mid 1800s and had ruled there up until 1954, when they lost the first Indochina War. During this time communist China recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a government body proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh and defender against the French. Vietnam was then split into to "nations" through the Geneva Convention of 1954. North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China, while South Vietnam was backed by more democratic states namely the United States.

Dwight Eisenhower, president of the United States at the time, used South Vietnam as a counter revolutionary body against the communist party. Mainly through American funding, pseudo country received around a billion dollars in military aid and Ngo Dinh Diem, elected leader of the newly created country, put it to use by oppressing anyone who opposed him. Buddhist monks, suspected communists, college students, among others were among the victims of Diem's counter tactics against communism. Diem also set his sights on North Vietnam claiming they had been forcefully trying to take over its southern counterpart. Fighting escalated as the two sides fought for control. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of Vietnam took a slightly different approach. Their goal was to fight until the opposition no longer wanted to. The strategy relied on the war weariness of the United State's and South Vietnam's citizens to succeed.

In 1960, the Kennedy administration took over the White House bringing with them a different policy toward Vietnam. They brought guerrilla tactics to the struggling country while increasing U.S. troop counts and introducing helicopters into the mix. In 1963, Diem was overthrown and killed, leading to chaos in South Vietnam. Three weeks later president Kennedy was assassinated.

The war, of course, continued to escalate from here. Lyndon Johnson, president of the United States after Kennedy, sent in an additional 200,000 troops and continued bombing raids. Communist backed North Vietnam also continued to fight. Ho Chi Minh declared that if the U.S. "want to make war for twenty years then we shall make war for twenty years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to afternoon tea." This all led to the Tet Offensive, which has gone down in history as a critical military failure for the United States, further splitting the country into pro- and anti-war movements and signaling a swing in momentum to the communist front.

In 1968, negotiation began between the two warring sides, however, Nixon, now U.S. president, continued to aggressively fight using air raids. North Vietnam didn't quit, however. They continued to battle until 1975, when Saigon, capital of South Vietnam, was captured reunifying the Vietnam under communist control. The United States pulled their troops in 1973 but continued to aid the South until the fall of Saigon. On April 30, 1975, the war was officially declared over after two and a half decades of death and blood shed.

While the title of this article is the "Brief History of Vietnam War", the actually war was anything but. Lasting twenty-five, it saw countless protests, billions in government spending, five president changes and millions of lives lost. In the end, as is typical in war, neither side won.