Overview of the War
“Resistance War against America to Save the Nation” or the Vietnam War, was the Second of the Indochina Wars and a significant Cold War conflict spanning from 1st November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30th April 1975. Although officially fought between North and South Vietnam, it evolved into a proxy war, with the North supported by the USSR and China, while the South received backing from the US and anti-communist allies.
Over 3 million people lost their lives, with over half being Vietnamese civilians. The War also affected neighbouring states, contributing to the Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars.
In 1975, Communist forces gained control of South Vietnam, leading to the country’s unification as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the subsequent year.
Background of the War
Vietnam, located in Southeast Asia, had been under French colonial rule since the 19th century.
During World War II, Japanese forces invaded Vietnam, leading political leader Ho Chi Minh to form the Viet Minh, aiming for its independence and supported by the Allied Powers. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, Minh’s forces seized control of Hanoi, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV).
On 23rd September 1945, French forces overthrew the DRV and reinstated the French rule. The tensions between the Viet Minh and French authorities escalated into a full-scale war by 1946, entwining into the broader Cold War.
In 1947, US President Harry S. Truman announced the Truman Doctrine, pledging support to nations resisting subjugation.
France supporting Emperor Bao Dai, formed the State of Vietnam in 1949 with Saigon as its capital.
By 1950, China and the USSR recognised the Viet Minh’s DRV, while the US and the UK acknowledged the French-backed State of Vietnam.
During the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, the US considered nuclear options, but President Eisenhower decided against military intervention.
The French surrendered at Dien Bien Phu, leading to the Geneva Accords of 1954, granting independence to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
The Accords divided Vietnam along the 17th Parallel North, with Ho Chi Minh in control in the North and Bao Dai in the South.
The agreement included plans for nationwide reunification elections scheduled for 1956 but in 1955, anti-communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem assumed the presidency of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam (GVN), commonly known as South Vietnam, after sidelining Emperor Bao Dai.
Beginning of the War
During the escalating Cold War, the US adopted a tougher stance against Soviet allies and by 1955, President Eisenhower expressed unwavering support for Diem and South Vietnam.
Diem’s security forces, aided by the U.S. military and CIA, targeted Viet Minh sympathisers, and derogatorily labelled the Viet Cong.
In December 1960, Diem’s opponents (both communist and non-communist) formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) to resist the regime.
President John F. Kennedy increased US aid in 1961, influenced by the “domino theory,” which speculated that communist influence in one Southeast Asian country could lead to others falling.
By 1962, the US military presence in South Vietnam grew to around 9,000 troops, a notable increase from fewer than 800 in the 1950s.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
In November 1963, a coup by some of his own generals led to the toppling and killing of Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, three weeks before President Kennedy’s assassination.
The resulting political instability prompted President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to escalate US military and economic support in South Vietnam.
In August 1964, after alleged attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson ordered retaliatory bombings in North Vietnam.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution granted Johnson broad war-making powers, leading to Operation Rolling Thunder - a bombing campaign from 1965 to 1968.
From 1964-1973, the US covertly dropped two million tons of bombs on neighbouring, neutral Laos during the CIA’s “Secret War,” aiming to disrupt the flow of supplies across the Ho Chi Minh Trail and to prevent the rise of the Pathet Lao, or Lao communist forces.
The U.S. bombings made Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world.
In March 1965, Johnson decided, with public support, to send US forces to Vietnam. By June, 82,000 troops were stationed, with plans for an additional 175,000 by year-end.
Despite concerns and anti-war sentiment, Johnson dispatched 100,000 troops in July 1965 and another 100,000 in 1966. Allies, including South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, also contributed troops on a smaller scale.
The war effort in South Vietnam, led by General William Westmoreland pursued an attrition strategy, aiming to maximise enemy casualties rather than securing territory.
By 1966, designated “free-fire zones” were established, subjecting areas to heavy bombing or shelling.
Despite rising casualties, North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces persisted, benefiting from the Ho Chi Minh Trail for resupply through Cambodia and Laos.
The TET Offensive
On 31st January 1968, approximately 70,000 North Vietnamese forces, led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, launched the Tet Offensive, a coordinated series of intense attacks on over 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam.
Despite initial surprise, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces quickly counterattacked, preventing the communists from holding any targets for more than a day or two.
Facing declining approval ratings in an election year, President Johnson halted bombing in much of North Vietnam and pledged to focus on peace in March 1968.
Hanoi responded positively, leading to peace talks between the US and North Vietnam in Paris in May 1968 and despite later inclusion of the South Vietnamese and the NLF, the dialogue stalled.
After a contentious 1968 election season marked by violence, Republican Richard M. Nixon came to power.
Nixon’s Vietnamisation
In 1969, North Vietnam established the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, leading to cross-border operations and US bombings of North Vietnamese supply routes in Laos and Cambodia.
The deposition of Cambodian monarch Norodom Sihanouk in 1970 prompted an invasion by the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), followed by a US-ARVN counter-invasion, escalating the Cambodian Civil War.
To address anti-war sentiments, President Nixon introduced “Vietnamisation” in an attempt to appeal to a perceived “silent majority” of Americans supporting the war.
This strategy involved withdrawing U.S. troops, escalating aerial and artillery bombardment, and providing South Vietnam with training and weapons for ground war control.
Nixon also pursued public peace talks in Paris, complemented by higher-level secret talks led by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger 1968.
In the subsequent years, the War witnessed further tragedy, notably the shocking revelation of the My Lai Massacre in March 1968, where over 400 unarmed civilians were brutally killed by US soldiers.
On 15th November 1969, the largest anti-war demonstration in US history occurred in Washington, D.C., as over 250,000 Americans peacefully gathered, demanding the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam.
President Nixon ended military draft calls in 1972, establishing an all-volunteer army the following year.
In 1970, a joint U.S.-South Vietnamese operation invaded Cambodia, aiming to eliminate North Vietnamese supply bases.
By June 1972, after a failed offensive in South Vietnam, Hanoi showed a willingness to compromise, however, a peace agreement drafted by Kissinger and North Vietnamese representatives faced rejection in Saigon.
In December 1972, Nixon authorised bombing raids against Hanoi and Haiphong, known as the Christmas Bombings.
End of The War and Aftermaths
In January 1973, the US and North Vietnam reached a final peace agreement, known as the Paris Peace Accords, formally concluding open hostilities between the two nations.
Despite the Accords, conflict persisted between North and South Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge took control of Phnom Penh on 17th April 1975, while the 1975 spring offensive witnessed the Fall of Saigon (subsequently renaming it Ho Chi Minh City) to the PAVN on 30th April marking the end of the War.
The reunification of North and South Vietnam occurred on 2nd July of the following year.
In 1976, Vietnam achieved reunification as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, though sporadic violence persisted over the next 15 years.
The Khmer Rouge’s rise to power led to the Cambodian genocide, and conflict between Cambodia and unified Vietnam escalated into the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.
China invaded Vietnam, resulting in border conflicts among various other issues until 1991.
The Vietnam War resulted in substantial human tolls, with an estimated 2 million Vietnamese killed, 3 million wounded, and 12 million becoming refugees.
The US spent over $170 billion (equivalent to $8.51 trillion in 2024) on the War, leading to widespread inflation compounded by a global oil crisis in 1973 and soaring fuel prices.
The US Air Force’s extensive use of incendiary weapons (prohibited under The Geneva Protocol, 1925, and to which the US is a signatory) such as napalm, white phosphorous, and rainbow herbicide, Agent Orange, under Operation Ranch led to ecocide, destroying significant portions of South Vietnam’s jungles and mangrove forests.
The chemicals were produced by companies like DOW Chemical, Monsanto, and Hercules, Inc.
Over 3.6 million acres were sprayed with these herbicides, leading to crop destruction and subsequent famine that haunted Vietnam for years.
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