how long was vietnam war

Top Books About Vietnam War

The Vietnam War: The Definitive Illustrated History

by DK

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Why did the Vietnam War start?

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Vietnam War, (1954–75), a protracted disharmonize that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in S Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its main ally, the U.s.. Called the "American War" in Vietnam (or, in full, the "War Against the Americans to Save the Nation"), the state of war was also part of a larger regional conflict (see Indochina wars) and a manifestation of the Common cold War betwixt the United states and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.

At the middle of the disharmonize was the desire of North Vietnam, which had defeated the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1954, to unify the unabridged country nether a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Spousal relationship and China. The South Vietnamese authorities, on the other hand, fought to preserve a Vietnam more closely aligned with the W. U.South. military advisers, present in pocket-sized numbers throughout the 1950s, were introduced on a large calibration starting time in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. By 1969 more than than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and China poured weapons, supplies, and advisers into the North, which in plough provided support, political management, and regular gainsay troops for the entrada in the South. The costs and casualties of the growing state of war proved too much for the U.s. to bear, and U.S. combat units were withdrawn past 1973. In 1975 South Vietnam fell to a full-calibration invasion by the North.

The human costs of the long conflict were harsh for all involved. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official guess of state of war expressionless: equally many every bit 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.ane meg Due north Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. The U.S. armed services has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the state of war. Over the following years, additions to the list have brought the total past 58,200. (At least 100 names on the memorial are those of servicemen who were actually Canadian citizens.) Amidst other countries that fought for Due south Vietnam on a smaller scale, Republic of korea suffered more than 4,000 dead, Thailand near 350, Commonwealth of australia more 500, and New Zealand some iii dozen.

Vietnam emerged from the war every bit a potent armed forces ability within Southeast Asia, but its agriculture, business organization, and manufacture were disrupted, large parts of its countryside were scarred by bombs and defoliation and laced with state mines, and its cities and towns were heavily damaged. A mass exodus in 1975 of people loyal to the South Vietnamese cause was followed by another wave in 1978 of "boat people," refugees fleeing the economic restructuring imposed by the communist regime. Meanwhile, the U.s., its armed forces demoralized and its civilian electorate securely divided, began a process of coming to terms with defeat in what had been its longest and about controversial war. The 2 countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995.