Vietnam War

The Vietnam War (1961-1975), sometimes referred to as the Vietnam War, is also called the Second Indo-zhina War. The Vietnamese side called it the War to Resist American Aggression and Save the Nation (Vietnamese: Chi? n Tranh Ch? ng M? C? u N? C), it is a war between Vietnam * * * Republic (South Vietnam) and the United States and Vietnam * * * Democratic Republic (North Vietnam) and Vietnam's "National Liberation Front". Vietnam War is the war in which the United States participated with the largest number of casualties since World War II. Many people also think that it is a part of the Cold War and a "hot war" in the Cold War. Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam who hoped to reunify Vietnam, supported the guerrilla "National Liberation Front" in the south against the Wu Tingyan government in South Vietnam. The United States sent troops to help South Vietnam. The first American president to help South Vietnam was Eisenhower. Kennedy began to support fighting in Vietnam; Johnson expanded the war to an unmanageable level. During Nixon's administration, the United States gradually withdrew its troops from Vietnam because of the domestic anti-war wave. South Vietnamese government troops were wiped out by the North Vietnamese People's Army and the South Vietnamese People's Liberation Army, and Vietnam was finally reunified.

background

Vietnam was a colony of France before World War II, and was occupied by Japan during World War II. In 1945, around the end of World War II, the Viet Cong led by Ho Chi Minh (later "Viet Nam Producer Party", referred to as "Viet Nam") established the Viet Nam Democratic Republic (called "North Vietnam") in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. France, on the other hand, supported the founding of Emperor Baoda in Saigon in the south. In order to compete for control over the whole territory of Vietnam, Vietnam * * * waged a nine-year France-Vietnam war with France. In 1954, with the military assistance of the People's Republic of China, Vietnam won a decisive victory over the French army in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, and France withdrew from northern Vietnam. According to the resolution of the Geneva Conference (1954), North and South Vietnam were temporarily divided by the 17th parallel of north latitude, North Vietnam was ruled by Ho Chi Minh, and South Vietnam was under the control of Emperor Baoda. In 1955, Wu Tingyan staged a coup in Saigon and established the Republic of Vietnam (called "South Vietnam").

The Geneva Conference (1954) stipulated that the election to unify the country was scheduled to be held in July 1956, but this election was never held. In the cold war environment, American President Dwight David Eisenhower began to regard Southeast Asia as a potential key battlefield in the cold war. American policy makers were afraid that democratic elections would bring the influence of * * * capitalism into the South Vietnamese government. Therefore, Wu Tingyan was supported by the United States and implemented dictatorship in South Vietnam, which also enabled North Vietnam to win the war of public relations. North Vietnam realized a large-scale agricultural reform and distributed land to farmers, which aroused the yearning of the people in the south. Some people think that it is for this reason that Eisenhower wrote in his memorandum that if the national elections are held, the * * * capitalism will win. However, another explanation is that it is impossible for the * * * industrialists in the north to allow free elections to be held in their half of Vietnam. Finally, neither the United States nor Vietnam signed the election clause in the agreement. In this way, it seems that a divided Vietnam will become the norm, just like a divided North Korea.

Stepping into War

In p>1959, the Central Committee of Vietnam decided to arm and unify Vietnam, and sent a large number of military personnel to South Vietnam to organize armed riots. In 196, the National Liberation Front was established, which was composed of various factions against the Wu Tingyan regime and was actually controlled by the Central Committee of Viet Nam. In the same year, the "Sino-Soviet Debate" broke out, and both the Chinese people, the Republic of China and the Soviet Union needed to establish their own image in the "international games", so they actively supported North Vietnam's attack on the south.

in June p>1961, American president Kennedy and Soviet leader Khrushchev met in Vienna. Khrushchev bullied the young American president wantonly, trying to make him give in to the Soviet Union on some key disputes through intimidation. Especially Berlin, where a large number of skilled workers have fled to the west. Khrushchev's intimidation escalated step by step. In August, the "Berlin Wall" was built overnight, and West Berlin was blocked by East Germany. In September, the Soviet Union resumed nuclear testing. The grim situation made Kennedy think that "if the United States withdraws from Asia, it may upset the balance of power in the world (Schlesinger's language)." At that time, the conflict in zhina Peninsula was the only hot war in the Cold War. Kennedy and his advisers soon decided to show the strength of the United States and the determination to fight against * * * capitalism on the Vietnam issue. At the same time, it is believed that the conflict should follow the North Korean model and be limited to the use of conventional weapons through agents as a way to reduce the threat of direct nuclear war between the two superpowers.

At this time, the National Liberation Front had controlled most villages in southern Vietnam. Although there was military assistance from the United States, political despotism and corruption led to the loss of the people's hearts of the Wu Tingyan government, and it was unable to stop the National Liberation Front from expanding its power. In May, 1961, in order to further help the Wu Tingyan government, Kennedy sent a special force to South Vietnam, which opened the precedent for American combat troops to enter Vietnam. This incident is also often regarded as a sign of the beginning of the Vietnam War.

escalation

In p>1965, the US military bombed the building of a Viet Cong guerrilla in the south of Saigon with napalm. The corrupt and incompetent South Vietnamese government forces are losing ground in the face of the National Liberation Front, commonly known as the "Viet * * * guerrillas". In order to prevent North Vietnam from supporting the guerrillas with materials and personnel, the South Vietnamese navy attacked the naval base along the coast of North Vietnam. The us navy also sent ships to assist in electronic warfare support. On August 2, 1964, an American destroyer "maddox" was attacked by a North Vietnamese torpedo boat. The United States immediately retaliated by bombing the North Vietnamese naval base. This is the famous "Tokyo Bay Incident" ("Beibu Gulf Incident").

The "Tokyo Bay Incident" was a major watershed in the Vietnam War. Both North Vietnam and the United States regarded it as a deliberate attack by the other side and made a tough response. Guerrillas from Vietnam carried out retaliatory attacks on several US military bases. The assembly of the 325th Division of North Vietnam into the territory of South Vietnam marked the open attack of the North Vietnamese regular army (Vietnamese People's Army) on South Vietnam. The U.S. Congress passed the "Tokyo Bay Resolution", authorizing the President to take all means including force to deal with this provocative act. This actually gave President lyndon johnson the power to wage war without declaring war, and Johnson immediately escalated the war. On March 8, 1965, 3,5 US Marines landed in Da Nang. Just a few months later, the number of US troops in Vietnam has reached 22,. Johnson also approved "Operation Thunder" ("operation rolling thunder") to carry out large-scale bombing of North Vietnam. However, all American bombing operations and targets in North Vietnam are strictly controlled by Washington, and the choice of daily bombing targets is planned by the Ministry of National Defense and the White House, and frontline commanders cannot modify them according to actual needs. However, the Ministry of National Defense and the White House are very worried about the head-on conflict caused by hurting China's or the Soviet Union's local advisers, and there are many restrictions on the choice of bombing targets and rules of engagement, which are often completely contrary to the tactical or strategic goals pursued by the United States. For example, the U.S. military cannot attack the military airport in North Vietnam without approval, and even if the fighter plane of the North Vietnam Air Force on the ground is preparing to take off, the U.S. military plane cannot launch an attack. Most of the traffic and important facilities in North Vietnam are limited to the range that can be attacked. Facts have proved that the "mine action" aimed at preventing North Vietnam from infiltrating into the south was a complete failure under the command of this kind of hand-tied feet. Wu Yuanjia, commander of the North Vietnamese armed forces, still sent his troops to the south at an alarming rate. The whole regiment of the North Vietnamese regular army dispersed into the Ho Chi Minh Trail, braved the air raid and assembled in the south.

On November 14th, 1965, the 1st American Cavalry Division and the 66th North Vietnamese Regiment broke out for the first time in Delang Valley. After three days of fierce fighting, more than 1,2 people were killed in North Vietnam and about 2 people were killed by American troops. The U.S. military won, but like countless battles in the future, tactical victory did not help change the predicament of the United States. North Vietnam is ready to bear huge casualties, and firmly believes that the unrestricted war of attrition will eventually force Americans to withdraw from Vietnam. Westmoreland, the former commander of American troops in Vietnam, believed that more "Battle of Drang Valley" would force North Vietnam to admit defeat and launched a series of actions to "search and destroy" North Vietnamese troops. The North Vietnamese army carried out Wu Yuanjia's consumption strategy, attracted American troops to attack under carefully prepared favorable terrain, and left the battlefield after fierce fighting until casualties reached a certain level. Westmorland kept reporting the victory of the US military to China, claiming that the fighting capacity of North Vietnam was being gradually weakened. In fact, in order to cope with the seemingly endless offensive of North Vietnam, the number of American troops stationed in Vietnam had reached 5, by the end of 1967, and westmorland demanded more.

At the end of January, 1968, North China launched an unprecedented Spring Festival offensive. More than 8, North Vietnamese troops and Vietnamese guerrillas launched attacks on almost all cities and towns in South Vietnam. The scale and tragic degree shocked Americans who were used to the westmorland Battle Report: countless military facilities and government buildings were destroyed; The old Beijing Hue, where the fighting was the fiercest, was almost completely destroyed; The US Army's Xishan base was besieged for 76 days. Because of the serious damage, it had to be abandoned after the clearance. In this offensive, North Vietnam lost more than 5, people, but in May, they recovered their offensive ability. The Spring Festival offensive forced Johnson to admit defeat. On March 31, 1968, Johnson delivered a speech to terminate the "Operation Thunder", saying that the US military would gradually withdraw from Vietnam and announced that it would give up running for the next president. In June, 1968, General Abrams took over from westmorland to command the US troops in Vietnam.

at the invitation of the U.S. government, South Korea began to send fighting troops such as Qinglong, White Tiger and Tiger in 1965, and in the nine years of 1973, more than 3, South Korean soldiers participated in the Vietnam War. Among them, 4,687 people were killed and more than 4, enemy troops were shot. In order to pay for South Korea's military expenditure, the United States provided about $1 billion to the South Korean government. Outside the United States, South Korea (formerly known as South Korea) is the largest troop-contributing country.

Anti-war movement

A small-scale anti-war movement began on the campus of universities in 1964, accompanied by unprecedented left-wing student activism. The baby boomers with a large population are also old enough to go to college. The growth of the anti-war movement is also partly due to the extensive TV news reports, so that college-age Americans can get more information about the war than previous generations.

by 1968, anti-war demonstrations had spread all over the country. In August, there was a large-scale conflict between demonstrators and police in Chicago, resulting in bloodshed. In May 197, in order to protest the American invasion of Cambodia, the first national student strike broke out in American history, and more than 1, students flocked to Washington to protest.

thousands of young American men choose to flee to Canada or Sweden to avoid the risk of recruitment. At that time, only a small part of all men of school age really needed to join the army; Moreover, in most states, most young men of school age have not reached the voting age and are allowed to drink alcohol. There is no clear exemption policy for military service in the offices of the service selection system ("Military Service Bureau") in various places, so they can easily decide who needs to serve and who can be exempted. The unfair accusation led to the birth of the military service lottery system in 197. In this system, the birthday of a young man determines the relative risk of his recruitment (September 14 is the first birthday in the military service list in 197, and the next year is July 9). Young people are forced to risk their lives in the army, but they have no right to vote and are not allowed to drink. This situation has successfully forced legislators to lower the voting age nationwide and the drinking age in many States.

On January 21st, 1977, US President Jimmy Carter pardoned most people who evaded military service in the Vietnam War.

"Vietnamese"

In p>1969, Nixon became the president of the United States, saying that he would carry out the policy of "Vietnamese" and let the US troops gradually withdraw from Vietnam, and in June of that year, he withdrew the first batch of 25, US troops. But while the US-Vietnam negotiations are going on, the war is still going on. In March 1969, the US military began to secretly bomb the North Vietnamese military base in Cambodia. In May, the Battle of Hamburg Heights broke out. On March 18th, 197, Cambodian pro-American General Lang Nuo staged a coup and overthrew the regime of Prince Sihanouk. In May, with the acquiescence of Lang Nuo, American troops invaded Cambodia and attacked the North Vietnamese military base there. By 1971, the death toll of American troops had exceeded 4,.

In March p>1972, Wu Yuanjia mobilized almost all the North Vietnamese military forces and launched an "Easter offensive" on a larger scale than the Spring Festival offensive in 1968. Nixon ordered the American B-52 strategic bomber to carry out a full-scale bombing of North Vietnam. North Vietnam's Easter offensive ended in failure, losing more than 1, people, and Wu Yuanjia was dismissed, and Wen Jinyong took over as commander of the Vietnamese People's Army. The failure of the Easter offensive, the power of the American B-52 strategic bombing, and the pressure from the Soviet Union and the Chinese people who were eager to improve relations with the United States forced North Vietnam to return to the negotiating table. On January 27, 1973, the four parties (Vietnam, the United States, southern Vietnam, the Provisional Revolutionary Government and the Saigon regime) who participated in the Paris Conference on Vietnam formally signed the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam. Within the next two months, all American troops withdrew from Vietnam.

The war ended

In p>1975, civilians from South Vietnam boarded American helicopters to evacuate American troops from Vietnam, but the war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam was not over, and 1974 was still a bloody year. Guerrilla warfare is still going on, and North Vietnam has regained control of most villages in the south. In January 1975, North Vietnam recovered from the huge losses of the Easter offensive and launched the final decisive offensive. In just a few months, the South Vietnamese government troops collapsed and major cities fell one after another. In April, North Vietnam launched the Battle of Chunlu and the Battle of Ho Chi Minh, aiming to capture Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, before May 1, in order to prevent the South Vietnamese army from reorganizing new defenses and counterattacks.

In the first few hours from April 29th to April 3th, 1975, the US military organized the largest helicopter evacuation operation in history, and the helicopter evacuation on the roof of a hotel also marked the end of American involvement in the Vietnam War. On the same day, Saigon fell, North Vietnam captured the US Embassy in Saigon and the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam, and the regime of South Vietnam was destroyed. In the same year, the * * * production parties in Cambodia and Laos also seized power successively, and the Vietnam War ended in an all-round victory of * * * production.

On January 2, 1976, North and South Vietnam were unified to form a new socialist Republic of Vietnam, and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Hundreds of South Vietnamese supporters were executed and many more were arrested. Yue * * * gained political power and has ruled ever since.

Casualty statistics

The regular army of North Vietnam and the people considered to be guerrillas of Vietnam * * *: 1.1 million people were killed, 6, people were injured and 33, people were missing.

us troops: during the Vietnam war, 58, us troops were killed, 34, were injured and more than 2, were missing.

South Vietnamese government troops: 13, people were killed and 5, injured.

south Korean army: 4,5 people died.

Australian army: 5 people were killed and 24 injured. <