When was vietnam conflict

Low estimates calculate , combat KIA and a half-million wounded. Civilian loss of life was also very heavy, with the lowest estimates around , Similarly, casualty totals among the VC and NVA and the number of dead and wounded civilians in North Vietnam cannot be determined exactly. Civilian deaths during that time period were estimated at 2 million, but the U.

China conquered the northern part of modern Vietnam in BC and retained control until AD; it continued to exert some control over the Vietnamese until Originally, Vietnam ended at the 17th parallel, but it gradually conquered all the area southward along the coastline of the South China Sea and west to Cambodia.

Population in the south was mostly clustered in a few areas along the coast; the north always enjoyed a larger population. The two sections were not unlike North and South in the United States prior to the Civil War; their people did not fully trust each other. Before the s, the French controlled Vietnam. In the early 20th century, Vietnamese nationalism began to rise, clashing with the French colonial rulers. The French suffered a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu in , leading to negotiations that ended with the Geneva Agreements, July 21, Under those agreements, Cambodia and Laos—which had been part of the French colony—received their independence.

Vietnam, however, was divided at the 17th parallel. When the time came, however, Diem resisted the elections; the more populous north would certainly win. Some 80, Vietnamese from the south had moved to the north after the Geneva Agreements were signed. Ten times as many Vietnamese had fled the north, where the Communist Party was killing off its rivals, seizing property, and oppressing the large Catholic population. A cadre was drawn from those who went north; they were trained, equipped and sent back to the south to aid in organizing and guiding the insurgency.

Some in the North Vietnamese government thought the course of war in the south was unwise, but they were overruled. Although publicly the war in the south was described as a civil war within South Vietnam, it was guided, equipped and reinforced by the communist leadership in Hanoi. S—feared communist expansion throughout Southeast Asia. The Central Intelligence Agency CIA advised that was not the case—America had a strong military presence in the Pacific that would serve as a deterrent.

A different feeling prevailed among many within the U. The communist takeover of China and subsequent war in Korea against North Korean and Chinese troops had focused a great deal of attention on Southeast Asia as a place to take a strong stand against the spread of communism.

Fitzgibbon, Jr. They were the only father-son pair to die in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh had been educated in Paris. There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. Ho attempted to contact Eisenhower to discuss Vietnam but received no answer.

That would have made any negotiation with Ho politically ticklish. A lingering question of the war is what might have happened if Eisenhower and Ho had arranged a meeting; possibly, an accord could have been reached, or possibly Ho was simply seeking to limit American involvement, in order to more easily depose the Diem government.

American involvement began to escalate under President John F. North Vietnam, had by then established a presence in Laos and developed the Ho Chi Minh Trail through that country in order to resupply and reinforce its forces in South Vietnam. Kennedy saw American efforts in Southeast Asia almost as a crusade and believed increasing the military advisor program, coupled with political reform in South Vietnam, would strengthen the south and bring peace.

Two U. The peasants resented being forced from their ancestral lands, and consolidating them gave the VC better targets. The program, which had been poorly managed, was abandoned after about two years, following the coup that deposed Diem. Marines landing at Da Nang area beach. Marine Corps. Diem fell from favor with his American patrons, partly over disagreements in how to handle the war against the VC and partly because of his unpopular suppression of religious sects and anyone he feared threatened his regime.

He, in turn, called the Buddhists VC sympathizers. Two younger monks poured a mix of gasoline and jet fuel over him and, as the three had planned, set fire to him. Seven more such immolations occurred that year. To make matters worse, Diem responded by sending troops to raid pagodas.

The administration was caught by surprise, however, when Diem was murdered during the coup, which was led by General Duong Van Minh.

This began a series of destabilizing changes in government leadership. That same month, Kennedy himself was assassinated in Dallas , Texas. His successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, inherited the Vietnam situation. The war had pierced the myth of American invincibility and had bitterly divided the nation. Many returning veterans faced negative reactions from both opponents of the war who viewed them as having killed innocent civilians and its supporters who saw them as having lost the war , along with physical damage including the effects of exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange , millions of gallons of which had been dumped by U.

On it were inscribed the names of 57, American men and women killed or missing in the war; later additions brought that total to 58, But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.

The Vietnam War started in the s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the s. Vietnam War protests began small among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses but gained national prominence in , after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest.

Anti-war marches and other protests, such as the ones organized by Of the nearly 1 million Americans who served on active duty in the U.

Armed Forces during the Vietnam War era , many were or went on to become famous in diverse fields such as politics, entertainment, sports and journalism. The young Navy pilot John McCain, son of a Vietnamization was a strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam.

The increasingly unpopular war had created deep rifts in American society. President Nixon believed his Vietnamization The United States and many other countries intervened, propping up both sides—but especially South Vietnam—with troops, weapons and From air power to infantry to chemicals, the weapons used in the Vietnam War were more devastating than those of any previous conflict. United States and South Vietnamese forces relied heavily on their superior air power, including B bombers and other aircraft that dropped Women in the Vietnam War served as soldiers, health workers, and in news-gathering capacities.

The bloody conflict had its roots in French colonial rule and an independence movement driven by communist leader Ho Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Vietnam War: The Fall of Saigon. Vietnam: Anti-War Protests.

Vietnam War: Tet Offensive. Vietnam War: Presidents and Policy Makers. Vietnam War. Weapons of the Vietnam War. Westmoreland on the Vietnam War. Adlai Stevenson on Vietnam War. Vietnam War Timeline The Vietnam War started in the s, according to most historians, though the conflict in Southeast Asia had its roots in the French colonial period of the s. Vietnam War Protests Vietnam War protests began small among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses but gained national prominence in , after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest.

Vietnamization Vietnamization was a strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam.

The Viet Cong Communist rebels, supported by the North Vietnamese Army, were supplied along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which consisted of a network of paths, tunnels and bunkers that the Americans tried in vain to destroy.

This was followed by a protracted guerrilla war, despite some fruitless attempts at international mediation. The American public, shocked by the daily television coverage and the heavy loss of life, became increasingly hostile to the war, forcing the country to withdraw and cut its military expenditure. The Paris Agreements of 27 January finally provided the United States with an opportunity to pull out from the conflict.

Their South Vietnamese ally would stand alone for only tw o years before falling to the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese.