Wars, politics & history

Vietnam War

from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975

The Vietnam War was fought between communist North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, and the Republic of Vietnam in the south, which was backed by the United States. The conflict grew out of the end of French colonial rule and the division of the country in 1954, and it spread into neighbouring Laos and Cambodia. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 the United States sent large numbers of ground troops, but the 1968 Tet Offensive turned American public opinion against the war. The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 led to the withdrawal of US forces, and the war ended when North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon. Vietnam was formally reunified in 1976, after millions of Vietnamese, as well as tens of thousands of Americans, had died.

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This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.