THe Vietnam WAr
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The Vietnam War had proved to be the United States' longest and costliest overseas conflict in history. It was also a critical issue in the foreign policy of six successive US presidential administrations. This is the war that divided Vietnam into communist north and south. The United States would later join to support South Vietnam and stop the spread of communism.
WarfareThe military activity of the United States and South Vietnam included search and destroy missions, they wanted to secure the Southern Vietnamese countryside through military protection,and cut the Viet Cong's supply line. John F. Kennedy feared that a communist victory would encourage communist movements all throughout Southeast Asia so this resulted in US support of South Vietnam. In 1968, The North Vietnamese coordinated an assault with the Viet Cong to attack about a hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns. This attacked surprised the South Vietnamese and the Americans but they provided resistance, inflicting lots of damage to the Communists, called the Tet Offensive. The Viet Cong Guerillas and their North Vietnamese allies gained a significant amount of military credibility during the massive Tet Offensive of 1968.
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ho chi minhIn 1941, the revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh, returned home to Vietnam after traveling the world for several years, when two foreign powers, France and Japan, were occupying them. He established a headquarters in a cave and also the guerrilla force, the Viet Minh, in northern Vietnam. The main goal of the Viet Minh was to rid Vietnam of the French and Japanese occupiers. The French withdrew from Vietnam after their defeat in the battle of Dien Bien Phu in spring of 1954. The Viet Minh established an independent Vietnam with a new government called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
End of the WarThe president of the United States, Richard Nixon, expanded the war into other countries such as Laos and Cambodia, in an attempt to bring a faster end to all hostilities. This sparked protests and caused opposition to the war amongst many Americans. Nixon also planned to remove all US troops from Vietnam and leave the fight to the South Vietnamese. The US troops left Vietnam in 1973 knowing that they were leaving a weak South Vietnam who could not sustain another major attack by the communist North. The North Vietnamese made another big attack which toppled the South Vietnamese government. On July 2, 1976, Vietnam was reunited as one communist country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
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