U.S. military advisers, present in small numbers throughout the 1950s, were introduced on a large scale beginning in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. The war also spilled over into the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos which also endured casualties from aerial and ground fighting. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. He introduced a “hearts and minds” policy long before the Americans got militarily involved in Vietnam. Omissions? Millions of life were lost, and thousands went missing during the 20-year conflict. In short, the Vietnam War started as a result of the U.S.’s strategy of containment during the Cold War, which aimed to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. To the surprise of the South Vietnamese, those Viet Minh who went to the south helped them on their farms and did not abuse them. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Regardless, these incidents would be pivotal in the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam and the eventual Golf of Tonkin Resolution, which was passed by Congress, and allowed Lyndon Johnson to begin delivering American forces into the country. The Vietnam War was a military campaign launched by North Vietnam against South Vietnam. It resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths and in an estimated 2 million Vietnamese deaths. Your email address will not be published. This article will help you with many ways to…, Citizens from 80 countries will be allowed to get an e-visa from July 1, the government said in a resolution signed on Monday. The final death toll of the battle was 138 American soldiers and 3 men missing in action. This colonial history angered many in Vietnam and caused a growing sense of mistrust towards foreign powers. As well, in 1954, at a conference in Geneva, the country of Vietnam was officially divided along the 17th parallel. Before World War Two, Vietnam had been part of the French Empire. At the heart of the conflict was the desire of North Vietnam, which had defeated the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1954, to unify the entire country under a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Union and China. The result of the Vietnam War was: North and South Vietnam were united under communist rule. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008. Its first proper leader was Ngo Dinh Diem who was a fanatical Catholic. The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties. 3  Kallie Szczepanski contributed to this article. This article will help you with many ways to…, Up to now, there are 71 countries /territories that have set the time to open the international flight route after the closing time for COVID-19.…, As a citizen of Nauru, you are kindly advised to have Vietnam Visa to enter Vietnam. Since the end of the war, the Vietnam War has become a benchmark for what not to do in all future U.S. foreign conflicts. In Vietnam, the Americans actually fought – therefore in the Cold War ‘game’, the USSR could not. April 30th, 1975 is the day that marks the fall of Saigon government, ending the Vietnam War and leading to the liberation of Vietnam’s southern part. The causes of the Vietnam War were derived from the symptoms, components and consequences of the Cold War. The second incident was said to have occurred two days later on August 4th. After decades of conflict, more than 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam and an estimated 47,424 lost their lives; and still, the reasons why the U.S. entered the Vietnam War to begin with remain controversial. Those who argue that the United States’ opponents won the war cite the United States’ overall objectives and outcomes. Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam on a smaller scale, South Korea suffered more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen. 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 war. During the war the north and south of Vietnam fought tirelessly. Again, it was suggested that Vietnamese ships and United States ships engaged in sea battle. The political legacies of the war began to surface even before North Vietnam's victory in 1975. The Tet Offensive began in stealth 50 years ago in Vietnam, but it ended up being splashed on television sets all over America. Using napalm bombs dropped by a fast moving aircraft didn’t guarantee much accuracy. The United States supported the South, while China and Russia supported the North. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. The United States pays $22 billion a year in war compensations for Vietnam veterans and their families. In 1971, the Pentagon Papers were leaked, revealing confidential information about the war. This article will help you with many ways to…, As a citizen of Seychelles, you are kindly advised to have Vietnam Visa to enter Vietnam. Based on the Truman Doctrine, the theory held the idea that if Soviet communism was able to spread into a single country, then it had the potential to spread to all of the other surrounding countries. The following tables were generated from the Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files, which is current as of April 29, 2008.The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. In November 1953, the French sent men from their crack Parachute Regiment to Vietnam. Dates of the Vietnam War: 1959 -- April 30, 1975 Also Known As: American War in Vietnam, the Vietnam Conflict, Second Indochina War, War Against the Americans to … The Vietnamese civil war began in 1959. At the same time, advances in video and audio recording enabled both easier and more news coverage. In the atmosphere of April 30 (Reunification Day) which is approaching, let’s discover the past: What caused the Vietnam War? It granted him broad latitude in handling the struggle against communism in Southeast Asia. This is why he got America’s support – he had a poor record on human rights but his rule was in the era of the “Domino Theory” and anybody who was anti-communist in the Far East was likely to receive American backing – regardless of their less than savoury background. The domino theory was a Cold War era belief popular within the United States from the 1950’s until the end of the Cold War. The ships engaged in a short firefight in which the USS Maddox damaged the torpedo boats, while escaping with only a single bullet hole. In October 1946, the French announced their intention of reclaiming the north which meant that the Viet Minh would have to fight for it. General consequences of the war To celebrate the victory of Vietnam in Vietnam War, and the liberation of South Vietnam, Vietnamese people held Vietnam Reunification Day celebration. By 1972, the idea that Vietnam posed a threat to Cold War America was so discredited, it sometimes sounded as if America’s only remaining war aim was to … Tensions escalated into armed conflict between the two sides, and in 1961 U.S. President John F. Kennedy chose to expand the military aid program. After the war ended and Japan was defeated by the United States, France, with the aid of the United States, attempted to regain control over Vietnam. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. The war started in November 1946, when the French bombarded the port of Haiphong and killed 6,000 people. Called the “American War” in Vietnam (or, in full, the “War Against the Americans to Save the Nation”), the war was also part of a larger regional conflict (see Indochina wars) and a manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. 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