Why was Vietnam divided?
After World War II and the collapse of Vietnam's monarchy, France attempted to re-establish its colonial rule but was ultimately defeated in the First Indo-China War. The Geneva Accords in 1954 partitioned the country temporarily in two with a promise of democratic elections in 1956 to reunite the country.
After the war, in return for the French surrendering to the Germans, the allies gave Vietnam back to the French. The result was the French-Indochina war. The French lost this war and the result was the splitting of Vietnam into North and South with the North controlled by the communists.
Because of outside pressures brought to bear by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, Vietnam's delegates to the Geneva Conference agreed to the temporary partition of their nation at the seventeenth parallel to allow France a face-saving defeat.
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.
Diplomatic Relations and the North-South Division of Vietnam, 1955. As a result of the First Indochina War and the Geneva Conference of 1954 that marked its conclusion, the territory of the State of Vietnam became divided along the 17th parallel, with separate regimes in the North and South.
The agreements concluded in Geneva between April and July 1954 (collectively called the Geneva Accords) were signed by French and Viet Minh representatives and provided for a cease-fire and temporary division of the country into two military zones at latitude 17 °N (popularly called the 17th parallel).
The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
North and South Vietnam were officially reunited on 2 July 1976 as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The merged country's government was dominated by holdovers from North Vietnam, and adopted the North Vietnamese constitution, flag and anthem.
At a meeting of northern and southern delegates in the summer of 1976, the decision was made official: the two Vietnams would be merged into a single state, called the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
In July 1954, the Geneva Agreements were signed. As part of the agreement, the French agreed to withdraw their troops from northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections within two years to choose a president and reunite the country.
Why did America lose the Vietnam War?
The US army had superior conventional weapons but they were ineffective against a country that was not industrialized and an army which employed guerrilla tactics and used the dense jungle as cover.
Failure in Vietnam was rooted in a misunderstanding of the type of conflict and a failure to adapt. US commanders continually attempted to make the war fit their understanding of operations, not a true understanding of the conflict itself.
The U.S. entered the Vietnam War in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism, but foreign policy, economic interests, national fears, and geopolitical strategies also played major roles. Learn why a country that had been barely known to most Americans came to define an era.
Annam, which originated as a Chinese name in the seventh century, was the common name of the country during the colonial period. Nationalist writer Phan Bội Châu revived the name "Vietnam" in the early 20th century.
In early August 1964, two U.S. destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam radioed that they had been fired upon by North Vietnamese forces. In response to these reported incidents, President Lyndon B. Johnson requested permission from the U.S. Congress to increase the U.S. military presence in Indochina.
On May 7, 1954, the French-held garrison at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam fell after a four month siege led by Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh. After the fall of Dien Bien Phu, the French pulled out of the region.
French rule ended, Vietnam divided
The battle prodded negotiators at the Geneva Conference to produce the final Geneva Accords in July 1954. The accords established the 17th parallel (latitude 17° N) as a temporary demarcation line separating the military forces of the French and the Viet Minh.
Having rebuilt their forces and upgraded their logistics system, North Vietnamese forces triggered a major offensive in the Central Highlands in March 1975. On April 30, 1975, NVA tanks rolled through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, effectively ending the war.
Vietnam: Vietnam was a French colony from the mid-19th century until 1954, and French is still spoken by some Vietnamese people. It is also taught as a second language in some schools.
The decision to invade Vietnam was made by Napoleon III in July 1857. It was the result not only of missionary propaganda but also, after 1850, of the upsurge of French capitalism, which generated the need for overseas markets and the desire for a larger French share of the Asian territories conquered by the West.
Why did France lose Vietnam?
The French lost their Indochinese colonies due to political, military, diplomatic, economic and socio-cultural factors. The fall of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 signalled a loss of French power. General Vo Nguyen Giap and his Viet Minh had triumphed on the eve of the Geneva Conference.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam, led by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue.
The current name, Ho Chi Minh City, was given after reunification in 1976 to honour Ho Chi Minh. Even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn remains in daily speech.
By continuously expanding and improving the Ho Chi Minh Trial—the main conduit for supplies and replacement troops from North Vietnam to the southern battlefields—and by deploying large numbers of troops in Cambodia and Laos, the North Vietnamese defeated the American effort to isolate the battlefield from 1965 to 1968 ...
The overwhelming majority of the Viet Cong were subsequently recruited in the South, but they received weapons, guidance, and reinforcements from North Vietnamese Army soldiers who had infiltrated into South Vietnam.
References
- https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history
- https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/gulf-of-tonkin
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Viet-Cong
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam/The-conquest-of-Vietnam-by-France
- https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/geneva-conference-begins
- https://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z342mp3/revision/4
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Vietnam
- https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/dien-bien-phu
- https://navalinstitute.com.au/why-did-the-french-lose-their-indochinese-colonies/
- https://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/259/290/317/305/angell.pdf
- https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-Vietnam-War-divide-the-nation
- https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/learning-module/vietnam-after-war
- https://history.state.gov/countries/vietnam
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City
- https://www.tutorocean.com/questions-answers/french-speaking-countries-in-asia
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War
- https://www.thoughtco.com/why-did-us-enter-vietnam-war-195158
- https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/ending-vietnam
- https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/vietnam/
- https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-genius-of-north-vietnams-war-strategy
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vietnam
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War/French-rule-ended-Vietnam-divided
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam/The-two-Vietnams-1954-65
