Definition of Vietnam War

The one qualified as "first conflict televised warfare ”(although its television coverage was not as extensive as in the case of other subsequent conflicts) a deep imprint on American society to the point of almost breaking it, and it has not been able to leave the central plane of the politics until other conflicts have overshadowed it.

However, the Vietnam War has its roots long before the US intervention.

The Vietnam War breaks out during the post-WWII decolonization process in French Indochina.

France was the colonial power in the region since the mid-19th century, when it conquered by force of arms what is now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

During World War II, the area underwent Japanese occupation, and with the collapse of Japan, supporters saw the possibility of gaining independence by controlling de facto of territory.

Especially active in this regard were the Viet Minh communists led by Hồ Chí Minh and who had the support of Moscow and, subsequently (since the triumph of the revolution China), they would also have that of Beijing.

Hồ Chí Minh even formally declared the country's independence, but French forces, with British support and American acquiescence, regained control of the country. The armed conflict began.

Far from surrendering, the Viet Minh took the example of other communist armed movements and opted for irregular fighting, becoming strong in rural and forested areas, in which Westerners were less used to fighting and, in contrast, guerrillas had more props.

In 1954, the decisive Battle of Dien Bien Phu gives victory to the Vietnamese arms. An exhausted France starts peace talks and the Geneva Accords are reached, dividing the country in two.

To the north, communist Vietnam led by Hồ Chí Minh and, to the south, capitalist Vietnam under the authority of Emperor Bao Dai and with Ngô Dình Diem as prime minister.

In 1955, the latter organized a referendum on the figure of the emperor, with the support of the government of the United States through the CIA, who would have manipulated the result (with a suspect 98% in favor of proclaiming the republic).

If anyone thinks that South Vietnam (the Republic of Vietnam) was a democracy who fought against the communist dictatorship, you can get it out of your head: the south was a right-wing dictatorship like so many others supported by the United States, which committed state crimes against dissidents and limited the civil liberties of its citizens.

This government repression in the south explains why many of its citizens saw in the north and in the communist ideals of equality, a chance to break free from Diem's ​​yoke, and collaborate with enemy theorists (who, after all, were compatriots Vietnamese).

For the United States, the Vietnamese dictatorship in the south was a mainstay in the fight against what they called a communist “domino tactic” (and that decades it would later be revealed that it never really existed), so he made available to the government that supported military advisers, funding and support political.

In 1959, the FNLV (National Liberation Front of Vietnam, the famous Vietcong) begins to carry out military guerrilla and terrorist actions in South Vietnam.

This organization sought to bring down the Diem regime and reunify the country. Although communists or leftists in general had a lot of weight in it, there were also other political options.

Diem also ended up at odds with the Americans because of a tepid policy towards his enemies and because of the widespread corruption of his regime.

In 1963, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Thieu led a coup that overthrew Diem (who would be assassinated).

As of the following year, 1964, the northern government's aid to the southern guerrillas increased.

The South Vietnamese and their North American allies are faced with a conventional war with the army of the north, in addition to having to deploy forces in the same south to counter the activity guerrilla.

Unlike the North Vietnamese troops, the South and the Americans could not feel safe even in their own bases. That constant tension, and knowing that much of the population rural and urban civilian assisting the guerrillas led to not a few and cruel massacres against civilians, which, in turn, he enmity towards what in theory were the very forces that defended them, and their allies foreign.

On August 2, 1964, there was an attack on the US destroyer USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, followed by another attack the following night that also extended to the Turner Joy.

The United States was quick to blame North Vietnam for the attacks, even though it was later found to be a false flag operation orchestrated by the CIA to allow greater US involvement in the conflict at the request of the House White (administration by Lyndon B. Johnson).

From this moment on, the US military would intervene directly in the war (something they already had doing covertly, but would go on to do it openly), and the US administration would expand the resources supplied to its South Vietnamese ally.

At that time, American public opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of intervention, a state of opinion that would change over time.

In the first instance, American technological superiority put both the guerrillas and the northern army on the ropes.

The Americans managed to slowly bleed out the south and regain positions.

It is in this phase of the conflict that we can begin to see the iconic images of the "airborne cavalry" of the United States, the famous helicopters Huey (Bell UH-1 Iroquois).

In 1966, the guerrillas and the North Vietnamese forces managed to begin to restore the military balance, which led the Americans to use more resources, greater firepower.

They use Napalm massively, theoretically as a defoliant but which had already been used as weapon during the final stage of WWII, destroying entire villages and areas jungle. The effects of these bombings still linger in Vietnam.

In 1968, the northern troops and their FNLV allies were ready to deliver the blow that would definitively turn the direction of the war. It is in that year that the siege of the Khe Sanh base takes place, but above all, the famous Tet offensive.

The Tet Offensive consisted of a general attack throughout South Vietnam, with infiltrations of guerrillas who attacked the bases and posts of both the South Vietnamese army, as well as the United States and its allies.

While the Communists took their enemies by surprise and achieved some goals in the initial phase, the offensive ended up having a high cost for the FLNV and North Vietnam, making it a defeat on the ground military.

But the true value of the Tet Offensive is political, since the losses led to the citizenship America would turn its back on the intervention of its country in the conflict, which would ultimately lead to the abandonment of the war by the United States.

From that moment on, the US government proposed the "Vietnameseization" of the conflict to gradually abandon Vietnam, a position that the Nixon administration would publicly embrace (Nixon himself had promised his voters to end the intervention in the region), but that in the end it would default by extending the war to Laos through bombings and intervention of troops.

At the beginning of the 70s, the Americans began to look for a negotiated solution to the conflict, knowing that they were going to be defeated, to try to save as much as possible.

Little by little, the North Vietnamese controlled larger portions of South Vietnam, whose governmental structure was progressively crumbling.

The United States helped its ally with bombardments in the north and the mining of its port areas, while the South resisted in difficult conditions, but held on.

Both sides opened peace negotiations in Paris, which resulted in a ceasefire in 1973, which was not to last long.

Despite promising to maintain its aid, the United States was leaving the South Vietnamese alone, and faced with This vision, the North Vietnamese amassed resources for a final offensive that would occur in early 1974.

In 1975 the defeat is evident, and the withdrawal of the southern troops turns into a disorderly rout at times; as the northern troops progress, the southern regime collapses.

The occupation of Saigon (which would be renamed Ho Chi Minh City) puts an end to the war, and bequeaths some of the most iconic images of the conflict.

South Vietnam unconditionally surrenders, its leaders go into exile, and the United States remains very touched by war, the first that the superpower will lose after the "technical draw" that led to Korea.

Fotolia photos: Fernan / Mediavn

Issues in Vietnam War