Vietnam War 1957-1975

The war began as a civil war in South Vietnam. Later, North Vietnam was drawn into the war - later supported by the PRC and the USSR - as well as the United States and its allies, who acted on the side of the friendly South Vietnamese regime. As events unfolded, the war became intertwined with the parallel civil wars in Laos and Cambodia. All fighting in Southeast Asia, which took place from the late 1950s until 1975, is known as the Second Indochina War.

Prerequisites
From the second half of XIX century Vietnam was part of the colonial empire of France. After the end of the First World War, the country began to grow national consciousness, underground circles began to appear that advocated the independence of Vietnam, and several armed uprisings took place. In 1941, the League for the Independence of Vietnam was created in China - a military-political organization that initially united all opponents of the French colonial administration. In the future, the main role in it was played by supporters of communist views, led by Ho Chi Minh.

During World War II, the French administration agreed with Japan that the Japanese would have access to Vietnam's strategic resources while maintaining the French colonial administrative apparatus. This agreement was valid until 1944, when Japan established full control over the French possessions by force of arms. In September 1945, Japan capitulated. On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the creation of an independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) throughout Vietnamese territory.

However, France refused to recognize the loss of its colony, and despite the agreements reached on the mechanism for granting independence to the DRV, in December 1946, France began a colonial war in Vietnam. However, deal with partisan movement the French army could not. Since 1950, the United States began to provide military assistance to French troops in Vietnam. Over the next 4 years (1950-1954), US military aid amounted to $3 billion. However, in the same 1950 and the Viet Minh began to receive military aid from the People's Republic of China. By 1954, the situation for the French forces was almost hopeless. The war against Vietnam was extremely unpopular in France. By this time, the US was already paying 80% of the cost of this war. The final blow to French colonial ambitions in Indochina was heavy defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. In July 1954, the Geneva Accords were concluded, ending the eight-year war.

The main points of the agreement on Vietnam provided:
1) temporary division of the country into two parts approximately along the 17th parallel and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between them;
2) holding on July 20, 1956, general elections to the parliament of a united Vietnam.

After the French left, the Ho Chi Minh government quickly consolidated its hold on North Vietnam. In South Vietnam, the French were replaced by the United States, which viewed South Vietnam as the main link in the security system in the region. The American doctrine of "dominoes" assumed that if South Vietnam became communist, then all the neighboring states of Southeast Asia would fall under the control of the communists. Ngo Dinh Diem became Prime Minister of South Vietnam, a well-known nationalist figure who had a high reputation in
USA. In 1956, Ngo Dinh Diem, with the tacit support of the United States, refused to hold a national referendum on the question of the reunification of the country. Convinced that the peaceful unification of the country has no prospects, the Vietnamese nationalist and communist forces launched an insurgency in rural areas of South Vietnam.

The war can be divided into several periods:

1. Guerrilla warfare in South Vietnam (1957-1964).
2. Full-scale US military intervention (1965-1973).
3. The final stage of the war (1973-1975).

In December 1960, when it became apparent that Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​regime was gradually losing control over rural areas. The US decides to intervene in the war. On August 2, 1964, the US Navy destroyer Maddox, patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin, approached the coast of North Vietnam and, as claimed, was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Two days later, under unclear circumstances, another attack was carried out. As a response, President L. Johnson ordered the American air force to strike at the naval facilities of North Vietnam. Johnson used these attacks as a pretext to get Congress to pass a resolution in support of his actions, which later served as a mandate for undeclared war.

The course of the war in 1964-1968.

Initially, the bombing was intended to stop the penetration of North Vietnamese forces into South Vietnam, to force North Vietnam to refuse assistance to the rebels, and also to boost the morale of the South Vietnamese. Over time, two more reasons appeared - to force Hanoi (North Vietnam) to sit down at the negotiating table and use the bombing as a trump card in concluding an agreement. By March 1965, American bombing of North Vietnam had become a regular occurrence.

Air operations in South Vietnam also intensified. Helicopters were widely used to increase the mobility of South Vietnamese and American troops in rough terrain. New types of weapons and combat methods were developed. For example, defoliants were sprayed, "liquid" mines were used, penetrating under the surface of the earth and retaining the ability to explode for several days, as well as infrared detectors that made it possible to detect the enemy under the dense canopy of the forest.

Air operations against the guerrillas changed the nature of the war; now the peasants were forced to leave their houses and fields, destroyed by intense bombing and napalm. By the end of 1965 rural areas South Vietnam left 700 thousand inhabitants who became refugees. Another new element was the involvement of other countries in the war. In addition to the United States, the South Vietnamese government came to the aid of South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, later Philippines and Thailand. In 1965, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A.N. Kosygin promised to send Soviet anti-aircraft guns, MIG jet fighters and surface-to-air missiles to North Vietnam.

The United States began bombing supply bases and gas depots in North Vietnam, as well as targets in the demilitarized zone. The first bombardment of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, and the port city of Haiphong was carried out on June 29, 1966. Despite this, the number of North Korean troops infiltrating South Vietnam steadily increased. Soviet supplies to North Vietnam were carried out through the port of Haiphong, from the bombing and mining of which the United States refrained, fearing the consequences of the destruction of Soviet ships.

In North Vietnam, American bombing also led to numerous victims among the civilian population and the destruction of many civilian objects. Civilian casualties were relatively low due to the construction of thousands of one-person concrete shelters and the evacuation of much of the urban population, especially children, to rural areas. Industrial enterprises were also taken out of the cities and placed in the countryside. One of the tasks assigned was the destruction of villages controlled by the Viet Cong. Residents of suspicious villages were evicted from their houses, which were then burned or bulldozed, and the peasants were relocated to other areas.

Beginning Since 1965, the USSR has been supplying equipment and ammunition for air defense, while China has sent auxiliary troops numbering from 30,000 to 50,000 troops to North Vietnam. to assist in the restoration of transport communications and strengthening air defense. Throughout the 1960s, China insisted that North Vietnam continue the armed struggle until complete and final victory. the USSR, fearful border conflicts, apparently inclined to open peace negotiations, but due to rivalry with China for leadership of the communist bloc, did not put serious pressure on the North Vietnamese.

Peace negotiations. End of the war
From 1965 to 1968, repeated attempts were made to start peace negotiations, but they turned out to be fruitless, as were the efforts of international mediators. : “Hanoi understands the principle of reciprocity as follows: in South Vietnam, there is Civil War, Hanoi supports one side, the US the other. If the US stops its aid, then Hanoi is ready to do the same.” The United States, on the other hand, claimed that it was protecting South Vietnam from external aggression.
Three major obstacles stood in the way of the peace talks:
1) Hanoi's demand that the US finally and unconditionally stop the bombing of North Vietnam;
2) the refusal of the United States to go for it without concessions from North Vietnam;
3) the unwillingness of the South Vietnamese government to enter into negotiations with the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.

In the late 1960s, the United States was swept by an unprecedented wave of public discontent over the undeclared war in Vietnam. Apparently, this was not only due to the huge costs of the war and heavy losses (during 1961-1967 almost 16,000 American troops were killed and 100,000 wounded; total losses from 1961 to 1972 amounted to 46,000 killed and more than 300,000 wounded) , but also by televised demonstrations of the devastation caused by US troops in Vietnam. The Vietnam War had a very significant impact on the worldview of the people of the United States. A new movement, the hippies, emerged from the youth protesting against this war. The movement culminated in the so-called "Pentagon March", when up to 100,000 young people gathered in Washington in October 1967 to protest against the war, as well as protests during the US Democratic Party Convention in Chicago in August 1968.
Desertion during the Vietnam campaign was a fairly widespread phenomenon. Many deserters from the Vietnam era left units tormented by the fears and horrors of war. This is especially true of those who were drafted into the army against the will of the recruits themselves. However, many of the future deserters went to war of their own free will. The American authorities tried to solve the problem of their legalization immediately after the end of the war. President Gerald Ford in 1974 offered a pardon to all draft evaders and deserters. More than 27,000 people came to confession. Later, in 1977, the next head of the White House, Jimmy Carter, pardoned those who fled the United States so as not to be drafted.

"Vietnam Syndrome"
One of the consequences of US participation in the Vietnam War is the emergence of the "Vietnam Syndrome". The essence of the "Vietnam Syndrome" is the refusal of the Americans to support the participation of the United States in military campaigns that are long in nature, do not have clear military and political goals, and are accompanied by significant losses among American military personnel. Separate manifestations of the "Vietnamese syndrome" are observed at the level of the mass consciousness of Americans. Anti-interventionist sentiment became a concrete expression of the “Vietnam Syndrome”, when the increased desire of the American people for the non-participation of their country in hostilities abroad was often accompanied by a demand to exclude war from the arsenal of means of the government’s national policy as a method of resolving foreign policy crises. The attitude to avoid situations fraught with a "second Vietnam" took shape in the form of a slogan "No more Vietnams!".

On March 31, 1968, US President Johnson gave in to demands to limit the scale of American participation in the war and announced a reduction in the bombing of the North and called for an end to the war on the terms of the Geneva Accords. Immediately before presidential elections 1968 Johnson ordered an end to American bombing of North Vietnam on November 1. The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the Saigon government were invited to take part in the talks in Paris. R. Nixon, who replaced Johnson as president in January 1969, announced a transition to the "Vietnamization" of the war, which provided for the phased withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. ground forces, the use of the remaining military personnel mainly as advisers, instructors, as well as to provide technical assistance and air support to the South Vietnamese armed forces, which meant the transfer of the main burden of hostilities to the shoulders of the South Vietnamese army. The direct participation of American troops in hostilities ceased from August 1972. At the same time, the United States significantly increased the bombing of Vietnam, first in the south, and then in the north, and soon hostilities and bombing engulfed almost the entire Indochina. The expansion of the scale of the air war led to an increase in the number of downed American aircraft (8500 by 1972).

Late October 1972, after secret talks in Paris between President Nixon's adviser on national security G. Kissinger and the representative of North Vietnam Le Duc Tho, a nine-point tentative agreement was reached. However, the United States hesitated to sign it, and after the Saigon government raised objections on a number of points, they tried to change the content of the agreements already reached. In mid-December, negotiations broke down, and the United States launched the most intense bombing of North Vietnam of the entire war. American B-52 strategic bombers carried out "carpet" bombing of the areas of Hanoi and Haiphong, covering an area 0.8 km wide and 2.4 km long in one bombing.

In April 1973, the last American military units left Vietnam, and in August the US Congress passed a law prohibiting any use of American military forces in Indochina.

The political clauses of the ceasefire agreement were not implemented and the fighting never stopped. In 1973 and early 1974, the Saigon government managed to achieve significant successes, but at the end of 1974 the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam struck back and in 1975, together with the North Vietnamese troops, launched a general offensive. In March, they occupied the city of Methuot, and the Saigon troops were forced to leave the entire territory of the Central Plateau. Their retreat soon turned into a rout, and by mid-April the Communists had captured two-thirds of the country. Saigon was surrounded, and April 30, 1975 south Vietnamese troops laid down their weapons.

The Vietnam War is over. From 1961 to 1975, 56,555 American servicemen died and 303,654 were injured. The Vietnamese lost at least 200,000 Saigon soldiers, an estimated one million soldiers of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese army, and half a million civilians. Several million more people were injured, about ten million were left homeless.

Consequences of the use of chemical weapons in Vietnam

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The Vietnam War or the Vietnam War is the largest military conflict of the second half of the twentieth century, between North and South Vietnam, in which the USSR, the USA, the PRC and a number of other states also participated. The Vietnam War began in 1957 and ended only in 1975.

Causes and background of the Vietnam War

After World War II, in 1954, Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel. North Vietnam was under the control of the Viet Minh, while South Vietnam was ruled by the French administration.
After the communists won in China, the US began to interfere in the affairs of Vietnam, helping the southern part. The United States regarded the PRC as a threat and, in their opinion, it will soon cast its eyes on Vietnam, and this cannot be allowed.
In 1956, Vietnam was supposed to unite into one state. But South Vietnam refused to fall under the control of the communists and abandoned the treaty, declaring itself a republic.

The beginning of the war

North Vietnam saw no other way to unify the state other than the conquest of South Vietnam. The Vietnam War began with systematic terror against South Vietnamese officials. In 1960, the Viet Cong or NLF organization was created, which included all the factions fighting against South Vietnam.
The success of the Viet Cong worried the United States, and they transferred the first regular units of their army in 1961. But while the US Army is not yet involved in combat clashes. The American military and officers only train the South Vietnamese army and help plan attacks.
The first major collision occurred in 1963. Then the partisans of North Vietnam defeated the South Vietnamese army at the Battle of Apbak. This defeat undermined the position of Diem - the ruler of South Vietnam, which soon led to a coup, and Diem was killed. And North Vietnam, meanwhile, strengthened its positions, and also transferred its partisan detachments to the territory of South Vietnam, by 1964 their number was at least 8 thousand fighters.
The number of American soldiers grew rapidly, if in 1959 their number was no more than 800 fighters, then in 1964 their number increased to 25 thousand.

Full-scale intervention of the American army

In February 1965, Vietnamese guerrillas attacked military installations of the American army. US President Lyndon Johnson announced that the US would soon be ready to strike back at North Vietnam. American aviation begins the bombing of the territory of Vietnam - Operation "Flaming Spear".
In March 1965, the bombardment began again - Operation Thunder. This bombing was the largest since World War II. The number of soldiers in the American army from 1964 to 1965 increased from 24 thousand to 180 thousand. In the next three years, the number of American soldiers increases to about 500 thousand.
For the first time the American army entered the battle in August 1965. The operation was called "Starlight", where the American army won, destroying about 600 Viet Cong fighters.
The US military began to resort to a "search and destroy" strategy. Its goal is to detect North Vietnamese partisan detachments and their subsequent destruction.
The North Vietnamese army and guerrillas began to penetrate the territory of South Vietnam, and the American army tried to stop them in the mountainous regions. In 1967, the partisans became especially active in the mountainous regions, Marines The US was forced to join the fight. At the Battle of Dakto, the United States managed to hold the enemy, but the Marines also suffered heavy losses.

North Vietnamese Tet offensive

Until 1967, the US military had significant success in the war against North Vietnam. And then the government of North Vietnam begins to develop a plan for a full-scale invasion of South Vietnam in order to turn the tide of the war. The United States knew that North Vietnam was preparing for an offensive, but they were not even aware of its scale.
The offensive begins with an unexpected date - with the Vietnamese new year, Tet day. These days there should be no hostilities, but in 1968 this treaty was violated.
January 30-31, the army of North Vietnam delivers massive strikes throughout South Vietnam, including major cities. In most directions, the offensive was successfully repulsed, but the city of Hue was still lost.
The offensive of the North Vietnamese army was stopped only in March. Then the American and South Vietnamese army launches a counterattack where they want to take back the city of Hue. The Battle of Hue is considered the bloodiest battle in the history of the Vietnam War. The US and South Vietnamese army lost a large number of fighters, but the losses of the Viet Cong were catastrophic, its military potential was seriously undermined.
After the Tet Offensive, a note of protest swept through the US population, as many began to believe that the Vietnam War could not be won, the forces of North Vietnam were still not depleted and there was no point in losing American soldiers anymore. Everyone was concerned about the fact that North Vietnam was able to pull off a military operation of this magnitude.

Final stages of the Vietnam War

After Richard Nixon became president of the United States in 1968, he announced that the number of American soldiers in Vietnam would decrease. But aid to South Vietnam will not stop. Instead of using its own army, the US will intensively train the army of South Vietnam, as well as supply it with supplies and equipment.
In 1971, the South Vietnamese army undertakes the military operation "Lam Son 719", the purpose of which was to stop the supply of weapons to North Vietnam. The operation ended in failure. The US military already in 1971 stopped military operations with the search for Viet Cong guerrillas in South Vietnam.
In 1972, the Vietnamese army makes another attempt at a full-scale offensive. It was called the "Easter Offensive". The North Vietnamese army was reinforced with several hundred tanks. The army of South Vietnam managed to stop the offensive only thanks to American aircraft. Despite the fact that the offensive was stopped, South Vietnam lost significant territories.
At the end of 1972, the United States begins large-scale bombing of North Vietnam - the most in the history of the Vietnam War. Huge losses forced the North Vietnamese government to start negotiations with the United States.
In January 1973, a peace agreement was signed between North Vietnam and the United States, and the American military began to rapidly leave Vietnam. In May of that year, the entire American army returned to the United States.
Despite the fact that the United States withdrew its army, the position of North Vietnam was disastrous. The forces of South Vietnam numbered about 1 million soldiers, while its opponents had no more than 200-300 thousand fighters. However, the combat effectiveness of the South Vietnamese army fell due to the absence of the American military, in addition, a deep economic crisis began, and South Vietnam began to lose its territories in favor of North Vietnam.
North Vietnamese forces launched several strikes into South Vietnamese territory to test the US response. Seeing that the Americans will no longer take part in the war, the government plots another full-scale offensive against
South Vietnam.
In May, an offensive began, which a few months later ended in a complete victory for North Vietnam. The South Vietnamese army was unable to adequately respond to the offensive, and was completely defeated.

Aftermath of the Vietnam War

Both sides suffered colossal casualties. The United States lost almost 60,000 soldiers killed and the number of wounded reached 300,000. South Vietnam lost about 300,000 killed and about 1 million were wounded, and this is not counting the civilian population. The number of North Vietnamese killed reached 1 million, in addition, about 2 million civilians died.
The Vietnamese economy has suffered such catastrophic losses that it is impossible to give an exact figure. Many towns and villages were simply razed to the ground.
North Vietnam completely conquered the South and united the whole country under a single communist flag.
The US population negatively assessed the military intervention in the fighting in Vietnam. This sparked a movement of hippies who chanted that they didn't want this to happen again.

The war that went on with a short break in Indochina, primarily in Vietnam, in 1946-1975, became not only the longest, but also the most amazing military conflict of the second half of the 20th century. An economically weak, backward semi-colonial country managed to defeat first France, and then an entire coalition led by the most economically developed state in the world - the United States.

War for independence

French colonial rule in Indochina collapsed during World War II when Japan took over the region. After the defeat of Japan in the war, France tried to regain its former colony. But it turned out that it is not so simple. The Vietnamese fought for independence against the Japanese and now for the most part did not want to return to submission to the former colonialists.

After the surrender of Japan, the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, was occupied by partisans of the Vietnam Independence League (Viet Minh), created by the communists. On September 2, 1945, the leader of the Viet Minh and the Communist Party, Ho Chi Minh, proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). In other countries of Indochina - Laos and Cambodia - the movement for independence also intensified.

On September 23, French troops landed in Saigon, in southern Vietnam. By the beginning of 1946, France had sent troops to all major Vietnamese cities. The French government proposed to the leaders of the national movements that the colonial empire be transformed into a French Union, where the colonies would enjoy autonomy but no sovereignty. Ho Chi Minh did not agree with this plan, and negotiations dragged on.

In November 1946, armed clashes began between the colonialists and the forces of the DRV. Detachments of the Viet Minh were driven out of the cities. But the French could not defeat the Viet Minh. But against 50-60 thousand partisans, they concentrated more than 100 thousand soldiers, not counting the militia of both sides (part of the local population served on the side of the French). The attempts of the French to go deep into the jungle, which occupied 80% of the country's territory, ended in defeat. The Vietnamese knew the area well, they tolerated the humid, stuffy and hot climate of their country better. The French landed troops among the forests, hoping to capture the leaders of the rebels, but to no avail.

In 1949, the colonialists were forced to accept the independence of Vietnam and formally transferred power to a representative of the local dynasty and their Catholic supporters. But this did not help to cope with the communists.

The landing of American soldiers in South Vietnam. June 1965

In 1950, with the support of China, Vietnamese troops under the command of Vo Nguyen Giap launched a counteroffensive. One by one, they smashed the French garrisons, despite the fact that the French were commanded by the illustrious General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. He had to concentrate his forces around Hanoi and fight off blows from all sides. Now, under the command of Giap, there were more than 100 thousand fighters. Allied with the communists and nationalists of Laos, the Vietnamese communists expanded the theater of operations to Laos. In order to divert the Vietnamese from the onslaught on Hanoi and cut off their ties with Laos, the French created the Dien Bien Phu fortress in the rear, near the border with Laos, which was supposed to tie down the communications of the Viet Minh. But Giap besieged and took Dien Bien Phu.

After the defeat at Dien Bien Phu, the French had no choice but to leave Indochina. In July 1954, the Geneva Accords were concluded, according to which Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia gained independence. In Vietnam, general elections were to be held, but for now it was divided between the DRV and the imperial government along the 17th parallel. The conflict between the communists and their opponents in Vietnam continued.

US intervention

After the liberation of Vietnam from French colonial rule, the country was divided into the north, where the DRV existed, and the south, where the Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed in 1955. The United States began to provide increasing assistance to the south in order to stop the "expansion of the communists." But the countries of Indochina were poor, and it seemed to millions of peasants that the communists were offering a way out of poverty.

The communists of the DRV arranged for the dispatch of weapons and volunteers to the south along the path laid in the jungle through Taos and Cambodia. This road was called the Ho Chi Minh trail. The monarchies of Laos and Cambodia were unable to resist the actions of the communists. The provinces of these countries adjacent to Vietnam, along which the "path" passed, were captured by the allies of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the Patriotic Front of Laos, led by Prince Souphanouvong, and the army of the Khmer Rouge (Cambodians) led by Salot Sar (Pol Pot).

In 1959, the communists launched an uprising in southern Vietnam. The peasants of the south, for the most part, supported the partisans or were afraid of them. Formally, the uprising was led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, but in reality the command in the south was carried out from the DRV. Washington decided that a communist victory in Indochina could lead to the West losing control over Southeast Asia. Under these conditions, American strategists decided on direct military intervention.

As a pretext for a large-scale invasion, the United States used the shelling by the Vietnamese of American ships dangerously approaching the Vietnamese coast in the Gulf of Tonkin. In response, the US Congress passed the Tonkin Resolution in August 1964, allowing President Lyndon Johnson to use any military means in Vietnam. Massive bombardments of the DRV began in 1965, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. So that no one could escape, the Americans poured burning napalm on the Vietnamese land, which burned out all life, since it could not actually be extinguished. Johnson, he said, sought to "bomb Vietnam in stone Age". More than half a million American soldiers landed in South Vietnam. Small contingents were sent by Australia, South Korea and other US allies. This war became one of the main armed conflicts " cold war"- the confrontation between the capitalist West and the state-socialist East.

When planning the defeat of the communists, American strategists counted on helicopters. With their help, the soldiers were supposed to quickly appear in those areas of the jungle where communist activity was noted. But the helicopters were easily shot down from grenade launchers that the Vietnamese communists received from the USSR and China. The Americans and their South Vietnamese allies dealt blow after blow against the guerrillas and yet could not conquer the jungle. Supporters of Ho Chi Minh passed along the trail named after him and could penetrate through Laos and Cambodia to any area of ​​South Vietnam, stretched from north to south. The communists killed not only soldiers, but also thousands of civilians who collaborated with the South Vietnamese regime. Soon the Americans had to switch to the defense of their bases, limiting themselves to combing and bombing the jungle. American aircraft watered the jungle chemicals, from which the vegetation covering the partisans dried up, people and animals were sick and dying. However, this ecological war did not help. In January 1968, Vietnamese communist troops under the command of Giap launched an offensive during the Tet holiday.

The coming of the Tet holiday

Vietnamese celebrate New Year in late January - early February (Tet holiday). By this date, the leaders of the Communists timed a general uprising against the United States and its allies.

Americans in North Vietnam. Winter 1965/66

On January 30, 1968, Giap planned to launch a simultaneous attack on dozens of points in South Vietnam - from American bases to large cities. According to Ho Chi Minh, the population should have joined the partisan columns. But by January 30, not all of Giap's forces managed to reach the planned lines of attack, and he postponed the strike for a day.

However, this news did not reach all the columns, so on January 30 the Americans were attacked in several places. The surprise factor was lost, the Americans and the Saigon soldiers prepared for defense. But they did not expect the scale of Giap's offensive. The partisans managed to quietly concentrate in an area of ​​​​more than 50 points, so that the Americans did not know about it. The local population reported nothing to the Saigon authorities. Especially dangerous for the Americans were attacks on Saigon and Hue, which was taken by partisans. Fighting in Saigon continued for more than a month. Already in the first days of the fighting, it became clear that the population was not ready for an uprising. The Vietnamese did not like the American occupation, but most of the inhabitants were not going to shed blood for the communists either. Especially on a holiday, when people intended to relax and have fun. After Giap realized that there would be no uprising, he withdrew most of his columns. Nevertheless, the Tet offensive showed that the Americans and their allies did not control South Vietnam, and the Communists felt at home here. This was a moral turning point in the war.

The United States was convinced that it could not defeat communism through direct military intervention.

After American casualties in Indochina ran into the tens of thousands, the popularity of this war in the United States began to decline rapidly. In America, anti-war sentiments intensified, anti-war rallies were held, often degenerating into massacres between students and the police.

In March 1968, a landmark event took place in the Vietnam War: the company of Lieutenant William Kelly killed almost all the inhabitants of the Vietnamese village of Song My, including women and children. This massacre caused a new explosion of indignation in the United States. More and more Americans believed that their army was no better than the Nazis.

America's Lost World

Due to the sharp deterioration of Soviet-Chinese relations in the late 60s. The DRV began to experience difficulties in supplying from the "socialist camp". US President Richard Nixon ordered the mining of the ports of the DRV, even at the risk that Soviet ships could be blown up by these mines. The conflict in Vietnam would turn into a global one. Then the Vietnamese sailors began to clear the bay of the port of Haiphong, "driving" along it on boats. Mines exploded - if lucky, then behind the boat. But not everyone was lucky. However, the comrades of the dead again and again went to these dangerous "races". As a result, the fairway of the bay was cleared of mines.

In 1970-1971. The Americans repeatedly invaded Laos and Cambodia, destroying bases along the Ho Chi Minh trail. At the same time, a policy of "Vietnamization of the war" was pursued - under the guidance of American instructors, a more combat-ready army of Saigon was created (as the regime of South Vietnam was called after the name of its capital). Saigon soldiers bore the brunt of the war. But this army could only fight with the constant help of the United States.

A military photographer captured the tragedy of American soldiers. During the retreat in the jungle, death awaits on all sides

In 1972, communist troops launched a new offensive against South Vietnam from Laos and Cambodia. In response, the United States undertook a massive bombardment of the DRV and the Ho Chi Minh trail. However, they again did not reach a turning point in their favor. It became clear that the war was at an impasse.

In January 1973, the Paris Agreement was signed between the USA, the DRV and South Vietnam, according to which America and North Vietnam withdrew their troops from South Vietnam. The DRV promised not to send weapons and volunteers to South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. These countries had to pass free elections. But after the resignation of President Nixon in 1974, the US sharply cut aid to the allied regimes in Indochina. In the spring of 1975, the local communists, who, despite the agreements, continued to receive a lot of help from the USSR, China and the DRV, went on the offensive in Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam. In March, the South Vietnamese army was defeated, and on April 30, 1975, the communists entered Saigon, which was soon renamed Ho Chi Minh City (the leader of the Vietnamese communists died in 1969). In April, the communists won in Cambodia and Laos. In 1976, a unified Socialist Republic Vietnam.

American soldiers in Vietnam left behind many victims

Former US President Nixon said that America won the Vietnam War but "lost the peace." Indeed, the US lost the fight after the Paris Accords. But they didn't win the war either. It was won by the Vietnamese people, who were striving for unification and social justice. The US defeat in Vietnam was America's biggest setback during the Cold War.

The Vietnam War is one of the worst events in the history of the country that took place over the past century. We often see the American interpretation on the screens, but was it really so? Let's take a little digression into history.

Mankind is built in a strange way. Any inhabitant of the Earth understands that war is horror, misfortune and tears. A person, if, of course, he is not deeply ill, realizes that there is no place for romance in it. It is impossible to justify the death of civilians by any goals. There are no such goals! But at the same time, most of the living do not perceive the pain of millions of people as their own. The loss of a wallet is perceived more acutely than a war, unless it is personal. For this reason, the events that took place several decades ago are of little interest to anyone. Especially if they took place in a country located thousands of kilometers away.

The problem is that history repeats itself. The trouble that covered distant Vietnam in the 70s of the last century has now come to other parts of the world. Can we be sure that it will not affect you and me?

The reasons

When thinking about the causes of the Vietnam War, it's hard to get out of the mold. The roots of any war must be sought in the answer to the question: "Who benefits from this?" For the domestic audience of the United States, their citizens brought the light of democracy to the uncouth aborigines. However, even today the Americans “save” the inhabitants of Iraq, Libya, and Syria from ignorance. And we all remember well how they "helped" understand the "charm" of democratic values ​​to the people of Yugoslavia.

The time of the Vietnam War is a period of tough confrontation between the two ideologies. Vietnam at that time was divided into two parts. liberation movement in North Vietnam supported by the USSR, and South Vietnam was a protectorate of the United States. War is often preceded by internal divisions within a country, and Vietnam is no exception. For a long time it was a French colony. The liberation movement for independence in the country began in the 40s of the last century. An interesting fact is that the leader of the movement against the French colonialists Ho Chi Minh during the Second World War was actively supported by the United States. It was beneficial for the Americans that the League for the Independence of Vietnam, headed by him, was fiercely fighting the Japanese. At that time, "Grandfather Ho" fought in China. The Americans did not spare money for weapons for the Chinese and Vietnamese communists, whose hands destroyed the enemies of the United States.

The situation changed after the Japanese surrender. Ho Chi Minh, with detachments of his supporters, captured Hanoi and moved on, spreading his influence over the ever larger territories of North Vietnam. Not wanting to lose their influence in Indochina, in December 1946 France transferred its expeditionary force there, but was unable to oppose anything to the gaining strength of Ho Chi Minh's partisan detachments.

And since 1950, the United States came to the aid of France. And got involved in this long war. They were terribly afraid of the spread of communist influence in Asia, so the States already at that time paid 80% of all military spending. These were terrible years in the history of Vietnam. Tourists who decide to visit Hanoi will learn about this terrible time by visiting the Hoa Lo Prison Museum.

The museum is conveniently located in the historical part of the city, between the central railway station and the Lake of the Returned Sword. Part of the museum's exposition tells about the tortures suffered by the Vietnamese fighters against the French colonialists. During the period of 1954 alone, more than 2,000 people were kept and brutally tortured in the Hoa Lo prison. The cruelty of "civilized" people is amazing.

It's hard to imagine, but the story of long-suffering Vietnam could have been even more tragic. Vice President Richard Nixon is known to have recommended destroying the Vietnamese with tactical nukes. Still fresh were the memories of the nuclear bombing of Japan. This bloody madness was not allowed to be carried out only by a prisoner in July 1954 Geneva Agreement. In accordance with it, Vietnam was divided along the demilitarized zone (17-1 parallels) into North and South Vietnam. Losing their influence, the French almost immediately granted independence to South Vietnam.

For a short time, active hostilities in Vietnam subsided. During this period, a frank "witch hunt" begins overseas in the United States. The communist ideology becomes banned, the United States views any event in the world through the prism of its own security, as is customary today. In the case of Vietnam, this played a fatal role. The spread of communism in China, and then in North Vietnam, was perceived by the US administration as a threat of a complete loss of influence in Asia.

Having lost its power, France could no longer hold back the onslaught of the northerners, and the Americans decided to replace them. They gave universal support to the first president of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem. This person is associated among the Vietnamese with the times of frenzied dictatorship and persecution of Buddhism. Today, all tourists visiting the sights of Hue are shown the car in which the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc went to Saigon and committed self-immolation. So he protested against the persecution of Buddhism. A record of this tragic event has been preserved

The brutal rule of Ngo Dinh Diem predictably led to the formation of resistance in South Vietnam. Numerous South Vietnamese guerrilla groups in December 1960 merged into the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, called the Viet Cong in the West.

The Americans could not allow the Viet Cong to unite with the northern detachments. This would mean the fall of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime loyal to the Americans. In December 1961 US military forces arrived in South Vietnam as part of two helicopter companies.

In our minds, it is customary to associate the image of John F. Kennedy almost with the "dove of peace." However, this image is far from reality. It was his administration that furiously demonstrated to the USSR its determination to destroy the “communist infection”. American advisors taught the South Vietnamese military the basics of fighting the guerrillas. The situation in the country was heating up. The threat of losing South Vietnam, and with it Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, was already too realistic. The blame for the sluggishness of the military was attributed to the inability to fight and the excessive greed of Ngo Dinh Diem.

Predictably November 2, 1963, under foggy circumstances, Ngo Dinh Diem was shot dead. A revolution took place in the country, of which there were several more in the next two years.

By a fatal coincidence, at the same time, US President John F. Kennedy was shot dead, his place was taken by Lyndon Johnson. The first document he signed was an order to send additional troops to Vietnam. Thus, the limited contingent of American troops increased from 760 in 1959 to 23,300 in 1964. The flywheel of the war began to spin with renewed vigor. From this moment, we can assume that the “hot” phase of the confrontation between the two systems has begun.

Now it remained to wait for a formal occasion and unleash a full-scale bloody massacre. This occasion was the shelling of the American destroyer Maddox by the troops of North Vietnam, which, together with two more American ships August 2, 1964 arrived in the Gulf of Tonkin. Later, information about the shelling was refuted by the sailors of the destroyer themselves. But who cared about that? Isn't it true, there is a direct analogy with today. For example, with unconfirmed information on the "uranium dossier", which formed the basis for the decision to start a war in Iraq.

Lyndon Johnson immediately ordered air strikes on North Vietnamese territory (Operation Pierce Arrow). The US Congress passed the Tonkin resolution almost unanimously. There was only one vote against. Ordinary Americans were not excited about the news about the beginning of the military operation. Then none of them imagined that they would have to die in a foreign land. It is one thing to "rally the nation and defend democracy" and quite another to die.

US military contingent in Vietnam to the beginning February 1968 numbered more than half a million people. The Vietnamese fought desperately for their right to life. When the coffins "went" to the United States, a wave of anti-war sentiment began to grow exponentially. War has come to the homes of ordinary Americans.

Against the background of tangible defeats in South Vietnam and the actual failure of the "air" war, spring 1968 negotiations began to end hostilities. Then events began to occur, which today are commonly called the use of "double standards". Publicly, the American administration proclaimed a policy of withdrawing American soldiers from the territory of South Vietnam and even returned home 210,000 of its troops. In fact, the bet was made on the armament of the Saigon army, which at that time numbered more than a million people. She was given modern American weapons.

When, in 1969, Richard Nixon, in the heat of presidential promises, declared an end to the war, it was enthusiastically received by American society. The people turned out to have a short memory, because Lyndon Johnson lied just as sweetly. One way or another, Nixon was elected president. The coffins, in which young guys from distant Vietnam returned home, quickly repelled the desire of Americans to carry "democratic values", discontent in the country grew.

At the same time, American bombers dropped more bombs on Vietnam in 1970 than in the last five years combined. All public statements by American politicians turned out to be lies.

Appetite, as you know, flares up while eating. To stop the war, when it brings such dividends, was no longer possible. Arms corporations were vitally interested in the supply of weapons. The fire of napalm and phosphorus burned entire villages. Dioxin was used - the most toxic substance at that time. You can learn more about the history of this hell in the Hanoi War Crimes Museum. The photographs and film documents collected there are terrifying. In Vietnam, children with genetic deformities are still being born.

It is now known that over the entire period of the conflict, 14 million tons of explosives were dropped on Vietnam. The American political and economic elite earned billions of dollars from this tragedy. Maybe that's why the war lasted so indefinitely.

Under the pressure of internal unrest, exhausted by large material and human losses, early 1973 The US was forced to end the war. The active phase of American participation in the war ended in an inglorious flight. But military and material assistance to the Saigon regime continued until 1975, until its final defeat.

Results

For more than 10 years, the Vietnamese fought back desperately and heroically. It must be understood that it is impossible to win such a war on the will to win alone. It was strange war, in which millions of Vietnamese were killed and maimed, but it was actually fought between two political systems. The USSR and China were on the side of the communist North. The support was enormous. Free financial assistance was allocated, weapons were supplied, our military advisers trained the Vietnamese military. Without their help, victory was impossible.

The Second Indochina War between Vietnam and the United States ended only in April 1975, when the Saigon Independence Palace was captured. Later, the unification of the country took place.

The Vietnamese are proud of their heroic history. Being at the same time a civil war, it was also a time of liberation from the occupation of the Americans. The country has defended its right to own choice and sovereignty. Millions of crippled Vietnamese, cities completely destroyed in places, fields and forests scorched by napalm - this is the price of that terrible war. But the country survived.

Today, tourists who have arrived in Vietnam are no longer reminded of the terrible and tragic pages of that very recent war. The country is actively developing. Youth are studying English language and eagerly tries to help the crowds of vacationers who come to soak up the beautiful sandy shores of the South China Sea.

History lovers, tired of a beach holiday, book excursions, where partisan tunnels and traps are willingly shown to them. Such excursions cause ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, respect and admiration for the steadfastness and courage of the people, who withstood the war to destroy the country for 10 years and emerged victorious from this massacre. On the other hand, the touch of commerce is striking in everything. There is a certain dissonance in this country - patriotic posters are hung everywhere, on which “grandfather Ho” smiles, the pioneers wear red ties ... But at the same time, there is universal admiration for the “green paper”. There is a clear association with the USSR during the collapse, there is an impending era of change.

For the United States, the war with the Vietnamese people has become an inglorious and bitter page in history. The losses of the American army amounted to more than 60 thousand killed, over 300 thousand Americans were crippled. In addition, more than $4 billion was spent from the country's budget to help the Saigon regime. A successful investment of funds and a profitable event, the war was only for the "top", which was well enriched over 10 years of bloody slaughter.

Confidence in one's own exclusivity and that there is no alternative to the American model of development, and most importantly, impunity. This is what lies at the heart of the Vietnam War.

Attractions

If you are interested in the history of Vietnam and this conflict, you can visit museums and sites dedicated to the Vietnam War in major cities:

• In Hanoi, as mentioned above, this is the Hoa Lo prison museum and,
• In Ho Chi Minh it is
• Museum in Da Nang.

AT The war in Vietnam began with the shelling of the USS Maddox. This happened on August 2, 1964.
The destroyer was in the Gulf of Tonkin (Vietnamese territorial waters where no one called the US) and was allegedly attacked by Vietnamese torpedo boats. All torpedoes missed, but one boat was sunk by the Americans. The Maddox fired first, explaining it as a warning fire. The event was called the "Tonkin Incident" and was the reason for the outbreak of the Vietnam War. Further, by order of US President Lyndon Johnson, the US Air Force attacked the naval facilities of North Vietnam. It is clear for whom the war was beneficial, he is a provocateur.

The confrontation between Vietnam and the United States began with the recognition of Vietnam as an independent state in 1954. Vietnam was divided into two parts. The South remained under the control of France (Vietnam had been its colony since the 19th century) and the United States, while the North was dominated by the Communists with the support of China and the USSR. The country was supposed to unite after democratic elections, but the elections did not take place, and a civil war broke out in South Vietnam.

The US feared that communism could spread throughout Asia in a domino fashion.

Representatives of the communist camp waged a guerrilla war on enemy territory, and the so-called Iron Triangle, an area of ​​310 square kilometers northwest of Saigon, became its hotbed. Despite this proximity to the strategic locality South, it was actually controlled by communist partisans, and their base was a significantly expanded by that time underground complex near the village of Kuti.

The United States supported the South Vietnamese government, fearing further expansion of the communists in Southeast Asia.

The Soviet leadership at the beginning of 1965 decided to provide the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) with large-scale military-technical assistance. According to Alexei Kosygin, chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, aid to Vietnam during the war cost the Soviet Union 1.5 million rubles a day.

To eliminate the partisan zone in January 1966, the United States decided to conduct Operation Crimp, for which 8,000 US and Australian troops were allocated. Once in the jungle of the Iron Triangle, the allies faced an unexpected surprise: in fact, there was no one to fight with. Snipers, stretch marks on the trails, unexpected ambushes, attacks from behind, from territories that, it would seem, had already (just!) been cleared: something incomprehensible was happening around, and the number of victims was growing.

The Vietnamese sat underground and after the attacks again went underground. In the underground cities, the halls were without additional supports and they were designed for the miniature constitution of the Vietnamese. Below is a plan diagram of the real underground city explored by the Americans.

Much larger Americans could hardly squeeze through the passages, the height of which was usually in the range of 0.8-1.6 meters, and the width was 0.6-1.2 meters. There was no obvious logic in the organization of the tunnels, they were deliberately built as a chaotic labyrinth, equipped with a large number of false dead-end branches that complicated orientation.

Viet Cong guerrillas throughout the war were supplied through the so-called "Ho Chi Minh trail", which ran through neighboring Laos. The Americans and the army of South Vietnam tried several times to cut the "path", but it did not work out.

In addition to fire and traps of "tunnel rats", snakes and scorpions, which the partisans specially set on, could also wait. Such methods led to the fact that among the "tunnel rats" there was a very high mortality rate.

Only half returned from the holes personnel. They were even armed with special pistols with silencers, gas masks and other things.

The Iron Triangle, the area where the catacombs were discovered, was eventually simply destroyed by the Americans with B-52 bombing.

The fighting took place not only underground, but also in the air. The first battle between anti-aircraft gunners of the USSR and American aircraft took place on July 24, 1965. The Soviet MiGs, which the Vietnamese flew, have proven themselves well.

During the years of the war, the Americans lost 58,000 people in the jungle killed, 2,300 went missing and over 150,000 were wounded. At the same time, the list of official losses did not include Puerto Ricans who were recruited into the US army in order to obtain United States citizenship. North Vietnamese losses amounted to over a million killed military personnel and over three million civilians.

The Paris ceasefire agreements were signed only in January 1973. It took a few more years to withdraw the troops.

Carpet bombing of cities in North Vietnam, carried out by order of US President Nixon. On December 13, 1972, a North Vietnamese delegation left Paris, where peace talks were being held. In order to force them to return back, it was decided to launch massive bombing attacks on Hanoi and Haiphong.

A South Vietnamese Marine wearing a special bandage among the decomposing corpses of American and Vietnamese soldiers who died during the fighting on a rubber plantation 70 km northeast of Saigon, November 27, 1965.

According to the Soviet side, 34 B-52s were lost during Operation Linebacker II. In addition, 11 aircraft of other types were shot down. North Vietnamese losses were about 1,624 civilians, military casualties are unknown. Aviation losses - 6 MiG 21 aircraft.

"Christmas bombing" is the official title.

During Operation Linebacker II, 100,000 tons were dropped on Vietnam! bombs.

The most famous case of the use of the latter is Operation Popeye, when US transport workers sprayed silver iodite over the strategic territories of Vietnam. From this, the amount of precipitation increased three times, roads were washed away, fields and villages were flooded, communications were destroyed. With the jungle, the US military also acted radically. Bulldozers uprooted trees and topsoil, and herbicides and defoliants (Agent Orange) were sprayed on the rebel stronghold from above. This seriously disrupted the ecosystem, and in the long run led to mass diseases and infant mortality.

The Americans poisoned Vietnam with everything they could. They even used a mixture of defoliants and herbicides. From what freaks are still born there already at the genetic level. This is a crime against humanity.

The USSR sent to Vietnam about 2,000 tanks, 700 light and maneuverable aircraft, 7,000 mortars and guns, more than a hundred helicopters, and much more. Almost the entire air defense system of the country, impeccable and impenetrable for fighters, was built by Soviet specialists at Soviet funds. There were also "exit training". Military schools and academies of the USSR trained Vietnamese military personnel.

Vietnamese women and children hide from artillery fire in an overgrown canal 30 km west of Saigon on January 1, 1966.

On March 16, 1968, American soldiers completely destroyed a Vietnamese village, killing 504 innocent men, women, and children. For that war crime only one person was convicted, who three days later was "pardoned" by the personal decree of Richard Nixon.

The Vietnam War also became a drug war. Drug addiction in the troops has become another factor that crippled the combat capability of the United States.

On average, an American soldier in Vietnam fought 240 days a year! For comparison, an American soldier during the Second World War on pacific ocean fought an average of 40 days in 4 years. Helicopters performed well in this war. Which the Americans lost about 3500 pieces.

From 1957 to 1973, about 37,000 South Vietnamese were shot by Viet Cong guerrillas for collaborating with the Americans, most of whom were petty civil servants.

Civilian casualties are unknown to date - about 5 million are believed to have died, with more in the North than in the South. In addition, the losses of the civilian population of Cambodia and Laos are not taken into account anywhere - apparently, here they also number in the thousands.

The average age of a dead American soldier was 23 years 11 months. 11,465 dead were under the age of 20, and 5 died before reaching the age of 16! The oldest person to die in the war was a 62-year-old American.

The Vietnam War was the longest military conflict in modern history. military history. The conflict lasted about 20 years: from November 1, 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

But Vietnam won...

Our crimson flag proudly flies,
And on it - the stars of the victory sign.
Like the surf
Thunderstorm -
The power of friendship is fighting,
To new dawns we go step by step.

This is Lao Dong, our party
Us forward from year to year
Leads!
— Do Ming, "Lao Dong Party Song"

Soviet tanks in Saigon ... this is the end ... The Yankees do not want to remember this war, they no longer openly fight with the radicals and generally revised their methods of fighting the "red plague".

The basis of information and photos (C) is the Internet. Main sources: