Overview of the War

The Vietnam War occurred in present-day Vietnam in Southeast Asia during the time of the Cold War. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, also called the Viet Cong, successfully imposed a communist system on the people of Vietnam. The Republic of Vietnam in the South, with the support of the United States, unsuccessfully opposed this communist revolution. The war began in 1959 with North Vietnam’s first guerilla attacks against the South and ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975. 

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A Divided Nation

The Geneva Conference of 1954 split Vietnam into two. In the north Ho Chi Minh led a communist government and Ngo Dinh Diem led a democratic government in the south. In 1959 Ho Chi Minh wanted to unite the country under communist rule and launched a guerilla campaign in South Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh

Ngo Dinh Diem