|
|
|
|
|
Indochina WarsThe Indochina Wars were a series of three wars fought in in Southeast Asia from 1947 until 1979. Most of the fighting occured in Vietnam, but before the conflicts were over, fighting had spread to neighboring Laos and Cambodia as well. The First Indochina War In the First Indochina War, the Communist North Vietnamese fought for colonial independence from the French. Fighting took place from 1947 until 1954, with most of the fighting taking place in areas surrouding Hanoi. The War ended with the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and French withdrawl from Vietnam. The Second Indochina War The Second Indochina War, better known as the Vietnam War, pitted the recently-successful Communist North Vietnamese Army (usually abbreviated NVA or PAVN) and the Vietcong (South Vietnamese guerilla fighters) against (primarily) the Americans and South Vietnamese. Because there was no declaration of War, there is much disagreement as to when the war began http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/What_is_the_exact_day_the_Viet_Nam_War_began, although 1955 (the first arrival of US advisors in South Vietnam) and 1965 (the first arrival of US combat troops) are commonly cited. During the War, the North Vietnamese transported most of their supplies via the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which ran through Laos and Cambodia. As a result, the areas of these nations bordering Vietnam would see heavy combat during the War. For the US, the combat situation improved dramatically from the time it sent ground troops into the war in 1965 (when the South Vietnamese government, led by Nguyen Van Thieu, was weeks from collapse) until 1970 when it began to withdraw. However, over the same period, the War became increasingly unpopular in the United States. The 1968 Tet offensive, while militarily a disaster, had profound psychological impact in the US. The United States began withdrawing troops from Vietnam starting in 1970, and the last troops were withdrawn following the January, 1973 Paris Peace Accords. The Accords called for a cease-fire, and prohibited the North Vietnamese from sending more troops into South Vietnam, although the North Vietnamese were permitted to continue to occupy regions of South Vietnam they had conqured in the 1973 Easter Offensive. However, the North Vietnamese never intended to abide by the agreement. Fighting continued sporadically through 1973 and 1974, while the North Vietnamese planned a major offensive, tentatively scheduled for 1976. The North Vietnamese Army in South Vietnam had been ravaged during the Easter offensive in 1973, and it was projected that it would take until 1976 to rebuild their logistical capabilities. The withdrawl had catastrophic effects on the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN). Shortly after the Paris Peace Accords, the United States Congress made major budget cuts in military aid to the South Vietnamese. The ARVN, which had been trained by American troops to use American tactics, quickly fell into disarray. Although it remained an effective fighting force throughout 1973 and 1974, by January 1975 it had disintegrated. The North Vietnamese hurridly attacked the much weakened South, and met with little resistance. Saigon, the capitol of South Vietnam, fell to the NVA on April 30, 1975, and the Second Indochina War ended. The fighting that took place between North and South Vietnam following US withdrawl is sometimes called the Third Indochina war; however, this term usually refers to a later 1979 conflict - see below. The Third Indochina War The Third Indochina War was fought in February-March 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In 1978, the Vietnamese had invaded neighboring Cambodia and drove the ruling Khmer Rouge from power. The Vietnamese invaded because the Khymer Rouge had been persecuting and killing ethnic-Vietnamese. The Khmer Rouge were a political ally of the Chinese. In 1979, the Chinese government launched an invasion of Vietnam as punishment for the Vietnamese expedition into Cambodia. Fighting was short but intense. The Chinese withdrew in March. As a lasting result of this conflict, to this day, Vietnam maintains a large standing army.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|