2024-05-2410:21 Status:Complete
There are several sub operations and events that came from the Vietnam War. For instance: Cambodia, Operation Menu & Operation Freedom Deal, Trial of the Chicago 7 Khmer Rouge Murders
Overview
The Vietnam Proxy War was a result of the US believing that the spread of communists, followed the “Domino Effect.” In essence if one nation falls to communism, the surrounding nations fall as well. Thus birthing the fear that communism would spread across south eastern Asia. This provoked the US to get involved in Vietnam - less for socio-economic reasons but for the ideological conflict the US had with Soviets. Vietnam was their ideological battleground. This widely popularized anti-war sentiment as many people died for little to no reason (not going to argue the ethics of war, but the loss of life to something especially this arbitrary popularized this sentiment).
Background
Vietnam had a history of colonialism under French rule since the 19th century. Vietnamese people rightfully had resistance to foreign domination, which would fuel their uprisings and collective revolts. This led to Vietnamese people having an especially prominent sense of nationalism and independence from colonial powers. When influenced by figures such as Phan Boi Chau, Ho Chi Minh (communist) etc. they developed an allyship to this ideology - especially when revolting against the French and Japanese occupations of WWII. This contextualized the Vietnam War where The Soviet Union and The US were both fighting for military dominance of Southeastern Asia - where Vietnam was their battleground. Thus, Vietnam was divided after the Battle of Dien Bein Phu during 1964, North (communist rule of Ho Chi Minh) and South Vietnam (Controlled by the United States).
Stemming the Tide (1965)
Stemming The Tide was a period of time when the Vietnam War (and Viet Cong’s insurgency) began to be escalated by the US. By 1965, the US provided Southern Vietnam with military assistance for several years. With the relations straining as Viet Cong caused instability, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, April 1964 exacerbated those tensions. North Vietnamese boats (supposedly) attacked by the US Navy gave rise to North Vietnamese uproar, thus legitimizing further escalation. President Lyndon B. Johnson, the current president at the time would use his authority as a response in his Rolling Thunder Bombing Campaign. Where in February, 1965 North Vietnam was bombed - this destroyed infrastructure, disrupted supply lines, and relinquish their general support of Viet Cong (who let this happen). Doubling down on the Rolling Thunder Bombing Campaign, US forces implemented a search and destroy method to eliminate Viet Cong insurgents. This was done via military troops aggressively patrolling populated areas, and hosting military operations in the countryside of Southern Vietnam.
This intensified the tensions and casualties for both parties where anti-war sentiment gained significant popularity (on both sides). This escalation led to countries like Laos, and Cambodia being forced into the conflict (which would further destabilize the region).
Taking the Offensive (1966-1967)
During this period of the Vietnam War, US involvement and escalation grew further. During this period, troops hailing from the US rose from apx. 184,000 to well over 485,000 troops by the end of 1967. They were sent under search and destroy missions (in addition to the one already set for the capturing and or elimination mission for Viet Cong). They were also tasked with elimination of The North Vietnamese Army, NVA forces, and other operations such as Operation Cedar Falls, Operation Attleboro, and Operation Junction City. All of which sought to disrupt and further destabilize Vietnamese infrastructure, supply lines etc. It was around this time where Strategic Hamlets were put into place to relocate rural farmers and villagers away from Viet Cong (communist influence/involvement in the war). The security that they provided came from the prevalence of the anti-war movement. Overall, there was a significant amount of casualties during this time and that further propagated international concern with the ethicality of this war.
Tet and Shifting Views (1968)
The Tet Offensive was a series of coordinated attacks whereby the Viet Cong with the NVA attacked apx. 100 cities, and towns in Southern Vietnam (controlled by the US). This attack was a decisive blow to the US as it was launched during the Tet holiday. This attack violated the Tet holiday agreement of ceasefire in January 1968. Tactical urban centers, Saigon, military bases, and government buildings were all attacked. Although this ended in a military defeat of the NVA, they broke the psychological spirit that the US held: They were not winning nearly as much as they thought they were. Thereby exposing vulnerabilities in South Vietnamese government and military; corruption; and general inefficiency throughout the military structure. This forced the US to reconsider the best course of action, and further worsened the image of the military in the public eye (even of the West). Despite the technical military victory, the US still faced especially high causalities to this offensive. The impact of the Tet Offensive primarily made the US government and military seem incompetent: the aftermath of this in the Battle of Hue, and the massacre at May Lai only worsened their image. This is when the considerations of negotiations, de-escalation etc. were considered by the US. Some other notable events include the Communist Forces threatening Lima Site 85, in Laos; The Siege of Khe Sahn; Commencing of peace talks.
Vietnamization (1969-1971)
Vietnamization refers to the strategy implemented and popularized by the Nixon Administration to become discretely uninvolved with the war: placing the burden of defense on the SVM (South Vietnamese Military AKA ARVN). During this time, the popular opinion in America was of the belief that the human cost to this war was not worth it. This exceeded the “typical or tolerable” amount of carnage as the moral reason was not there, nor was there much associated patriotism (even with the legacy of McCarthyistic sentiment). The objective was thus to remove Americans from the conflict they actively escalated by building up the capacities of the SVM, so they can fend for themselves; grant them sufficient resources, training and equipment to do so; withdraw in phases, playing an advisory role; and expansion of covert bombing campaigns. This was not taken kindly by the SVN as they were at low morale, which went to show that the US involvement in this conflict existed from an abstract, moralistic perspective, than any tangible reason.
Negotiations and Passing the Torch (1972-1974)
With the de-escalation of the war came the Paris Peace Records (1973) which aimed to establish a ceasefire between the US, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and Viet Cong. With the withdrawals of American soldiers (Vietnamization), prisoners of war were released from both sides, as commitments were made to respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of their respective controlled regions. During 1973, a high amount of troops were taken out of Vietnam, as Vietnamization took larger effect. Although the situation was less tense, conflict still arose frequently. The protracted stalemate between the two did not last long as in 1974, the NVA launched an offensive against the SVM’s territory. The situation further worsened as Vietnam was reunified under communist rule with the Fall of Saigon (1975).
Fall of Saigon (1975)
The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam war (April 30th, 1975) as earlier in the year, the aforementioned offensive led to the rapid domination of the NVA over the SVM. Demoralized, abandoned, lacking effective leadership, and facing rampant corruption, the SVM was in a terrible condition to defend themselves. As the offensive continued, rapid evacuation of remaining American troops, South Vietnamese officials, and other at risk allies from Saigon and the US Embassy to Navy ships offshore (this was the largest helicopter evacuation in history). Virtually unimpeded, the NVA crushed through the Presidential palace with tanks, definitively ending South Vietnamese control. Former South Vietnamese President, Duong Van Minh, announced the unconditional surrender (despite taking office only a few days prior). After this victory, the NVA, led by the Vietnamese Communist Party, VCP declared victory, and subsequently established the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (capital = Hanoi).
Source(s)
https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/history_and_legacy/timeline/ https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/1945-1964_the_road_to_war/ https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/1968_tet_and_shifting_views/