During one of the tensest standoffs between the world’s two superpowers, numerous standoffs and conflicts erupted. The Cold War is an unforgettable event that could have marked the end of humanity itself. One of the largest conflicts that occurred during the Cold War was the Vietnam War, which lasted for about 20 years ending in the surrender of the US and the deaths of millions on both sides.
The Vietnam War erupted in Vietnam and Laos and was fought between a large number of countries, with the United States Armed Forces and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam leading the fight. During World War 2, Japan invaded Vietnam, which led to Hồ Chí Minh creating the Viet Minh to combat the Japanese invaders. After Japan’s defeat in 1945, Hồ Chí Minh decided to attempt to seize independence of Vietnam, which led to France backing up Emperor Bao to seize control of Vietnam. “Both sides wanted the same thing: a unified Vietnam. But while Hồ and his supporters wanted a nation modeled after other communist countries, Bao and many others wanted a Vietnam with close economic and cultural ties to the West” (history.com) explains the reasoning behind each side of the Vietnam War.
With the Cold War intensifying worldwide, Dwight D. Eisenhower maintained the U.S.’s policies against communism, which was supported by the Communist Soviet Union. This led to the U.S. deploying troops in Vietnam to support Ngo Dinh Diem, an anti-communist politician, and South Vietnam. After many of the Vietnamese Communists were imprisoned and harmed by Diem’s security forces, “By 1957, the Viet Cong and other opponents of Diem’s repressive regime began fighting back with attacks on government officials and other targets, and by 1959 they had begun engaging the South Vietnamese army in firefights” (history.com). After the communist Vietnamese troops and generals were pushed back by the better-supplied U.S. and its allies, they launched the Tet Offensive. “On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 DRV forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam,” and “Reports of the Tet Offensive stunned the U.S. public, however, especially after news broke that Westmoreland had requested an additional 200,000 troops, despite repeated assurances that victory in the Vietnam War was imminent. With his approval ratings dropping in an election year, Johnson called a halt to bombing in much of North Vietnam (though bombings continued in the south) and promised to dedicate the rest of his term to seeking peace rather than reelection” (history.com). The Tet Offensive was arguably the biggest turning point of the Vietnam War, and after continued conflict, the United States and North Vietnam concluded a peace agreement in January 1973. Millions were dead and the war continued between North Vietnam and South Vietnam until DRV forces captured Saigon. While the Cold War erupted many conflicts between the superpowers of the globe, none was more gruesome than the Vietnam War.
