Vietnam War 1955.doc

Vietnam War 1955—1975 The Vietnam War ,also known as the Second Indochina War,also known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975This war followed the First Indochina War (1946–54) and was fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. The Viet Cong a South Vietnamese communist common front aided by the North, fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The Peoples Army of Vietnam engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units to battle. Background to 1949 France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893 . by 1888 the area of the current-day nations of Cambodia and Vietnam was made into the colony of French Indochina.Various Vietnamese opposition movements to French rule existed during this period,none were ultimately as successful as the Viet Minh common front, which was founded in 1941, controlled by the Indochinese Communist Party, and funded by the U.S. and the Chinese Nationalist Party in its fight against Japanese occupation In 1940, during World War II, the French were defeated by the Germans.The French State was established as a client state of Nazi Germany. The French colonial authorities, in Fre nch Indochina, sided with the Vichy regime. In September 1940, Japan invaded Indochina. Following the cessation of fighting and the beginning of the Japanese occupation, the French colonial authorities collaborated with the Japanese. The French continued to run affairs in Indochina, but ultimate power resided in the hands of the Japanese on 2 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam The war spread to Laos and Cambodia, where communists organized the Pathet Lao and the Khmer Serei,