History of Vietnam

Vietnam had been an independent nation for over 800 years when the French invaded in the late 1800’s, believing that conquering the Mekong area would allow them to gain entry to China. France controlled Vietnam until World War 2, when the Japanese began occupation. In 1941 Ho Chi Minh joined other resistance leaders, forming a nationalist coalition known as the Vietminh, containing both communist and non-communist Nationalists. The Japanese declared Vietnam a nominally independent state in 1945, under the last remaining Nguyen Emperor. The Vietminh quickly took action, calling for a national uprising which resulted in Ho Chi Minh declaring the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2nd 1945. However, at the end of the war the international community failed to recognise this party as the ruling government, allowing the French to regain control.

The first Indochina War ensued for nearly 10 years when the French finally surrendered after vicious fighting on the eve of the Geneva Conference in 1954. The Geneva Conference failed to provide a lasting solution for Vietnam; instead the country was divided in half, with elections to be held in two years time. Elections which never took place as it was deemed by the Americans that Ho Chi Minh’s party would win, and thus the fight against communism would be lost. Meanwhile Ho Chi Minh gathered further support in the North, also drawing together all opposition forces in the south.

In 1964 two American ships were put under allegedly unprovoked attacks by the North Vietnamese army, which caused Senators in the US to vote for a permanent US army deployment in Vietnam, in order to prevent “further aggression”. Thus began the war in which an estimated 57,600 American soldiers were killed alongside an estimated 3 million Vietnamese. A ceasefire was called in 1973, and in 1976 the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was officially declared.

The legacy of war still remains in Vietnam, with a 3rd generation of people being born suffering from the lasting impact of the American defoliation programme. A market economy was established in the 1980’s and the economy is slowly growing, but there are still many people in need of medical aid.