The Vietnam War

Vietnam SPLITS ( 1945 - 1954)

• In 1945 the Japanese pulled its forces out of Vietnam due to their defeat in WW2.
• At that time Ho Chi Minh, a communist, saw the perfect time to establish a communist state in Vietnam.
• Ho took control of Northern Vietnam, and declared Hanoi has his capital.
• France backed Southern Vietnam, with Emperor Boa Dai as the leader. Southern Vietnam's capital was Saigon.

Vietnam splits

• In 1954 the French were pushed out of Vietnam because of the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
• After France left Vietnam the 1954 Geneva Convention divided the nation into two halves the North or Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( DRV) and the South or the Republic of Vietnam.

Vietnam Escaldes ( 1954 - 1975)

• Fighting soon continued as the North wanted to reunite Vietnam under communist rule.
• The South Vietnamese struggled against the Northern aggressors, therefore the U.S. joined the war to help South Vietnam against the communist North in

Fighting in Vietnam

• The Viet Cong and the NVA ( North Vietnamese Army) used guerilla warfare against U.S. and South Vietnamese forces.
• The U.S. used "Search and Destroy" tactics. This tactic consisted of the U.S. troops searching and then destroying the enemy. The U.S. also used carpet bombing against the North Vietnam

Weapons used

• The iconic AK - 47, a Russian assault rifle, was widely used by the Communist forces. This rifle was cheap, and very reliable.
• The M - 16 assault rifle is probably the most iconic American assault rifle. The M - 16 had a better fire rate than the AK - 47, but often failed in the jungles of Vietnam. Upgrades soon followed to increase it's effectiveness.
• Napalm, one of the most terrifying weapons of the war. Napalm was a bomb filled with jellied gasoline or diesel that would ignite upon impact and would stick and continue to burn.

THe End of the war

• In 1973, the U.S. withdrew it's troops due to unrest and antiwar protests back at home.
• Two years later in 1975, the North Vietnamese sacked the Southern Vietnamese capital of Saigon. Vietnam was then reunited as a communist nation.

Costs of the war

• 60,000 Americans died, 150,000 wounded and another 1,600 missing.
• The war is estimated to have costed 173 billion dollars.