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About Vietnam >> Vietnam's History :>> Vietnam's History - American War The Geneva Conference of 1954 temporarily divided Vietnam into 2 states at the 17 parallel. In the South, US installed Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister with Bao Dai as the king of a constitutional monarchy. In 1955, Diem used a referendum to depose the formed Emperor and declare himself as President of the Republic of Vietnam and it was proclaimed in Saigon on October 22nd, 1955. Under the Diem’s cruel rule, South Vietnamese desired the reunification under Ho Chi Minh’s government as the Northern government was more stable had weathered the First Indochina War. Under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh city, Communist Party created the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Supported and later directed by the Vietnam People’s Army in the North, South Vietnamese organized the National Liberation Front, better known as the Viet Cong. They would launch guerrilla attacks in the South against Army of the Republic of Vietnam, military target and later American troops. The violation of the United States and the Saigon government rose up the Second Indochina War, known as the “Vietnam War” in the West and the “American War” in Vietnam. The war reached its height in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson ordered 500,000 American troops into the South Vietnam. In 1968, the NLF launched a massive and surprise Tet offensive, attacking almost all major cities in South Vietnam over the Vietnamese New Year. However, at the end, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) forces were pushed out of all cities in South Vietnam and nearly decimated. Although Tet Offensive was a catastrophic military defeat for the Viet Cong, it was a stunning political victory as it led many Americans to view the war as unwinnable. In 1973, the Paris Peace Agreement was signed and American military forces withdrew from Vietnam but still provided aid to South Vietnam. In March 1975, North Vietnamese military launched a massive attack against the Central Highland province of Buon Ma Thuot, the largest city in the Central Higlands. By the end of March, eight Northern provinces had fallen to the communist forces, including the cities of Hue and Da Nang. Buoyed by this stunning victory, the party leadership directed the commander of revolutionary forces in the South, General Van Tien Dung to prepare for an offensive against Saigon. With Saigon in a state of panic, President Thieu resigned the following day and was replaced by Vice President Tran Van Huong. Duong Van Minh, thought to be more acceptable to the communists, took over the presidency on April 28. On April 30, communist forces entered the capital, and Duong Van Minh ordered the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops to lay down their arms. Nearly thirty years had passed since Ho Chi Minh first declared Vietnam's independence as a unified nation in September 1945. In the interim, an entire generation of Vietnamese had endured a divided Vietnam, knowing only continuous warfare. The events of April 1975 not only abruptly concluded the war but also prepared the way for the official reunification of the country the following year, when the Vietnamese people were brought together under one independent government for the first time in more than a century.
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