--- title: Vietnam — English Wikipedia · full text with trees · page 2 description: Wikipedia's «Vietnam», whole, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics, CC BY-SA 4.0. It begins: Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of Mainland Southeast Asia. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/2/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [wikipedia](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/) / [en](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/) / Vietnam # Vietnam · page 2 From Wikipedia, [«Vietnam»](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam), revision of the 2026-09-01 dump, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). The trees and pragmatics of these pages, Mova's parse of that text, are CC BY-SA 4.0 too. [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/) **2** [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/3/) [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/4/) [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/5/) [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/6/) [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/7/) [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/8/) [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/9/) [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/10/) ### French Indochina Further information: [Cochinchina campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochinchina_campaign), [Tonkin campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkin_campaign), [Sino-French War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-French_War), [French Indochina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina) In the 1500s, the [Portuguese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Empire) explored the Vietnamese coast and reportedly erected a [stele](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele) on the [Chàm Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chàm_Islands) to mark their presence.[\[91\]](../../page/10/#ref-91 "note 91")[76](../../76/ "tree and pragmatics") By 1533, they began landing in the Vietnamese delta but were forced to leave because of local turmoil and fighting.[77](../../77/ "tree and pragmatics") They also had less interest in the territory than they did in China and Japan.[\[91\]](../../page/10/#ref-91 "note 91")[78](../../78/ "tree and pragmatics") After they had settled in [Macau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Macau) and [Nagasaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_Nagasaki) to begin the profitable Macau–Japan trade route, the Portuguese began to involve themselves in trade with [Hội An](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hội_An_%28city%29).[\[91\]](../../page/10/#ref-91 "note 91")[79](../../79/ "tree and pragmatics") Portuguese traders and [Jesuit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuits) missionaries under the [Padroado](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padroado) system were active in both Vietnamese realms of [Đàng Trong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Đàng_Trong) ([Cochinchina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochinchina)) and [Đàng Ngoài](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Đàng_Ngoài) ([Tonkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkin)) in the 17th century.[\[92\]](../../page/10/#ref-92 "note 92")[80](../../80/ "tree and pragmatics") The [Dutch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_colonial_empire) also attempted to establish contact with Cochinchina in 1601 but failed to sustain a presence there after several violent encounters with the locals.[81](../../81/ "tree and pragmatics") The [Dutch East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company) only managed to establish official relations with Tonkin in the spring of 1637 after leaving [Dejima](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dejima) in Japan to establish trade for silk.[\[93\]](../../page/10/#ref-93 "note 93")[82](../../82/ "tree and pragmatics") Meanwhile, in 1613, the first [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_England) attempt to establish contact with Hội An failed following a violent incident involving the [East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company).[83](../../83/ "tree and pragmatics") By 1672, the English established relations with Tonkin and were allowed to reside in [Phố Hiến](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hưng_Yên_%28city%29).[\[94\]](../../page/10/#ref-94 "note 94")[84](../../84/ "tree and pragmatics") Between 1615 and 1753, French traders also engaged in trade in Vietnam.[\[95\]](../../page/10/#ref-95 "note 95")[\[96\]](../../page/10/#ref-96 "note 96")[85](../../85/ "tree and pragmatics") The first French missionaries arrived in 1658, under the Portuguese Padroado.[86](../../86/ "tree and pragmatics") From its foundation, the [Paris Foreign Missions Society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Foreign_Missions_Society) under [Propaganda Fide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_for_the_Evangelization_of_Peoples) actively sent missionaries to Vietnam, entering Cochinchina in 1664 and Tonkin in 1666.[\[97\]](../../page/10/#ref-97 "note 97")[87](../../87/ "tree and pragmatics") Spanish [Dominicans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Order) joined the Tonkin mission in 1676, and [Franciscans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscans) were in Cochinchina from 1719 to 1834.[88](../../88/ "tree and pragmatics") Vietnamese authorities became concerned by increasing [Christianisation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization) activities,[\[98\]](../../page/10/#ref-98 "note 98") and after several Catholic missionaries were detained, the French Navy intervened in 1843 to free them.[\[99\]](../../page/10/#ref-99 "note 99")[89](../../89/ "tree and pragmatics") In a series of conquests from 1859 to 1885, France eroded Vietnam's sovereignty.[\[100\]](../../page/10/#ref-100 "note 100")[90](../../90/ "tree and pragmatics") At the [siege of Tourane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Tourane) in 1858, France was aided by Spain (with Spanish and Filipino troops from the [Philippines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captaincy_General_of_the_Philippines))[\[101\]](../../page/10/#ref-101 "note 101") and perhaps some Tonkinese Catholics.[\[102\]](../../page/10/#ref-102 "note 102")[91](../../91/ "tree and pragmatics") After the [1862 Treaty of Saigon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Saigon_%281862%29), and especially after France completely conquered [Lower Cochinchina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Vietnam) in 1867, the [Văn Thân movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Văn_Thân_movement) of scholar-gentry class arose and committed violence against Catholics across central and northern Vietnam.[\[103\]](../../page/10/#ref-103 "note 103")[92](../../92/ "tree and pragmatics") Between 1862 and 1867, the southern third of the country became the [French colony of Cochinchina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Cochinchina).[\[104\]](../../page/10/#ref-104 "note 104")[93](../../93/ "tree and pragmatics") By 1884, the entire country was under French rule, with the central and northern parts of Vietnam separated into the two protectorates of [Annam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annam_%28French_protectorate%29) and [Tonkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkin_%28French_protectorate%29).[94](../../94/ "tree and pragmatics") The three entities were formally integrated into the union of [French Indochina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina) in 1887.[\[105\]](../../page/10/#ref-105 "note 105")[\[106\]](../../page/10/#ref-106 "note 106")[95](../../95/ "tree and pragmatics") During this period, the French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society.[\[107\]](../../page/10/#ref-107 "note 107")[96](../../96/ "tree and pragmatics") A Western-style system of modern education introduced new [humanist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism) values.[\[108\]](../../page/10/#ref-108 "note 108")[97](../../97/ "tree and pragmatics") Most French settlers in Indochina were concentrated in Cochinchina, particularly in [Saigon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City), and in [Hanoi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi) [corpus](../../../Hanoi/ "in our corpus"), the colony's capital.[\[109\]](../../page/10/#ref-109 "note 109")[98](../../98/ "tree and pragmatics") During the early colonial period, guerrillas of the royalist [Cần Vương movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cần_Vương_movement) rebelled against French rule and massacred around a third of [Vietnam's Christian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Vietnam) population.[\[110\]](../../page/10/#ref-110 "note 110")[99](../../99/ "tree and pragmatics") Anti-Catholic violence persisted in [Nam Định](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_Định), [Quảng Trị](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quảng_Trị_province), and [Bình Định](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bình_Định) during the 1880s.[\[111\]](../../page/10/#ref-111 "note 111")[100](../../100/ "tree and pragmatics") The French strategy for pacification in Vietnam relied more on alliances with local notables than on Christian missions to establish control and manage resistance.[\[112\]](../../page/10/#ref-112 "note 112")[101](../../101/ "tree and pragmatics") The French developed a [plantation economy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation_economy) to promote export of tobacco, [indigo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_dye), tea and coffee.[\[113\]](../../page/10/#ref-113 "note 113")[102](../../102/ "tree and pragmatics") However, they largely ignored the increasing demands for civil rights and [self-governance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-governance).[103](../../103/ "tree and pragmatics") An increasing dissatisfaction even led to half-hearted, badly coordinated, and still worse executed plots to oust the French, such as the [Hanoi Poison Plot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi_Poison_Plot) of 1908 and the [Thái Nguyên uprising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thái_Nguyên_uprising) of 1917.[\[114\]](../../page/10/#ref-114 "note 114")[104](../../104/ "tree and pragmatics") A nationalist political movement soon emerged, with leaders like [Phan Bội Châu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Bội_Châu), [Phan Châu Trinh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Châu_Trinh), [Phan Đình Phùng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Đình_Phùng), and Emperor [Hàm Nghi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hàm_Nghi) fighting or calling for independence.[\[115\]](../../page/10/#ref-115 "note 115")[105](../../105/ "tree and pragmatics") This resulted in the 1930 [Yên Bái mutiny](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yên_Bái_mutiny) by the [Vietnamese Nationalist Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Việt_Nam_Quốc_Dân_Đảng) (VNQDĐ), which the French quashed.[106](../../106/ "tree and pragmatics") The mutiny split the independence movement, as many leading members converted to [communism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism).[\[116\]](../../page/10/#ref-116 "note 116")[\[117\]](../../page/10/#ref-117 "note 117")[\[118\]](../../page/10/#ref-118 "note 118")[107](../../107/ "tree and pragmatics") The French maintained full control of their colonies until World War II, when the [war in the Pacific](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_War) led to the [Japanese invasion of French Indochina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_French_Indochina) in 1940.[108](../../108/ "tree and pragmatics") Afterwards, the [Japanese Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan) was allowed to station its troops in Vietnam while the pro-[Vichy French](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_France) colonial administration continued.[\[119\]](../../page/10/#ref-119 "note 119")[\[120\]](../../page/10/#ref-120 "note 120")[109](../../109/ "tree and pragmatics") Japan exploited Vietnam's natural resources to support its military campaigns, culminating in a [full-scale takeover of the country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_coup_d%27état_in_French_Indochina) in March 1945.[110](../../110/ "tree and pragmatics") This led to the [Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_famine_of_1944–1945), which killed up to two million people.[\[121\]](../../page/10/#ref-121 "note 121")[\[122\]](../../page/10/#ref-122 "note 122")[111](../../111/ "tree and pragmatics") ### First Indochina War Further information: [Civil conflicts in Vietnam (1945–1949)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_conflicts_in_Vietnam_%281945–1949%29), [First Indochina War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War), [1954 Geneva Conference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Geneva_Conference) In 1941, the [Việt Minh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Minh), a communist-led national liberation movement, emerged under [Ho Chi Minh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh)'s leadership.[\[123\]](../../page/10/#ref-123 "note 123")[\[124\]](../../page/10/#ref-124 "note 124")[112](../../112/ "tree and pragmatics") Mass political mobilization intensified during the [Japanese military occupation of Indochina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina_in_World_War_II),[\[125\]](../../page/10/#ref-125 "note 125") and nationalist parties fostered a stronger sense of national identity.[\[126\]](../../page/10/#ref-126 "note 126")[113](../../113/ "tree and pragmatics") After Japan's defeat in World War II, the Việt Minh seized Hanoi and Huế in August 1945, dissolved the [Empire of Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Vietnam), and established a provisional government that declared national independence on 2 September.[\[124\]](../../page/10/#ref-124 "note 124")[114](../../114/ "tree and pragmatics") In the south, Saigon's administrative services collapsed, and chaos, riots, and murder were widespread.[\[127\]](../../page/10/#ref-127 "note 127")[115](../../115/ "tree and pragmatics") In August 1945, the [Allies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_II) had decided to divide Indochina at the [16th parallel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_parallel_north) to allow [Chiang Kai-shek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek) of the [Republic of China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_%281912–1949%29) to [receive the Japanese surrender in the north](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_occupation_of_northern_Vietnam,_1945–1946) while Britain's [Lord Louis Mountbatten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Mountbatten,_1st_Earl_Mountbatten_of_Burma) received their surrender in the south.[116](../../116/ "tree and pragmatics") The Allies agreed that Indochina still belonged to France.[\[128\]](../../page/10/#ref-128 "note 128")[\[129\]](../../page/10/#ref-129 "note 129")[117](../../117/ "tree and pragmatics") But as the French were weakened by the [German occupation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_military_administration_in_occupied_France_during_World_War_II), [British-Indian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj) forces and the remaining Japanese [Southern Expeditionary Army Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Expeditionary_Army_Group) were used to maintain order and help France reestablish control through the [1945–1946 War in Vietnam, south of the 16th parallel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_southern_Vietnam_%281945–1946%29).[\[130\]](../../page/10/#ref-130 "note 130")[118](../../118/ "tree and pragmatics") The Viet Minh sought to consolidate power by terrorizing and purging rival Vietnamese [nationalist groups](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_nationalism) and [Trotskyist leaders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotskyism_in_Vietnam).[\[131\]](../../page/10/#ref-131 "note 131")[\[132\]](../../page/10/#ref-132 "note 132")[\[133\]](../../page/10/#ref-133 "note 133")[\[134\]](../../page/10/#ref-134 "note 134")[119](../../119/ "tree and pragmatics") In 1946, the Franco-Chinese and [Ho–Sainteny Agreements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho–Sainteny_Agreement) enabled French forces to replace the Chinese north of the 16th parallel and facilitated a coexistence between the DRV and the French that strengthened the Viet Minh while undermining the nationalists.[\[135\]](../../page/10/#ref-135 "note 135")[\[136\]](../../page/10/#ref-136 "note 136")[120](../../120/ "tree and pragmatics") That summer, the Viet Minh, in collaboration with French forces, eliminated rival nationalist parties.[\[137\]](../../page/10/#ref-137 "note 137")[\[138\]](../../page/10/#ref-138 "note 138")[\[139\]](../../page/10/#ref-139 "note 139")[\[140\]](../../page/10/#ref-140 "note 140")[121](../../121/ "tree and pragmatics") Hồ chose to take a compromising stance to avoid military conflict with [France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Government_of_the_French_Republic), asking the French to withdraw their colonial administrators and for French professors and engineers to help build a modern independent Vietnam.[\[124\]](../../page/10/#ref-124 "note 124")[122](../../122/ "tree and pragmatics") But France did not act on these requests, including the idea of independence, and dispatched the [French Far East Expeditionary Corps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Far_East_Expeditionary_Corps) to restore colonial rule.[123](../../123/ "tree and pragmatics") With negotiations having broken down,[\[141\]](../../page/10/#ref-141 "note 141") tensions between the Viet Minh and French authorities erupted into the full-scale [First Indochina War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War) in December 1946.[\[123\]](../../page/10/#ref-123 "note 123")[\[124\]](../../page/10/#ref-124 "note 124")[\[142\]](../../page/10/#ref-142 "note 142")[124](../../124/ "tree and pragmatics") Surviving nationalist partisans and politico-religious groups rallied behind the exiled [Bảo Đại](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bảo_Đại) to reopen negotiations with [France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fourth_Republic), ultimately signing the [Élysée Accords](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élysée_Accords) and establishing the [State of Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Vietnam) in opposition to communist domination.[\[143\]](../../page/10/#ref-143 "note 143")[125](../../125/ "tree and pragmatics") The defeat of [French Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Union) forces in the 1954 [Battle of Điện Biên Phủ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Điện_Biên_Phủ) allowed Hồ to negotiate a ceasefire from a favourable position at the subsequent [Geneva Conference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Geneva_Conference).[\[124\]](../../page/10/#ref-124 "note 124")[\[144\]](../../page/10/#ref-144 "note 144")[126](../../126/ "tree and pragmatics") The Geneva Accords of 21 July 1954, signed between the Viet Minh and the French, ended the colonial fighting and affirmed Vietnam's independence, while placing Vietnam under a temporary North–South division along the [Demilitarized Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_Demilitarized_Zone), roughly following the [17th parallel north](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_parallel_north) (pending elections scheduled for July 1956).[\[149\]](../../page/10/#ref-149 "note 149")[127](../../127/ "tree and pragmatics") 300 days of free movement were permitted, during which almost a million northerners, including at least 500,000 Catholics and approximately 200,000 Buddhists, moved south,[\[150\]](../../page/10/#ref-150 "note 150") fearing persecution by the communists.[128](../../128/ "tree and pragmatics") This migration was aided by the United States navy through [Operation Passage to Freedom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Passage_to_Freedom).[\[151\]](../../page/10/#ref-151 "note 151")[\[152\]](../../page/10/#ref-152 "note 152")[129](../../129/ "tree and pragmatics") The [partition of Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_Vietnam) by the Geneva Accords was not intended to be permanent, and stipulated that Vietnam would be reunited after the elections.[\[153\]](../../page/10/#ref-153 "note 153")[130](../../130/ "tree and pragmatics") In July 1955, the State of Vietnam's prime minister [Ngô Đình Diệm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem) announced in a broadcast that South Vietnam would not participate in the elections, as they had not signed the accords and therefore were not bound by them.[\[154\]](../../page/10/#ref-154 "note 154")[\[155\]](../../page/10/#ref-155 "note 155")[131](../../131/ "tree and pragmatics") In October 1955, Ngô Đình Diệm toppled [Bảo Đại](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bảo_Đại) in a fraudulent [referendum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_State_of_Vietnam_referendum) organised by his brother [Ngô Đình Nhu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngô_Đình_Nhu), and proclaimed himself president of the [Republic of Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Vietnam).[\[153\]](../../page/10/#ref-153 "note 153")[132](../../132/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Vietnam War Main article: [Vietnam War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War) From 1953 to 1956, the [North Vietnamese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vietnam) government instituted [agrarian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarianism) reforms including "[rent reduction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_regulation)" and "[land reform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform_in_North_Vietnam)", which resulted in significant [political repression](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_repression).[\[156\]](../../page/10/#ref-156 "note 156")[133](../../133/ "tree and pragmatics") This included 13,500 to as many as 100,000 executions.[\[157\]](../../page/10/#ref-157 "note 157")[\[158\]](../../page/10/#ref-158 "note 158")[134](../../134/ "tree and pragmatics") In the South, Diệm countered North Vietnamese subversion (including the assassination of over 450 South Vietnamese officials in 1956) by detaining tens of thousands of suspected [communist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism)s in "political reeducation centres".[\[159\]](../../page/10/#ref-159 "note 159")[\[160\]](../../page/10/#ref-160 "note 160")[135](../../135/ "tree and pragmatics") This programme incarcerated many non-communists, but was successful at curtailing communist activity in the country, if only for a time.[\[161\]](../../page/10/#ref-161 "note 161")[136](../../136/ "tree and pragmatics") The North Vietnamese government claimed that 2,148 people were killed in the process by November 1957.[\[162\]](../../page/10/#ref-162 "note 162")[137](../../137/ "tree and pragmatics") The pro-Hanoi [Viet Cong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong) began a guerrilla campaign in [South Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam) in the late 1950s to overthrow Diệm's government.[\[163\]](../../page/10/#ref-163 "note 163")[138](../../138/ "tree and pragmatics") From 1960, the Soviet Union and North Vietnam signed treaties providing for further Soviet military support.[\[164\]](../../page/10/#ref-164 "note 164")[\[165\]](../../page/10/#ref-165 "note 165")[\[166\]](../../page/10/#ref-166 "note 166")[139](../../139/ "tree and pragmatics") The Republic of Vietnam in the south was supported by the [United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) [corpus](../../../United_States/ "in our corpus"), [Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia) [corpus](../../../Australia/ "in our corpus"), [South Korea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea) [corpus](../../../South_Korea/ "in our corpus"), and [Thailand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand) [corpus](../../../Thailand/ "in our corpus"), while the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north was supported by the [Soviet Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union), [People's Republic of China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China) [corpus](../../../China/ "in our corpus"),[\[153\]](../../page/10/#ref-153 "note 153") [Khmer Rouge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge), and later, [Sweden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden) [corpus](../../../Sweden/ "in our corpus").[\[167\]](../../page/10/#ref-167 "note 167")[140](../../140/ "tree and pragmatics") In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Diệm's perceived pro-Catholic bias erupted into [mass demonstrations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_crisis), leading to a violent government crackdown.[\[168\]](../../page/10/#ref-168 "note 168")[141](../../141/ "tree and pragmatics") This led to the [collapse of Diệm's relationship with the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_243), and ultimately to a [1963 coup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_South_Vietnamese_coup) in which [he and Nhu were assassinated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_and_assassination_of_Ngô_Đình_Diệm).[\[169\]](../../page/10/#ref-169 "note 169")[142](../../142/ "tree and pragmatics") The Diệm era was followed by more than a dozen successive military governments, before the pairing of Air Marshal [Nguyễn Cao Kỳ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyễn_Cao_Kỳ) and General [Nguyễn Văn Thiệu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyễn_Văn_Thiệu) took control in mid-1965.[\[170\]](../../page/10/#ref-170 "note 170")[143](../../143/ "tree and pragmatics") Thiệu gradually outmaneuvered Kỳ and cemented his grip on power in fraudulent elections in 1967 and 1971.[\[171\]](../../page/10/#ref-171 "note 171")[144](../../144/ "tree and pragmatics") During this political instability, the communists began to gain ground.[145](../../145/ "tree and pragmatics") To support South Vietnam's struggle against the communist insurgency, the United States used the 1964 [Gulf of Tonkin incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident) as a pretext for increasing its contribution of military advisers.[\[172\]](../../page/10/#ref-172 "note 172")[146](../../146/ "tree and pragmatics") US forces became involved in ground combat operations by 1965, and at their peak several years later, numbered more than 500,000.[\[173\]](../../page/10/#ref-173 "note 173")[\[174\]](../../page/10/#ref-174 "note 174")[147](../../147/ "tree and pragmatics") The US also engaged in [sustained aerial bombing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Rolling_Thunder).[148](../../148/ "tree and pragmatics") Meanwhile, China and the Soviet Union provided North Vietnam with significant material aid and 15,000 combat advisers.[\[164\]](../../page/10/#ref-164 "note 164")[\[165\]](../../page/10/#ref-165 "note 165")[\[175\]](../../page/10/#ref-175 "note 175")[149](../../149/ "tree and pragmatics") Communist forces supplying the Việt Cộng carried supplies along the [Ho Chi Minh trail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_trail), which passed through [Laos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Laos).[\[176\]](../../page/10/#ref-176 "note 176")[150](../../150/ "tree and pragmatics") The communists attacked South Vietnamese targets during the 1968 [Tết Offensive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tết_Offensive).[151](../../151/ "tree and pragmatics") The campaign failed militarily, but shocked the American establishment and turned US public opinion against the war.[\[177\]](../../page/10/#ref-177 "note 177")[152](../../152/ "tree and pragmatics") During the offensive, communist troops [massacred over 3,000 civilians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_at_Huế) at [Huế](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huế).[\[178\]](../../page/10/#ref-178 "note 178")[\[179\]](../../page/10/#ref-179 "note 179")[153](../../153/ "tree and pragmatics") Facing an increasing casualty count, [rising domestic opposition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_United_States_involvement_in_the_Vietnam_War) to the war, and growing international condemnation, the US began [withdrawing from ground combat roles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Doctrine) in the early 1970s.[154](../../154/ "tree and pragmatics") This also entailed an unsuccessful effort to [strengthen and stabilise South Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamisation).[\[180\]](../../page/10/#ref-180 "note 180")[155](../../155/ "tree and pragmatics") Following the [Paris Peace Accords](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Accords) of 27 January 1973, all American combat troops were withdrawn by 29 March 1973.[\[181\]](../../page/10/#ref-181 "note 181")[156](../../156/ "tree and pragmatics") In December 1974, North Vietnam [captured](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Phước_Long) the province of [Phước Long](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phước_Long_province) and started a [full-scale offensive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Spring_Offensive), culminating in the [fall of Saigon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon) on 30 April 1975.[\[182\]](../../page/10/#ref-182 "note 182")[157](../../157/ "tree and pragmatics") South Vietnam was ruled by a [provisional government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Revolutionary_Government_of_the_Republic_of_South_Vietnam) for 14 months under North Vietnamese control.[\[183\]](../../page/10/#ref-183 "note 183")[158](../../158/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Reunification and reforms Further information: [Re-education camp (Vietnam)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-education_camp_%28Vietnam%29), [Vietnamese boat people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_boat_people), [Đổi Mới](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Đổi_Mới) On 2 July 1976, North and South Vietnam were merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.[\[184\]](../../page/10/#ref-184 "note 184")[159](../../159/ "tree and pragmatics") The war had devastated Vietnam and killed 966,000 to 3.8 million people.[\[185\]](../../page/10/#ref-185 "note 185")[\[186\]](../../page/10/#ref-186 "note 186")[\[187\]](../../page/10/#ref-187 "note 187")[160](../../160/ "tree and pragmatics") A 1974 US Senate subcommittee estimated nearly 1.4 million [Vietnamese civilians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_casualties) were killed or wounded between 1965 and 1974—including 415,000 killed.[\[188\]](../../page/10/#ref-188 "note 188")[\[189\]](../../page/10/#ref-189 "note 189")[161](../../161/ "tree and pragmatics") In its aftermath, under [Lê Duẩn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lê_Duẩn)'s administration, there were no mass executions of South Vietnamese who had served the defunct South Vietnamese government, confounding Western fears,[\[190\]](../../page/10/#ref-190 "note 190") but up to 300,000 South Vietnamese were sent to [reeducation camps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-education_camp_%28Vietnam%29), where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while being forced to perform hard labour.[\[191\]](../../page/10/#ref-191 "note 191")[162](../../162/ "tree and pragmatics") The government embarked on a mass campaign of [collectivisation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivisation) of farms and factories.[\[192\]](../../page/10/#ref-192 "note 192")[163](../../163/ "tree and pragmatics") [Millions fled](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indochina_refugee_crisis) the country in the aftermath of the war and during the [subsidy period](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidy_period).[\[193\]](../../page/10/#ref-193 "note 193")[164](../../164/ "tree and pragmatics") In 1978, in response to the [Khmer Rouge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge) government of Cambodia ordering massacres of Vietnamese residents in the border villages in the districts of [An Giang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Giang_province) and [Kiên Giang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiên_Giang_province),[\[194\]](../../page/10/#ref-194 "note 194") the Vietnamese military [invaded Cambodia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian–Vietnamese_War) and removed them from power after occupying [Phnom Penh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh) [corpus](../../../Phnom_Penh/ "in our corpus").[\[195\]](../../page/10/#ref-195 "note 195")[165](../../165/ "tree and pragmatics") The intervention was a success, resulting in the establishment of a new, pro-Vietnam socialist government, the [People's Republic of Kampuchea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Kampuchea), which ruled until 1989.[\[196\]](../../page/10/#ref-196 "note 196")[166](../../166/ "tree and pragmatics") However, this worsened relations with China, which had supported the Khmer Rouge.[167](../../167/ "tree and pragmatics") China later launched a [brief incursion into northern Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War) in 1979, causing Vietnam to rely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid, while mistrust of the [Chinese government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_China) escalated.[\[197\]](../../page/10/#ref-197 "note 197")[168](../../168/ "tree and pragmatics") [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/) **2** [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/3/) [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/4/) [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/5/) [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/6/) [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/7/) [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/8/) [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/9/) [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/10/) - ← previous: [page 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/) - next →: [page 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Vietnam/page/3/) - ↑ back to [English Wikipedia](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/)