At the time of the fall of Japan in 1945, the Vietnamese Communists at the head of the Vietminh League managed to seize power throughout the country, to obtain the abdication in their hands of the Vietnamese ruler and to establish the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam presided over on September 2. from Hô Chi Minh. The elections (January 6, 1946) confirmed the legitimacy of the Vietminh power. But, a diplomatic attempt failed, France did not accept the de facto situation and with the bombing of Haiphong opened hostilities restoring Emperor Bao Dai to the throne.. The guerrillas spread, bloody and indomitable. France was soon in trouble and, between 1949 and 1950, had to clear the Tonkin and struggled to resist in the Red River delta. The need not to disperse forces led the French General Staff to establish the Dien Bien Phu fortress camp in 1953, defended by paratroopers and elite troops; but on 7 May 1954, defeated by the guerrillas of Commander Giap, the French forces had to capitulate. It could have been peace, but other political considerations prevailed and Viet Nam was divided into two: Communists in the North, “pro-Western” in the South, and here the Americans took over from the French (1955) who engaged huge war forces. Thus began the last phase (1955-75) of the long struggle of the Vietnamese people for the independence and unity of the country. In Saigon, the capital of the South, Ngô Dinh Diem reappeared; the emperor was sidelined; draconian measures were put in place against the communist danger, the army was trained and armed with very modern methods and weapons. But the guerrillas resumed relentlessly: indeed, in 1960 the South Viet Nam Liberation Front was born, formed by all oppositions. In November 1963, Diem was overthrown by a coup d’état, while the US military contribution gradually increased and the systematic bombing of the North began (1965).
In June 1965, according to aceinland, the general came to power in Saigon Nguyên Van Thieu, very loyal to the USA, who established a dictatorial and bloodthirsty power. The guerrillas then intensified, despite the use of chemical means and the most sophisticated weapons by the Americans. In January 1968 the guerrillas launched a great offensive (the Têt offensive) which put the government and the Americans themselves in serious difficulty. Meanwhile, in the world and in the USA, the protest for the American intervention was spreading extraordinarily, thus contributing to undermine Washington’s policy. To get out, President Johnson initiated (May 1968) peace negotiations in Paris, while at the same time continuing aid to Saigon. In 1970-71 the conflict spread to Laos and Cambodia with the intention of interrupting supplies to the guerrillas. The two operations led to the defeat of the invaders and stoked, especially in Cambodia, another fearsome hotbed of war. Talks were then opened in Paris with the participation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (GRP), which arose in the South in opposition to that of Saigon and comprising the vast liberated areas, and the policy of “Vietnamization” was announced, that is, the progressive withdrawal of the armed forces. after the strengthening of the South Vietnamese army. On January 27, 1973, the grueling Parisian talks came to an end, but the agreements ran aground in front of the Saigon’s political intransigence and the consequent hardening of the North. The truce was thus increasingly violated, until in December 1974 the GRP launched a general offensive which ended on April 30, 1975 with the occupation of Saigon and the definitive liberation of the country. The Vietnamese liberation war in its last fifteen years cost, according to American calculations, more than seven million and three hundred thousand dead and wounded. On July 2, 1976, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam was officially proclaimed, including the two states.
In 1977 a serious crisis broke out with Cambodia, which had adopted a pro-Chinese line, and there were bitter clashes in the “Duck Beak” region. In December 1978 Viet Nam invaded Cambodia and in the following January, deposed until in December 1974 the GRP launched a general offensive which ended on April 30, 1975 with the occupation of Saigon and the definitive liberation of the country. The Vietnamese liberation war in its last fifteen years cost, according to American calculations, more than seven million and three hundred thousand dead and wounded. On July 2, 1976, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam was officially proclaimed, including the two states. In 1977 a serious crisis broke out with Cambodia, which had adopted a pro-Chinese line, and there were bitter clashes in the “Duck Beak” region. In December 1978 Viet Nam invaded Cambodia and in the following January, deposed until in December 1974 the GRP launched a general offensive which ended on April 30, 1975 with the occupation of Saigon and the definitive liberation of the country. The Vietnamese liberation war in its last fifteen years cost, according to American calculations, more than seven million and three hundred thousand dead and wounded. On July 2, 1976, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam was officially proclaimed, including the two states.
