The World had faced rapid changes in the twentieth century. Several major events of historical importance happened during this period. Many countries were intensely affected/deeply impacted due to the major wars that took place in the early and mid-twentieth century. Vietnam was one among the countries which had a high impact due to the colonization and invasion of foreign powers.  Vietnam had also played a significant role during this period and made a distinguished mark in the pages of history.

There had been riots in Vietnam for many years before the Vietnam War began. Vietnam suffered under the two foreign powers, France and Japan, invading Vietnam and establishing their own colonies in Vietnam. They exploited the country and millions of Vietnamese people died of famine during that period. While the prevailing condition was thus, there was no unity within Vietnam itself. Partition within the country paved way for the Vietnam War. North Vietnam was supported by the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union while South Vietnam was supported by the United States then. The prolonged struggle which arose out of the above reasons led to the war which lasted for several years.

The nationalist forces of Vietnam, under Ho Chi Minh, the revolutionary leader of Communism, attempted to unify the divided country under a communist government. Ho Chi Minh sought the aid of the United States to support him against the French and supplied the U.S. with military intelligence about the Japanese during World War II. Despite this aid, the United States was keen on preventing the spread of Communism, as they feared that if one country in Southeast Asia fell to Communism then the surrounding countries would also soon fall. Instead, the U.S. decided to help France defeat Ho Chi Minh and his supporters by sending the French military aid in 1950.

A pact was made at the Geneva Conference which was held in 1954 and a cease fire for the peaceful withdrawal of the French forces was agreed. Thus the French, after facing a blowing defeat, left Vietnam. Vietnam was divided then as the Communist North Vietnam and the Non-Communist South Vietnam. It was also decided that a general election would have to be held in 1956 to reunite the country under a single government. The United States was against this election as they feared that the communists might win. Rather than having a countrywide election, the election was carried out in South Vietnam alone. Ngo Dinh Diem was elected and he was not successful in his ruling period. Diem had alienated many South Vietnamese during his tenure and the communist sympathizers in South Vietnam established the National Liberation Front (NLF) in 1960 to use guerilla warfare against the South Vietnamese.

From 1965 to 1969, the involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam War was very less, mainly because they lost the American public’s support for the war. The fighting parameters were limited only to the South, though there were aerial bombings in the North. The U.S. troops fought mostly against the NLF, which was well supplied in arms and remunerations. The U.S. soldiers themselves found the fighting conditions in Vietnam difficult and they were highly frustrated.

On January 30, 1968, the North Vietnamese with the support of the NLF assaulted and attacked about a hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns.  This attack, known as the Tet Offensive, proved to Americans that the enemy was much stronger and well organized than they had believed. The Tet Offensive became a turning point in the war. In 1969, the withdrawal of U.S. troops began and new peace talks were held in Paris. Another massive attack, called the Easter Offensive, was staged by the North Vietnamese in 1972. North Vietnamese troops crossed over the demilitarized zone and invaded South Vietnam. Thus there was fighting only between the remaining U.S. forces and the South Vietnamese army.

On January 27, 1973, the peace talks in Paris finally succeeded in producing a cease-fire agreement. The last U.S. troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, and they knew that they were leaving a weak South Vietnam which would not withstand another major communist North Vietnam attack. Even after the U.S. had withdrawn all its troops, the fighting still continued in Vietnam. In early 1975, North Vietnam made another major attempt which overthrew the South Vietnamese government. On April 30, 1975, South Vietnam surrendered officially to North Vietnam. On July 2, 1976, Vietnam was reunited as a communist country, called as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Involved in a war that was viewed by many as having no way to win, U.S. leaders lost the American public's support for the war. Since its end, the Vietnam War has taught a lesson on the ‘not to dos’ in all future U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts. This was the only war the U.S. ever lost. After millions of deaths, the war ended with the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975. The reunified Vietnam suffered further more internal oppression and due to the continuing Cold War and the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, it was internationally isolated. The Communist Party of Vietnam changed its economic policy in 1986 and then began reforms of the private sector similar to those followed in China. Since then, Vietnam has enjoyed substantial economic growth and some reduction in political repression.