The desire for independence
On September 2, 1945, the official day of the end of the war, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam. Seduced by the ideas of Marx and Lenin, the latter launched the fight for independence in 1946, because the French refused to give up their colony. Both decolonization conflict and civil war within Vietnam are part of the Cold War while France, determined not to respect the agreement, bombs Haiphong on November 23, 1946. This attack causes thousands of victims , as well as the Indochina War.
Political parties interfere and separate territories
The bipolarization of the country involves the world powers. The country is split along the 17th parallel. While communist China seized power, the United States took a position on the side of France, convinced that the Soviet Union had a strategy of expansion:it was the beginning of McCarthyism, in other words "the hunt for witches”. As will be the case in Korea, North Vietnam is communist while in the south, it is a capitalist regime that takes the lead. Until 1954, the French army led by General Leclerc tried to resist this fight for independence, but without success. On May 7, the last French soldiers were taken prisoner. This is where the United States comes in.
The United States comes into play
Jack Kennedy became President of the United States in 1961. According to him, a large part of the Cold War rested on Vietnam. This is why he is sending even more soldiers and war materials there, which will continue to increase under the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. Cambodia and Laos will thus be involved in the conflict. Despite the large number of American soldiers, and the power of their weapons - many bombs were dropped - the local populations held firm, and the resistance destabilized the United States. In addition, the Communist Party does not hesitate to help the Vietnamese forces, while the American president is doing everything to fight against its expansion. Truman, Kennedy's successor, will even speak of the "domino theory", translating the invasion of countries one after the other by communism. From 1965 to 1975, the war raged.
1970:the United States invaded Cambodia in order to destroy the guerrillas of the Communist Party. There is no longer any limit to try to stop it:the bombings follow one another on Vietnamese villages, are relentless, massacre and condemn the whole country with their chemical weapons. Initially intended to destroy enemy crops, the herbicides quickly attack the health of the inhabitants. Since the start of the conflict, Agent Orange, a very toxic product used by the Americans, has triggered a large number of congenital malformations in children whose parents have been affected, as well as neonatal deaths and cancer. The intoxication will persist for generations to come.
The Civil War
If we speak of civil war, it is because there is a confrontation between North Vietnam, adhering to the Communist Party, and South Vietnam supported by the greatest power in the world, and led by Ngo Dinh Diem. The latter died assassinated in November 1963. Since the Americans put an end to Nazism, they are considered "the people of freedom". However, during this war, they will lose this status and will take instead that of imperialists relentlessly on a small people who only claim their independence. If the war continues, it is because the United States refuses to abandon Vietnam in the hands of the Communists, while not wanting any more of this war where many of their soldiers leave to be crushed.
Saigon in communist hands
On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops invaded Saigon, which immediately became Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam is reunited, and Indochina under a communist regime. It then includes Laos and Cambodia.