The Vietnam War

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The Vietnam War was an armed conflict from 1955 to 1975 between the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam, usually called North Vietnam, and the Republic of Vietnam, usually called South Vietnam. The war took place during the Cold War, a long period of indirect conflict between Western countries, including the United States and its allies, and communist countries, including the Soviet Union and its allies. During the Vietnam War, the United States supported South Vietnam, hoping to prevent communist expansion there.

Western countries were involved in Vietnam long before the war started. Beginning in the 1880s, France colonized and governed Indochina, a region in Southeast Asia including present-day Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. After World War II ended in 1945, Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh established an independent, communist government based in northern Vietnam and worked to unify Vietnam under his rule. Hoping to contain communism in Southeast Asia, the United States backed French colonial authorities and their southern Vietnamese allies. Despite significant U.S. financial and military support, French forces fell to Ho's army at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.