Vietnam War

1954 – 1975

The Vietnam War, (1954 to 1975), was a conflict between the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States.

North Vietnam had defeated the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1954, to unify the entire country under a single communist regime but South Vietnam wanted a Vietnam more closely aligned with the West.

The war ended when US forces withdrew in 1973 and Vietnam unified under Communist control two years later when South Vietnam fell to a full-scale invasion by the North.

Although called the “American War” in Vietnam, U.S. and South Vietnam allies included South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.