The Vietnam War was one of the longest wars in history, lasting from 1955 to 1975. The war began when North Vietnamese forces invaded South Vietnam by crossing the 17th parallel on March 30, 1965.
This conflict was known as a guerrilla war because it was fought in jungles and forests rather than on battlefields. The U.S. government became involved in Vietnam because it feared that if South Vietnam fell to communism, other countries in Southeast Asia might also fall to communism.
The United States first became involved in Vietnam during World War II when it helped France fight against Japan’s occupation of Indochina (the name for the region covering present-day Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos). After Japan surrendered in 1945, France tried to regain control of Indochina but failed because of strong opposition from Vietnamese nationalists led by Ho Chi Minh. In 1954, with help from the Soviet Union and China, Ho Chi Minh defeated France at Dien Bien Phu and gained control of North Vietnam.
In 1973, American troops were withdrawn from South Vietnam after reaching an agreement with North Vietnam about ending U.S. involvement in their civil war. However, fighting continued until 1975 when North Vietnamese troops conquered Saigon and took over control of South Vietnam’s capital city.
