The Vietnam War, organized by the communists (agents of Moscow), claimed more than 3 million lives. In this war, in fact, Moscow and communist Beijing were at war with the United States. As cannon fodder, the communists, as always, used the masses of Vietnam and China, who believed their demagogy, as well as the USSR. Moscow supplied (free of charge) weapons, officers, specialists, and China - weapons, officers, soldiers and food.

This is how the communists (on orders from Moscow) unleashed the Vietnam War:

As for Soviet Union Vietnam was also an extremely important strategic area for China. For the USSR, it was the main channel for political penetration into Southeast Asia. Especially significant - in the context of deteriorating relations with China. With Vietnam as an ally, Moscow could achieve complete strategic isolation of Beijing and thus not find itself in a dependent position in the event of reconciliation between the latter and the United States. It was also important for the Chinese side to have Vietnam as an ally. The strategic dominance of the USSR in this region would close the encirclement around the PRC and weaken its position as the leader of the communist movement in South-East Asia. In this situation, Hanoi tried to formally maintain a neutral position, which allowed it to receive operational assistance from both the USSR and the PRC. Looking ahead, we note that as Moscow and Hanoi drew closer, Beijing's relations with the latter began to noticeably decline and gradually reached their lowest point. Ultimately, the USSR filled the space left by the end of the war and the US withdrawal from Vietnam.

The main role in the development of the partisan movement in South Vietnam was played by the communists from the DRV. At the beginning of 1959, the final decision was made in Moscow to unleash a large-scale civil war. The North Vietnamese communists announced that they supposedly did not see peaceful ways to reunite the country after the failure of the terms of the Geneva agreements, and made a choice in favor of supporting the anti-Ziem underground. From the middle of the year, “military advisers” began to go south, having grown up in these places and ended up in the north after the division of the country. At first, the transfer of people and weapons was carried out through the demilitarized zone (DMZ), but after the military successes of the communist forces in Laos, transit began to be carried out through Lao territory. This is how the “Ho Chi Minh trail” arose, which ran through Laos, bypassing the DMZ and further south, entering the territory of Cambodia. The use of the "trail" was a violation of the neutral status of these two countries, established by the Geneva Accords.

In December 1960, all South Vietnamese groups that fought against the Diem regime were united into the National Liberation Front. South Vietnam(NFOYUV), widely known in Western countries as the Viet Cong. From about 1959, the Viet Cong units began to be actively supported by the DRV. In September 1960, the North Vietnamese government officially acknowledged its support for the insurgency in the South. By this time, centers for training fighters were already operating in the territory of the DRV, "forging" cadres from among the inhabitants of the southern regions of Vietnam, who moved to the DRV in 1954. The instructors at these centers were mainly Chinese military specialists. In July 1959, the first large group of trained fighters numbering about 4,500 people began to seep into South Vietnam. Subsequently, they became the core of Viet Cong battalions and regiments. In the same year, the 559th transport group was formed as part of the Army of North Vietnam, designed to provide rear support for operations in South Vietnam through the "Laotian salient". Weapons and military equipment began to arrive in the southern regions of the country, which allowed the rebel detachments to win a number of significant victories. By the end of 1960, the Viet Cong already controlled the Mekong Delta, the Annam Central Plateau, and the coastal plains. At the same time, terrorist methods of struggle became widespread. So, in 1959, 239 South Vietnamese officials were killed, and in 1961 more than 1,400.

Viet Cong fighters began to use mainly Chinese-made Soviet 7.62-mm AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns of the same caliber, RPG-2 anti-tank grenade launchers, as well as 57-mm and 75-mm recoilless rifles. In this regard, it is interesting to quote the statement of US Secretary of Defense McNamara. In a memorandum dated March 16, 1964, he noted that "beginning on July 1, 1963, among the weapons captured from the Viet Cong, weapons that they had not seen before began to come across: Chinese 75-mm recoilless rifles, Chinese heavy machine guns, American 12.7 -mm heavy machine guns on Chinese-made machine tools. In addition, it is quite clear that the Viet Cong are using Chinese 90-mm rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. According to the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1961-1965, 130 recoilless rifles and mortars, 1,400 machine guns, 54,500 small arms and ammunition for them (the main trophy, German production). At the same time, significant economic assistance was also provided to North Vietnam. In turn, during the period from 1955 to 1965, China provided the DRV with economic assistance in the amount of 511.8 million rubles, including 302.5 million rubles free of charge. In general, the amount of assistance to the PRC, according to Pentagon intelligence, was approximately 60% of the assistance to the USSR.

Thanks to the support of North Vietnam, the guerrillas acted more and more successfully. This forced the US to step up military aid to the Diem government. In the spring of 1961, the United States sent to South Vietnam about 500 specialists in counterguerrilla operations, officers and sergeants of the "special forces" ("green berets"), as well as two helicopter companies (33 H-21 helicopters). Soon, a special Advisory Group for the provision of military assistance to South Vietnam was set up in Washington, headed by General P. Harkins. By the end of 1961, there were already 3,200 American troops in the country. Soon, the "group of advisers" was transformed into the Command for the provision of military assistance to South Vietnam with a deployment in Saigon. It took upon itself the solution of many operational issues that had not previously been within the competence of the American advisers and the Advisory Group. At the end of 1962, the number of American military personnel was already 11,326 people. During this year, they, together with the South Vietnamese army, conducted about 20,000 military operations. Moreover, many of them, thanks to the use of helicopter support during attacks, turned out to be quite successful. In December 1961, the first regular units of the US Armed Forces were transferred to the country - two helicopter companies, designed to increase the mobility of the government army. There was a constant build-up of the Soviet corps in the country. American advisers trained South Vietnamese soldiers and participated in the planning of military operations. During this period, the events in South Vietnam did not yet attract much attention from the American public, but the John F. Kennedy administration was determined to repel "communist aggression" in Southeast Asia and demonstrate to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev the US readiness to support its allies in the face of "national liberation movements ". "National liberation movements" - the terminology used by the USSR, denoting the process of exporting the revolution and Moscow's active interference in domestic political processes in other countries, including the organization of civil wars, partisan and terrorist actions, military coups and revolutions. On January 6, 1961, the Soviet leader N.S. Khrushchev publicly declared that "wars for national liberation" are just wars and therefore world communism will support them.

The growing conflict in Vietnam became one of the "hot" hotbeds of the Cold War. First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev was afraid to enter into direct combat with the United States, which was fraught with the war in Vietnam, where American pilots and Soviet anti-aircraft gunners actually found themselves face to face. Moreover, Khrushchev's self-esteem was still too freshly wounded by the forced withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. He categorically did not want to conflict with the States again. Everything changed overnight. Leonid Brezhnev, who replaced Khrushchev in October 1964, decided to intervene. The escalating ideological conflict with China, strained relations with the radical Castrovian Cuba, and the growing tension in negotiations with the DRV threatened a serious split in the communist part of the world. Having strengthened his influence, Suslov, who became the main ideologist of the Soviet regime, demanded activity in Indochina, because he was afraid that Beijing would be able to strengthen its authority by acting as the only consistent defender of the Vietnamese people.

The competent tactics that the Vietnamese used at the talks in Moscow also played their role. The cunning Prime Minister of the DRV Pham Van Dong, who controlled the government for almost a quarter of a century, knowing that Brezhnev had been in charge of the military-industrial complex since the late fifties, made Leonid Ilyich an offer he could not refuse: in exchange for helping Vietnam, the USSR could receive trophy samples of the latest American military equipment. The move was extremely effective - in May 1965, military advisers and anti-aircraft missile units fully manned by Soviet personnel went to Vietnam, which on August 5 opened the account of downed American aircraft. The wreckage was to be collected and studied by a special group of trophy workers, formed from employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense.

In January 1963, in the battle of Apbak, the partisans managed to defeat the government army for the first time. The situation of the Diem regime became even more precarious after the outbreak of the Buddhist crisis in May. Buddhists make up the bulk of the population of Vietnam, but Diem and almost all of his entourage were Catholic Christians. Buddhist unrest swept through a number of cities in the country, several monks committed self-immolation, which received a great response in Europe and the United States. Moreover, it was already clear that Diem was incapable of organizing effective fight with NLF guerrillas. American representatives through secret channels contacted the South Vietnamese generals preparing the coup. On November 1, 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem was deprived of power and the next day he was killed along with his brother.

The military junta that replaced Diem proved politically unstable. Over the next year and a half, another coup took place in Saigon every few months. The South Vietnamese army was involved in a political struggle, which allowed the NLF guerrillas to expand the territories under their control.

The number of US troops in South Vietnam before the official deployment of troops:

1959 - 760
1960 - 900
1961 - 3205
1962 - 11300
1963 - 16300
1964 - 23300

Number of North Vietnamese troops transferred to South Vietnam during the first phase of the war:

1959 - 569
1960 - 876
1961 - 3400
1962 - 4601
1963 - 6997
1964 - 7970
In total, by the end of 1964, more than 24000 North Vietnamese military. Gradually, North Vietnam began to send there not just manpower, but entire military formations. In early 1965, the first three regular regiments of the Vietnam People's Army arrived in South Vietnam.

In March 1965, two battalions of the Marine Corps were sent to protect the strategically important Da Nang airfield in South Vietnam. Since then, the United States has become a participant in the civil war in Vietnam.

The Soviet leadership formally at the beginning of 1965, but in fact at the end of 1964, decided to provide the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with large-scale "military-technical assistance" and, in fact, direct participation in the war. According to A. Kosygin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, aid to Vietnam during the war cost the Soviet Union 1.5 million rubles a day. Until the end of the war, the USSR supplied North Vietnam with 95 S-75 Dvina air defense systems and more than 7.5 thousand missiles for them. 2,000 tanks, 700 light and maneuverable MIG aircraft, 7,000 mortars and guns, more than a hundred helicopters, and much more were delivered to North Vietnam from the USSR free of charge. Almost the entire air defense system of the country was built at the expense of the USSR, by the forces of Soviet specialists. Despite the fact that the US authorities were well aware of the provision of Soviet military assistance to North Vietnam, all Soviet specialists, including the military, were required to wear only civilian clothes, their documents were kept at the embassy, ​​and they learned about the final destination of their business trip at the last moment. Secrecy requirements were maintained until the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from the country, and the exact numbers and names of the participants are not known to this day.

Over 10,000 Vietnamese were sent to the Soviet Union for military training and training in dealing with Soviet modern technology.

Soviet crews of anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) took a direct part in the hostilities. The first battle between anti-aircraft gunners of the USSR and American aviation took place on July 24, 1965. There are claims that the Soviet Union was involved in the Vietnam War much deeper than is commonly believed. In particular, Mark Sternberg, an American journalist and former Soviet officer of the Turkestan military district, wrote about four USSR fighter air divisions that took part in battles with American aircraft. The Americans had every reason not to trust the assurances of the USSR about the exclusively advisory mission of military specialists. The fact is that the majority of the population of North Vietnam was illiterate. The vast majority were starving, people were exhausted, so ordinary fighters did not even have a minimum margin of endurance and strength. Young men could only endure ten minutes of combat with the enemy. There was no need to talk about mastery in the field of piloting on modern machines.

Communist China provided significant military and economic assistance to North Vietnam. On the territory of the DRV, Chinese ground forces were stationed, which included several units and formations of anti-aircraft (cannon) artillery. From the very beginning of the war, the leadership of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) had the task of involving its two largest allies, the USSR and China, in the war. As in the Korean War of 1950-1953. China was the only force capable of providing direct assistance to people in case of need. And the Chinese leadership, without hesitation, promised to help with manpower if American troops landed on the territory of the DRV. This verbal agreement was largely implemented by Beijing. As Ardalion Malgin, Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, informed the Central Committee of the CPSU in October 1968, two Chinese divisions and several other units provided cover for the northern regions of the DRV. Without Chinese food aid, the half-starved North Vietnam would have faced the prospect of mass starvation, since China supplied half of the food that came to the DRV through "fraternal aid."

The selection and study of captured samples of American military equipment, as well as acquaintance with the tactics of combat operations of the US armed forces in Vietnam, was carried out by a group of Soviet military scientific specialists in accordance with an agreement between the USSR Minister of Defense and the Minister of National Defense of the DRV. From May 1965 to January 1, 1967 alone, Soviet specialists selected and sent to the Soviet Union over 700 different samples of US military equipment and weapons (according to official Vietnamese data 417), including parts of aircraft, missiles, electronic, photographic reconnaissance and other weapons . In addition, Soviet specialists prepared dozens of information documents based on the results of studying both directly samples of equipment and weapons, and American technical documentation.

During the Vietnam War, the Soviet military-industrial complex received almost all the latest American technology. According to one of the leaders of those years, in the late 60s and early 70s, almost all the State and Lenin Prizes on "closed" topics were awarded for reproducing American models. This process had its downsides. Firstly, they copied American samples in the way that the technological level of Soviet industry allowed. Simplified options and worked in a simplified way. Secondly, sample documentation was usually non-existent, and an incredible amount of work was spent on figuring out why this or that block did not work or did not work as it should. As a result, a whole generation of specialists grew up in the USSR, whose intellectual potential was wasted on studying the behavior of American "black boxes". Having taken leadership positions, they could only demonstrate creative failure. The Soviet military-industrial complex as a whole received experience that was important for itself and detrimental to the country. Its leaders, unlike their American colleagues, did not receive super profits, but the conditions for the supply of "special equipment" to Vietnam created the most fertile ground for large-scale fraud. Since the weapons were handed over to friends free of charge, no transfer and acceptance certificates were drawn up. The Vietnamese might want to set up accounting, but this would complicate relations with Beijing. Until 1969, while a significant part of the supplies went through railway through China, many echelons with weapons disappeared without a trace. Aleksey Vasiliev, who worked as a correspondent for Pravda in Hanoi, said that after several cases of loss, an experiment was carried out. The Vietnamese were informed about the departure of a non-existent train from the USSR. And after the allotted time, they confirmed its receipt.

The losses of the parties in the Vietnam War unleashed by the Communists and Moscow:

According to the official data of the Vietnamese government, released in 1995, during the entire war, 1.1 million soldiers of the North Vietnamese army and NLF (Viet Cong) guerrillas, as well as 2 million civilians in both parts of the country, were killed.

The losses of the military personnel of South Vietnam are approximately 250 thousand dead and 1 million wounded.

US losses - 58 thousand dead (combat losses - 47 thousand, non-combat - 11 thousand; out of the total number, as of 2008, more than 1,700 people are considered missing); wounded - 303 thousand (hospitalized - 153 thousand, minor injuries - 150 thousand).

In the myth about the “Slavic roots of Russians”, Russian scientists put a bold point: there is nothing from the Slavs in Russians. The western border, up to which true Russian genes are still preserved, coincides with the eastern border of Europe in the Middle Ages between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia with Muscovy. This boundary coincides with both the isotherm of the average winter temperature of -6 degrees Celsius and the western boundary of the 4th USDA hardiness zone.

Officially, the Vietnam War began in August 1964 and continued until 1975 (although direct American intervention ceased two years before the end of the armed clashes). This clash is the best illustration of the instability of relations between the USSR and the United States during the Cold War. Let us analyze the prerequisites, highlight the main events and outcomes of the military conflict that lasted eleven years.

Background of the conflict

The actual root cause of the conflict is the logical desire of the United States to surround the Soviet Union with those states that will be under its control; if not formally, then actually. At the time the clash began, South Korea and Pakistan were already “subdued” in this regard; then the leaders of the United States made an attempt to add North Vietnam to them.

The situation was conducive to active action: at that time, Vietnam was divided into North and South, and the country was raging Civil War. The South side requested help from the United States. At the same time, the northern side, which was controlled by the Communist Party led by Ho Chi Minh, received the support of the USSR. It is worth noting that openly - officially - the Soviet Union did not enter the war. The Soviet document specialists who arrived in the country in 1965 were civilians; however, more on that later.

Course of events: the beginning of hostilities

On August 2, 1964, an attack was carried out on a US destroyer that was patrolling the territory of the Gulf of Tonkin: North Vietnamese torpedo boats entered the battle; a similar situation recurred on August 4, leading to Lyndon Johnson, then President of the United States, ordering air strikes on naval installations. Whether the boat attacks were real or imaginary is a separate discussion topic that we will leave to professional historians. One way or another, on August 5, an air attack and shelling of the territory of northern Vietnam by ships of the 7th fleet began.

On August 6-7, the "Tonkin Resolution" was adopted, which made hostilities sanctioned. The United States of America, which openly entered into conflict, planned to isolate the North Vietnamese army from the DRV, Laos and Cambodia, creating conditions for its destruction. On February 7, 1965, Operation Flaming Spear was carried out, former first global action to destroy important objects of North Vietnam. The attack continued on March 2 - already as part of Operation Rolling Thunder.

Events developed rapidly: soon (in March) about three thousand American marines appeared in Da Nang. Three years later, the number of United States soldiers fighting in Vietnam had risen to 540,000; thousands of units of military equipment (for example, about 40% of the country's tactical aviation military aircraft were sent there). In the 166th, a conference of states that are part of SEATO (US allies) was held, as a result of which about 50 thousand Korean soldiers were introduced, about 14 thousand Australian soldiers, about 8 thousand from Australia and more than two thousand from the Philippines.

The Soviet Union also did not sit idly by: in addition to those sent as civilian specialists in military affairs, the DRV (northern Vietnam) received about 340 million rubles. Weapons, ammunition and other means necessary for the war were supplied.

Development of events

In 1965-1966, a large-scale military operation from South Vietnam took place: more than half a million soldiers tried to capture the cities of Pleiku and Kon Tum using chemical and biological weapons. However, the attack attempt was unsuccessful: the offensive was thwarted. In the period from 1966 to 1967, a second attempt was made on a large-scale offensive, but the active actions of the SA SE (attacks from the flanks and rear, night attacks, underground tunnels, the participation of partisan detachments) stopped this attack as well.

It is worth noting that at the moment more than a million people fought on the US-Saigon side. In 1968, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam moved from defense to offensive, as a result of which about 150 thousand enemy soldiers and more than 7 thousand units of military equipment (cars, helicopters, aircraft, ships) were destroyed.

Throughout the conflict, there were active air attacks from the United States; according to available statistics, more than seven million bombs were dropped during the war. However, such a policy did not lead to success, since the FER government carried out mass evacuations: soldiers and the population hid in the jungle and mountains. Also, thanks to the support of the Soviet Union, the northern side began to use supersonic fighters, modern missile systems and radio equipment, creating a serious air defense system; more than four thousand United States aircraft were destroyed as a result.

Final stage

In 1969, the RSE (Republic of South Vietnam) was created, and in 1969, due to the failure of the bulk of operations, US leaders gradually began to lose ground. By the end of 1970, over 200,000 American soldiers had been withdrawn from Vietnam. In 1973, the United States government decided to sign an agreement on the cessation of hostilities, after which it finally withdrew its troops from the country. Of course, we are talking only about the formal side: under the guise of civilians, thousands of military specialists remained in South Vietnam. According to available statistics, during the years of the war the United States lost about sixty thousand people killed, more than three hundred thousand wounded, as well as a colossal amount of military equipment (for example, more than 9 thousand aircraft and helicopters).

The hostilities continued for several more years. In 1973-1974, South Vietnam went on the offensive again: bombing and other military operations were carried out. The result was set only in 1975, when the Republic of South Vietnam carried out Operation Ho Chi Minh, during which the Saigon army was finally defeated. As a result, the DRV and the RSE were merged into one state - the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Dmitry Boyko

How did little Vietnam defeat the United States of America?

Exactly 35 years ago, on March 29, 1973, the Vietnam War ended for the US Army. This military campaign became the most bloody for the United States in the second half of the twentieth century - according to approximate estimates, since 1964, the occupying forces have lost 60 thousand killed and 300 thousand wounded, about 2 thousand people are still considered missing. The American Air Force in Indochina lost about 9 thousand aircraft shot down, and a little less than a thousand people, mostly pilots, were captured. On the part of the army of South Vietnam, allied with the United States, about 250 thousand people were killed, about 1 million were injured.

The losses of North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) amounted to a little more than 1 million killed and about 600 thousand wounded. Among the civilian population, the losses are truly colossal - exact data are not available, but according to rough estimates, they amount to about 4 million people. Such huge losses among civilians speak of the nature of the war - war crimes (violation of the rules of hostilities established by international law) by the occupiers were commonplace.

In this conflict, military-technical support for North Vietnam was provided by the USSR (according to conservative estimates, this war cost the Soviet Union about 1.5 million rubles a day), and Soviet military specialists also trained the Vietnamese to use modern weapons. China sent engineering units to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by US air raids.

This war began in South Vietnam as a civil war. The prerequisites for this were the actions of the pro-American Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem, who, after holding fraudulent elections, removed the legitimate emperor Bao Dai from leadership of the country, proclaimed the creation of a sovereign Republic of Vietnam and canceled a national referendum on the country's unification.

Such actions of the prime minister were in line with foreign policy the Eisenhower administration, which was afraid of the "domino effect" (if one state in the region becomes communist, then its neighbors follow it). It was obvious that after the unification of Vietnam, the communist North would absorb the South, since the USSR and China stood behind it. At the same time, Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​government attempted an unpopular land reform, and crackdowns on communists and religious figures intensified. All this led to the fact that, with the support of North Vietnam, in December 1960, all underground groups united in the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF), also known as the Viet Cong.

The Viet Cong sought the unification of Vietnam on the basis of the Geneva Accords, the overthrow of the government of Ngo Dinh Diem and the implementation of agrarian reform. Also, the conflict between the people and the government undermined the difference on religious grounds. The majority of the population were Buddhists, and Ngo Dinh Diem and his entourage professed Christianity. The strengthening of dictatorial methods and the lack of results in the fight against the rebels discredited the prime minister in the eyes of the Americans, and led to the fact that on November 1, 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem was removed from his post and killed by a junta of army generals, by prior agreement with the United States. It was the first of a string of military coups in South Vietnam.

According to the US Navy, on August 2, 1964, the American destroyer Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese boats under unclear circumstances, which served as a formal reason for the start of the active phase of hostilities, and by the end of 1965 the number of American soldiers in Vietnam was 185 thousand people. But the strategy of warfare - "search and destroy", developed by the American General William Westmoreland, did not bring tangible results, as it was focused on a war between two specific opponents with a real front line. The Vietnam War, on the other hand, was characterized primarily by guerrilla warfare, where local residents behaved like peasants during the day and like resistance fighters at night.

From its impotence in the current situation, the American army resorted to carpet bombing, weapons of mass destruction were used, and villages in which Viet Cong fighters were seen were ruthlessly burned with napalm. In an attempt to cut off the supply of NLF along the Ho Chi Minh trail, the US Air Force began to strike at the territory of neighboring Laos and Cambodia. Military operations were also carried out on the territory of these countries.

The turning point in the Vietnam War was the joint offensive of the NLF and the North Vietnamese army in late January 1968. This offensive was called "Tet" - in honor of the Vietnamese New Year, which is celebrated in Vietnam on lunar calendar. For this period, during the whole war, a truce was usually declared. So it was this time, but the Northerners violated it in order to achieve the effect of surprise. Although the offensive ended in the defeat of the communist forces, and the losses of the Viet Cong were huge, but psychologically it had very serious consequences. American troops did not expect such a strong attack on their positions, and the losses they suffered tipped the scales of the US political elite towards a gradual reduction in their participation in the conflict, and General Westmoreland's request for reinforcements of 206 thousand people in order to "finish off the enemy was never satisfied by Congress.

Among the war crimes of the American army, one cannot fail to note the raid of infantrymen in the Vietnamese village community of Song My. March 16, 1968 In the villages of Mi-Lai and Mykhe, a total of 504 people aged from 2 months to 82 years were killed, including 173 children, 182 women (17 of them pregnant), 60 men over 60 years old. The assessment of the success of hostilities due to the lack of a front line was based on the number of Viet Cong killed. And for reporting, the corpse of a civilian is no different from a resistance fighter, because many crimes of ordinary military officers looked through their fingers.

The events that took place in Song My drew sharp criticism, both from the leading world powers and within America itself, where anti-war voices sounded louder and louder. The war did not bring any visible results, and the increase in the area of ​​​​Arlington Cemetery caused a sharp condemnation of US foreign policy at home. But American troops could not so easily leave the territory of Vietnam, and therefore, since 1969, the process of gradually transferring responsibility for control over the territory of the South Vietnamese army began, but this process was inefficient.

As a result, since 1972, an adviser on national security G. Kissinger and the representative of North Vietnam Le Duc Tho begin to negotiate peace, and on January 27, 1973, an agreement was signed to resolve the conflict, according to which the US army had to leave the territory of Indochina, which happened at the end of March 1973. The war between the North and the South continued further, but without the support of the American army, the Southerners could not resist for a long time and on April 30, 1975 they laid down their arms.

Thus, history “dotted all the i's”, proving once again that the aggression of even a very strong enemy will never be able to win over the National Liberation Struggle of a small, but very brave and selfless people. The Vietnam War is one of the clearest examples of this, and the current rulers would do well to once again turn the pages of their own history so as not to repeat the mistakes made in the past.

The Vietnam War is a rather serious milestone of the Cold War. In exam tests in history, some tasks may test knowledge of world history, and if you do not know anything about this war, then it is unlikely that you will solve the test correctly using the “poke” method. Therefore, in this article we will briefly analyze this topic, as far as possible within the text.

Photos of the war

origins

The reasons Vietnam War 1964 - 1975 (also called the Second Indochinese) are very diverse. To understand them, you need to delve a little into the history of this exotic eastern country. From the second half of the 19th century until 1940, Vietnam was a colony of France. From the beginning, the country was occupied by Japan. During this war, all French garrisons were destroyed.

Since 1946, France wanted to regain Vietnam, and to this end, unleashed the first Indochina War (1946-1954). The French alone could not cope with the partisan movement, and the Americans came to their aid. In this war, independent power in North Vietnam, headed by Ho Chi Minh, was strengthened. By 1953, the Americans took over 80% of all military spending, and the French quietly merged. Things got to the point that Vice President R. Nixon expressed the idea of ​​dropping point nuclear charges on the country.

But everything was somehow decided by itself: in 1954, the existence of North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South (Republic of Vietnam) was formally recognized. The northern part of the country began to develop along the path of socialism and communism, which means it began to enjoy the support of the Soviet Union.

Ho Chi Minh

And here we must understand that the division of Vietnam was only the first act. The second was the anti-communist hysteria in the United States, which accompanied them all. Just against the backdrop of such hysteria, J.F. Kennedy came to power there, who, by the way, acted as an ardent fighter against communism. Nevertheless, he did not want to unleash a war in Vietnam, but simply somehow politically, through diplomacy, to achieve his goals. It must be said here that since there were communists in the north, the United States supported the south.

Ngo Dinh Diem

In South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem ruled, who actually introduced a dictatorship there: people were killed and hanged for nothing, and the Americans turned a blind eye to this: it was impossible to lose the only ally in the region. However, Ngo soon got tired of the Yankees and they staged a coup d'état. Ngo was killed. Right there, by the way, in 1963, J.F. Kennedy was assassinated.

All barriers to war were removed. New President Lyndon Johnson signed a decree sending two helicopter groups to Vietnam. North Vietnam created an underground in the South called the Viet Cong. Actually, military advisers and helicopters were sent to fight him. But on August 2, 1964, two American aircraft carriers were attacked by North Vietnam. In response, Johnson signed a decree on the outbreak of war.

J.F. Kennedy

In fact, most likely, there was no attack in the Gulf of Tonkin. Senior NSA officers who received this message immediately realized that this was a mistake. But they didn't fix anything. Because the war in Vietnam was unleashed not by the US military, but by the President, Congress, and big business, which was engaged in the production of weapons.

Lyndon Johnson

Pentagon experts were well aware that this war was doomed to failure in advance. Many experts spoke openly. But they were obliged to obey the political elite.

Thus, the causes of the Vietnam War are rooted in the communist "contagion" that the United States wanted to counter. The loss of Vietnam immediately led to the loss of Taiwan, Cambodia, and the Philippines by the Americans, and the "contagion" could directly threaten Australia. This war was also spurred on by the fact that China, from the beginning of the 1950s, firmly embarked on the path of communism.

Richard Nixon

Developments

In Vietnam, the United States tested a lot of weapons. During this entire war, more bombs were dropped than during the entire Second World War! They also sprayed at least 400 kilograms of dioxin. And this is the most toxic substance created by man at that time. 80 grams of dioxin can kill an entire city if you add it to water.

Helicopters

The entire conflict can be broken down into the following stages:

• The first stage 1965 - 1967. It is characterized by the offensive of the allies.
• The second stage in 1968 is called the Tet Offensive.
• The third stage 1968 - 1973. R. Nixon came to power in the United States at that time under the slogans of ending the war. America was overwhelmed by anti-war protests. Nevertheless, the United States dropped more bombs in 1970 than in all previous years.
• The fourth stage 1973 - 1975 - the final stage of the conflict. Since the United States could no longer support South Vietnam, there was no one to stop the advance of the enemy troops. Therefore, on April 30, 1975, the conflict ended with the complete victory of Ho Chi Minh, the whole of Vietnam became communist!

Results

The consequences of this conflict are very diverse. On a macro level, a North Vietnamese victory meant the loss of Laos and Cambodia to the US, as well as a significant reduction in American influence in Southeast Asia. The war had a serious impact on the values ​​of American society, it provoked anti-war sentiments in society.

Photos of the war

At the same time, during the war, the Americans strengthened their armed forces, their military infrastructure and military technologies developed noticeably. However, many military personnel who survived received the so-called "Vietnam Syndrome". The conflict also had a major impact on American cinema. For example, you can call the movie "Rambo. First blood."

During the course of the war, many war crimes were committed on both sides. However, of course, there was no investigation into the fact. The United States lost in this conflict about 60 thousand dead, more than 300 thousand wounded, South Vietnam lost at least 250 thousand people killed, North Vietnam more than 1 million people killed, the USSR, according to official figures, lost about 16 people killed.

This topic is extensive, and I think it is clear that we could not cover all its facets. However, what has been said is quite enough for you to get an idea about it and not confuse anything on the exam. You can learn all the topics of the History course in our preparation courses.

The history of our civilization is full of bloody wars and tragedies. People still do not know how to live in peace on one small planet lost in cold space. War is increasingly becoming an instrument of enrichment for some at the expense of the grief and misfortune of others. In the twentieth century, the assertion that force rules the world was once again confirmed.

In early September, in the year of the final surrender of fascism, the creation of the second people's state in Asia, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was proclaimed. The power in the country was in the hands of the communist leader Ho Chi Minh, which radically changed the geopolitical situation in the region. However, the Europeans did not intend to leave their colonies, and soon a new bloody war broke out. British troops under the leadership of General Gracie created favorable conditions for the return of the French colonists instead of the promised help to expel the Japanese aggressors. The Allies openly violated the provisions of the Atlantic Charter, which stated that all countries that fought against fascism would receive their long-awaited freedom. Soon, French troops landed on the territory of Vietnam in order to restore their former influence in the region. However, Vietnam by this time was experiencing an incredible rise in national spirit, and the French met with fierce resistance.

At the initiative of the Soviet Union, at the end of April 1954, a document was signed in Geneva recognizing the independence of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as restoring peace in the region. As a result, two parts of the country were formed, separated by a conditional border: North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, and South, headed by Ngo Dinh Diem. If Ho Chi Minh was a leader with real authority among the local population, supported by the countries of the socialist camp, then Diem turned out to be an ordinary puppet of the West. Soon, Diem lost even the appearance of popularity among the people, and a guerrilla war broke out in South Vietnam. The democratic elections scheduled by the Geneva Act turned out to be completely unfavorable for the Europeans, since it became clear that Ho Chi Minh's victory was predetermined. It should be noted that the communists from the DRV played an important role in the development of the partisan movement. Soon the United States intervened in the conflict, but the lightning-fast conquest of the country did not take place.

The southern part of Vietnam was almost completely covered with impenetrable jungle, in which the partisans successfully hid. Military operations, customary and effective in Europe, were not applicable here, the communist North provided significant support to the rebels. After the Tonkin Incident, the US Air Force bombed North Vietnam. Black phantoms were sent to Hanoi and, exerting a psychological impact on the population, destroyed mainly military facilities. The air defense system in the underdeveloped country was almost completely absent, and the Americans quickly felt their impunity.

Help from the USSR followed immediately. To be more precise, Soviet support for the young people's state was carried out a year before the famous meeting in 1965, however, large-scale deliveries of military equipment began after the official decision was made and the issues of transportation through China were settled. In addition to weapons, Soviet military and civilian specialists, as well as correspondents, went to Vietnam. In the famous movie "Rambo", American directors cover the fierce battles between the "hero" and notorious thugs from the "Russian special forces". This work concentrates all the fear of the Soviet soldiers, who, according to US politicians, fought with their valiant half-million army. So, if we take into account that the number of soldiers from the USSR who arrived in Hanoi was only six thousand officers and about four thousand privates, it becomes clear how exaggerated such stories are.

In fact, only officers and privates were present on the territory of North Vietnam, called to train local military personnel in the management of Soviet equipment and weapons. Contrary to the expectations of the Americans, who predicted the appearance of the first results of such training only in a year, the Vietnamese entered into a confrontation after only two months. It is possible that such an unexpected and unpleasant circumstance for the American command gave rise to suspicions that Soviet pilots, and not at all local warriors. Legends of Bolsheviks with machine guns hiding in the impenetrable jungle and attacking American civilians in Vietnam are still popular in the States today. If you believe these stories, then you can conclude that only ten or eleven thousand Soviet soldiers were able to defeat the half-million American army, and this is really incredible. The role of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese in this approach is not at all clear.

However, it cannot be denied that the Americans had reason not to trust the assurances of the USSR about the exclusively advisory mission of military specialists. The fact is that the majority of the population of North Vietnam was illiterate. The vast majority were starving, people were exhausted, so ordinary fighters did not even have a minimum margin of endurance and strength. Young men could only endure ten minutes of combat with the enemy. There was no need to talk about skill in the field of piloting on modern machines. Despite all of the above factors, during the first year of confrontation with North Vietnam, a significant part of American military aircraft was destroyed. MiGs outperformed the legendary phantoms in maneuverability, so they successfully evaded pursuit after the attack. Anti-aircraft systems, thanks to which most of the American bombers were shot down, were difficult to eliminate, since they were located under the cover of dense tropical forests. In addition, intelligence worked successfully, reporting fighter sorties in advance.

The first months of work of the Soviet rocket scientists turned out to be extremely tense. Completely different climatic conditions, unfamiliar diseases, annoying insects have become far from the main problem in fulfilling the task. The training of the Vietnamese comrades, who did not understand the Russian language at all, took place through a demonstration, with the involvement of translators, who were often in short supply. However, Soviet specialists did not participate directly in the battles, since there were very few of them, and they were too valuable. According to the testimony of direct participants, they did not even have their own weapons.

North Vietnamese PT-76, shot down in the battle near the Benhat special forces camp. March 1969

The American command strictly forbade shelling Soviet ships and transport, since such actions could provoke the outbreak of the Third World War, however, it was the Soviet military-economic machine that turned out to be opposed to the Americans. Two thousand tanks, seven hundred light and maneuverable aircraft, seven thousand mortars and guns, more than a hundred helicopters and much more were supplied by the USSR as gratuitous friendly assistance to Vietnam. Almost the entire air defense system of the country, later assessed by the enemy as impenetrable for any type of fighter, was built at the expense of the USSR, by the forces of Soviet specialists. The armament of the belligerent state took place in the most difficult conditions of constant bombing and open robbery by China. Over 10,000 Vietnamese were sent to the Soviet Union for military training and training in handling modern Soviet technology. According to various estimates, the support of friendly Vietnam cost the USSR budget from one and a half to two million dollars daily.

There is an opinion that the Soviets sent obsolete weapons to help the belligerents. In refutation, one can cite an interview with the chairman of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Vietnam Veterans Nikolai Kolesnik, a direct participant and eyewitness to the events under study. According to him, modern MiG-21 vehicles were put into service, as well as Dvina anti-aircraft guns, the shells of which, according to the Americans, turned out to be the deadliest on earth at that time. Kolesnik also notes the high qualification of military specialists, and the incredible perseverance of the Vietnamese in learning and striving to master the science of management as quickly as possible.

Despite the fact that the US authorities were well aware of the provision of military assistance to North Vietnam, all specialists, including the military, were required to wear only civilian clothes, their documents were kept at the embassy, ​​and they learned about the final destination of their business trip at the last moment. Secrecy requirements were maintained until the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from the country, and the exact numbers and names of the participants are not known to this day.

Relations between the USSR and Vietnam were based on the conditions of "unequal friendship". The Union was interested in spreading its influence in the region, which is why it provided such generous and disinterested assistance. Vietnam, on the other hand, cooperated with the Soviets solely for reasons of profit, successfully speculating on the position of a country fighting for independence and freedom. Sometimes help was not asked, but demanded. In addition, direct participants often describe cases of provocations by the Vietnamese authorities.

International relations with this tropical country are being built today by Russia as the immediate legal successor of the Union. The political situation is developing in different ways, but the local population has retained a sense of gratitude for the Russian soldiers, and the heroes of that secret war are still proud of participating in it.

Documentary investigation. Russian secrets of the Vietnam War

About 6360 Soviet officers worked in Vietnam as military advisers - they allegedly only helped repel American air raids with the support of air defense missile systems. 13 people were officially recognized as dead. Every day of this nine-year war cost the USSR 2 million dollars.

The Americans knew very well where the Soviet camps were located, so until there were active hostilities, they were tolerant of the Russians. Occasionally, leaflets were dropped from flying planes indicating the time of the bombing and suggesting that the Russians leave the danger zone. The feeling of complete impunity ended with the shock of the Americans on July 25, 1964. It was the first battle of Soviet anti-aircraft gunners with American aircraft. On this day, three aircraft were destroyed near Hanoi by three missiles. The Americans experienced such horror that they did not fly for two weeks. The Vietnamese shamelessly speculated on help from the USSR and even jeopardized Soviet ships.

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