Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam as a result of the First Indochina War.
During the Second Indochina War (popularly known as the Vietnam War), it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North Vietnamese territory from South Vietnamese territory.
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[edit] Geography
The DMZ ran east-west near the center of present-day Vietnam (spanning more than a hundred kilometers) and was a couple of kilometers wide. It reached across into a beach on the east. An island nearby was controlled by North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War.
It was around a hundred kilometers north of the city of Huế.
[edit] The First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (also called the French Indochina War) was fought in Southeast Asia from 1946 through 1954 between the French Union's colonial forces and the State of Vietnam's National Army on the one side, and the communist forces of Ho Chi Minh, called the Viet Minh, on the other.
The Viet Minh, seasoned by combat against occupying Japanese soldiers during World War II, launched a rebellion against the colonial authority governing French Indochina. After seven years of bloody conflict, the French made their last stand at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, where they were engaged by the forces of General Vo Nguyen Giap. Thanks to massive support from China, General Giap was able to manage heavy artillery pieces which isolated the French garrison by destroying its vital airstrip. Despite devastating human losses, the outnumbering and outpowering Viet Minh were successful in this 57-day siege. The war in Indochina was not very popular with the French public, but the political stagnation of the Fourth Republic (following the World War II German occupation) resulted in ongoing prosecution of the war. The United States supported France in the war politically and financially.
[edit] Establishing the DMZ
The Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954, recognized the 17th parallel as a "provisional military demarcation line" temporarily dividing the country into two states, Communist North Vietnam and "Free" South Vietnam.
The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. However, only France and the North Vietnamese government (DRV) signed the document. The U.S. and the government in Saigon refused to abide by the agreement, believing that the election would result in an easy victory for Hồ Chí Minh. Emperor Bảo Đại, from his home in France, appointed Ngô Đình Diệm as Prime Minister of South Vietnam. With American support, in 1955, Diệm used a rigged referendum to remove the Emperor and declare himself president of the Republic of Vietnam.
Thus the competition for the whole of Vietnam began; Diệm's military was unable to prevail in the civil war which escalated, as a result of international intervention, into the Vietnam War, which is also referred to as the Second Indochina War.
[edit] See also
- Ben Hai River
- First Indochina War
- Vietnam War
- Demilitarized zone
- Clear Path International: An American NGO assisting victims of bombs and landmines left over from the Vietnam War in Central Vietnam
