Before, During, and After the Vietnam War essays

Before, During, and After the Vietnam War essays The Vietnam War as we all know has devastating effects on the country and its people. Lives are forever changed because of it. All wars start out when two sides have differences and Vietnam was no different. It started because of France and a Vietnam leader, Ho Chi Minh, had a difference of opinion about the type of government Vietnam should have. Vietnam wasn't as different as it was to Vietnam today. Before the war, the French conquered Vietnam for over 200 years with peace. During the war, there was chaos everywhere. As one soldier recalls, "...getting from base to base was already a challenge considering the fact that you had VCs hiding in bushes just waiting for you to come out. It was as close as you can get to hell" (Baker 75). The war divided the country from the 1950's all the way till April of 1975. By the time the war ended, over 1.8 million people had died. The country now had a communist government and was starting over. French's conquest was over, and the Vietnamese peo ple now have their system of government. Vietnam before the war was ruled by France. They had invaded in the middle 1700s, and by 1750, they had complete control of Vietnam. The French conquered and ruled with complete domination of the Vietnam people. To win over the French, nationalism led to a revolution. The war developed as a sequel to the struggle between the French, who were the rulers of Indochina before World War II, and the Communist-led Vietminh, founded and headed by the revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh came to power when Vietminh guerrillas seized the capital city of Hanoi and overthrew Emperor Bao Dai. "Vietnam regained full independence at the time of the Geneva Agreements of 1954, which ended France's8 year struggle to reinsert colonial control" (Bain 3). Two important people in recent Vietnam history are Ho Chi Minh, and Ngo Dinh Diem Ho Chi Minh was a communist leader that declared Vietnam's independence from France. He had...