The Vietnam War (1955 to 1975) pitted North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front, commonly called the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam, which was supported chiefly by the United States. The war ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975 and the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule in 1976. Death toll estimates are among the most sharply disputed of any modern war: figures for Vietnamese deaths alone range from under one million to more than three million, and estimates that also count Cambodian, Laotian and American deaths push the range higher still, with no single figure commanding scholarly consensus.
Facts
CombatantsNorth Vietnam and the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) against South Vietnam, supported chiefly by the United States 1 OutcomeNorth Vietnamese and Viet Cong victory; Saigon fell in 1975 and Vietnam was reunified under communist rule in 1976 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The Strategic Hamlet Program applied the oil-spot counterinsurgency approach in Vietnam.
Commanders and Forces
Sources
Open Questions (1 open question)
Why do Vietnam War death toll estimates vary by a factor of three or more?
Official Vietnamese government figures, independent demographic reconstructions and various American and other estimates disagree sharply on how many Vietnamese died, with published totals ranging from under one million to more than three million; the gap widens further once Cambodian, Laotian and American deaths from the wider conflict are added or excluded. Wartime record-keeping was incomplete on all sides, some published Vietnamese figures are disputed as politically motivated, and demographic back-projections depend on population and birth-rate assumptions that are themselves contested.
What would resolve this An independent demographic reconstruction using census and vital-registration data from before, during and after the war, cross-checked against Vietnamese, American and international records, which has not been completed to a scholarly consensus.
Historical demography and Southeast Asian studiesWikipedia: Vietnam War
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