Southeast Asia Summer 2023

From 1955 to 1975 there was a cruel war, the so-called Vietnam War. In 1954, Vietnam had become independent from the colonial power France. Shortly thereafter, the country split into North Vietnam and South Vietnam and war broke out between the two parts of the country. North Vietnam was communist and was supported by China and the Soviet Union with weapons and military advisors. South Vietnam was oriented towards the USA, which also supported it with American soldiers from 1965.

On the one hand, Vietnamese fought against each other in a civil war. On the other hand, the Vietnam War was also a war in which the world powers USA and Soviet Union fought for their influence in Asia in the Cold War.From the beginning, there was great resistance in many Western countries against the USA's interference in the Vietnam War. This opposition continued to grow as it became clear that even half a million American troops in Vietnam and the use of terrible weapons were not enough to win that war. After eight years of combat operations, the U.S. withdrew its troops from the country in 1973. In 1975, the country was reunified by force by the communists in the north.

At the end of the war, the country was devastated, millions of soldiers and civilians had died on both sides. About 60,000 American soldiers had also been killed.Many hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese were killed even after North Vietnam's victory. Thousands were sent to camps where they were "re-educated." They were forcibly forced to embrace the communist worldview. For the United States, the Vietnam War was the first war it lost. The psychological and political consequences of the Vietnam War continue to have an impact in the country itself, but also in the U.S., to this day.Lue lisää