Consequences of the Vietnam War - Summary

One of the most recognized periods in contemporary history was the Cold War, as this ended up becoming an international conflict that lasted from 1945 until practically the 90s. During that period there were wars and one of the longest lasting was the Vietnam War, in which the two parts in which the Vietnamese state was divided, the north and the south, faced each other.

Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a summary of the consequences of the Vietnam war, a conflict that took place between the years 1955 - 1975 and that was characterized by being the first war to be televised.

Vietnam until practically the end of the Second World War it had been a French colony, However, at the beginning of this war the European colonies began to suffer an invasion of the Japanese empire who were filled with a deep national sentiment to show that they could beat the Europeans and stand up to the capitalist system that the Europeans had established. And they did it by allying with the emerging

ideas of the communist system, because they saw it as a good way to oppose them.

The problem was that the Vietnamese state was divided in two, for while the North supported the communist ideal, those of the South, the capitalist system. In this way, the conflict began when those of the North began the war against those of the South in order to create a communist country.

The United States got in the way to help South Vietnam and they did so out of fear that the communists would become stronger and stronger by spreading communism throughout Europe and Asia, being left alone in the face of the communist threat. On the other hand, North Vietnam received help from the USSR and China.

From that moment on, a conflict that would end up lasting 20 years was unleashed, in which the two main powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, struggled to see which of the two was stronger militarily And social. War came to an end in 1975, with the defeat of the United States by not being able to face the advance of the communist army.

In this other lesson we talk in more detail about the causes of the Vietnam War.

Before we start talking about these consequences, we have to say that, although we talk about the struggle of the two superpowers, that is, the United States and the Soviet Union, it was many other countries that also intervened in the struggle such as China, Thailand, the Philippines, Korea, Spain... So it was not a question that was reduced only to a specific territory, but had a global participation.

And now, we will talk about consequences of the Vietnam war, which were very diverse, because we will not only show figures on the war consequences, but also economic, environmental... They are the following:

• High death toll: As in all wars, the death toll is the most catastrophic, in the case of the Vietnam War, the most 1,100,000 soldiers left their lives in it, and many others became paraplegic or suffered serious disabilities. And around 5 - 6 million people were those who died throughout the 20 years that the conflict lasted.
• Emigration of the Vietnamese: Many others chose to emigrate, it is believed that around a million people.
• Loss of infrastructure: As for North Vietnam, it lost practically everything that was related to the industrial infrastructure, as well as more than 3000 schools, universities, hospitals ...
• Hard blow for the United States: This country experienced what came to be called the Vietnam syndrome, since their defeat meant that they were not as strong as they believed, since until now they had always presumed to be immune to any threat.
• Environmental impact: was another of the serious consequences, since the United States used a herbicide that killed large jungle extensions, especially the area of ​​Cambodia, which has taken almost two decades to be seen again in its splendor. In turn, breathing said herbicide greatly affected people's health.
• Country demolished: Many areas were also mined and therefore affecting not only agriculture but also the general economy of the country.