History of Vietnam War

The 20th century saw several political and military conflicts. Starting from the First World War, it’s more than sufficient to state that in contrary to several views passed down by political historians and thinkers that the last century witnessed far less warzones and human death toll, a school of other thinkers state it otherwise. The 20th century can, at its most, be thought of as a century of long lasting political conflicts, which combined with the doctrines of modern warfare, took a greater death toll than can be imagined anytime before. The history of civilisation is filled up with wars that have shaped the human civilisation itself; some have been large scale while others might get forgotten.

And most conflicts remain at the heart of human civilisation as a testament of the repercussions they cause and the legacy they left behind. Behind all the accords and international codes that we see in our times and the ones that regulate international affairs, their formation and birth are themselves a legacy of conflicts that humankind has endured so far, and has never forgotten. As the old and trusted saying goes, “If you wish peace, then prepare for war” is a proverb that applies to one’s personal lives in the same manner as it applies to a political conflict. And without any of it, achieving peace would simply be unachievable.

One such conflict that raged on for more than 15 years was the infamous Vietnam War, fought between 1955 and formally ending in 1975. It was this war that would shape southeast Asia for decades to come and would also be remembered by the atrocities and the number of casualties reported so far. Some of the events that happened during Vietnam War still remain a mystery and a case of 1,610 missing US soldiers still remains an unresolved case. They were either left behind or for the dead, nobody really knows. Some even might have stayed back at Vietnam, getting adopted in South Vietnamese families; nobody formally knows about the thousands of events that have been categorised as unresolved. Vietnam War is yet another event that has shaped our civilisation further, and provided us with means to maintain peace even during a political grind. We shall in this book, understand about this not-to-be-forgotten international war and the influence and legacy it has left behind in the international sphere, not just in southeast Asia but spanning the whole globe, and how it shapes our lives today.