Vietnam 1975

2 Pages 541 Words

On April 30, 1975, Saigon fell. This was the unofficial mark of the impending victory for North Vietnam in the Vietnam War. Even with the self-assured Americans on the side of the South, the North still came out victorious, making America look rather foolish for involving themselves in a war many thought they should not have been participating in. The war was a natural divider for Vietnam, in which the North & South ironically were at war actually trying to unite the country from their respective views. However, the question was after the North victory in 1975, how will the country reconstruct and could it ever unite itself? Moreover, even with unification of the country, could there ever be a peace between the north and south sides of Vietnam? Looking at the past from the fall of Saigon to this point in time, I would say no for several different reasons, but not because there is no “peace” in Vietnam.
The New Socialist Republic of Vietnam faced several challenges after the war. The first and the still most challenging thing to accomplish in Vietnam was the unification of the North & South. After going to war for just about a decade, The Socialist Republic of Vietnam had to face the daunting task of uniting 24 million Vietnamese from the North and 22 million Vietnamese from the South into one Socialist happy family. By virtue of winning the war, it’s almost as if the North just won more strife and violence for the people of Vietnam, rather than the peace and unification of one state both sides were striding for. For instance, most southern officials, religious practitioners and soldiers were placed in “reeducation camps”, while most trusted party members, who just happened to Northerners, were placed in positions of authority. In 1978, as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam announced the nationalization of industry and commerce, it also extended the collectivization of agriculture towards the South, but this was greeted with...