Area separating North and South Vietnam (1954?1976)
The
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
was a
demilitarized zone
at the 17th parallel in
Quang Tri province
that was established as the dividing line between the two countries i.e.
North Vietnam
and
South Vietnam
from 22 July 1954 to 2 July 1976 when
Vietnam
was officially divided into the two military gathering areas, which was intended to be sustained in the short term after the
First Indochina War
.
During the
Vietnam War
(1955?1975) it became important as the battleground demarcation between
communist
North Vietnam and
anti-communist
South Vietnam. The zone
de jure
ceased to exist with the reunification of Vietnam in 1976.
Geography
[
edit
]
The border between North and South Vietnam was 76.1 kilometers (47.3 mi) in length and ran from east to west near the middle of present-day Vietnam within Quang Tri province.
[1]
Beginning in the west at the
tripoint
with
Laos
, it ran east in a straight line until reaching the village of Bo Ho Su on the
Ben Hai River
. The line then followed this river as it flowed in a broadly northeastwards direction out to the
Gulf of Tonkin
. Either side of the line was a Demilitarized Zone, forming a buffer of about 6.4?9.7 kilometers (4?6 mi) in width.
[1]
Although it was nominally described as being at "the
17th parallel
," the border never actually followed that line, only straddling the general area of that line of latitude.
History
[
edit
]
The
First Indochina War
(also called the French Indochina War) was fought in
French Indochina
where was usually and shortly called "Indochina" from 1946 to 1954 between the
French Union
(including the anti-communist
State of Vietnam
) on the one side, and the
communist
-dominated
Viet Minh
/
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
and allies (aided by
China
and the
Soviet Union
) on the other.
[1]
The Viet Minh won the war after their
victory in Dien Bien Phu
on 7 May 1954. On 22 July 1954, the French Union gave up its control of Vietnam when
the agreement
between
France
and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in
Geneva
took effect, Vietnam was
de facto
divided into two countries: North Vietnam (
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
, capital is
Hanoi
) and South (State of Vietnam, capital is
Saigon
).
[1]
The postcolonial conditions of Vietnam were set at the
Geneva Conference of 1954
, and an agreement about Vietnam (as parts of the three ones about French Indochina) was signed between France and the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
on 21 July 1954.
[1]
The agreement reflected the military situation on the ground: the northern part of Vietnam, which was almost entirely controlled by the Viet Minh, became the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
, under the communist leader
Ho Chi Minh
. The southern part of Vietnam, where the Viet Minh controlled only relatively small and remote areas, became the independent State of Vietnam under
B?o đ?i
, the last scion of
the old Vietnamese imperial house
. The State of Vietnam later became the
Republic of Vietnam
after the
1955 South Vietnam referendum
, ruled by
Ngo Dinh Diem
. A temporary boundary, running primarily along the Ben Hai River was established pending elections, with the area on either side of the border declared a demilitarized zone. Troops of both governments were barred from that area.
[2]
After
war between North and South Vietnam
broke out in 1955 - one year after the division - the DMZ hardened into a de facto international boundary. The war itself evolved into a
proxy conflict
of the
Cold War
and millions of
American
troops as well as allied soldiers were sent to the country to help the anti-communist government of South Vietnam against communist North Vietnam from 1965 to 1973. Despite the DMZ's supposed status, 3rd Marine Division intelligence estimated that the combat strength of
North Vietnamese Army
and the
Viet Cong
(a nominally independent militant group aligned with North Vietnam against the South Vietnamese government) in the DMZ area in January 1968 was 40,943 troops.
[3]
The North was ultimately victorious in the war and the Republic of Vietnam's government collapsed on
30 April 1975
, and the DMZ ceased to exist after the reunification of two Vietnamese countries under a communist regime between North Vietnam and South Vietnam (
Republic of South Vietnam
,
de facto
controlled by the Viet Cong and the North) on 2 July 1976.
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Map of the DMZ from 1957
-
Map of the DMZ from 1966
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Borders of Vietnam
|
---|
Land:
| |
---|
Maritime:
| |
---|
Historic:
| |
---|
16°54′N
107°00′E
/
16.9°N 107.0°E
/
16.9; 107.0