✦ History

Indochina wars

1946 – 1989

Communist forces, led mainly by Vietnamese communists, fought French, Vietnamese nationalist, American and other opponents across Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The wars covered several decades and ended in communist rule across the region.

View war on globe Full event page

Battles 3

December 19, 1946 – August 1, 1954
First Indochina War Viet Minh victory Vietnam Ho Chi Minh, Souphanouvong, Phạm Văn Đồng
November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975
Vietnam War North Vietnamese victory Saigon Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Mao Zedong
May 1, 1975 – October 23, 1991
Third Indochina War 1991 Paris Peace Accords Cambodia Deng Xiaoping, Souphanouvong, Pol Pot

Key commanders

South Vietnam and allies 16

Dwight D. Eisenhower President, United States John F. Kennedy President, United States Lyndon B. Johnson President, United States Richard Nixon President, United States Gerald Ford President, United States Henry Kissinger National Security Advisor, Negotiated the 1973 Paris Peace Accords Robert McNamara Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird Secretary of Defense, Oversaw Vietnamization James R. Schlesinger Secretary of Defense Dean Rusk Secretary of State Ngo Dinh Diem President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Prime Minister of South Vietnam William Westmoreland Commander, MACV Creighton Abrams Commander, MACV

North Vietnam and allies 8

Mao Zedong belligerent leader, China sent aid and support troops to North Vietnam Nikita Khrushchev belligerent leader, Soviet leader until 1964 Ho Chi Minh President of North Vietnam Lê Duẩn First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam Leonid Brezhnev General Secretary of the CPSU, Soviet Union armed North Vietnam Phạm Văn Đồng Prime Minister of North Vietnam Võ Nguyên Giáp Commander of the People's Army of Vietnam Lê Đức Thọ Chief negotiator, Negotiated the 1973 Paris Peace Accords

Viet Minh 6

Ho Chi Minh belligerent leader Souphanouvong belligerent leader Phạm Văn Đồng belligerent leader Trường Chinh belligerent leader Võ Nguyên Giáp belligerent leader Hoàng Văn Thái military commander

France 5

Henri Navarre belligerent leader Jean de Lattre de Tassigny belligerent leader Raoul Salan military commander Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu military commander Jean-Étienne Valluy military commander

Western Bloc 12

Deng Xiaoping belligerent leader Pol Pot belligerent leader Hua Guofeng belligerent leader Khieu Samphan belligerent leader Son Sann belligerent leader Norodom Sihanouk belligerent leader Kriangsak Chamanan belligerent leader Xu Xiangqian belligerent leader Ye Jianying belligerent leader Yang Dezhi belligerent leader Xu Shiyou belligerent leader Zhang Aiping military commander

Eastern Bloc 14

Souphanouvong belligerent leader Lê Duẩn belligerent leader Chan Sy belligerent leader Hun Sen belligerent leader Kaysone Phomvihane belligerent leader Khamtai Siphandone belligerent leader Le Duc Anh belligerent leader Trường Chinh belligerent leader Võ Nguyên Giáp military commander Văn Tiến Dũng military commander Nguyễn Hữu An belligerent leader Hoàng Cầm belligerent leader Lê Trọng Tấn military commander Nguyen Van Linh military commander