The Demilitarized Zone of Vietnam — The 17th Parallel
THE SPLIT OF VIETNAM (1956 – 1975)
It is recommended that you join a DMZ tour to visit this area of Vietnam. The DMZ of Vietnam at the 17th parallel is now a historic vestige. As Vietnam is now properly ruled by the Communist Party, there is no longer any tension there. Yet as a historic site is bears significant relevance to the modern history of Vietnam.
After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the Viet Minh (then the united front of the Communist Party of Vietnam) proclaimed victory against the French. The world powers met to discuss arrangements for both the Korean Peninsula and Indochina. It was at this time that France officially ended its influence in its former colonies in Indochina.
In the Geneva Conference of 1954, the powers decided that Vietnam would be split into North and South Vietnam. The Viet Minh would govern the North, while the former and last emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai, would govern the South. The Geneva Accords signed at this conference also provided for a democratic election to take place in 1956 to determine which government would eventually govern a united Vietnam. Therefore the split of Vietnam was meant to be only temporary.
Other critical developments of the Geneva Conference of 1954 included the creation of Laos and Cambodia as independent states. This would turn out to bear critically upon developments in the Vietnam War. The parties signed ceasefire accords as they relate to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam at this conference as well. As for Korea, the armistice was also signed.
For three hundred days after the Geneva Conference, there was a ceasefire. All sides were supposed to withdraw troops. Within the 300-day window, which the United Nations protected, people within all of Vietnam was free to move across the nation. And there was indeed lots of movement. One million North Vietnamese moved south. This has enabled North Vietnam to send spies down to the South. Some of the North Vietnamese that stayed in the South would end up fighting guerilla wars there. Meanwhile, 12-15,000 South Vietnamese followed the Communists and moved north. There would be no more moving after this 300-day window.
However, the vote never came, due to South Vietnam’s eventual refusal to hold the election. As a result of the failure in holding the election, Vietnam remained divided. Beginning in 1956 and for the subsequent two decades, there was a North Vietnam and a South Vietnam.
With this development, the DMZ became the actual political and ideological border between the Communist North and the Capitalist South.
The stage was thus set for the American War to come.
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#historicallandmarks#历史古迹
Helen Yu (Chestnut Journal)3