Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone

The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, abbreviated as V-DMZ, was a demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel in Quảng Trị province that was the dividing line between North and South Vietnam from 20 July 1954 to 30 April 1975, when Vietnam was de facto divided into the two countries by the Geneva Accords. The North was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the South was the State of Vietnam and later the Republic of Vietnam. Under Geneva Accords, the division was expected to be resolved by an election in July 1956 and the zone was only considered a military demarcation line instead of a national border. However, the South did not sign it. Despite the division by this DMZ, both North and South Vietnam had always claimed sovereignty over all of Vietnam.

Geography

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 Vietnam within Quảng Trị province. 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 Bến Hải River. The Hiền Lương Bridge built by the French in 1952 used to connect the two banks of the river but it was destroyed by a bombing in 1967. 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. 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

During the Cold War, the First Indochina War in Vietnam happened from 1946 to 1954 between the US-backed French Union and the Chinese-backed Viet Minh. The Viet Minh already declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and was led by the Communist Party. The French Union included France and the State of Vietnam, an associated state established in 1949. Militarily, the Viet Minh defeated the French Union and controlled most of Vietnam. However, it accepted a worse partition solution at the 17th parallel during the 1954 Geneva Conference. On 20 July 1954, the Geneva Accords on Vietnam were signed between France and the Viet Minh, creating two military assembly zones with the Viet Minh army moving to the north and the French army moving to the south. The final declaration of the Geneva Conference to supplement the agreement was issued on 21 July 1954, stipulating that the two zones would hold general elections in July 1956 to unify the country. According to the Geneva Accords, within 300 days of the agreement coming into effect (24 hours on July 22), residents of both zones were free to move and choose where to live. The Geneva Accords stipulated that the future of French troops in Vietnam would depend on an agreement between France and South Vietnam or a unified Vietnam after general elections.

The State of Vietnam opposed division when it was joining the Geneva Conference. Before the Geneva Accords, on 4 June 1954, France granted equal status to the State of Vietnam within the French Union by a bilateral agreement. It wasn't an agreement signed between the two heads of state, but it took effect on the day it was signed. Although not bound by the Geneva Accords that France signed, the army and civilian officials of the State of Vietnam also moved to the south. Vietnam was de facto divided into the communist North and the capitalist South. The North was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with the capital in Hanoi, the South was the State of Vietnam with the capital in Saigon. At the time, the communists had the support from the majority of the Vietnamese due to their anti-colonial war and a communist victory in general elections was guessed. However, in July 1955, South Vietnam announced its refusal to hold general elections on the grounds of not signing the Geneva Accords and doubting the possibility of holding free elections in the North. In 1957, the International Control Commission (ICC) also stated that free general elections were impossible, reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the Geneva Accords. In the South, the State of Vietnam changed its name to the Republic of Vietnam in October 1955. In March 1956, South Vietnam held its own general elections for a national assembly south of the DMZ. The South Vietnamese constitution, promulgated in October 1956, continued South Vietnamese territorial claims to the North.

The Vietnam War (Second Indochina War) between North and South Vietnam happened from 1955 to 1975, the war was also a proxy conflict of the Cold War with the North being supported by the communist bloc and the South by the capitalist one. Specially, the US army and its allies went to South Vietnam, where was the main battlefield, to directly support their native ally in 1965. The DMZ was ineffective in preventing North Vietnamese troops from infiltrating the South because North Vietnam used the routes of Laos and Cambodia, leading to the war spreading to these two countries. For fear of clashing with Chinese troops, US and South Vietnamese ground forces never crossed the DMZ to attack the North, but only attacked with air power. Despite the DMZ's supposed status, US 3rd Marine Division intelligence estimated that the combat strength of the North Vietnamese army and the North Vietnamese-controlled Viet Cong in the DMZ area in January 1968 was 40,943 troops. In 1968, although North Vietnam and the Viet Cong were greatly defeated during the Tet Offensive, the western part of the DMZ still fell to North Vietnam. In March 1972, the North Vietnamese army crossed the DMZ in the East and captured the southern province of Quảng Trị in May. However, the North Vietnamese army failed to advance further when they were stopped by the US-South Vietnam coalition. The South Vietnamese army, with US fire support, was later unsuccessful in restoring the old border and only recaptured territory south of the Thạch Hãn River on September 16. Thạch Hãn River in fact became the new border between the two Vietnams.

The Paris Peace Accords were signed on 27 January 1973 and took effect the following day. With the agreement, North Vietnam accepted the existence of the Republic of Vietnam, while the Republic of Vietnam allowed the northern troops to remain within the South under the name of the Viet Cong government. Meanwhile, with the agreement, the US troops withdrew from the South within 60 days. The agreement affirmed that the demilitarized zone was not a national border while the two sides of South Vietnam and the two Vietnams would be unified through peaceful means. However, the war only ended for the Americans, and the fighting between the Vietnamese sides continued without stopping despite the agreement in force. North Vietnam later defeated the South when South Vietnamese President surrendered on 30 April 1975, leading to the Vietnamese unification under communism and the end of the DMZ.

Gallery

Map of the DMZ from 1957
Map of the DMZ from 1966
Monument to the DMZ

Geography

History

Gallery

See also