The Viet Cong was a
political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South
Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War (1959–1975), and emerged on the
winning side. It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a
network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it
controlled. Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others were
attached to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the regular
North Vietnamese army. During the war, communists and anti-war spokesmen
insisted the Viet Cong was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S.
and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of hanoi. Although the terminology distinguishes
northerners from the southerners, communist forces were under a single command
structure set up in 1958.
political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South
Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War (1959–1975), and emerged on the
winning side. It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a
network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it
controlled. Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others were
attached to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the regular
North Vietnamese army. During the war, communists and anti-war spokesmen
insisted the Viet Cong was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S.
and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of hanoi. Although the terminology distinguishes
northerners from the southerners, communist forces were under a single command
structure set up in 1958.
North Vietnam established the National Liberation Front in 1960 to foment
insurgency in the South. Many of the Viet Cong's core members were "regroupees",
southern Viet
Minh who had resettled in the North after the Geneva
Accord (1954). Hanoi gave the regroupees military training and
sent them back to the South along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the early 1960s. The NLF
called for southern Vietnamese to "overthrow the camouflaged colonial regime of
the American imperialists" and to make "efforts toward the peaceful
unification." The Viet Cong's best-known action was the Tet
Offensive, a massive assault on more than 100 South Vietnamese
urban centers in 1968, including an attack on the US embassy in Saigon. The
offensive riveted the attention of the world's media for weeks, but also
overextended the Viet Cong. Later communist offensives were conducted
predominately by the North Vietnamese. The organisation was dissolved in 1976
when North and South Vietnam were officially unified under a communist
government.
insurgency in the South. Many of the Viet Cong's core members were "regroupees",
southern Viet
Minh who had resettled in the North after the Geneva
Accord (1954). Hanoi gave the regroupees military training and
sent them back to the South along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the early 1960s. The NLF
called for southern Vietnamese to "overthrow the camouflaged colonial regime of
the American imperialists" and to make "efforts toward the peaceful
unification." The Viet Cong's best-known action was the Tet
Offensive, a massive assault on more than 100 South Vietnamese
urban centers in 1968, including an attack on the US embassy in Saigon. The
offensive riveted the attention of the world's media for weeks, but also
overextended the Viet Cong. Later communist offensives were conducted
predominately by the North Vietnamese. The organisation was dissolved in 1976
when North and South Vietnam were officially unified under a communist
government.