Effect on Vietnam
Agent Orange
The massive U.S. bombing of both North and South Vietnam left the country in ruins. The U.S. Army’s use of Agent Orange devastated Vietnam’s natural environment and caused health problems. Vietnam's government claims that 400,000 people were killed or maimed as a result of after effects, and that 500,000 children were born with birth defects.
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
In July 1976, the new unified Vietnam was officially reunited as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with its capital at Hanoi. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam had succeeded in removing the United States military, its military problems were not over. In neighboring Kampuchea (Cambodia), Communist dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge forces began a reign of terror murdering around 2 million people in so-called “killing fields.”
In 1978, Vietnam invaded Kampuchea to stop the Khmer Rouge. Vietnam’s invasion of Kampuchea put an end to the Khmer Rouge killings. As a result, China was threatened by Vietnam’s extension into the region and began a border war with Vietnam. After decades of conflict, Vietnam found itself with the world’s fourth-largest army but one of the world’s poorest economies. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it began to turn more toward capitalism and a liberal economy, Doi Moi.
The massive U.S. bombing of both North and South Vietnam left the country in ruins. The U.S. Army’s use of Agent Orange devastated Vietnam’s natural environment and caused health problems. Vietnam's government claims that 400,000 people were killed or maimed as a result of after effects, and that 500,000 children were born with birth defects.
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
In July 1976, the new unified Vietnam was officially reunited as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with its capital at Hanoi. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam had succeeded in removing the United States military, its military problems were not over. In neighboring Kampuchea (Cambodia), Communist dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge forces began a reign of terror murdering around 2 million people in so-called “killing fields.”
In 1978, Vietnam invaded Kampuchea to stop the Khmer Rouge. Vietnam’s invasion of Kampuchea put an end to the Khmer Rouge killings. As a result, China was threatened by Vietnam’s extension into the region and began a border war with Vietnam. After decades of conflict, Vietnam found itself with the world’s fourth-largest army but one of the world’s poorest economies. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it began to turn more toward capitalism and a liberal economy, Doi Moi.