The Vietnam War — A People Divided

In 1954, Vietnam gained its independence from the colonial power of France.

Shortly afterwards, the country was split into North and South Vietnam and a war broke out between the two parts of the country. 

The communist North was supported militarily by China and the Soviet Union, while South Vietnam was supported by the US. From 1964, the US sent its own troops to fight in the Southeast Asian country. For the US, the military operation ended in a debacle: the longest war in US history up to that point was lost, the nation was divided and the trauma of the war was deeply engraved in the collective memory of American society. 

The media focus was squarely on the role and consequences for the US. As a result, the fact that the conflict was also a civil war rooted in colonial structures and fueled by global power interests, was increasingly overlooked. 

Ultimately, it was the southeast Asian country that paid the highest price: millions of soldiers and civilians killed and many people left maimed.

After North Vietnam's victory, hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese disappeared into labor and re-education camps and more than a million people left the country in a mass exodus. The effects of chemical weapons such as "Agent Orange”, deployed by the US in the conflict, are still being felt today.

Using original and archive material, the film tells the story of the Vietnam War, beginning with the Indochina War and liberation from the colonial power France to the 1990s, when relations with the US were finally normalized.
 

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

SAT 26.04.2025 – 22:03 UTC
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