The Viet Cong (Vietnamese: Việt Cộng; pronounced [vîət
kə̂wŋmˀ] (listen)), also known as the National Liberation Front of
Southern Vietnam or FNL (Vietnamese: Mặt tráºn Dân tá»™c Giải
phóng miỠn Nam Việt Nam), was an armed communist political
revolutionary organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia. Its military
force, the Liberation Army of South Vietnam (LASV), fought against the
United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War,
eventually emerging on the winning side. The LASV had both guerrilla
and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized
peasants in the territory the Viet Cong controlled. During the war,
communist insurgents and anti-war activists claimed that 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 North
Vietnam.North Vietnam established the National Liberation Front on
December 20, 1960, to foment insurgency in the South. Many of the Viet
Cong's core members were volunteer "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 LASV's best-known action was the Tet Offensive, a
gigantic assault on more than 100 South Vietnamese urban centers in
1968, including an attack on the U.S. 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
predominantly by the North Vietnamese. The organization was dissolved
in 1976 when North and South Vietnam were officially unified under a
communist government.The term Việt Cộng appeared in Saigon
newspapers beginning in 1956. It is a contraction of Việt Nam
Cộng-sản (Vietnamese communist), or alternatively Việt gian
cộng sản ("Communist Traitor to Vietnam"). The earliest citation
for Viet Cong in English is from 1957. American soldiers referred to
the Viet Cong as Victor Charlie or V-C. "Victor" and "Charlie" are
both letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet. "Charlie" referred to
communist forces in general, both Viet Cong and North Vietnamese.
kə̂wŋmˀ] (listen)), also known as the National Liberation Front of
Southern Vietnam or FNL (Vietnamese: Mặt tráºn Dân tá»™c Giải
phóng miỠn Nam Việt Nam), was an armed communist political
revolutionary organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia. Its military
force, the Liberation Army of South Vietnam (LASV), fought against the
United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War,
eventually emerging on the winning side. The LASV had both guerrilla
and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized
peasants in the territory the Viet Cong controlled. During the war,
communist insurgents and anti-war activists claimed that 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 North
Vietnam.North Vietnam established the National Liberation Front on
December 20, 1960, to foment insurgency in the South. Many of the Viet
Cong's core members were volunteer "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 LASV's best-known action was the Tet Offensive, a
gigantic assault on more than 100 South Vietnamese urban centers in
1968, including an attack on the U.S. 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
predominantly by the North Vietnamese. The organization was dissolved
in 1976 when North and South Vietnam were officially unified under a
communist government.The term Việt Cộng appeared in Saigon
newspapers beginning in 1956. It is a contraction of Việt Nam
Cộng-sản (Vietnamese communist), or alternatively Việt gian
cộng sản ("Communist Traitor to Vietnam"). The earliest citation
for Viet Cong in English is from 1957. American soldiers referred to
the Viet Cong as Victor Charlie or V-C. "Victor" and "Charlie" are
both letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet. "Charlie" referred to
communist forces in general, both Viet Cong and North Vietnamese.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.