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 Peoples 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. The organization was dissolved in 1976 when North and South Vietnam were
officially unified under a communist government.
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 Peoples 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. The organization was dissolved in 1976 when North and South Vietnam were
officially unified under a communist government.