Viet Cong

Viet Cong was a name used by American and allied soldiers in Vietnam to refer to the armed forces of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Vietnamese Mặt Trận Giải Phóng Miền Nam Việt Nam) or National Liberation Front (NLF). The name was derived from a contraction for the Vietnamese phrase Việt Nam Cộng Sản, or "Vietnamese Communist." Translated literally, it means something like "Vietnamese Commie". Not surprisingly, this was often regarded as being fairly derogatory, although its near-universal use since the Vietnam War has made the term far better known than the proper name of the NLF.

This expression originated with and was used by the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) government of South Vietnam under President Ngo Dinh Diem. It was originally a general term used to describe his political opponents, many (but not all) of whom were Communists. Its use became widespread in Vietnam after the 1954 partition of the country between the RVN in the south and the communist-dominated Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in the north. The NLF and its guerrilla army, the People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF), never used the name "Viet Cong" to refer to themselves, and always asserted that they were a national front of all anti-RVN forces, communist or not.

Later, during the Vietnam War, the RVN and the United States government used this expression to refer to the NLF. It is this use of "Viet Cong" that most people in the United States and Europe are familiar with.

In 1969, the National Front formed a provisional Republic of South Vietnam which took power briefly after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and before the reunification of the country under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976.

See also

• North Vietnamese Army

External links

• The Communist Party of Vietnam's web site (in English)

Referenced By