The collapse of South Vietnam
In early 1973, as the Americans were leaving, South Vietnam appeared to be in a strong position. It had the world's fourth largest air force, and an army of 1,000,000 soldiers equipped with modern American weapons. The government of South Vietnam controlled 75% of the country and 85% of the people. The communists, on the other hand, were in a weak position. They were short of men, weapons, ammunition and food. During 1973, the Southern forces had the better of the fighting on the border with Cambodia, with the North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces struggling to avoid defeat. The situation changed dramatically, however, and the army of South Vietnam soon began to collapse. By summer 1974, 90% of South Vietnamese soldiers were not being paid enough to support their families. Government officials were stealing their pay and the soldiers were threatening the peasants for money.
The fall of Saigon
When the North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces moved further south, the South Vietnamese could not stop them. By late spring 1975, Saigon was surrounded. Nguyen Van Thieu, the South Vietnamese president, (shown left) complained that the Americans had let the South down, yet it still had plenty of guns and tanks. What it lacked was organisation and leadership. On the 25th April 1975, Van Thieu fled South Vietnam with hundreds of government officials. They were all frightened that when the communists took over, they would be captured, tortured or even killed.
On 30th April, the last 6,000 Americans to leave Vietnam were lifted out by helicopter. Thousands of Vietnamese civilians who had worked for the Americans also wanted to leave. They too were frightened about what would happen to them when the communists arrived. Unfortunately, there was not enough room left on any transport leaving Saigon.
Panic set in as people fought for what places remained. On the same day, North Vietnamese and Vietcong soldiers entered Saigon. A tank broke down the gates of the presidential palace, and the communists marched in. For all the people of Vietnam, the war was over.
The death toll
During the course of the war, about 2.5 million men, women and children were killed. Of these, 900,000 were North Vietnamese and Vietcong soldiers, 223,000 were troops from South Vietnam, and about a million were civilians, many simply caught up in the fighting by accident. American military losses were 58,000, together with Australians and New Zealanders. The people of Vietnam and those of the USA were now about to start counting the cost of the war in a variety of other ways.