Title: Vietnam Since the War (1976-Present) | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: Vietnam Since the War (1976-Present)
Vietnam Since the War (1976-Present)
Vietnam Since the War (1976-Present)
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam
South Vietnamese are "re-educated"
Socialist reforms of agriculture and industry
The crisis of the " boat people "
War returns to Indochina
Economic and political problems grow
The doi moi economic reforms
Vietnam resumes diplomatic relations with the United States
Vietnam today
Sources
Words to Know
People to Know
Amerasians
Nguyen Van Linh: "Vietnam's Gorbachev"

Content: Rebuilding Vietnam would have been a stupendous task under the best of circumstances. The war shattered its economy, disrupted its social texture, and exhausted its population in both the north and the south," comments Stanley Karnow in Vietnam: A History. " The war left Vietnam in shambles, and the Communists aggravated the devastation after their victory." Before long, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people decided that they could not live under the new government. Many tried to escape the poverty and repression (denial of their basic rights and freedoms) by fleeing the country by water in small boats. These Vietnamese refugees became known around the world as the " boat people ." In the meantime, old rivalries and disagreements heated up between Vietnam and its neighbors, Cambodia and China. In 1979, Vietnam successfully invaded Cambodia and overthrew its brutal government. But China and other nations reacted angrily to Vietnam's actions.