The Aftermath of the Fall of Saigon

In history, there have been many battles and takeovers, which results in many changes in cities and countries. The Fall of Saigon happened on April 30, 1975. The communists soldiers appeared in the city of Saigon and the takeover started. Julian Manyon, an English journalist writes, “We had known for days that Saigon must collapse but we were unprepared for what happened on the final morning.” Many people, back in 1975, were happy that the communists took over; however, there were people who did not want to be part of the new government. So, many people escaped South Vietnam by any means. They arranged for fake papers or they smuggled onto a boat to go to the United States or elsewhere. Therefore, due to the Fall of Saigon, many Vietnamese people were not happy with the changes that the communist government made when they took over.

When a city or country is taken over, the government is one of the first things that are changed. When evening appeared in Saigon on April 30, 1975, the city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. A year later, there was a second general election that was held; the first one was held back in 1946. Of the candidates who were chosen, 15 out of 46 were “[National Liberation Front] (NLF) leaders and trade unionists” and the rest were of different occupations such as teachers, lawyers, farmers, actors, and doctors. Of the 11 candidates, who were not elected, the “majority were women and all were workers and farmers.” In 1976, the communists launched a campaign where they were trying to associate nationalism and communism. Their slogan was “Loving the country is loving socialism.” The communist government has rewritten many years of Vietnam history in agreement with “class struggle, substituting M...

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