The Fall of Saigon (in Vietnamese: Sự kiện 30 tháng 4 - April 30 Incident; Giải phóng miền Nam - The Liberation of the South by supporters of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; Ngày mất nước - The Day of losing the nation by supporters of the former Republic of Vietnam) was the capture of Saigon, the capital of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), on 30 April 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period leading to the formal reunification of Vietnam under Communist rule.

PAVN forces under the command of the Senior General Van Tien Dung began their final attack on Saigon, which was commanded by General Nguyen Van Toan on 29 April, with a heavy artillery bombardment. By the afternoon of the 30th, North Vietnamese troops had occupied the important points within the city and raised their flag over the Independence Palace. South Vietnam capitulated shortly after. The city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

The fall of the city was preceded by the evacuation of almost all the American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians. The evacuation culminated in Operation Frequent Wind, which was the largest helicopter evacuation in history.^[2] In addition to the flight of refugees, the end of the war, and institution of new rules by the Communists contributed to a decline in the population of the city.

The Battle of the Paracel Islands (Battle of Hoàng Sa) was fought between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974.

Historical Background

The tiny, uninhabited Paracel Islands, called Hoàng Sa in Vietnamese and Xīshā in Chinese, were historically considered part of ancient Vietnam. After an era of French colonial rule (c.1887-1954), the Geneva accord of 1954 gave administrative control of the islands to the new Republic of Vietnam in the South. This arrangement was immediately contested by the fledgling People's Republic of China, which had not been party to the accord, and which voiced a Chinese claim to the islands stretching back at least to the 19th century. China sent troops to the area in a small-scale invasion that was quickly routed by the South Vietnamese. Undeterred, China always maintained its claim of sovereignty over the islands.