In the 20th century Vietnam was the site of guerrilla fighting during World War Two in the 1940s, a war against the [[France|French]] for independence in the 1950s, and a civil war between the [[United States]] backed South Vietnam while [[China]] and the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] backed North Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. After American forces withdrew in 1975 the entire country fell to communism and the butcherous [[Khmer Rouge]] in nearby [[Cambodia]] was emboldened. The wide-spread use by the [[United States Air Force]] of concentrated herbicides, especially the dioxin-contaminated [[Agent Orange]], has been criticized for its long-lasting consequences on the [[environment]]. According to the Vietnamese government, it led to an important increase in birth defects. | In the 20th century Vietnam was the site of guerrilla fighting during World War Two in the 1940s, a war against the [[France|French]] for independence in the 1950s, and a civil war between the [[United States]] backed South Vietnam while [[China]] and the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] backed North Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. After American forces withdrew in 1975 the entire country fell to communism and the butcherous [[Khmer Rouge]] in nearby [[Cambodia]] was emboldened. The wide-spread use by the [[United States Air Force]] of concentrated herbicides, especially the dioxin-contaminated [[Agent Orange]], has been criticized for its long-lasting consequences on the [[environment]]. According to the Vietnamese government, it led to an important increase in birth defects. |