where did the term viet cong come from
Viet Cong The term Việt Cộng appeared in Saigon newspapers beginning in 1956.[7] It is a contraction of Việt Nam Cộng-sản (Vietnamese communist),[7] or alternatively Việt gian cộng sản ("Communist Traitor to Vietnam").[8] The earliest citation for Việt Cộng in English is from 1957.[9] American soldiers referred to the Việt Cộng as Victor Charlie or V-C. "Victor" and "Charlie" are both letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet. "Charlie" referred to communist forces in general, both Việt Cộng and North Vietnamese.
North Vietnam After about 300 years of partition by feudal dynasties, Vietnam was again under one single authority in 1802 when Gia Long founded the Nguyễn dynasty, but the country became a French protectorate after 1883 and under Japanese occupation after 1940 during World War II. Soon after Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, the Việt Minh in the August Revolution entered Hanoi, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on September 2, 1945: a government for the entire country, replacing the Nguyễn dynasty.[6] Hồ Chí Minh became leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt had spoken against French rule in Indochina, and U.S.A. was supportive of the Viet Minh at this time.