Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 6 votes)Rate this definition: et al., et al, et alii, et aliae, et alia(adverb) and others ('et al.' is used as an abbreviation of `et alii' (masculine plural) or `et aliae' (feminine plural) or `et alia' (neuter plural) when referring to a number of people)
The 17th parallel division between North and South Vietnam was the  result of a Chinese proposal at the Geneva Conference of 1954 which  ended the French war in Vietnam. Chi â¦ na did not want a strong,  unified Vietnam on its southern border and easily convinced the  great powers to go along with their proposal.
With the U.S. no longer heavily involved, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union no longer saw the war as significant to their relations. The balance of power shifted decisively in North Vietnam's favor, and the North subsequently launched a major military offensive, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, against the South that culminated in the surrender of the Republic of Vietnam to PAVN forces on April 30, 1975.