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.
At first, after the Geneva Accords split Vietnam in two (South and North Vietnam), a group called the Vietcong began a war against the governing authority in South Vietnam. During this time, the US was sending supplies and a small amount of troops to South Vietnam to help shape the new democratic country. When North Vietnamese (communist) patrol boats attacked American destroyers, this led to all out war with North Vietnam. The US also got involved to stop communism from spreading from North to South Vietnam.