Both countries had seen years of military conflict and political turmoil preceding each of these conflicts. The English saw the Americas as a source of raw materials and commodities; 1 however, saw no reason to allow the colonist the same rights and representation as given to a standard citizen of England. The French attempted to colonize Vietnam in order to harvest rice, coal, minerals and rubber from the country; 2 while essentially ignoring the Vietnamese people by allowing them no voice …show more content…
The Patriot colonists which fought against England were located primarily in the North, as were the communists in Vietnam. Both groups were adamant on establishing their own government and a unified country, and were committed against all odds to prevail. The Loyalist in America which fought alongside England were in the South, as were the Democratic South Vietnamese. During the split of North and South Vietnam people could choose and move to whatever country agreed with their ideology.
Ho Chi Minh, was the leader of the Viet Minh (Vietnamese Independence League) and the founder of Vietnam’s Communist Party. 4 He later became the President of North Vietnam, successfully blended nationalist, anti-French sentiment with Marxist-Leninist revolutionary ideology. 5 Ho Chi Minh adopted the Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung’s Three Phase Theory of Revolutionary War in his effort to unify all of Vietnam under Communist rule.
Ho Chi Minh’s military forces consisted of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) along with the guerrilla forces of the National Liberation Front (NLF), known more commonly as the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong operated primarily in South Vietnam whereas the NVA operated initially in the North and later throughout the entire