During the Second World War Southeast Asia had been under Japanese control, but in 1945 the French re-occupied Indo-China. A nationalist group, the Vietminh, eventually surrounded and wiped out the French occupying army and America was dragged into fighting a costly and disastrous war in Vietnam.…
<br>Herring begins his account with a summary of the First Indochina War. He reports that the Vietnamese resisted French imperialism as persistently as they had Chinese. French colonial policies had transformed the Vietnamese economic and social systems, giving rise to an urban middle class, however; the exploitation of the country and its people stimulated more radical revolutionary activity. Herring states that the revolution of 1945 was almost entirely the personal creation of the charismatic leader Ho Chi Minh. Minh is described as a frail and gentle man who radiated warmth and serenity, however; beneath this mild exterior existed a determined revolutionary who was willing to employ the most cold- blooded methods in the cause to which he dedicated his life. With the guidance of Minh, the Vietminh launched as a response to the favorable circumstances of World War II. By the spring of 1945, Minh mobilized a base of great support. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the Vietminh filled the vacuum. France and the Vietminh attempted to negotiate an agreement, but their goals were irreconcilable.…
In 1945, France controlled Vietnam. However, the communists in Vietnam wanted control, so they fought the French. In 1954, the Geneva agreement ended the fighting and declared Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam independent countries. The agreement also split Vietnam into two countries; communists governed North Vietnam and South Vietnam became a democratic country. North Vietnam reneged and the communists tried to take over South Vietnam, so the American military fought the communists in a battle that became known as the Vietnam War (Barr, 2005). The Hmong in Laos experienced tragic, long-term consequences for their wartime allegiance with the United States by secretly fighting in the Vietnam War.…
By Megan Desing Main Causes that Started the War * Domino Theory * The French and Chinese treated the Vietnam people harshly *Communists and Democrats started fighting Cause #1 Domino Theory- The Domino Theory is the theory that communists will take over the world. As Americans, WE DID NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN!! Cause #2 The French and Chinese treated the Vietnam people harshly- The French and Chinese ruled Vietnam and treated them harshly (for their own selfish reasons), until Ho Chi Minh (a freedom fighter) declared Vietnam as a free country. Cause #3 The communists and democrats started fighting- The communists and the democrats started fighting which caused the Vietnam country to split into a north side and a south side. This caused a war to start between the two halves. The Vietnam War What The Vietnam people were fighting for their freedom against the French and the Chinese. North Vietnam wanted freedom from the French and the French said no. So the only option was for Vietnam to fight for their freedom. Where: The Vietnam War took place in the North and Sounth parts of Vietnam. When The Vietnam War was 16 years long, from 1959 to 1975, making it the longest war in US history! By 1964, we had joined the war. Who: Many countries helped support the Vietnam War, but the major countries were USA, North and South Vietnam, China, Thailand, Austrailia, New Zealand, Canada, and most of Korea. Bullet 4 If the French and Chinese treated the Vietnam people with more freedom, the war wouldn 't have happened, because the whole war was that the Vietnam people fought for their freedom. If they had freedom to start with what would they have to fight about. Bullet 4 The most important cause is the way the French and Chinese treated the Vietnam people. If they didn 't treat them badly the war probably wouldn 't have happened. Bibliography * The Vietnam War by Richard Edwards pgs 18-26 *www.HistoryKing.com *www.wisegeek.com *www.Vietnamwar.net…
The Vietnam conflict began in the late 19th Century. France forcefully took ownership of the islands and made the Vietnamese islands a protectorate of France. The Viet Minh, or the League Of Independence was formed sometime around 1940. They were a group of people seeking independence from France. The French Government opposed this action and decided to try and stop the Viet Minh from advancing their political ideals into the rest of Vietnam. In the city of Dien Bien Phu, the Viet Minh surrounded the French Expeditionary Force, and after a fifty-five day siege, the French surrendered (1). After the French pulled out of Vietnam, there was a conference held in Geneva to decide the fate of the small nation. Vietnam was divided into two parts along…
Background: Much of Vietnam was occupied by France before ww2, but these French territories were lost during the War as the Japanese set up a puppet regime in this time. The French tried to regain their former territories around the Early 50s, but failed in their attempt as they were defeated by the Communist general Vo Nguyen Giap.…
The Vietnam war's causes began years before the United States was involved. Before the Vietnam war Vietnam was under French rule. Time passed and the Viet Minh, a communist based rebellion, formed in order to fight the french rule and fight for freedom, and they were successful. Soon after an agreement was formed at the Geneva Conference in…
The French started to integrate more Western ideals, education, and religion including, for the first time introducing Christianity. The Modern Vietnam that we know today, was created from the French colonialism . Around 1883 France gained control of all Vietnam. After WWII, Vietnam gained independence but France still ruled the country Until Ho Chil Mihn took over in 1954. In 1959, North Vietnam began and forced a policy to reunify the country, which led to the outbreak of the American War in Vietnam.…
The conflict revolved around Ho Chi Minh and the French. During World War II, Japan invaded Vietnam. In response, the U.S. supported Vietnam as they now shared a common enemy. Ho Chi Minh had an agreement with Franklin D. Roosevelt. They agreed that after the war the U.S. would support Indo-China’s independence from France.…
The goal of this group was to encourage them to unite together against Japan and France and by 1945 communism dominated in the Viet Minh movement. In August 1945, Japan was defeated by the French and gave them back Vietnam. The Viet Minh reacted by marching into the city of Hanoi and taking power. The French “puppet” ruler Bao Dai abdicated and then invited Ho Chi Minh to form a government. In 1946, the French recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a Free State, but full independence was not given to Vietnam. The Viet Minh were ready to fight until the end but the French, on the other hand, wanted a quick resolution. The next year the First Indo-China War broke out with Viet Minh choosing guerrilla warfare as the tactic of choice. While war went on in the hillsides, the French decided to establish an alternative Vietnamese government with Bao Dai as head of state. Bao Dai’s new administration, the Republic of Vietnam, was set up in direct response to the fall of China to communism in 1949. Communist China and the Soviet Union both recognized the communist regime of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. The United States was initially against the efforts of France to re-colonize Indo-China, for their own economic reasons because they wanted to open the area up to free trade. The creation of the People's Republic of China and the Korean War gave America no choice but to…
The Vietnam War was a military struggle starting in 1959 and ending in 1975. It began as an attempt by the Vietcong (Communist Guerrillas) to overthrow the Southern Vietnam Government. This research paper will discuss the Vietnam War, US involvement in this war, and significant battles. Following the surrender of Japan to the Allies in August 1945, Vietminh guerrillas seized the capital city of Hanoi and forced the abdication of Emperor Bao Dai. On September 2 they declared Vietnam to be independent and announced the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, commonly called North Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh as president. France officially recognized the new state, but the subsequent inability of the Vietminh…
Following the official surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945, the Allied powers began occupying the war torn nations of Asia and the Pacific Rim. Among these countries were those in Indochina. In Vietnam as Japanese occupiers stepped aside, southern portions of the state were occupied first by the British and within a few months, by troops of the new French Fourth Republic (1946-1959). It seemed natural since Free French forces had supported the British and Americans in World War II (WWII) and Indochina had been a French colony since the 1880s.…
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 was the last major battle between the French Expeditionary Corps and the Vietnamese guerrilla army, the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh and the French had been fighting for control over Vietnam since 1946 when the French violated the terms of an agreement between the newly formed Ho Chi Minh Government to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. The French generals chose Dien Bien Phu as a final effort to crush the Viet Minh and take control of Vietnam once more. However the Viet Minh prevailed and the French suffered their most humiliating defeat since the Germans swept through France at the start of World War Two. The main cause outcome of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, both for the event itself and the outcome of the Battle was the Vietnamese strong sense of nationalism. The Vietnamese strong sense of nationalism began during the Chinese rule over Vietnam, from around 200BC until they were driven out in 938AD and when they returned in 1407 up until 1427 where they were driven out again. The next cause for their strong nationalism was the French occupation. The French, during the 1800’s, sought to expand the French empire and set their sights on Vietnam (as well as Cambodia and Laos) and by 1888 had taken the whole of Vietnam. For over 60 years the Vietnamese lived under the cruel, oppressive rule of the French and were only freed when, during the Second World War the Japanese invaded and drove the French out. However when the war ended, as Japan was on the losing side, the Japanese were also driven out. It was then in the political chaos the Japanese left behind that the communist/socialist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh stepped in. He and his communist/socialist guerrilla army, the Viet Minh, quickly took control of the government and in 1945 he read the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence naming Vietnam an independent and free…
Another factor driving the defeat of the French could be the involvement of numerous other powerful countries. The French were primarily supported in their efforts by the United States of America (1950-1954), whereas the Viet Minh were supported by the Soviet Union for the duration of the war, and by China (from 1949-1954). The United States assisted the French with the war because they did not want for Vietnam to become communist as it was a…
Ho Chi Minh was a revolutionary leader that played a huge role in the Vietnam war. His strong will and organizational genius were tools that helped him and his people fend off from foreign forces that were considered enemies. He obtained victories in many battles throughout his time.…