Ohne Titel

Seite 1

Seite 2

During the Second World War (1939 - 1945)

The French rule within Vietnam was opposed by a group called the Vietminh (founded in 1941 by Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Vo Giap).

The Vietminh used the Japanese invasion of Indochina (1940) as an opportunity to overthrow the French and Japanese.

The Vietminh were aided by the US Intelligence Service who equipped and trained their guerilla forces.

The Japanese were defeated in WWII and were forced to withdraw from Indochina in 1945.

Post - war Vietnam (1945)

Ho Chi Minh occupied the cities of Hanoi and Saigon and it was declared that Vietnam was a new independent and democratic republic.

This was short-lived as the French sent 50 000 troops who reclaimed South Vietnam and drove Ho Chi Minh and his followers into North Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh conducted a five-year guerilla campaign against the French.

Post - war China (1945 onwards)

In 1949, as a result of civil war, Mao Zedong had established a communist government.

China now supported the Vietminh with military supplies such as artillery.

This communist support scared the US who switched sides to the French. Over the next four years, $3 billion dollars were spent on aiding the French.

Domino Theory

Proposed by US President Eisenhower. Demonstrates what would happen if countries were to fall to communism (see below).

Dien Bien Phu (1954)

A decisive battle for the control of Vietnam that was part of Ho Chi Minh's guerilla campaign against the French.

The French were positioned adjacent to a key Vietminh supply line to Laos in order to cut off soldiers and force a withdrawal.

However, the Vietminh took positions on nearby hills and stopped French supplies causing a French defeat in May 1954.

An armistice was signed dictating that the French leave Indochina in the year of 1954.