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Case Study 2:The Vietnam War Origins of the Conflict
Case Study 2:The Vietnam War Origins of the Conflict
Origins of the Conflict• Since 1800s France ruled Indochina
– (F) forced heavy rice taxes on Vietnamese– 1930: Vietnamese rebellion crushed
• 1940: Japan and Vietnamese resistance– (F) defeated by Germany, (J) took over– (J) took resources (coal, rice, rubber)– Strong anti-(J) resistance (Viet Minh)
• Communist Ho Chi Minh leads V-M– Had lived in USA, (E) & (F)– Tried to represent Vietnamese @ Versailles– 1920s: Studied Communism in USSR– 1930: Founded Indochinese Communist
Party– Inspired Vietnamese to seek independence– Drove (J) out of northern Vietnam– 1945: @ war’s end he took over Hanoi &
declared Vietnam an independent country
Tibetan Lullaby by the Beijing Angelic Choir. It is not Vietnamese, but I couldn’t find Vietnamese lullabies
Origins of the Conflict• France had other ideas for Vietnam
– 1945: W/ USA help, (F) returned
– This was a huge missed opportunity (Major Archimedes Patti)
– 1946: war erupted between (F) & Viet Minh
• 1949: Everything changes– Oct 1: Mao Zedong declares People’s
Republic of China (PRC) (Communist)
– PRC began supplying Ho, Viet Minh
– USA saw ‘Red Tide’ sweeping S E Asia
– USA gave $500 million/year to (F) for war
– (F) set up non-Communist, non-democratic gov’t in southern Vietnam
The incomparable Edith Piaf giving her rendition of La Marseillaise
• 1946-1954: The war drags on– (F) controlled towns, Viet Minh countryside– Viet Minh’s guerilla tactics impossible to beat– Kept 190,000 (F) troops immobilized– 90,000 (F) casualties, many officers targeted– Heavy-handed (F) raids in countryside stirred up
more support for Ho, Viet Minh
• 1954: (F) paratroopers @ Dien Bien Phu– Elite (F) unit surrounded in fortress– 3000 dead in battle, 8000 later in captivity– Viet Minh defeated (F) elite in open battle– Small Asian state defeated rich European state
by good leadership, tactics, willpower (@ DBP supplies (weapons. Ammo, food, medicine) were carried by peasants for 40,000 soldiers)
– Geneva peace conference split country in two w/ calls for national elections, just like Korea in 1945
Dien Bien Phu
Vo Nguyen Giap plots Dien Bien Phu strategy
1000s of French Foreign Legion soldiers surrender @ Dien Bien Phu
Boris Vian sings Le Deserteur (The Deserter), a 1954 French war protest song
Activity• It is 1954. The Geneva peace accords
have just concluded. The French President, Rene Coty, must explain to the French media why the modern developed state of France has been forced to pull out of Indochina. You have to prepare some briefing notes for his presentation. Explain, either in paragraphs or bullet points, how each of the following played a part:– The Second World War– The French decision to continue ruling in 1945– Viet Minh attacks, 1946-1954– The support of the Vietnamese people (or lack
of it)– Support for the Viet Minh by communist USSR
& China
Fin
PSDs on the Vietnam War• A poor feudal nation had beaten a great colonial power
… It meant a lot; not just to us but to people all over the world.– Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen Giap commenting on the
victory over France in 1954
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