Vietnam War 1955-75
The war began with the fight for Vietnamese independence against the French and not a
fight for communism. Over 58,000 Americans died, 250,000 Vietnamese soldiers,
1,000,000+ North Vietnamese soldiers and Vietcong guerillas; as well as 2,000,000 civilians.
Vietcong lived in the south but supported communism.
French colonial rule - The french conquest of Indochina began in 1858 who wanted to
‘civilize Vietnam’, which as a result began the introduction of roads and bridges. Vietnam had
a long past of invasions including China, and the Vietnamese saw the French as their
enemies. After WW1 (1919), Woodrow Wilson, went to Paris in hopes to help rebuild a new
world (Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920.) Where he advocated for the independence of
colonized nations. Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese man, found the president in Paris with a
partition to include Vietnam in the treaty, hoping the president would sign it, however, there is
no evidence to prove he ever saw the piece - as a result of his dispute against Vietnam, he
was exiled from Vietnam for thirty years, as a result, he discovered Lenis’s anti-colonial
writings, which made him a communist. With Germany’s conquest of Western Europe in the
1940s, Vietnam was occupied by China, as a result, Ho Chi Minh returned and founded the
revolutionary movement which was the Vietnam Independence League The Viet Minh. Three
years after Pearl Harbour, the US wanted to fight against the Chinese and so supplied the
Guerrilla Fighters with weapons. When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, it was believed
that that was the time for the Vietnamese to reclaim their country, and Ho Chi Minh claimed
the country was independent. With the Cold War, the Soviets were gaining more power as
they spread across east Europe. The French were warned that if their colonies were to
become independent under American Assistance, France would have control and not fall
under Sovient influence. In 1950, the Domino Theory was in full effect with the Korean War.
The US’s achievement in pushing the North showed Asia that Western Powers could contain
Communism.
Dien Bien Phu 1964 - By 1953, the French had been fighting in Vietnam for 7 years. French
platoon (soldier units), trains blew up, roads blocked up and ambushes. The Viet Minh’s
were supplied by the Chinese and the Soviets were a force to be reckoned with. The French
were demoralized (not confident) and so began to begin talks to end the War. However,
before this could happen, both militaries started to enforce positions. The French set up a
fortified base in Dien Bien Phu (a city in the North West) which they believed meant that any
alteration would be a French victory. They were confident in this positioning and were not
worried about the jungles in the hills that overlooked and surrounded their position. 50,000
Vietnamese men surrounded the French’s base using heavy artillery to fire which trapped
the French. After 55 days of constant attack, the French surrendered.
A new nation - An armistice was signed splitting Vietnam into North and South along the
17th Parallel separated by a demilitarized zone. Civilians were given 300 days to choose a
side and to relocate. 900,000 refugees fled the South seeking a life away from Communism.
The south became the Republic of Vietnam with ZM as president in the capital of Saigon and
protected by the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). The North’s capital became Hanoi where Ho
Chi Minh and the Communists implemented land reforms (land given to the people from the
rich.) This was similar to Mao’s, and it led to thousands dead and imprisoned. The Vietcong
and their leaders were willing to break the peace to head south along what would be later
called the Ho Chi Minh Trail and fight for a united Vietnam. The Vietcong belonged to an
