Decolonization in Vietnam and
India
How did Nationalism affect them?
Postwar Vietnam
• The DRV (Democratic Republic of
Vietnam - Vietminh) had taken advantage
of France and Japan’s power struggle
over Vietnam to organize their intentions
of gaining independence
• August 1945 abdication of Bao Dai
(French Rule and through Japanese rule)
• DRV occupy the North with their capital at
Hanoi, liberated French occupy the South
with the capital at Saigon
• Agreement between north and south
made to have French troops in the north
in return for recognizing the north as a
free state under the French (neither side
really happy)
Ho Chi Minh
First Indochina War
• Dec 1946 DRV attack French troops in the
north
• DRV used guerrilla tactics – hide in the
mountains when French attack
– At the same time, seek enough support of the
people, once numbers equalled the French’s,
they would attack
• China would aid DRV militarily
First Indochina War
• France establishes a new autonomous
government in the south under Bao Dai to win
support of the people
• France gains the support of the US
• An attack by the DRV to drive out the French
fails because of the US military support of the
French
• Being outmatched by the French, Ho’s strategy
turned to attacking vulnerable outposts of the
French in hopes of wearing them down (avoid
direct confrontation)
Battle of Dien Bien Phu 1954
• Dien Bien Phu was made
as an air supplied base for
the South in the North
• Stalemate in the war leads
to France opening talks of
a cease-fire
• DRV wanted one last
major victory before
entering talks in order to
strengthen their position
• DRV is successful and it
shows their strength
Geneva Accord 1954
• Temporarily divided Vietnam into two
separate cease-fire zones
– representing the positions of the two sides
in the war
• DRV wanted a withdrawal of French
troops (partially achieved)
• Country to be unified in 1956 after a
national election
• Established a non-communist
government in Laos and Cambodia
• DRV reluctant to agree but they were
pressured by China and USSR to sign
because they didn’t want the US to get
involved
Aftermath
• New government in the south (Prime Minister
Ngo Dinh Diem) refused to hold national
elections in 1956 on the grounds that a free vote
was impossible under the Communist
government in the north
• The US encouraged this violation of the accords
– supported the development of an independent South
Vietnam
– Wanted to resist the further spread of Communism in
Southeast Asia
• DRV tries to organize and gain support of
factions in the south
• Leads to the Vietnam War
India – Nehru Report 1928
• Simon Commission sent from Britain to
India to figure out the next step in Indian
Self Rule
India – Nehru Report 1928
• Britain asks India to frame their own
constitution
• All Parties Conference held in January
1928 – Muslim League and Indian
National Congress
– Issue of minority rights hinders developments
• After a third meeting in May with no
results, a committee is put together, led
by Motilal Nehru, to figure out the
constitution
– 9 other members of the committee (2
Muslims)
India
Gandhi
• After the Salt March, Gandhi goes to London to discuss
India’s independence – no conclusions (1931)
• Arrested when he returns to India
• 1934 Gandhi resigns from the Indian National Congress
because he didn’t feel they were sincere about nonviolence
– replaced as leader by Jawaharlal Nehru
• 1936 he establishes himself in the remote village of
Segaon (Sevagram) in the middle of India – called an
“Ashram”/ hermitage
India - Gandhi
• WWII India is neutral – Britain agreed to
resume talks of independence after the
war
• 1942 Gandhi gives his last call for
independence from Britain (Quit India
Speech)
• Gandhi is arrested
Partition of India 1947
• India and Pakistan (Muslim) to be independent
states
• Causes mass migration of Hindus, Muslims and
Sikhs
• Gandhi did not participate in the celebration
– He was against the split of India and Pakistan
– He was trying to calm riots
• Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu
fundamentalist believing that he sided with the
Muslims
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
• Resigned from Congress in 1920 with
Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement
• Member of the Muslim League and
wanted Hindu-Muslim unity in India
• Nehru Report changes Jinnah’s unity
goal
• 1940 Muslim League begins to
demand the creation of a separate
state of Pakistan (Lahore Resolution)
– necessary to safeguard the rights of
Muslims Successful in helping create
Pakistan in 1947
– Muslims and Hindus are separate nations
• First governor general of Pakistan but
dies of tuberculosis in 1948
Assignment
• Were Gandhi and Jinnah’s beliefs so
different that both their goals could not be
achieved if they worked together?
– Use examples of their beliefs to prove your
opinion