The U.S. Focuses on Vietnam
Semester 2
Week 11
Vietnamese History




When the Japanese seized power in
Vietnam during WWII, it was one more
example of foreigners ruling the
Vietnamese people
China had controlled the region off &
on for hundreds of years
From the late 1800s until WWII, France
ruled Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia (a
region known as French Indochina)
One of the leaders of the nationalist
movement was Nguyen Tat Thanh
(AKA Ho Chi Minh)
Vietnam – shown in green
Ho Chi Minh




Founded the Indochinese Communist
Party & worked to overthrow French rule
Ho Chi Minh’s activities made him a
wanted man; fled Indochina & spent
several years in exile in the USSR & China
1941, he returned to Vietnam; by then
Japan had seized control of the country
Ho Chi Minh organized a nationalist group
called the Vietminh


united both Communists & non-Communists
in the struggle to expel the Japanese forces
U.S. began sending military aid to the
Vietminh
Vietnam After WWII
 8/1945, w/
the Allies’ victory over
Japan the Japanese surrendered
control of Indochina
 Ho Chi Minh & his forces quickly
announced that Vietnam was an
independent nation
French Reaction
 France
had no intention of seeing Vietnam
become independent
 Seeking to regain their colonial empire in
SE Asia, French troops returned to
Vietnam in 1946 & drove the Vietminh
forces into hiding in the countryside
 1949, France set up a new gov’t in
Vietnam
United States Opposes Colonialism
 the independence movement had become entangled
w/ the Communist movement in Vietnam
 U.S. officials did not think France should control
Vietnam, but they didn’t want Vietnam to be
Communist either
 2 events convinced the Truman administration to
help France:
1. the fall of China to communism
2. the outbreak of the Korean War
United States Opposes Colonialism (cont’d)



Korea convinced American officials
that the USSR had begun a major
push to impose communism on East
Asia
Shortly after the Korean War began,
Truman authorized a massive
program of military aid to French
forces fighting in Vietnam
IKE defended U.S. policy in Vietnam
by stressing what became known as
the domino theory (the belief that if
Vietnam fell to communism, so too
would the other nations of SE Asia)
The Domino Theory
French Can’t Control the Vietminh
 The French struggled against
the Vietminh, who consistently
frustrated the French w/ hitand-run & ambush tactics
 These are the tactics of
guerrillas, irregular troops
who usually blend into the
civilian population & are often
difficult for regular armies to
fight
 1954, the French commander
ordered his forces to occupy
Dien Bien Phu
Guerrilla fighters could be anyone, including
young women and children
Tunnels built in and around the forest made the
hit-and-run tactics easier, especially during the
American conflict
French Can’t Control the Vietminh (cont’d)
A huge Vietminh force
surrounded Dien Bien
Phu & began
bombarding the town
 5/7/1954, the French
force at Dien Bien Phu
fell to the Vietminh
 The defeat convinced
the French to make
peace & w/draw from
Indochina

Victorious Vietminh soldiers at Dien Bien Phu
Geneva Conference





Negotiations to end the
conflict were held in Geneva,
Switzerland
The Geneva Accords
temporarily divided Vietnam
along the 17th parallel
Ho Chi Minh & the Vietminh
controlled North Vietnam
a pro-W’rn regime controlled
the South
1956 elections were to be
held to reunite the country
under a single gov’t
U.S. Involvement in Vietnam
 After the Geneva Accords
partitioned Vietnam, the
French finally left
 The U.S. almost immediately
stepped in & became the
principal protector of the
new gov’t in the South, led
by a nationalist leader
named Ngo Dinh Diem.
 1956, Diem refused to hold
countrywide elections, as
called for by the Geneva
Ngo Dinh Diem, S.Vietnamese Leader
Accords
Why No Elections?
 Diem
knew that the Communistcontrolled north would not allow
genuinely free elections, and that Ho
Chi Minh would almost certainly have
won as a result
 IKE supported Diem & increased U.S.
military & economic aid to South
Vietnam
PREPARE FOR QUIZ

TAKE OUT A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER

NUMBER 1-5
QUIZ
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What countries make up French Indochina?
(France is not one of the countries)
Who organized a nationalist group called the
Vietminh?
What 2 events convinced the Truman
administration to help France?
The Geneva Accords temporarily divided
Vietnam along which line?
Who was the leader in South Vietnam?