C9: Case Study of the Vietnam War (2261 ELECTIVE HISTORY)

CHAPTER 9: Inquiry Question: How far did the Cold War cause the escalation of the Vietnam War in the 1960s? 1: Vietnam to the End of WWII [pp.100-101] - Vietnam had been ruled by France since the 19th century. - The majority of Vietnamese did not benefit from French colonial rule and this led to the early beginnings of Vietnamese anti-colonialism and nationalism. - In 1940, France was defeated by Germany. Its ally Japan took control of the main resources of Vietnam. - The Japanese Occupation further encouraged the development of nationalism. - To fight off both Japanese occupiers and the French colonial administration, political leader Ho Chi Minh—inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism—formed the Viet Minh, or the League for the independence of Vietnam. - The Viet Minh received money, weapons and supplies from the US, the USSR and the Guomindang government in China to fight the Japanese. - Following its 1945 defeat in World War II, Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam, leaving the French-educated Emperor Bao Dai in control. - Seeing an opportunity to seize control, Ho’s Viet Minh forces immediately rose up, taking over the northern city of Hanoi and declaring a Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) with Ho as president on 2 September 1945. First Indochina War (1946 – 1954) [pp.102-106] - France refused to recognise Vietnam’s independence. - British and French forces re-occupied South Vietnam in 1946 and this led to the outbreak of the First Indochina War. - The Viet Minh had considerable popular support in the rural, agricultural regions, and the French strongholds were in the urban areas, making for a long bloody struggle. - The Viet Minh continued to use the same guerilla warfare tactics they had used against the Japanese in WWII. - It also implemented reforms that helped improve the lives of the Vietnamese. Land was confiscated from the landlords and re-distributed to the villagers. There were also education campaigns to increase the literacy of the Vietnamese Villagers. - These actions won the hearts and minds of the villagers, who became an important support base for the Viet Minh and provided supplies, intelligence reports and manpower to fight the French. Involvement of External Parties: - 1949: China became Communist. Communist China provided military aid to the Viet Minh. It equipped the Viet Minh with machine guns, large amounts of ammunition and communication equipment.

- It also taught the Viet Minh the importance of a ‘people’s war’. - The French in turn received support from the US who granted millions of dollars in military aid as well as economic and technical assistance. - The US believed that the Viet Minh was controlled by the USSR and China. It felt that if Vietnam was allowed to fall to Communism, other parts of Southeast Asia would fall too. French defeat at Dien Bien Phu - In November 1953, the French launched an attack on the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu. - The French had hoped to cut the Viet Minh’s supply lines and establish a foothold with a large French force there. - Instead, the French were surprised by General Vo Nguyen Giap whose 40,000 Viet Minh troops surrounded the 13,000 French troops and broke their lines. - 7 May 1954: the French Surrendered. Geneva Accords [pp.106-107] The French government decided that the conflict in Indochina was too costly and negotiated a settlement: - Establishment of a ceasefire in Vietnam along the 17th Parallel (a Communist-dominated North Vietnam under Ho and a non-Communist South Vietnam under Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem). - National elections to be held by July 1956 to reunify Vietnam. - Evacuation of foreign troops – except military advisors. Vietnam was now free of colonial rule. Attendance at the Geneva Accords [pp.106-107] In attendance at the Geneva Conference were representatives from: - Cambodia, China, France, Laos, USSR, Britain, USA, Viet Minh (North Vietnam) and State of Vietnam (South Vietnam). > Why were Americans, British, Chinese and Soviet representatives present? What did they hope to achieve in the negotiations? Discontentment over the Geneva Accords [p.108] - At the signing of the Accords, the Viet Minh controlled nearly three- quarters of Vietnam. Understandably, Ho Chi Minh was dissatisfied and felt he was forced to accept the division of Vietnam. - The Viet Minh was also disbanded. - Ho worked quickly to consolidate his hold of North Vietnam: - He introduced land reforms to re-distribute land from landowners to the peasants. This garnered a lot of popular support among the peasant farmers. - Show trials against landlords, rich peasants, intellectuals and religious leaders were organised. Thousands of opponents were executed. - These measures ensured that North Vietnam was largely politically stable.

South Vietnam in the 1950s [p.109-111] - The USA, with its fears of Communist expansion, assumed the position of patron of South Vietnam. - It supported Ngo Dinh Diem, a fervent anti- Communist and Catholic, to be the Prime Minister, and later President of South Vietnam. - Diem reversed the land reforms of the Viet Minh: He required peasants to pay rent again. In 1956, peasants were expected to purchase the land they farmed. - His reforms alienated the peasants and made him extremely unpopular. - In July 1955, Diem refused to hold the elections stipulated in the Geneva Accords. In October, he ousted the Head of State Bao Dai in a rigged referendum and became the President. - His regime became increasingly corrupt and brutal, leading eventually to the renewal of war in Vietnam. - He practised nepotism by assigning the majority of important government positions to close friends and family members. He also gave preference to fellow Catholic believers for government jobs. - Opposition to his rule, including Viet Minh supporters, Buddhists and intellectuals, were suppressed. Many fled to the North. - The USA was frustrated but could not find anyone better. It helped to establish the South Vietnamese Army (SVA) against possible invasions from the North. The USA also provided economic aid to prop up the Diem government. The South Vietnam Insurgency, 1954 – 1960 [p.111-112] - By 1959, the Communist government in North Vietnam authorised armed struggle to overthrow Diem’s regime. One group was known as the Viet Cong (comprising North Vietnamese communists and South Vietnamese opponents, which was the military arm of the newly formed National Liberation Front. - The Viet Cong carried out political assassinations against government officials and anyone suspected of collaborating with the government. - Between 1959 and 1961, the number of assassinations soared from 1200 to 1400 a year. - Reinforcement and supplies to the Viet Cong was transported from the North to the South via a trail known as the Ho Chi Minh trail. - Diem’s response was to place peas