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