CWiA Unit 3

• French Indochina


  Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
• France took over Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia


  1887
• France's claim for being in Indochina

  • A 'Civilisation mission' to rebuild and modernise the land
• France discouraged manufacturing industries in Indochina to make the land reliant on them
• Saigon

  Seen as 'Paris of the Orient'
• Nationalist groups in Indochina

  • Constitutionalist party (favoured non-violent reform)
  • Indochinese communist Party (ICP) (more militant anti-colonialism)
• The French ignored pleas for economic & political reform during the 1920s and the nationalist party declined
• Ho Chi Minh


  Leader of ICP
• Viet Minh


  Ho Chi Minh's Vietnamese nationalist followers after 1941
• Viet Minh

  • Wanted social reform and independence from foreign dominance
  • Encouraged other nationalist groups and sympathisers to fight both Japanese and their collaborators in Indochina
• Dien Bien Phu


  1. French built a fortress to prevent Viet Minh landing near Laos

  2. French forces failed to anticipate the thousands of peasant volunteers that would dismantle the heavy long-range guns, take them piece by piece up into the surrounding hills and put them back together, bombarding the fortress from the surrounding high ground

  3. First time colonial power had been defeated
• US sent 200 American technicians and bombers and paid 80% of French bill in Dien Bien Phu
• Geneva Conference 1954


  1. Purpose was to settle outstanding issues in Korea and discuss restoration of peace in Indochina

  2. Negotiations showed Ho Chi Minh that Soviet + Chinese support was limited, forcing him to accept a settlement that forced the Viet Minh to retreat behind 17th Parallel

  3. SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organisation) created in Sept 1954
• Officially, 900,000 North Vietnamese went through to South Vietnam, but it could've been up to 2 million
• Eisenhower's involvement in Laos

  Weakened the communist threat there (but not completely)
• Eisenhower supported 'democratic elections' in the South of Vietnam, but Vietnam remained divided - not under Ho's support
• Ho Chi Minh was very popular in the North, but the North was infiltrating the South
• Diem was corrupt and the US were supporting this
• Military significantly increased under Eisenhower - from 40,000 in 1950 to 310 warheads in 1960
• Ngo Dinh Diem

  • Went into exile in US where he gained support from senators like John Kennedy
  • Had no empathy for peasants and part of Catholic minority
  • Held election in South Vietnam and those voting for Bao Dai were punished
  • Claimed 98.2% of the vote and out of the 450,000 registered voters in Saigon, Diem claimed that 605,025 had voted for him
• Eisenhower administration increased aid to Diem's regime, impressed with his ruthlessness with dealing with opponents
• National Liberation Front

  • Ho's southern supporters from 1960
  • Emphasised national independence rather that social revolution and contained non-communists
  • Organised itself into the People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF)
• Caravelle manifesto - 26th April 1960, 18 of most prominent anti-communists in Saigon issued a public statement criticising the rule of Diem, focusing on anti-democratic elections
• Kennedy's involvement

  1. Increased military advisors sent - 12,000 in 1962, 16,000 by 1963

  2. Increased quantities of American weaponry in Vietnam

  3. Sent helicopter + pilots to transport troops
• Kennedy's failure in Cuba and Bay of Pigs meant he needed to prove himself
• Catholic vs Buddhists June 1963, priest set himself on fire
• Battle of Ap Bac, ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) refused to attack and refused rescue mission after 5 US helicopters +3 pilots lost
• US spending $1.2-1.3 bil a year, stuck in commitment trap