French Indochina

• when did France take control of many countries in south east Asia?

  1700s
• Why did France take control of many countries in south east Asia?

  -to expand its empire

  -made lots of money from raw materials in area

  -exported goods made in France to sell to colonies
• where did France rule in Asia before WW2?

  Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

  - French Indochina
• how did WW2 impact Frances rule in Asia?


  -Japan invaded Vietnam during

  -took important raw materials and starved Vietnamese

  -led to making of Vietminh

  -end of WW2 Vietminh declared Vietnams independence leading to war with France
• what were the vietminh?


  Communists and other nationalist groups that between 1946 and 1954 fought for Vietnamese independence from the French
• who created the Vietminh?

  Ho Chi Minh
• Why was the Vietminh created?

  to drive out all foreign rule of vietnam
• what did the Vietminh do fighting for independence?

  -fought with Japan

  -declared Vietnam as independent country with Ho chi Minh as president

  -Fought against France until 1954
• what was the first Indochina war?

  the war between the Viet Minh and the French
• when did the Indochina war happen?

  1946 - 1954
• what were the key events of the Indochina war?


  -Vietminh initially struggled against better trained French soldiers and Ho chi Minh sought peace deal

  -No agreement was reached

  -Nov 1946 French troops took control of Hanoi

  -1950 China began helping Vietminh

  -1954 France defeated as batter of Dien Bien Phu
• what was Chinas involvement in the Indochina war?

  -communists took over China in 1949

  -Helped communist Vietminh with training and supplies
• what was the USAs involvement in the Indochina war?

  -supported France as wanted to contain communism

  -Gave 3 billion in total to support French efforts to control Vietnam
• what tactics did the Vietminh use in first Indochina war?

  -used guerrilla tactics

  -e.g hit and run which killed 80,000 French troops
• what problems did the French face in the first Indochina war?

  -found it challenging to fight against Vietminh's guerrilla warfare

  -attacked peasant villages which led to rise in support for Vietminh
• What was Dien Bien Phu?

  The battle in which the Vietnamese communists got their independence from the French colonial forces
• When was Dien Bien Phu?

  March - May 1954
• what was the result of Dien Bien Phu?

  -France lost

  -massive humiliation for French

  -3000 French soldiers killed and 8000 injured

  -French survivors made to walk hundreds of kms to prisoner of war camps where many died on the way
• how were the French defeated at Dien Bien Phu?

  -French surrounded in small air base by 50000 Vietminh

  -Vietminh bombed and trapped French troops bombarding with shells

  -French ran out of supplies causing them to surrender on 7 may
• what were the consequences of Dien Bien Phu?

  -ended Frances 8 year war with Vietminh

  -over 400000 soldiers and civilians died in Indochina war