reasons for us involvement in vietnam war

• france fully took over indochina in the late 19th century, and france lost control to the japanese during ww2, but wanted to regain it in 1945
• french rule in vietnam was supported by the usa, under truman, after march 1945, and provided around $500 million a year in support
• the US wanted to prevent communism spreading in asia, particularly after the fall of china to communism in 1949
• french rule in vietnam was challenged by the vietminh, a vietnamese resistance movement founded to fight the japanese during ww2, led by the communist ho chi minh
• the vietminh used guerrilla warfare to defeat the french
• one reason the french were defeated in vietnam was because the vietminh were able to use their excellent geographical knowledge to their advantage, using it to launch surprise attacks on the french
• one reason the french were defeated in vietnam was because the vietminh were aided by china and the USSR, who sent troops and supplies
• one reason the french were defeated in vietnam was because villagers supported by vietminh, by spying and deploying supplies
• one reason the french were defeated in vietnam was because the vietminh used guerrila warfare
• one reason the french were defeated in vietnam was because the french troops did not care about regaining control of vietnam, and france also underestimated the vietminh
• one reason the french were defeated in vietnam was because there was limited assistance from the USA
• the french left vietnam in july 1956
• dien bien phu was a decisive battle between french and north vietnamese troops in 1954
• the battle of dien bien phu was fought for 57 days between 13th march and 7th may, 1954
• one of the significant results of dien bien phu was that france lost the battle
• one of the significant results of dien bien phu was that over 3,000 french soldiers were killed and 8,000 were wounded
• one of the significant results of dien bien phu was that the vietminh lost 8,000 troops and a further 12,000 were wounded
• one of the significant results of dien bien phu was that it was a massive humiliation for the french
• one of the significant results of dien bien phu was that the remaining french soldiers were made to march to prisons located far away, with many dying during this journey
• one reason that the french were defeated at dien bien phu was because the 10,000 french soldiers defended an airfield known as dien bien phu, which was in a valley
• one reason that the french were defeated at dien bien phu was because the french were surrounded and had their supplies cut off by 50,000 vietminh soldiers
• one reason that the french were defeated at dien bien phu was because the vietnamese were willing to use suicide bombers
• one reason that the french were defeated at dien bien phu was because the vietnamese managed to get artillery to the top of the surrounding hills and bombarded dien bien phu
• one reason that the french were defeated at dien bien phu was because the vietnamese launched attacks with vast numbers of men and were willing to take heavy casualties
• one reason that the french were defeated at dien bien phu was because the french ran out of essential supplies like water and medicines, although they asked for help, neither the USA nor britain would come to their aid
• one reason that the french surrendered at dien bien phu was because they had been defeated in the battle
• one reason that the french surrendered at dien bien phu was because they could not secure support from outside parties such as britain and the usa
• one reason that the french surrendered at dien bien phu was because the french parliament voted 471 to 14 in support for ending the war and withdrawing from french indochina
• the defeat at dien bien phu ended france's 8-year war with the vietminh
• the defeat at dien bien phu meant over 400,000 soldiers and civilians lost their lives in the first indochina war
• diem was the final prime minister of the state of vietnam from 1954 to 1955, and then president of south vietnam from 1955-63
• the leader of south vietnam before diem was bao dai, who led anti-communist forces in south vietnam after the departure of the french
• diem was initially regarded as a good president, as he built new schools and strengthened the economy, however this changed because he increased his power, allowed corruption and was anti-buddhist
• one reason that diem lacked support was because most of the south vietnamese population was buddhist, but diem favoured catholics and gave them government jobs
• one reason that diem lacked support was because there were still a lot of communists in south vietnam who opposed him
• one reason that diem lacked support was because a number of other political and religious groups used their own armies to oppose diem
• one reason that diem lacked support was because diem showed little respect for the villagers, or for anyone who lived outside saigon
• one reason that diem lacked support was because when villagers complained about greedy and corrupt landowners, he did nothing to help them
• one reason that diem lacked support was because his promised land reforms failed
• diem ordered the arrest of those who opposed him, and those who were suspected of being communists, and is estimated there were 65,000 arrests, and 2,000 people were killed