Road to Independence: The Second Indochina War (or more commonly known as the Vietnam War)

Due to the sheer amount of the information on the Vietnam War, the blog posts will be split up into three different sections (it's easier to read than one ginormous block of text).

Part I: Reasons

   In May 1950, President Truman sent aid to the French in Vietnam, who were fighting to control their colony by pledging $15 million, securing U.S. as an ally to the French, and later, supporting South Vietnam. He claimed that he was preventing communist spread, which would affect U.S. economic, political, and military interests. [E] The spread of communism also “scorned democracy, violated human rights, pursued military aggression, and created closed state economies.” [G] Later, President Lyndon B. Johnson secured the U.S commitment to the Vietnam War.  In 1964, Vietnamese torpedoes bombed the U.S. ship Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. [E] Congress later approved Johnson’s Gulf of Tonkin resolution, who allowed the U.S. to start bombing North Vietnam. In February 1965, the U.S. beings the relentless bombing of North Vietnam, and a month later, 3,500 Marines are stationed to South Vietnam. “Legal declaration or no, the United States was now at war.” [E] Once it was started, the momentum of the war could not be stopped to back out.

A Closer Look: Viet Cong

Full: Viet Nam Cong San

English: Vietnamese Communists

First used by President Diem in order to scorn the insurgents, the guerrilla force known as Viet Cong that fought against South Vietnam and the United States.  Belonging to the National Liberation Front, the Viet Cong became the “military arm” of the organization, which was a collection of groups that opposed Diem’s presidency. The goal of the organizations was to overthrow the Southern government and reunify Vietnam. They later joined with the Viet Minh, combining elements from both organizations. Majority of the organization was recruited to Southern Vietnam after North Vietnam had penetrated into its southern half.  While the Viet Cong suffered major losses during the Tet Offensive of 1968, as Britannica Online describes them, “the Viet Cong fought essentially a guerrilla war of ambush, terrorism, and sabotage.” [J]

Viet Cong flag: Click for more info!

The Geneva Conference (1954)

In April and July 1954, the French and the Viet Minh representatives signed the Geneva Accords. It called for the separation of Vietnam at the latitude 17^oN (also known as the 17^th parallel). North Vietnam was occupied by communists, headed by Ho Chi Minh, while South Vietnam was occupied by the nationalists, headed by Ngo Dinh Diem. An international coalition was brought together to execute the agreement. Neither Bao Dai, the Vietnamese emperor at the time, nor the United States recognized the agreement. [C]

Vietnamese were given one year to move from one side to the other. Ho Chi Minh had promised a Final Declaration (general election) to help re-unify the country. The elections were never held, however, due to the fear of the victory of communists. Presidents in the U.S. were afraid that if communists won the election, a “domino effect” or a contagious disease would occur and all surrounding areas would also turn communist. [E]

Road to Independence: The First Indochina War

   In March 1946, negotiations started between the French and the Viet Minh (headed by Ho Chi Minh) for Vietnamese political leeway. France was to recognize the Viet Minh government, give Vietnam “the status of a free state within the French Union,” and have French troops slowly fade out of Vietnam over the period of five years. While the French cooperated in the beginning, the plans fell out because it was difficult to please both sides of the agreement. France wanted to reestablish colonial rule while the Vietnamese wanted complete independence. [C]

The French public had strongly been against the war [E]:

1.       Resulted in loss of French soldier lives

2.       France was trying to rebuild her economy after World War II

3.       There was no justification for France in Vietnam in the first place

Timeline [C]:

Time	Event
1945	Ho Chi Minh declared national independence
November 1946	the French navy bombarded Haiphong, killing around 6,000 civilians, marking the beginning of the First Indochina War.
December 1946	the French demanded Vietnamese to hand over power and authority [F]
	The Vietnamese responded by attacking French installations around Hanoi [F]
May 1954	The final battle of Dien Bien Phu ended in Vietnamese victory

Profile: Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

    Born as Nguyen Tat Thanh, Ho Chi Minh became one of the most influential people that was a part of Vietnam’s road to independence. Ho had originally travelled to many different places in life, working in places from England to the Soviet Union, strongly influenced by the communism in different areas. [F] He joined the Communist Part of France in 1920, then returned to Vietnam and founded the Vietnamese Communist Party in 1930 (later known as the Indochinese Community Party, or ICP). Modeled after the Chinese revolutionist party, Kuomintang, the ICP rallied up troops from adjacent revolutionary parties (such as the Vietnamese Nationalist Party) and created giant uprisings among the near-starvation peasants. The rebellions killed many Vietnamese officials. It took the French until the spring of 1931 to contain rebellions. The ICP, however, was not deterred, and quickly recovered from the small setback. With Allies in the Soviet Union and China, it successfully exploited all opportunities when the French extended some political freedom. Ho was then thrown in jail during the period and he made his way back to the Soviet Union after his release in 1933. After the Japanese occupied Vietnam, Ho came back to expel the foreigners. Reigniting contact with ICP leaders, Ho also founded the League of Independence of Vietnam, also known as the Vietminh. Ho was appointed president of North Vietnam when the country split in 1954. Ho was eventually reduced to a ceremonial role due to his poor health. Ho Chi Minh died in 1969 due to heart failure. The Communist forces took Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the man who stood for Vietnam’s struggle for independence. [J]  

Leader of the People: Ho Chi Minh fought for the independece of Vietnam

Vietnamese life under French rule

If there was any economic progress for Vietnam during colonial times, it was only for the French. Vietnamese peasants suffered:

·         From no access to rice, a major part of the Vietnamese food source. While rice cultivation skyrocketed from 1880 – 1930, the exportation of the rice for economic profit decreased the peasants’ consumption of rice. [C]

·         From being landless. New lands were not given to landless or peasants, but rather for the highest bidder, installing a landlord/tenant relationship between the wealthy and the poor. Peasants who did own land normally had to constantly pay off loans and debts, and ended up losing land to larger owners in the end. This resulted in half of the Vietnamese population landless before World War II. [C]

·         From high taxes and harsh labor. The French imposed taxes to fund the many new public works, and the Vietnamese were recruited as laborers as well. There were no laws against the exploitation of labor, poor working conditions, low salaries, and the absence of health care. [E]

·         From illiteracy. In 1939, only 15% schoolchildren were receiving schooling. 80% of the population was illiterate. There was only one university, with less than 700 students, and a small amount of children attended lycees, or secondary schools. [C]

The French policy dramatically changed the way of Vietnamese life. Any rebellions were suppressed and punished; the people were converted from Buddhism to Catholicism and other French customs. There was an “absence of civil liberties for the native population” and an “exclusion of Vietnamese from modern sector of the economy, especially industry and trade.” Foreign hands controlled all trade exports; therefore, capitalism became the equivalent of foreign power in the eyes of the Vietnamese. [E] 

Colonial Experience

   The French established a Western administration over the new territories, opening up the colony to economic exploitation [C]. Paul Doumer, arriving in 1897, enforced French control and left the Vietnamese bureaucracy without much power. By the 1930’s, Vietnamese officials only held low positions of order. He took advantage of Vietnam, making sure everything done in the colony would benefit the French. He started many different public transportation works, such as railroads, highways, harbors, bridges, and canals; they furthered the French exploitation of the Vietnamese trade. Doumer also taxed the Vietnamese peasants to pay and to labor for the works. He directly exported all raw materials from Vietnam, such as rice, coal, rare minerals, and rubber. Local consumption of the products was little to none, and the “aim of all investments was not the systematic economic development of the colony but the attainment of immediate high returns for investors.” [D]  

Do-more: Paul Doumer was one of the early enoforcers of French administration in the early 20th century.