Background
WWII: Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia = part of French Indo-China, ruled by France since C19th (Emperor Bao Dai = figurehead).
Indo-China = valuable colony (rice, coal, rubber).
Japan occupied it in WWII: let French run admin but looted $2b resources (90% motor vehicles, many boats, railways) → famine 1945 (≈2m died).
1941: HO CHI MINH & VO NGUYEN GIAP founded VIET MINH → fought both French & Japanese.
◦ Base = south China; used guerrilla attacks; got weapons/help from China & US.
◦ By 1945 = 5k-strong army.
◦ In April 1945: TONKIN Revolutionary Military Conference → called for uprising vs Japan.
Aug 1945: Japan surrendered → power vacuum:
◦ French = gone; Japanese = gone;
◦ HOWEVER: Chinese army = in north; US OSS = parachuted in (Op. Embankment) to rescue POWs + secure US interests = Vietnam still occupied.
The First Indochina War, 194654
2 Sep 1945: Ho declared Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Quoted US Declaration of Independence.
◦ Bao Dai abdicated → became adviser to Ho.
Oct 1945: France (Gen. LECLERC) returned to reclaim Indo-China, esp. south.
◦ Viet Minh fought French + Vietnamese rivals: Hoa Hao, Cao Dai militias & Bμnh Xuyen gang.
1 Nov 1946: French cruiser SUFFREN shelled Haiphong → 6k civilians killed → war began.
French used conventional war (troops + 300k unreliable Vietnamese soldiers).
◦ 1947: HA LONG BAY AGREEMENT → puppet regime under Bao Dai → US now able to give military aid.
Viet Minh used guerrilla tactics, based in forests/villages.
◦ 1950+: got major support from China.
∴ Despite holding towns & $3b US aid, French couldnt control countryside.
By end 1952: 90k French dead.
1953: French launched NAVARRE PLAN (urged by US advisers to be more aggressive).
◦ Reoccupied Dien Bien Phu valley (= strategic error).
Mar 1954: Viet Minh (60k troops) surrounded DIEN BIEN PHU.
◦ Moved heavy artillery by hand through jungle.
◦ Cut French supply lines → brutal siege.
◦ US Army G3 Plans Division urged use of atomic bombs to help French not done.
◦ 7 May 1954: Dien Bien Phu fell. Only ½ of 13k French troops survived to surrender.
The Geneva Accords, 1954
8 May 1954: Peace talks opened in Geneva (France, Viet Minh, USSR, China, US, Britain).
21 July 1954: GENEVA ACCORDS agreed:
◦ Indo-China split into Laos, Cambodia, N. Vietnam & S. Vietnam.
◦ Vietnam divided at 17th Parallel.
◦ North = ruled by Ho (Communist); South = ruled by NGO DINH DIEM (exiled Vietnamese Catholic, backed by US).
◦ National elections promised by July 1956 to decide reunification.
◦ No foreign intervention allowed.
Final Agreement = unsigned.
◦ US rejected it.
◦ Ho & Diem had no intention of obeying it.
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