Notes for World History
THE WARS IN VIETNAM (1)
Indo-China, which consisted of three areas- Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia-was part of French empire and was the scene of almost non-stop conflict from the end of the Second World war.
In the first phase of the conflict, peoples of these areas fought for and won their independence from the French. The second phase began with civil war in South Vietnam.
THE FIRST PHASE OF WAR (1946-54)
- From 1946-54, Vietnam was fighting for independence from France.
- India-China was occupied by the Japanese during the second world war.
- Resistance to both Japanese and French was organised under the leadership of communist Ho Chi Minh.
- At the end of the second world war in 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared the whole of Vietnam independent.
- France resisted this declaration of independence and an eight-year struggle broke out which ended in the defeat of France.
- Vietnam was successful partly because of guerilla tactics and because French, still suffering from the after-effects of the second world war, failed to send enough troops.
- Further, Chinese communist govt of Mao Zedong helped Vietnam.
- By the Geneva Agreement (1954), Vietnam was temporarily divided into two states and elections were to be held for the unification of the country.
- Ho Chi Minh, who headed North Vietnam, was confident that the communists would win the national elections but elections never happened. This led to break out of a civil war in Vietnam.
