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decolonization of vietnam, strategies of the vietcong - Coggle Diagram
decolonization of vietnam
phase 1
part A
Even though improvements were made to the infrastructure of Vietnam,
such as the construction of railways, the majority of the Vietnamese suffered under French colonial rule.
The Vietnamese grew increasingly unhappy due to the sufferings endured under French colonial rule 🡪 The majority of the Vietnamese
did not benefit from French colonial rule and this led to the early beginnings of Vietnamese anti-colonialism and nationalism.
French education made the people conscious of the weakness and tyranny of French rule.
They also learnt about the concepts of liberty, fraternity and equality from the
French Revolution in 1789 and were familiar with the writings of Rousseau, Montesquieu and Voltaire.
the inspiration derived from the Russo-Japanese War .
Japan's victory in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War also inspired nationalists.
Japan's war with Russia in 1904 inspired the Vietnamese in their opposition to Western rule: It was the first time,
in the history of Asia, that an Asian country was able to defeat a Western power .
A number of Vietnamese nationalists went to Japan to obtain technical help and training.
Growth of Vietnamese anti-colonial sentiments due to impact of French rule on Vietnam
part B
On 22 June 1940, France signed a peace treaty with Germany after the French surrendered, establishing the French Vichy government.
With Vietnam's close proximity to China, and being an ally of Germany, Japan started to make its demands on the Vichy French administration in Vietnam to allow Japanese troops to be stationed there.
Exposed weakness of the French colonial government The French failure to resist the Japanese Occupation exposed its weaknesses in controlling and defending Vietnam.
The French colonial government signed a series of agreements which granted the Japanese favourable economic and military concessions that allowed the Japanese to secure a strong foothold in Vietnam.
During the Japanese occupation of Vietnam, the French colonial administration continued its operations but worked for the Japanese to administer the country and facilitated Japanese exploitation of Vietnamese resources.
As Japan took control of Vietnam, it exposed the weaknesses of French colonial rule and supported nationalist leaders such as Ho Chi Minh emboldened the Vietnamese in their resistance against French re-occupation of Vietnam after the defeat of Japan.
French colonial government clamped down on anti-colonial activities, thus making it difficult for the nationalist leaders to rally the Vietnamese against French colonial rule.
Ho Chi Minh reappeared on the scene to set up the League for the Independence of Vietnam or Viet Minh in May 1941: o The organisation was initially formed to seek Vietnamese independence from French colonial rule but shifted its focus towards resisting Japanese occupation.
O The Japanese overthrew the French colonial administration and arrested the French officials based in Vietnam.
O The Japanese then played upon the feelings of the Vietnamese nationalists to end French rule in Vietnam.
After the surrender of the Japanese, the Vietnamese nationalist groups attempted to obtain power in Vietnam through organising demonstrations and uprisings before the French reestablished control.
Even though the Japanese had surrendered, the French administrators remained imprisoned and could not regain control of Vietnam immediately.
In 1946, the French returned to Vietnam and the First Indochina War between the Vietnamese communists and the French colonial forces began.
part C
O The Japanese overthrew the French colonial administration and arrested the French officials based in Vietnam.
O The Japanese restored Bao Dai as Emperor of Vietnam and established a puppet government of Japan Bao Dai was unable to rule Vietnam effectively.
After the surrender of the Japanese, the Vietnamese nationalist groups attempted to obtain power in Vietnam through organising demonstrations and uprisings before the French reestablished control.
In 1946, the French returned to Vietnam and the First Indochina War between the Vietnamese communists and the French colonial forces began.
French re-occupation of Vietnam Post-war arrangements It was agreed at the Potsdam Conference held from July to August 1945 that the Japanese troops in Vietnam would be disarmed.
Re-occupation of Vietnam would be modelled upon what was done in Korea Vietnam would be divided into two zones of occupation.
North Vietnam: occupied by Nationalist China in the hope that the region would not fall under communist influence South Vietnam: entrusted to Britain.
Weakened French position World War II had taken a huge toll on the French, in terms of loss of lives, destruction of buildings and economic devastation greatly weakened the French, and their ability to re-establish control over Vietnam.
Allied support for French re-occupation France appealed to both Britain and the USA to provide economic support and military aid in its campaign to re-establish French colonial rule in Vietnam.
On 13 September 1945, after the Japanese surrendered and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was declared, British forces arrived in Saigon, South Vietnam to help facilitate French re-occupation.
part D
In March 1946, Ho Chi Minh allowed the French troops to return to Hanoi temporarily, in exchange for French recognition of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free state within the French Union.
As the majority of the Vietnamese had suffered under French colonial rule, and the people were also angry with the French for collaborating with the Japanese during the Japanese Occupation, Ho Chi Minh was able to garner mass support to fight the French.
Reason for Victory 2: French Weaknesses Although better equipped and larger in numbers, the French forces that were fighting in the First Indochina War could not gain the upper hand over the Viet Minh.
The French military commanders made fundamental errors such as the decision to engage in a battle against the Viet Minh forces in Dien Bien Phu, a remote area far away from the French headquarters in Hanoi.
French Defeat at Dien Bien Phu The French forces and the Viet Minh launched several attacks and military campaigns against each other in the early 1950s.
The French had hoped to cut the Viet Minh's supply lines and establish a foothold with a large French force in the heart of the Viet Minh-controlled region.
The Viet Minh's artillery based in the jungles was thus invisible to the French forces in the valley below, allowing the Vietnamese to easily fire on the French forces without warning.
part E
Terms of the Geneva Accords: o Vietnam was to be an independent country.
O Vietnam was to be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel: North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam under the ex-Emperor Bao Dai.
O National elections were to be held in 1956 to reunify Vietnam.
The partition of Vietnam was the most contested term: o The Viet Minh had already gained control of more than half of Vietnam, but was under pressure from the Soviet Union and
China to accept the partition of Vietnam in order to ease mounting international tensions.
O The USA was also unhappy with the Accords because it effectively recognised communist control of North Vietnam, and the Americans were worried that the communists would win at the national elections to be held in 1956.
The Accords marked the end of French rule in Vietnam with the end of the First Indochina War.
In 1956, North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh became a communist country.
phase 2 :
part A
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Unhappiness over the Geneva Accord While the Geneva Accord marked the end of French colonial rule in Vietnam, Vietnam remained temporarily divided: o North: under Ho Chi Minh's communist government o South: under Bao Dai's government The goal of reunification and independence was still not achieved, which was a major disappointment for the Vietnamese.
The two governments in Vietnam had different visions for an independent and reunified Vietnam, which led to conflict and instability in Vietnam Discontentment over the Geneva Accords in the North: o Under the Geneva Accords, Vietnam would be reunified under one government after national elections were held in 1956.
Failure to carry out national elections in 1956 The national elections which were scheduled for 1956 failed to occur: Both the governments in North and South Vietnam were unwilling to give up their control of Vietnam and wanted reunification to be carried out according to their own terms.
O South Vietnam: wary that national elections might result in the victory of Ho Chi Minh and his communist party, and Vietnam would be unified under a communist government.
The 1956 national elections proposed by the Geneva Accords was thus never carried out and Vietnam remained divided and led by two separate governments.
Developments in South Vietnam In South Vietnam, Bao Dai who remained as Head of State, was ousted by his prime minister, Ngo Dinh Diem in 1955.
O Despite Bao Dai's protests, elections were held in South Vietnam and rigged in Diem's favour.
Developments in North and South Vietnam from 1956 Both Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem attempted to strengthen their own governments in the North and South respectively.
Instability in South Vietnam Unpopularity of Diem Support for Diem's government in the South was eroding.
American support did not boost South Vietnam's capabilities to contain an emerging armed struggle which had now turned into a communist insurgency in the South.
part B
By 1959, the communist government in the North authorised armed struggle against Diem's regime, which included supporting armed groups that were carrying out guerrilla attacks on Diem's government officials.
Ho Chi Minh encouraged these armed groups to join together in a collective resistance organisation to overthrow Diem's government and subsequently unify Vietnam.
O South Vietnamese opponents of the government o Large numbers of Communist North Vietnamese taking their orders from Ho Chi Minh.
The military arm of the NLF, the People's Liberation Armed Forces, was formed in 1961 to coordinate the insurgency in the South.
part C
The context of the Cold War complicated the process of establishing an independent unified Vietnam as other countries took sides in the conflict in Vietnam in a bid to spread their influence.
O USA: Supported South Vietnam o Soviet Union and China: Supported North Vietnam Support from China for North Vietnam Mao's vision was for China to be recognised as the leader of international revolutionary communism was keen to extend communist influence and control in Southeast Asia by supporting wars of national liberation.
Support from the Soviet Union for North Vietnam Support from the Soviet Union for North Vietnam remained lukewarm through the 1950s and early 1960s The Soviet Union provided information, technical advisers and moral support to North Vietnam.
Soviet interest in Vietnam increased markedly only when the USA escalated its involvement in the mid-1960s Leonid Brezhnev, increased Soviet support for North Vietnam, providing moral and political support for the Vietnamese struggle against American aggression.
Support from the USA for South Vietnam In the 1950s and early 1960s, the USA's attention was focused on dealing with the Soviet Union in Europe and the Cuban Missile Crisis not much focus on Vietnam.
American President Eisenhower was worried that there would be a major crisis in Asia, if South Vietnam was to fall to communist rule Domino Theory: He was convinced that if Vietnam fell to communism, other parts of Asia such as Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma and possibly even India would follow suit.
At the same time, there was increasing political instability in South Vietnam, as the NLF was rapidly closing in to take control of South Vietnam.
part D
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident marked the escalation of American involvement in South Vietnam, which led to direct US military intervention The incident escalated into a full-scale war, pitting American and South Vietnamese forces against North Vietnamese forces.
Strategies to Fight the Vietnam War In early 1965 the Viet Cong had about 170,000 soldiers.
Bombing The USA stepped up its military presence in South Vietnam by increasing the number of troops deployed in Vietnam from 23,300 at the end of 1964 to 184,300 at the end of 1965.
Rolling Thunder involved extensive bombing raids on military and industrial targets in North Vietnam, transportation networks and ports to damage and disrupt North Vietnam's supply routes as well as towns and cities in North and South Vietnam.
O Enabled the USA to strike at Communist forces even when it was reducing US ground forces in Vietnam after 1969.
Even after major air raids on North Vietnam in 1972, the Communists were still able to launch a major assault on the South.
In the USA, public opinion began to turn against the war, as the American media broadcasted incidents of torture and killings of civilians in Vietnam.
Johnson decided to withdraw from the war and leaves South Vietnam to fight against North Vietnam on its own.
The Paris Peace Accords The aims of the accords were to end the war and establish peace in Vietnam, end direct American military involvement and to establish a ceasefire between the North and South Vietnamese forces.
The participants of the negotiations were representatives from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Republic of Vietnam, the South Vietnamese revolutionaries and the USA. On 27 January 1973, the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam was signed by all the parties.
O Negotiations would take place between the Republic of Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam towards a political settlement This would allow the South Vietnamese to decide their political future through free and democratic general elections.
Reunification and independence of Vietnam According to the terms of the Paris Peace Accords, negotiations were to take place between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam, allowing South Vietnam to decide on its government through democratic general elections.
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam sought to unify Vietnam by force and refused to hold general elections.
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam took advantage of the situation and launched a major military offensive against South Vietnam.
After 30 years of declaring its independence from French colonial rule, North and South Vietnam were finally unified to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976.
strategies of the vietcong
Strategies of the Viet Cong (Armed Struggle):
o Reinforcements and supplies to the guerrilla fighters were transported from the North to the South via a trail known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
o They attacked South Vietnamese government military forces, officials and buildings, gradually making the countryside unsafe for government forces.
o They also attacked American air force and supply bases to undermine American support for the Diem regime.
Strategies of the Viet Cong (Winning Hearts and Minds):
o Their promises of land reform to the peasants contrasted sharply with Diem's unpopular policies and practices, further undermining Diem's control of the countryside.
o Support for the NLF grew, with villagers readily supporting the guerrillas by providing food, shelter and information.
o Many others even joined the guerrilla forces.
o A network of anti-Diem and communist supporters began to form in the South, strengthening communist influence in the area.