Situated on the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is the eastern most country bordered by China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. Prior to the conquest of Indochina by the French, Vietnam was ruled by the Chinese for more than eight centuries. However, after several years of resistance the Vietnamese overthrew the Chinese kingdom in their country and thus became independent. In spite of gaining freedom, the Vietnamese rulers continued to uphold the Chinese system of governance, policy making and also its culture. In fact, most of the Vietnamese were largely influenced by the Chinese culture and religion, mainly Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
The French troops entered the land of Vietnam in the year 1858 and by the mid-1880s they had established a firm grip over the northern region. After the defeat of China in the Franco-Chinese war (1884-85), the French assumed complete supremacy over the central Vietnam
(Annam), the northern Vietnam (Tonkin), the southern Vietnam (Cochinchina) along with Laos and Cambodia, which they collectively called French Indo-china that was formed in the year 1887. However, France gained control over the southern Vietnam only after it had signed a peace treaty, the Treaty of Saigon on July 5th, 1862.
The real motive behind the French colonization was profit, economic exploitation and political supremacy. The demand for
Blood, gore, intense combat, little sleep, death. These are some words that describe the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War had 240 days of combat in one year. World War II had forty days of combat in four years(Interesting Facts). That statistic shows how rough the Vietnam War was. The fighting was constant between the two sides. This war was fought over politics and had many gruesome battles.
On the 19th of December 1946, The Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh leadership launched a rebellion against the French authority governing the colonies of French Indochina. The first few years of the war were a low-level rural insurgency against French authority. However, after the Chinese communists reached the Northern border of Vietnam in 1949 the conflict became a conventional war between two armies equipped with modern weapons. These were supplied by the Chinese communist and Russian communist.
The French were highly involved with Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) due to the abundant harvesting riches that were favorable with their own economy. Historically, Vietnam first established the communist party through the influence of China after their conversion into a Communist country in 1949. Ho Chi Min, a nationalist leader, had
The Vietnam war did not officially start until the 1950's. This is when the U.S. started sending in troops. Before then the French had been trying to conquer what was then called Indochina. They began their conquest in 1859, by 1888 they had turned the area that is now called Vietnam and Cambodia into the Colony of French Indochina. This was challenged many times by different uprisings but none worked as well as the Viet Minh common front( this was controlled by the Vietnamese communist party). During WWII the French were defeated by the Germans. This severely weakened their authority in Vietnam. In 1940 the Japanese invaded and
Before the 1900th century, various countries such as China and France dominated the country currently known today as Vietnam. Throughout the countries history the Vietnamese people were often times mistreated. The Vietnamese people had a strong craving for independence. In the early 20th century one man united the liberation cause; that man was named Ho Chi Minh.
Vietnam was a French colony dating back to mid 1800s. Vietnam was meant as a farming colony where they would grow things such as tobacco, tea, and coffee. The French treated their colony poorly by denying civil
After WWII Vietnam gained its independence, France still controlled Vietnam until Ho Chi Mihn took over in 1954 and turned Vietnam into a Communist Country.
The emergence of the Vietnamese people can be traced to the fifth or sixth millennium B.C. The Vietnamese or Kinh ethnic group was formed in a region that is now northern Vietnam and southern China, which is the main ethnic group in the country, accounting for about eighty six percent of the Vietnamese population. Modern day Vietnam was established through French colonialism which led to an outburst of problems between the French and Vietnam. When the French left Vietnam in 1954, numerous Vietnamese people migrated to France. North Vietnam began a policy to forcefully reconcile the country with South Vietnam. However, conflict arose which introduced America to fight against Vietnam in the 1960s. As a result of the division between North and South Vietnam, nearly
For centuries the Vietnamese people resisted being controlled by their powerful Chinese neighbors. They struggled to unify their country as an independent state. Ultimately they freed themselves from China 's claim for control of political authority and achieved national unity only to fall victim to French imperialism (Anderson 1). French ruled Vietnam and neighboring kingdoms as colonies from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia during World War II influenced the Vietminh war against the French in 1945. September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declares independence from French rule shortly after Japans surrender from World War II (www.history.com). France 's rule over its colony was incredibly brutal and exploitative (Anderson 6). French colonialism deprived the Vietnamese of their political independence, and it impoverished many of the Vietnamese people (Anderson 7). Many villagers lost their lands and became low-paid plantation
Vietnam is a southeastern Asian country that has been occupied by the French since the early 19th Century. During War War II Japanese forces invaded Vietnam. In order for the native Vietnamese to fight off both the French Colonial Administration and the invading Japanese, political leader Ho Chi Minh inspired by Soviet Communism, established the League of Independence of Vietnam. After Japan’s defeat in World War II in 1945, the Japanese withdrew their forces from Vietnam. The French educated Emperor Bao Dai was now back in control of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh saw this as an opportunity to finally gain control and almost immediately took control of the northern city of Hanoi. Ho Chin Minh declared himself as president. In hopes to regain control of Hanoi, France backed Emperor Bao and created the state of Vietnam in 1949. Although both sides wanted the same goal of uniting Vietnam, their government views were drastically different. Ho and his followers wanted the nation to be modeled after other communist countries. While Bao and his followers wanted their country to be in close ties with democratic countries in the west. These causes led to a civil war for the sole control of Vietnam.
Vietnam has a very rich history that often goes unnoticed and unaccounted for, this is most likely due to the war being such a big landmark in the history of Vietnam. Before the war many events transpired that would eventually lead up to the war. In the late 19th century Vietnam was considered to be a French colony. The French built their own standing infrastructure, they began to build railways and roads and bridges. All of this building meant heavy taxation on the Vietnamese. This was all good and progressive for vietnam however “Naturally the Vietnamese wanted independence.” (http://www.localhistories.org/viethist.html) From there Ho Chi Minh founded a revolution and within 20 years Vietnam came under Ho Chi Minh rule.
The Vietnam War was one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Vietnam. Vietnam use to be a peaceful country until the idea of communism started spreading across Vietnam. Many wanted to stay democratic but saw what happened to the Germans and started to lean towards communism. Many also wanted to stay democratic and still had it hopes high that it will soon get their lives and economy back on track.
The French colonized Vietnam in two phases. The first occuring between 1859-1862 by occupying Saigon and surrounding areas in Mekong. In 1883 they annexed the Hanoi and Tonkin regions.
From the 1880s until World War II, France governed Vietnam as part of French Indochina, which also included Cambodia and Laos. The country was under the formal control of an emperor, Bao Dai. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese struggled for their independence from France during the first Indochina War. At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French controlled the South.
---After WWII and until 1955, France fought hard to regain their former territories in the region, but with a poorly organized army and little determination among the troops, their efforts soon collapsed. The French were finally defeated at Dien Bien Phu on the 8th of May 1954 by the communist general Vo Nguyen Giap. The French troops withdrew, leaving a buffer zone separating the North and South and set up elections in order to form a government in the South. The communist regime set up its headquarters in Hanoi under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Many North Vietnamese left the country and fled south where the self-proclaimed president, Ngo Dinh Diem had formed the Republic of Vietnam.