The Japanese And French Wars (2) Flashcards
The victory of Mao Zedong’s communist forces in the war in China in 1949 was a great ____ to the Vietminh. Mao provided his fellow communists with essential military supplies such as ______. Mao’s victory was another reason why the American’s attitude to the French changed. Communism seemed about to sweep its way across South East Asia and it had to be stopped. Vietnam would be a good place to stop it, especially if the French were doing the fighting.
Boost
Artillery
What did Ho Chi Minh like to compare the Vietminh forces to?
A grasshopper fighting a french elephant.
The reality was rather different because the Vietminh forces were not at all ____ grasshoppers. By 1950 Giap commanded an army of over _______ men, well supplied with modern weapons and even trucks brought across the border from China.
Feeble
10,000
The French had 100,000 troops plus the support of the 300,000 ______ but it was nor enough. The French were trying to control an area of _________ square kilometers of dense forest, it was an impossible task.
Vietnamese
130,000
What type of game did the Vietminh have to play?
A waiting game
Safe in their jungle hideouts they would strike out on _____ and ______ attacks on French patrols and then retreat back into the ______.
Hit and Run
Forest
However, in 1950 and 1951 _____ made the mistake of moving from this guerrilla type war style to big attacks on well defended french positions.in one attack 50 kilometers north of Hanoi in Jan, Giap lost _______ men, either killed or wounded out of 20,000 Vietminh.
Giap
14,000
Giap was still determined to take on the French in a big decisive battle. He chose a small village ___________ close to the border of Laos. He knew the French would defend their position there as it would stop Vietminh from getting in Laos for extra ____ ______. Patiently Giap secretly assembled a vast army of _________ men with 200 heavy artillery guns on the high ground surrounding the French garrison of 15,000 troops.
Dien Bien Phu
Food Supplies
60,000
This time Giap did not launch a headlong attack against the French. Instead he used his artillery to shell the French troops while his men dug tunnels to get them close to the enemy positions. This took ____ months.
2
By the Middle of March 1954 Giap was ready to attack. The French could not keep their troops properly supplied. On 7 may 1954 the surviving 10,000 French troops, half of them wounded were forced to _______. The rest were dead. Dien Bien Phu finally broke the French Governments will to fight on. It knew the war was ______.
Surrender
Lost
