US Involvement before 1954 + Dien Bien Phu

Question 1

Until Japan occupied Vietnam during the Second World War, which empire was Vietnam a part of?

Answer 1

The French Empire.

Question 2

In which year was Japan defeated and returned to France?

Answer 2

1945

Question 3

How did Ho Chi Minh feel about Vietnam being returned to France? In which year did Ho Chi Minh declare Vietnam’s independence from France?

Answer 3

He was NOT a fan. He completely opposed French control and declared Vietnam’s independence from France in September 1945.

Question 4

What did Ho Chi Minh’s declaration of French independence lead to?

Answer 4

A war between the French and the supporters of Ho Chi Minh.

Question 5

How much money did Harry Truman, the US President, give to aid the French against Ho Chi Minh? Why did he give France money?

Answer 5

$3 million. America feared the spread of communism,

Question 6

Vietnam had been a ______ colony before the Japanese took over in WW2.

Answer 6

French colony.

Question 7

When the French wanted to reassert their rule after 1954, where were the guerrillas based in Vietnam?

Answer 7

The guerrillas had become organised in North Vietnam.

Question 8

Who led Vietnam’s fight for independence in 1954?

Answer 8

Ho Cho Minh.

Question 9

What was the political stance of Ho Chi Minh? What was the political stance of his followers?

Answer 9

Ho Chi Minh was a communist in sympathy. He was supported by people of multiple different political stances.

Question 10

What was the shared goal of Ho Chi Minh’s followers?

Answer 10

They all had one shared goal of an independent Vietnam.

Question 11

By the early 1950s, which areas of Vietnam did the French control?

Answer 11

The French controlled most cities in Vietnam.

Question 12

By the early 1950s, which areas of Vietnam did the Vietnamese Nationalists control?

Answer 12

The Vietnamese Nationalists controlled much of the countryside.

Question 13

How did the USA support the French in their war against Ho Chi Minh and his followers?

Answer 13

The USA supplied France with copious amounts of money.

Question 14

What was France’s aim in Vietnam?

Answer 14

The French wanted Vietnam back in their empire.

Question 15

What was the USA’s aim in Vietnam?

Answer 15

The USA wanted to prevent the spread of communism and were strongly suspicious of Ho Chi Minh’s communist sympathies.

Question 16

What did the French request of the USA? What was President Eisenhower’s response to this request?

Answer 16

The French requested that the USA send a US aircraft manned by American crews. Eisenhower refused.

Question 17

What were the French finding difficult in Vietnam?

Answer 17

The French were finding it difficult to make advances against the Vietnamese guerrilla tactics in the countryside.

Question 18

What were the Vietnamese guerrillas finding difficult in Vietnam?

Answer 18

The guerrillas were finding it difficult to break the French defensive positions because they did not have enough firepower.

Question 19

What was significant about the location of the battle of Dien Bien Phu?

Answer 19

It controlled the main routes between Vietnam and the neighbouring regions of Laos and Cambodia.

Question 20

What did the guerrillas do to the French defensive position at the Dien Bien Phu?

Answer 20

They surrounded the French’s fortified position.

Question 21

Why had the French been confident that the Vietnamese guerrillas would not break their defensive position?

Answer 21

The guerrillas lacked firepower.

Question 22

Eventually, the Vietnamese broke down the French’s defensive position. How did they do this?

Answer 22

The Vietnamese guerrillas were relentless in their attack against the French defensive position. Even after many of them had perished, the guerrillas kept coming and coming until they eventually broke the French defensive position.

Question 23

What were the French losses?

Answer 23

4000 killed and 8000 missing.

Question 24

What were the Vietnamese losses?

Answer 24

8000 killed and 12,000 wounded.

Question 25

What was the consequence of this battle for the French Empire?

Answer 25

The battle ended French plans for holding onto their empire in the east.

Question 26

Which four things we decided at the Geneva peace conference?

Answer 26

• Vietnam would be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel.
• The north of the under control of the commonest leader Ho Chi Minh.
• The South would be controlled by Ngo Dinh Diem, an anti-Communist Catholic politician
• There would be a general election in 1956 for the whole of Vietnam to decide its future.