Dien Bien Phu

Introduction The Vietnam War was an undeclared war without front lines or clear objectives that lasted almost 20 years from 1955 to 1975. Over two and a half million Americans fought and over 50,000 died during the conflicts. During January 1968, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese conducted several simultaneous attacks against the South Vietnamese, Americans and their allies known as the Tet Offensive. There were several indicators were ignored by the Intelligence Community (IC) and…

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits." -Richard M. Nixon The Vietnam War was also known as the Second Indochina War, from 1954 to 1975. It was a conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam allies Viet Cong and the government of South Vietnam and its ally United States. The main purpose of the war was to stop South Vietnam in becoming communists like the ones in the north. During that time there were powerful leaders making the decisions. Some important…

Vietnam’s independence (Charles, 1995). The French quickly attempted to reassert their control and the First Indochina War broke out in 1946. The French found themselves outmatched by the skilful and resolute Communist forces, and were defeated at Dien Bien Phu 8 years after the war started (Charles, 1995) After the French defeat, the 1954 Geneva Convention split Vietnam in half, with the Communists ruling the North and Ngo Dinh Diem ruling the south. With the Cold War lingering over the world,…

The Sacred Willow (2013) describes the modern history of Vietnam from the 19th to the end of the 20th century through Mai Elliott’s personal experience, as well as stories from four generations of her family. Starting with her great grandfather's struggle to become an imperial government official, the book follows the author’s family’s cycle of fleeing violence and building wealth, almost re-starting from zero every time. It goes further than many books on the French Colonisation of Vietnam and…

Maila Rose Julian 20160331 Farrington High School Govs Guard Battalion Those Who Served Before You The United States wanted to limit the world from falling into the hands of the Communist influence. Eventually, the French appealed to the United States for aid in an effort to avoid its investment from being lost. The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was a long-lasting conflict between the communists of North Vietnam and its ally, the Viet Cong against the government of South Vietnam and its ally, the…

In 1994, the world witnessed one of the most horrific genocides in recent memory. As reported by the BBC, in the small African country of Rwanda, the conflict between two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, had been brewing for decades but throughout the colonial period, tensions rose substantially, ultimately ending in the bloody massacre now known as the genocide against the Tutsi. Belgian colonizers, who deemed the Tutsis to be preferable to the Hutus, created an even stronger divide by…

War, when France was fighting in Vietnam to stop Communism from spreading to North Vietnam. After World War II, France took control of Vietnam, because Japan surrendered to the US, and the US granted the land to the French. After the battle of Dien Bien Phu the French surrendered. After the war, North Vietnam “went red”, or in other words became Communist. Shortly after North Vietnam became Communist they invaded South Vietnam to take it over and enforce their choice of government on South…

in the Indochinese War. The United States had supported the French Imperialists because of Eisenhower’s fear of the world falling, like dominoes, to communism. Despite the United State’s support of the French troops, the Viet Minh triumphed at Dien Bien Phu in May of 1954. This event prompted the Geneva Conference. The Geneva Conference took place in July of 1954 with the agenda to restore peace to the Indochinese Peninsula. There were two agreements made at the conference; first, the French and…

When a country wants to become independent from its ruling country they most likely go to war, but not many countries go from a war with their ruling country to a war with themselves. This is what happened to Vietnam. Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia, was ruled by France but then was granted independence in 1954. Vietnam then split into two states, the north being a communist and the south, a democratic republic. During this time, the United States (US), China, and the Soviet Union were…

Communism was introduced into Vietnam by a man named Ho Chi Minh. Minh was an educated politician who was also a brilliant strategist. His communist party freed the people from French imperialism and united the country. Minh took many of his political ideas from other leaders due to his extensive traveling around the world. Minh had learned of guerilla warfare from Mao Zedong, and took ideas of a communist party from Vladimir Lenin. The communist party appealed to class struggles, as it gave…