Vietnam War History (vs. America) from 1954-1965

The Vietnam War was a war within Vietnam that lasted from the year 1959 to April 30, 1975. The Vietnam war is often known as a "proxy war" between the U.S. and its Western allies on the side of the RVN, with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China supporting the DRV on the other. It was within the year and summer of 1954 that France and Vietnam signed The Geneva Peace Accords. The Geneva Peace Accords reflected the strains of the international cold war. The Geneva Accords represented the worst of all the possible futures for the war-torn Vietnam. Within the Geneva Accords, Vietnam would also hold national elections in attempt to reunify the country.

Using the SEATO for political cover, the Eisenhower (President of the United States during this time) administration helped create a new nation from dust in southern Vietnam. In 1955, with the help of massive amounts of American military, political, and economic aid, the Government of the Republic of Vietnam (GVN or South Vietnam) was born. The following year, Ngo Dinh Diem, who was an anti-communist figure from the south, won a questionable election that made him president of South Vietnam. "President Diem is the churchhill of the decade...in the vanguard of those leaders who stand for freedom."(Lyndon B. Johnson)


Diem had "less than solid claims to being the legitimate leader of
a legitimate government. Ho Chi Minh ruled as the undisputed leader of a
revolutionary movement victorious in battle over a foreign enemy. Diem, in
contrast, had built up his own power through a series of maneuvers which, in
effect, were coups: against the army high command, against the French, against
the sects, against Bao Dai, and against the expectations of most of the Geneva Powers. His open favoritism to the Roman Catholic minority, increasing reliance
upon the Americans, and continuing failure to defeat the guerrillas, further
undermined his claim to be the authentic representative of a traditionalist Vi-
etnamese polity."(Joes,67)

"From 1956-1960, the Communist Party of Vietnam desired to reunify the country through political means alone. Accepting the Soviet Union's model of political struggle, the Communist Party tried unsuccessfully to cause Diem's collapse by exerting tremendous internal political pressure. After Diem's attacks on suspected Communists in the South, however, southern Communists convinced the Party to adopt more violent tactics to guarantee Diem's downfall. At the Fifteenth Party Plenum in January 1959, the Communist Party finally approved the use of revolutionary violence to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem's government and liberate Vietnam south of the seventeenth parallel. In May 1959, and again in September 1960, the Party confirmed its use of revolutionary violence and the combination of the political and armed struggle movements. The result was the creation of a broad-based united front to help mobilize southerners in opposition to the GVN."(Professor Robert K. Brigham)

It was within 1961 that as Eisenhower was at the begginning of his retirement that he warned his successor, John F. Kennedy that Laos was the "the key to the entire area of Southeast Asia and might even require that the introduction of American combat troops." Kennedy portrayed Vietnam as not only "a proving ground for democracy in Asia", but a "test of American responsibility and determination." "He fully subscribed to the policy of containment, arguing that the line had to be held against "the relentless pressure of the Chinese Communists."(Karnow,247)

It was then within 1965 that Ambassador Taylor of the United States urged President Johnson to authorize retaliatory raids against North Vietnam, but Johnson did not want to complicate the war during the Christmas season. Taylor then in January of 1965 stated "we are presently on a losing track to take no positive action now is to accept defeat in the fairly near future. Taylor stated he only saw "political turmoil, irresponsibilty, and division...lethargy deepening loss of morale and discouragement." With this fact, the United States had a choice, either to consider "ultamate withdrawal" or to introduce a "new element or elements." Taylor preferred two options: to one, put in American combat troops, or two, to step up the bombing of North Vietnam.(Karnow,409-410)


Joes J., Anthony. The War for South Viet Nam 1954-1975. Praeger:London,1990

Karnow,Stanly. Vietnam A History The First Complete Account of Vietnam at War. The Viking Press:New York, 1983

Vietnam History from 1900-1954

"A painful experience awaited many young Vietnamese, usually of wealthy origin, who studied in Paris. Having enjoyed the freedom and comradship of the Latin Quarter, they would return to Vietnam to have their newspapers and books confiscated by the colonial police, who regarded them as potential subversives. They rarely found jobs that equaled their education, and they could never match the wages of the French. One such returned student, convicted during the 1930's for nationalist agitation, told the judge at his trial that French injustice "turned me into a revolutionary."(Karnow,115)

France collapsed in 1940, leaving her overseas possessions virtually without
leadership. In Indochina, as vital merchandise was brought into China by the
French Yunnan railroad, it was the moment the Japanese chose to demand con-
trol of the Tonkin border from French Governor General Catroux that Catroux's
calls to the United States were in vain as President Roosevelt had made up his
mind that France, having "milked Vietnam for one hundred years, should never
be allowed to come back." Thus, a defenseless Catroux had to abide the Jap-
anese ultimatum. For this he was dismissed and replaced by Admiral Decoux. (Chapius,135)

The Ho-Sainteny Agreement seemed to promise a peaceful, if not amicable,
short-term settlement to the explosive postwar situation in Viet Nam. Though, even while Ho Chi Minh was in Paris negotiating the final details of this agreement, authorities of the French were at the scene attempting to set up Cochinchina as an independent state. This state would be seperate from the rest of Viet Nam and place it under French protection.
The man behind this provocative move was Admiral Thierry d'Argenlieu, "the
most brilliant mind of the twelfth century," whose appointment as French High
Commissioner of Indochina has been called "France's major postwar blunder
in Southeast Asia." A quickly-gathered assembly proclaimed the autonomous
republic of Cochinchina on June 1, 1946. No Viet Minh government, not even
Ho's, could long survive if it recognized such a state of affairs as permanent. (Joes,20)

On the other side, the French had little enough reason to have confidence in
the Viet Minh. In December 1944 Giap's forces had attacked two remote French
outposts. In August of the following year, after the signing of the Ho-Sainteny
agreement, Viet Minh forces at Bac Ninh destroyed a French convoy on an
authorized mission. (Joes, 20)

In 1954 the Final declaration, dated July 21, 1954, of the Geneva Conference was focused upon the problem of restoring peace within Indochina. All who took part in this decleration were representatives of Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, France, Laos, the People's Republic of China, the State of Viet-Nam, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Chapius, Oscar. The last Emperors of Bietnam From Tu Doc To Bao Dai. Greenwood Press: London,2000

Joes, J. Anthony. The War for South Viet Nam, 1954-1975. Praeger:Westport, CT., 1990

Karnow, Stanley. A History The First Complete Account of Vietnam at War. The Viking Press:New York,1983

Vietnam History from 1000 A.D. to 1900.

Vietnam's independence ended in the mid "19th century" 19th century when the country was colonized by the "French Empire" The French administration enacted significant political and cultural changes to Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education was developed, and Christianity was introduced in Vietnamese society.

The country of Vietnam was reborn as an independent state after its one thousand years as a Chinese province during the tenth century of our era. One of the many bloody encounters between Chinese imperial and Vietnamese rebel soldiers in the Red River valley took place in the year 939 that would break the Chinese rule over Vietnam and create an independent non-Chinese state. The Vietnamese conquered the Chinese on land, and water, driving them out of their country.

It was from 1010 A.D.to 1887 A.D. that much of the Vietnamese history was filled with different battles and Chinese dynasties attempting to reign in power.The first Le king died in 1005, and it was after several months of fighting among the princes, that the king's third son took the throne. It was only for three days in which this son ruled that he was assassinated by his younger brother. This younger brother's reign was a long and torturous four years. The last Le king died in 1009. His death ended the Early Le Dynasty which had been marked by a series of battles against China in the North, and against the Champa in the South.

The nineteenth century started off very nicely for Vietnam. It was at the beginning of the nineteenth century that thrity years of civil war had come to an end and the country was becoming more powerful than ever as a united country with larger territory and a population than ever before. Vietnam had shown its strength by steadily growing at the expense of Cambodia. Vietnam was able to do this even while the the Tay Son and Nguyen Anh had used up a great deal of its strength. While Vietnam thought they had the most power during this time, they were wrong in the fact that the power was actually in the hands of two feuding families. These two families were the Trinh Lords of the north who controlled the king and ruled from the court in Hanoi and the Nguyen Lords in the south, who ruled from their capital at Hue. These two families fought for control of the nation, while they both also claimed to be loyal to the king.

"Cambodia was in fact no longer a fully independent country but rather a vassal of Vietnam."(Bubbinger,270) It was during this time that once the the new territories in the South were settled and the new lands put to full use, that the Vietnamese would have an abundance of food. "Vietnam's independence was respected by China, and her new borders were in little danger of attack by her Indochinese neighbors, all of whom were inferior to Vietnam in population and weaker in military strength."(Buttinger,270)

In 1771 the Tay Son brothers started a rebellion in which caused heavy warfare for the next thirty years. Nguyen Hue, who was one of these brothers reigns as Quang Trung. The fact that Nguyen Hue was the younger brother of Nguyen Nhac, who was leader of the Tay Son Movement, Nguyen Hue played a very important role as general. Nguyen Hue's important role as general was especially evident during the defeat of Xiem aggressors at Rach Gam-Xoai Mut front in 1785. In 1786, Nguyen Hue and his troops moved into Thuan Hoa and cleared the Trinh army out of Phu Xuan. This action of force only lated for a few days. With the victory impetus, Nguyen Hue then expanded the operation to the North. After destroying the Trinh autocratic authority, Nguyen Hue handed over authority to Le King and withdrew his troops back to Phu Xuan.

It is during the late 1800's and into the 19th century that the French begin to take their course upon the Vietnamese. The first foreign armed intervention in Viet-
nam was not a French initiative, but came from American. This man was John Percival. "He
arrived in 1845 at Danang on the USS Constitution with the purpose of freeing
French bishop Lefebvre who had been sentenced to death by the Thieu Tri
government. He kept all local mandarins as hostages against the release of the
French priest. Because the Vietnamese refused to bow at his unorthodox diplo-
macy, Percival found himself caught in a kind of dilemma."(Chapuis,47) Percival eventually released his prisoners and left. Five years later, in 1850 Joseph Balestier, head of an American mission, traveled to Danang in order to apologize for Percival's actions. The Vietnamese refused to send his message to To Doc.

In 1856, French Captain Leheur de Ville sur Arc, was another who came to bombard
Danang and left. Later, de Montigny, the French consul in Siam, arrived in
Danang. de Montigny requested freedom of religion and commerce. All his requests were rejected on the terms that the religious freedom the Catholics asked for themselves, had been denied to others. It was after these Frech missionaries attempted to make religious reform that reformers, revolutionists, and revolts began to take place in Vietnam leading into the 19th century.



Buttinger, Joseph. The Smaller Dragon. A Political History of Vietnam. New York:Frederick A Praeger, 1958

Chapuis,Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From To Doc to Bao Dai. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000

History of Vietnam From B.C.E. to 1000A.D.

"The Vietnamese are a freedom-loving people who have often
had to fight to obtain and maintain their liberty."(Sardesai,43) On the map, Vietnam is locateddirectly below China. It can be seen as an elongated, one thousand mile-long "S". It is in the northern loop that contains the Red River delta and in the southern loop that contains the Kekong River delta. "Vietnam is often described metaphorically as two baskets of rice separated by a bamboo pole. In the north lies the crowded triangle of the Red River delta, the ancestral homeland of the Vietnamese people; in the
south, the flat, waterlogged delta of the Mekong River, one of the great
river systems of the world. These two rich alluvial plains, separated from
each other by several hundred miles, provide the major source of food for
the population." (Duiker,1) It was before the Christian era that Vietnam held this shape and its expansion from the northern delta to the Mekonk region was very slow and painful for reasons of war and the Chinese domination.

Vietnam was originally established by Zhao Tuo in 208 BC. Zhao Tuo was a Qin military official. Vietnam was originally called Nam Viet, and it consisted of Southern China and the Red River Delta. It has been through most of the history of Vietnam that it has been ruled by a great deal of Chinese dynasties. It was in the year of 100 B.C. that the Han, China's most powerful dynasty, conquered the Viet regions and combined much of their territory into the Chinese empire as provinces. When this occurred, many of the Vietnamese people were mixed into the Chinese society. This society is what we know present-day as the provinces of Yunnan, Fujian (Fukien), Guangdong (Kwangtung), and Guangxi (Kwangsi).
The only group of Vietnamese people that were able to preserve their language and other areas of independence were the southern group from the Red River delta. With this independence came the strength of women's economic and social position. Many Vietnamese from the mainland had to learn to deal with the Chinese and its administrations. There were at times rebels, and declarations of independent Vietnamese governments, but in the end these rebellions were no match for the much stronger Chinese dynasties that dominated them. Many of the Vietnamese people learned how to grow accustomed to the Chinese rulers and their ways. Many of them learned how to improve their agriculture and water control, adapt to the system of education, and even learn the Chinese written language while still retaining their native Vietnamese.

Though the Vietnamese suffered most of their history from attacks by the Chinese, it was in the tenth century that the fall of the once very powerful Tang dynasty occurred. It was then after this that the Vietnamese declared the establishment of an independent kingdom. It was by the time of 939 A.D. and the opposition of the French colonial rule in the nineteenth century, that Vietnam's independence came to an end after it had had the opportunity of a one thousand year independence.

Duiker, J. William. Vietnam Revolution in Translation. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995.

Sardesai, D.R. Vietnam:The Struggle for National Identity. Boulder,Colorado: Westview Press, 1992.