Transcript SS7H3a - Rabun County School District

SS7H3a
Describe how nationalism led to
independence in India and Vietnam.
During
French
Colonial Rule
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Indochina was made up of Laos, Cambodia and
Vietnam.
The French controlled the colony known as
Indochina in the early 1900s
Later this area became known as the modern
country of Vietnam.
During European rule this area was known as
French Indochina.
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The French wanted Indochina
because:
A.
B.
C.
D.
seaports
rich source of agricultural products
natural resources
provided labor that they needed.
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Nationalism was a factor in the area known as
French Indochina because:
A. The people who lived there had worked hard
to maintain independence from China.
B. They saw themselves as a separate people
among the many groups on Southeast Asia.
C. The nationalist energy was directed at the
French colonial rulers. They felt that the
French owed them.
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The French government didn’t feel that
Indochina was ready for self-rule, but they did
give them some very limited control.
The French also felt that if they left their
colonies, then another imperialist nation would
simply move in and claim control.
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A young man, Ho Chin, began working for
Vietnamese independence from the French.
He thought the Communist Party might be
the best route to take because the
communists were outspoken critics of
European colonialism.
In the 1930s, he organized an Indochinese
Communist Party that began to stage
protests against French rule.
His efforts landed his followers in jail and he
fled the country to avoid a death penalty.
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During WWII, the Japanese moved in and
controlled this region, as well as, much of the
rest of Southeast Asia.
Ho Chi Minh hoped this would mean the end of
French rule, and he helped begin a new group,
the Vietminh League.
This group’s goal was Vietnamese
independence.
However when the Japanese were defeated at
the end of WWII, the French regained control of
“French Indochina”.
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The quest for independence from France was
rekindled. The difference was that this time a
nationalist movement had already begun.
On September 2, 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared
Vietnam’s independence.
The French did not recognize this independence
though, and instead went to war with the
Vietnamese.
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For the next nine years, Ho Chi Minh and his Vietminh
League fought with the French colonial forces.
Guerilla Warfare: nontraditional military tactics by
small groups involving surprise attack
The Communist guerillas under the leadership of Ho
Chi Minh finally defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu
on May 7, 1954.
HO CHI MINH
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The Vietnamese had fought the French for
independence. However after their
independence was won, a civil war then
broke out between northern and southern
Vietnam over what type of government
would rule the country…
Communism or Democracy?
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At the Geneva Conference in 1954 to end French
colonial rule, the United States became alarmed
at the prospect (idea) of Ho Chi Minh ruling
Vietnam.
He was a communist, rather than a national
leader and the United States feared that a
communist Vietnam would lead other countries
becoming communist as well. This concern is
called the Domino Theory. This is the idea that
when one or a few countries “fall” to
communism, like dominoes in a row, the rest in
the area would fall also.
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The United States used its influence to temporarily
divide Vietnam into two parts. Ho Chi Minh was in
charge of the north and the United States was in
charge of the south.
The idea was to stabilize the country, and then let the
people vote on what sort of government they wanted.
The United States hoped they could find someone to
support as a democratic alternative to Ho Chi Minh
so the country could be reunited as a democracy
rather than a communist state.
This conference began the United States’ long
involvement in the politics of Vietnam.