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• 1 2017-11-17T21:30:15-08:00 Background 21 plain 2017-11-18T17:19:21-08:00

  Vietnam had been under French colonial control since the 19th century, and during World War II, it was invaded by Japanese occupiers. In order to fight off Japanese and French occupiers, in 1941, the political leader Ho Chi Minh, who dedicated communist, formed the League for the Independence of Vietnam, which was also called Viet Minh.

  See the video below for more detail.
  

  
  After its defeat in the WWII in 1945, Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam, leaving the Emperor Bao Dai in control. Seeing an opportunity to seize control, Ho’s Viet Minh forces rose up, taking over the northern city of Hanoi and declaring a Democratic Republic of Vietnam there, with Ho as the president. Attempting to regain control of the region, Emperor Bao, backed by France, set up the state of Vietnam in July 1949 with Saigon as the capital city.
  
  
  By 1954, Vietnam was divided into two parts: the North having a Marxist-Leninist system led by the communist Ho, and south having a noncommunist government led by Bao. Both sides wanted a unified Vietnam, but Ho and his supporters wanted it modeled after other communist countries, while Bao and many others wanted a Vietnam with close ties to the West.
  
  In 1954, Bao Dai appointed Ngo Dinh Diem, a South Vietnamese politician, the prime minister of the State of Vietnam. In 1955, with the support of the U.S., Diem deposed Bao and established the first Republic of Vietnam, declaring himself the president.
  

  After this failed election, the North Vietnam started to fight against the government by occupying portions of Laos to assist the Viet Cong (National Liberation Front), marking the beginning of theVietnam War.

  Source: http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history

   
   
• 1 2017-11-18T17:42:59-08:00 The First Indochina War: 1946-1954 9 plain 2017-11-19T19:26:19-08:00

  Since the 19th century, Vietnam had been controlled by France as a protectorate (1883-1939) and then as a possession (1939-1945). Independence returned to the country when Ho Chi Minh proclaimed its independence with the declaration of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945.
  
  The First Indochina War lasted from 1946 to 1954, as the French opposed the Vietnamese independence, and Ho Chi Minh led guerrilla warfare against the French. The war ended in the Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954.
  
  See the video below for more information of the Dien Bien Phu Battle.
  An agreement was signed at Geneva on July 21, 1954, which provided a temporary division of the country between a communist-dominated north led by Ho Chi Minh and a U.S.-supported south led by Bao Dai. Both sides wanted a unified Vietnam, but Ho and his supporters wanted it modeled after other communist countries, while Bao and other supports wanted a Vietnam with close ties to the West.

  
  
  In 1954, Bao Dai appointed Ngo Dinh Diem, a South Vietnamese politician, the prime minister of the State of Vietnam. In 1955, with the support of the U.S., Diem deposed Bao and established the Republic of Vietnam, declaring himself the president. After the election failed, the North Vietnam started to fight against the government by occupying portions of Laos to assist the Viet Cong, marking the beginning of the Second Indochina War, which is commonly known as the Vietnam War.