World War II & Vietnamese Independence “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The World System. The U. S. & Colonialism The French & Indochina The World System? The U.S. & Colonialism The French & Indochina? The Problem? The “Bao Dai Solution” The 1st Indochina War

The British & Malaya?

From War to Cold War Why a “Cold War?” Truman Doctrine The logic of “containment?” The Marshall Plan “triangular trade” & the “dollar gap”

When the Marshall Plan ends, “the key commodities on which our most efficient agricultural and manufacturing industries are heavily dependent, will be sharply reduced, with serious repercussions of our domestic economy.” --Sect of State Dean Acheson

The French & Indochina What’s so important about Indochina? The political economy of rice, rubber, tin, etc. What’s so important about France? The politics of Cold War: NATO, EDC, rebuilding/re-arming German y

From War to Cold War in Asia Who “lost” China? Korea, Japan,…Iran? NSC-68 & extending “containment” to Asia “containment” or “capitalist encirclement?”

Dean Acheson, Secretary of State, 1949 “Why Vietnam?” “With regard to Japanese trade with south and Southeast Asia the problem involves the maximizing of the food and raw materials production in those areas, thereby enabling the acquisition of foodstuffs and raw materials by Japan in exchange for industrial products.” U. Alexis Johnson, Deputy Director of the State Department’s Office of Northeast Asian Affairs “…the only hope for the kind of Japanese recovery envisioned by the United States now must involve substantial trade links between that nation and Southeast Asia.” Dean Acheson, Secretary of State, 1949

The First Indochina War, 1946-1954 How/why did the War go badly for the French? How did the U.S. view these setbacks for the French? Dien Bien Phu (March 13-May 7, 1954) The Geneva Conference What does George Herring mean by the following statement? “America’s Indochina policy continued to be a hostage to its policy in Europe?”