The Vietnam Nightmare

THe Red Winter Moves East In the European colonies throughout Southeast Asia, there was a strong desire for American style independence. One of the notable examples was the Vietnamese independence movement, led by Ho Chi Minh. Seeking independence from France, Minh would try to personally persuade President Wilson in 1919, having been inspired by the American Revolution. However, America decided to side with close ally France, and dejected Vietnam instead allied with the Communist USSR.

Stuck in the mud Rather inevitably, a war broke out between Vietnamese independents and the colonial French. Having had their economy decimated by World Wars, it was actually the U.S taxpayers that had to fund France’s military effort. In 1954, the French suffered a massive defeat at Dienbienphu. Some argued that this was cause for even more financial support. However, President Eisenhower, hesitant to engage in another war in Asia(given the Korean War had happened just a few years prior), refused to expand the necessary funding to reinforce French troops.

Digging a deeper hole Eisenhower’s reticence to further fund France’s war in Vietnam led to a multi- national convention in Geneva that divided Vietnam into two parts. The northern half would be governed by the communist Ho Chi Minh, and the southern half would be led by a Western-style democracy. However, no voting ever occured in the South. Instead Ngo Dinh Diem was installed without consulting the Vietnamese people. The United States, refusing to acknowledge its defeat, promised to support this southern government at the cost of losing favor with Ho Chi Minh.

Source 1: Ho Chi minh’s Letter to the Americans

Source 2: North Vietnamese Propaganda

Source 3: Ho Chi Minh’s independence Speech http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5139/

Questions to consider 1: Analyze the American treatment of Vietnam and its struggle for independence. How does this relate to Wilson’s goals in creating the League of Nations, as well as the American Revolution? 2: Summarize the arguments made to keep American support of France despite seemingly insurmountable military disadvantages.