French Decolonization of Vietnam
A Darker Shade of Gray: The French’s Occupation of Vietnam
The post colonial world is one of intrigue as we see many countries in the mid 20th century declare their independence either through diplomacy, rebellion, or a mixture of both. Vietnam’s path to freedom is one of “jumping the gun”. It had good intentions, every country in the world should have the right to sovereignty without outside rule, but Vietnam was in a bad spot in a even more unfortunate time, that is the Cold War. Before Vietnam became the country that we know today, there is quite a history in the small country south of China. Vietnam was first founded by its legendary leader; Kinh Dương Vương, part of the “Hong Bang Dynasty”, which consisted of 18 kings throughout Asia, in 2879-258 B.C. During that nearly 1600 year Hung dynasty rule, the land’s most important feature was the creation of the irrigation system of their rice fields that was a complex of canals and embarkments. He was rumored to have lived 260 years. But in 111 B.C, that dynasty collapsed by the hands of the “Han Dynasty”, and that rule lasted for 1000 years. That would explain why the Vietnamese felt disdain for the Chinese even to this day. There is however some good that came from this, such as teaching the Vietnamese the difficult skill of growing crops, namely growing rice fields, but also the ability to learn to read. Eventually though, the Chinese would soon be overthrown by the Vietnamese and gained their freedom for the first time in over a millennia by overthrowing the Tang Dynasty. Their next move would naturally improve the quality of life for its citizens, and to keep up with the times.
This laid the groundwork for the eventual colonization of the French in Vietnam in the 1880s where the Vietnamese were forced by the French to conform to their way of life, which would lead to the introduction of Christianity in Vietnam, but also goods such as tea and tobacco. This lasted for over 60 years he until the eventual communist uprising during the 1940s, lead by Ho Chi Minh. During which he created the “Democractic Republic of Vietnam” to the eventual downfall of French colonization in that region, which we know as the “First Indo-China War.” This gave Vietnam its overdue freedom of autonomy in over 60 years, but with the forces at hand during the mid 20th Century with America and Russia’s “Cold War”, this would put Vietnam in a very unique position in the Domino Theory; the belief “that posited that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect.” Where would Vietnam fit into the post WWII world? What challenges will its people face? How would they respond to the ever changing technological paradigm? The most important question however; was their reversal of France’s colonial rule for the best? I would argue that if the Cold War was not a thing in the mid to late 20th century, absolutely. But, after looking through the facts, Vietnam just wasn’t prepared for what would happen next as many people would either die or leave the country in droves after the two major battles, the first Indo-China War, and the Vietnam War, but also the Cambodian- Vietnam War and The Sino- Vietnam War. In other words, the French rule of the Vietnamese was bad, in the sense that their rule has spawned those all those conflicts, but it also gave birth indirectly to the Viet Minh, and the man who would lead Vietnam to freedom, Ho Chi Minh, and it opened up for the Vietnamese many more opportunities for education and access to many goods, but at the cost of national sovereignty and exploitation of their workers to create goods. Basically, like most things in history there is a tale of both sides. This one however, falls into the darker shade of grey.
The 1940s: Minh’s Rise in North Vietnam
One of the most prominent figures in Vietnam modern history is the person who emerged from the seemingly never ending rule of both China and France is the leader Of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; Ho Chi Minh. Minh, after being incorporated into the Communist point of view, and how it shaped his vision of how Vietnam’s future will pave out, and in a way it did eventually, but more on that later.
To understand the eventual rise of Minh, you must understand how much France strong handed the Vietnamese. Before 1945, there was a solid 60+ years of, according to the Vietnamese, “tyrannical” French conformity, but this was not an overnight thing, this was a long drawn out process that dates back to the 16th century as Catholic missionaries came to Indo-China and were welcomed because they were connected to weapon suppliers and western goods, then the French-India Trading Company played along with the Vietnamese that expanded trading and the spread of Catholicism, which went on for the next few centuries until the eventual takeover of Vietnam in the 19th Century. In the 19th Century, many European countries were in a frenzy to claim parts of Asia for many reasons, mainly for trading and the Vietnamese’s work ethic as they were skilled in the rice fields, which is a difficult task, but after a few centuries of Chinese rule teaching them how to plant rice fields, it was second nature to them, and it was indeed an invaluable skill to exploit. The French took over the land and split up the country in two, North Vietnam, where the victor of the upcoming battles of Vietnam presided, and South Vietnam, which became an area of in which those 2 future conflicts were sought after by the rebels of North Vietnam.
Since France was under Hitler’s reign during WWII, there was a brief confrontation between the Vietnamese and the Japanese with Vichy France, which was nothing but a puppet state for Hitler to use, invaded North Vietnam and it lasted from September 22-26 1940, until the Vietnamese surrendered. Although a short lived skirmish, nonetheless it resulted in the surrender of the city of Tonkin in North Vietnam, and a blockade was established from China to North Vietnam.
Now we get to Minh, his life had many twists and turns, and traveled across the globe, after he left a nice Franco-Vietnamese academy, he was a school teacher briefly before moving to Saigon as a cook on a French steam ship that chartered a course to the French town of Marseilles, but it was his time in France where he developed his communist ideals and was one of the founders of the French Communist party in 1920, and in the Soviet Union where he was trained by their army, but he eventually was exiled into Taiwan, and brought with him the experiences and knowledge that made him into Vietnam’s savior. He started the “Viet Minh” movement, which got involved during WWII with many triumphs against the previously mentioned Vinchy France and the Japanese, but after a visit to China Ho Chi Minh was thrown in a Chinese prison cell because China feared his communists views, but Minh only wanted help from them to aid him to dethrone French rule in Vietnam. In those 18 months in that Cold prison cell, he passed the time by writing a collection of poems that symbolically spoke about how he felt about his native homeland being strangled by France for their selfish gains. This poem said it best, it is called “Autumn Night”
“Before the gate, a guard
with a rifle on his shoulder.
In the sky, the moon flees
through clouds.
Swarming bed bugs,
like black army tanks in the night.
Squadrons of mosquitoes,
like waves of attacking planes.
I think of my homeland.
I dream I can fly far away.
I dream I wander trapped
in webs of sorrow.
A year has come to an end here.
What crime did I commit?
In tears I write
another prison poem.”
This is a very interesting view of Minh not many people get to see in the history books, it paints him as a human being, a sensitive one at that. It is very apparent that it was at this point that he became the Ho Chi Minh we know in the history, it wasn’t the military training of the Soviet Union that hardened him, but it was his 18 months in that jail cell that changed him.Eventually he was freed from that cell, and continued the fighting with the brief Japanese occupation of North Vietnam during WWII, but a new ordeal was about to begin.
1945-1954: The First Indo-China War and the demise of French colonization.
After the events that have transpired in France during Nazi Germany’s occupation during WWII, France was in a weakened state and with ever increasing tensions in Saigon between them and the Vietnamese, General Douglas Gracey declared martial law, the Viet Minh responded in kind. What followed was Vietnam’s quest for independence and it was when Ho Chi Minh declared this and tell me if this sounds familiar; “We hold the truth that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The man who was a hardline communist uttered that line that sounded just like the United States constitution. That is why we shouldn’t view communists as monsters who just want to see the free world crumble beneath them, they want freedom from tyrannical rule.
The Vietnamese were tired of France and their tyranny, but France had no intention of just packing up their suit cases and hitting the road. France, just like Great Britain, felt that they could not let slip any of their countries to uprisings and lose power in Asia, thanks to a certain speech about curtains made out of curtains by Winston Churchill in 1946, not to mention that they feared that communism will be knocking on Vietnam’s door one day soon. But fresh out of WWII, France did not want to enter another war, so they attempted to negotiate with Ho Chi Minh, but to no avail as Minh saw no reason to negotiate with France. So the First Indo-China war began on December 19th 1946, and for the next 8 years the Vietnamese would battle with not only the French, but later on, with a whole new policy on the communist Soviet Union, the United States of America would aid with France as also they feared that Vietnam would fall under communist rule and soon after that the countries that surround the area, and also after the Korean War, America felt that they could not afford to lose another country in the Pacific Ocean to the Soviet Union. If you look at history during the Cold War, the “domino theory” would time and time again prove to not hold any ground, it didn’t happen in the Korean War, it didn’t here nor after the Vietnam War. It was a theory that was half baked and held little to no ground, but I understand why America took this stance, it was because of the history of the Soviet Union before WWII, Stalinism was a really brutal political belief system that oppressed more than serve its people. Vietnam just wanted their land back, they had no ambitions of spreading Vietnam Minh across Asia, America was there because not only was France their ally, but they also believed and feared the communist threat.
The war was in a stalemate for the first two years, until in 1949 China and Mao Zedong sent assistance, this proved to be the turning point even though America joined in the fight, the advantage became Vietnam’s. It all came to a head when the Vietnamese invaded the French’s stronghold; Dien Bien Phu, which was used in case the French lost and needed a silver bullet in the negotiation table since the French knew that the chances of winning the war were slim. Ho Chi Minh defied the odds, and with his ruthless military tactics, sent his troops to overtake the stronghold, and the operation was success despite the heavy casualties Minh’s army received. The end of the war ended on the negotiation table during the Geneva Accords which divided Vietnam into two parts, Minh and the Vietnam Minh would occupy the north, while the south would be led by newly appointed prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem, which the United States supported. In this situation, Vietnam proved to the opposition that they mean business, and thanks to Ho Chi Minh’s discipline and ruthless tactics, his Army will do at nothing to win any battle in any war. Could there have been a deal struck before the war started, both Minh and Charles De Gaulle would not budge an inch on the negotiation table, so violent intervention was inevitable, but it still doesn’t change the fact that this was another brutal conflict, many military officers died, many atrocities occurred, and this all happened after just getting out of another one, this had to wear down not only the Viet Minh, but also the Innocent bystanders witnessing such harsh confrontations. Minh’s fortitude would prove to be even stronger in the next war, which changed America in more ways than one, The Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War: America’s folly and Vietnam’s complete victory.
There were a couple of events that have happened before the start of the second Indo-China War, or more widely known as the Vietnam War. In 1961, President John F Kennedy sent out 400 specially trained soldiers in South Vietnam, to put an insurance policy in that region by teaching the South Vietnamese to fight. Minh would remain president during the 60s but took a smaller role in the decision making for the country due to health concerns. Then in South Vietnam, an insurgent group called the “National Liberation Front”, in which North Vietnam gave them military aid and began the fall of Ngo Dinah Diem, but America were there to aid South Vietnam, which bought Diem some time, but eventually the walls closed in on him and lost control of his country, and in 1963, his life. Soon Vietnam would yet again be in America’s crossfires when in 1964 when a fleet of America’s warships were allegedly attacked by the bay of Tonkin by the Vietnamese, and this sent Lyndon B Johnson, the current president at that time after John F Kennedy’s untimely demise, and congress in a frenzy to create and veto an act that would allow them to intervene in Vietnam, this would be called the “Tonkin Gulf Resolution”. The bill passed in a landslide and in 1965 some 3500 marines to South Vietnam, thus the war began, and South Vietnam and the Viet Cong were ready. It is crazy how a War can start with just an accusation, and it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the attack on the American warships was either staged by some other country, but I would rather not get into conspiracy theories, I am one for the facts. However let’s remember the Indo-China war, America sent aid out there during that war, but eventually the French lost, additionally it is suspicious that in 1961 they sent out a secret batch of Green Berets to train South Vietnam how to fight. It all seemed that America was preparing to fight in that region in a future confrontation. Another interesting thing about this war, it seemed that everyone in the United States were in support of the war. That would soon change.
Much like the previous war, America’s armies were just not prepared for Ho Chi Minh’s mastery of guerrilla warfare, and was willing to sacrifice a considerable amount of lives in order to win the battle, which was something that America wasn’t willing to do, which is confusing since America took communism and spread of it very seriously. The American Generals, for example Robert McNamara, predicted a quick and decisive victory in Vietnam, it was, but it was Ho Chi Minh that was going to complete that task. In fact, America saw the writing on the wall as early as 1968 as The “Tet Offensive” was launched during the Vietnamese New Year in South Vietnam, major losses were loss on both sides from the surprise attacks, and it is when the North Vietnamese attacked a U.S Embassy building in Saigon on January 30th 1968 was when The American people saw the chaos, and doubt began to creep in, and it marked the beginning of the end of American intervention in North Vietnam. The newly elected Richard Nixon was in the works with Henry Kissinger to secretly set up a treaty to get officers out of Vietnam, which resulted in the “Paris Peace Accords”, which marked the end of the Vietnam War, which is ironic in a sense that in order for the Americans to leave the country, it had to be done in Paris of all places. There was much to celebrate, in a span of 2 conflicts, they managed to defeat France and The United States of America in a convincing manner, it showed the power of Vietnam’s military, and it showed that Vietnam would be quite the adversary in a future war. However, a great loss happened 4 years before the north achieved victory as their hero Ho Chi Minh died of a major heart attack September 2 1969, which marked the end of an era in the region. The man who brought freedom to the North, whether by questionable military tactics or not, was now dead. He was a complex man that had both nationalistic and communistic ideals, a man that believed in his country and how much potential it had, and sacrificed a lot to make it happen, and the people of Vietnam were grateful for it. His legacy was big enough that Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, which is highly populated city inhabited by over 10 million people. As we see later on with the induction of Ho Chi Minh’s replacement, Ton Duc Thang, the country was going to head into a very uncertain time with two whole new conflicts, and they had to do it without Ho Chi Minh’s leadership
The Post Vietnam War Era: A period of Decline and more conflict:
Minh’s vision of a unified and free Vietnam was finally accomplished in 1973 after the last of the American troops shipped out, with that a new hopeful future would begin. It began with the disbandment of the Viet Cong, and was replaced by a Stalin-like government a full scale offensive of Saigon and South Vietnam in 1975, which resulted in many people being sent to “reeducation” camps, in which former spies and officers in the higher ranks were subject to torture, starvation, and hard labor. This was done, under Le Duan’s “Second Five Year Plan.”, as they were beginning to start collecting mass quantities of farms and factories, and that sent the economy in tripling the inflation in Vietnam. This was not the start that the newly unified Vietnam state were hoping for, well for the South Vietnamese anyway, as not only were they being sent into camps, they were also being heavily controlled in every single aspect of their life, and also censorship was an issue as well. . Later in 1978, the “Cambodian-Vietnam War” invaded the country of Cambodia as they intend to get rid of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rogue, those of which have been responsible for a massive genocide inside of Cambodia, and were attacking border Vietnam villages. Vietnam made quick work of them and were able to install a government until 1989. This angered China, and retaliated by invading Vietnam in 1979, this was named the “Sino-Vietnamese War”. China invaded the capital city of Ha Noi, but once again Vietnam’s army stand their ground and won against the Chinese thanks to soviet intel and aid, and did not move out of Cambodia, and resulted in the . Many people feared about these 2 battles, as they feared about if they angered China enough, they would enlist the aid of the Soviet Union, thus resulting in America intervening. This began a mass exodus of people, becoming more known as the “Vietnamese Boat People”, although tough economic times and the trauma of the 2 previous wars didn’t help. It is interesting to see how in the course of history, these rebellions that become governments eventually turn into monsters. The reeducation camps, although did not result in mass genocide, it did leave a stain during the 70s and it just became too much for the Vietnamese to take. It is easy to say that if the French were still In Vietnam, all these conflicts, economic problems, and famine, wouldn’t have happened because France is in fact a wealthier country with more economic trading partners such as the United States for instance, but it was for the best for Vietnam to set their own destiny and not be controlled by France.
Vietnam in the 1980s-Present time: A time of reform.
After another decade of conflict in which many left, tortured and put into labor camps, or killed. The 1980s were a time of political uncertainty, the transition to communism had been anything but smooth as the country was still suffering from the failed “Second Five Year Plan.”, and was replaced by a less ambitious “Third Five Year Plan”, which dealt with the compromising between ideological and pragmatic development of agriculture and industrialization. However the pain were still to continue as famine continued and the economic hemorrhaging as Vietnam was one of the most poorest countries and entirely depended on foreign aid, namely the Soviet Union, but then a change happened in 1986 when “Doi Moi” was started, it was a movement that had the lofty goal of transitioning the market from a “planned economy”, an economy where the allocation of capital goods is decided by an economy-wide plan of production, to a “socialist-oriented market economy”, which in layman terms means that the state plays a direct role in the economic development that in the future would turn socialist. In just about 10 years, it was reported in 1997 that the reform worked as private businesses grew and poverty dropped. It shows when a country isn’t busy being preoccupied by war that you make great strides in changing the old guard, the economic system was just not working, and it needed a change. Soon Vietnam would soon become a competent economic power, but not without its drawbacks as the divide of the poor and the elite expanded, and
Conclusion:How French colonialism is a mixed bag, but leaning more on the lighter side of grey.
Bibliography
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“Ho Chi Minh: A Life,” (
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