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The French Indochina war
French colonisation In the beginning of the 19th century, French priests arrived to south East Asia and attempted to convert the natives to Christianity, a task witch proved initially ineffective. Under the 1860s a number of priests were badly treated in the southern parts of the area. This led to a series of minor conflicts between the locals and the French. As a result the French established a military base for their Asian colonisation fleet in south East Asia. During this age, colonisation was spreading through the world. The Netherlands, USA and last but not least – Great Brittan acquired colonies in Asia. France did not want to be behind the other nations and started to gaze at the Indochina region. The French continued to establish bases in the northern part of the area. They were hoping to open new trade routs to China. Great Britain had Hong Kong, the Russians had China at their borders and now France was hoping that the floods could provide a way to China. Unfortunately for France, the Red river, witch could’ve figured as a transport route, became to thin at the Tonkin Delta to allow any larger ships to pass. Thus, the route was useless.
The French exploration of the country led to a line of conflicts with local population. Several face downs between the French and locals occurred, but the French could quickly strike their enemies down with their superior arsenal. In 1897 the entire area of Indochina was put under French control. It consisted of Northern Vietnam, known as Tonkin (Bac Bo), central Vietnam known as Annam (Trung Bo), south Vietnam known as Cochinchina (Nam Bo), Cambodia and Laos. These were either French protectorates or colonies.
The French ruling over Vietnam was quite harsh. The Vietnamese did get access to education, schools and universities, and were never considered as equal worthy as the French. The French built roads, railroads, bridges and tunnels throughout the country. The purpose was rather to expose the resources of the country, than to help its locals.
Because of the way the French ruled the country a series of nationalistic and religious groups tried to oppose the French rule, often in violent ways. The French beat down every uprising. It is also needed to be pointed out that not all Vietnamese were unpleased with the French rule. By this time there was a large Christian population in the country. During the years there had been a rise of a sort of Vietnamese bourgeoisie in the country, especially in the urban areas. These Vietnamese were living by western standards. There was an upper class of Vietnamese that owned farms, factories and companies.
Ho Chi Min was born in Indochina (Vietnam) 1890 with the name of Nguyen Sinh Cung, later Nguyen Tât Thánh. He came in contact with communism when he was in Europe. He worked in a kitchen in England, and later lived in Paris for almost ten years. In 1918 Ho Chi Minh tried to get the French government to approve independence of Vietnam, without result. In 1919 he spoke in Paris for equal rights in Indochina, also without any major success. Shortly after he helped form the communist party and spent a lot of time in Moscow. He later moved to Hong Kong, where he led the schooling of the Indochinese communist party. He used a lot of different names during this time, but eventually adapted the name he is remembered by – The Sino Vietnamese name “Ho chi Minh”, meaning “strive towards enlightenment”.
The communist uprisings in Indochina were quickly beaten down by the French and the communists were forced to go under ground or flee to other countries. Ho Chi Minh returned for a while to the Soviet Union.
World War Two In Europe, World War Two started 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. The German army used a new military tactic (blitzkrieg), and was able to occupy several European nations, including France. Northern France was occupied, while southern France formed a new government – Vichy France, witch in all was a Vassal state to Germany. This government controlled the remaining French colonies and in September 1940, it gave its permission to Japan to station troops there. Japan successively took control over Indochina. This did not go unnoticed by the Vietnamese who now saw their former French rulers crawl at the will of the Japanese. Initially, Japan let the French rulers remain, but as the war luck turned the French started to oppose the Japanese. In March 1945 the Japanese decided to get rid of the French once and for all. The remaining French forces were quickly overrun by the Japanese, except for a few that fled to China. Indochina was under Japanese control for six months until Japans surrender in August 1945.
During the war, communists under the command of Ho Chi Minh had returned to Indochina to form a nationalistic-communistic independence movement, the Viet Minh. In 1941 they declared themselves independent from France. Viet Minh also carried out attacks against Japanese forces. They were later helped by the US organization OSS (office of strategic services, later CIA) witch gave the Viet Minh weapons, equipment and training through military advisors in their struggle against the Japanese. Ho Chi Minh himself was saved by OSS doctors as he was sickened by Malaria. In return for the OSS help, the Viet Minh helped return downed Allied Pilots that crashed over Indochina.
Chaos follows the war Japan capitulated in August 1945 and Indochina was retaken by nationalistic Chinese forces in the North, and a British/Indian division in the south. Initially the allies lacked forces to maintain control over the country and had to use surrendered Japanese soldiers as police units. It took a few months before the French administration returned to Indochina, and until 1946 until they were back in Hanoi. During this vacuum of power, the Viet Minh returned to Hanoi and formed a provisional government. At the same time, Viet Minh laid their hands on large amounts of Japanese war material; witch was available after their disarming of the Japanese. Viet Minh took control over Tonkin, and later also large areas of south and central Indochina. Ho declared the Vietnamese democratic Republic the 2nd September 1945, witch included Tonkin and Annam.
On August 25th 1945 Ho forced the Vietnamese emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate and turn over power to Ho Chi Minh. This made most of the Vietnamese population to look at Ho as a legitimate leader. Bảo Đại had been a puppet under the Japanese rulers and before under the French. Ho’s goal was to make Vietnam an independent country and he sought a peaceful way to officially end the French colonization in Indochina. Through his previous contacts in the OSS he tried to get help from the US, without any success. The political climate after World War Two resulted in tensions between East and West – between capitalism and communism. USA no longer had interest in their former brothers in arms, and when Ho Chi Minh was declared president over Vietnam, the 21st March 1946 the was not internationally recognized.
The French were convinced that Indochina was to belong to France. While Ho Chi Minh demanded independence and while Viet Minh spread its control over Indochina the colonials in the country started to pose more and more resistance against the communists. France decided to unite her colonies in a federation, which was to be independent, but part of the French Union. The population in Indochina was critical against the French ideas however. Both parts met both in France and Indochina, but found no way to peacefully come to a solution. The situation got tenser and eventually escalated. The French drove the Viet Minh out of Hanoi and took control over the city. In December 1946 Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minhs military leader, Nguyen Giap encouraged a nationwide resistance against the French. This was the start of a long war called the French Indochina war.
The Indochina war begins The French had control over Hanoi and many other cities and villages, but during night time Viet Minh was able to operate virtually unchallenged. Viet Minh carried out many small raids and attacks against supply convoys along the roads. In time, French reinforcements arrived and the French gained control over the country. Even though the French had better equipment and experience from previous wars, it would show that conventional tactics were of little use in the Indochina war.
Viet Bac Several French raids were carried out in the beginning of 1947, aimed at capturing Ho Chi Minh and general Giap. Ho and Giap had retreated with their troops to the mountain area called Viet Bac, witch lay north of Hanoi and the Tonkin delta. The French results were poor. Viet Minh avoided combat and managed to hide in the thick jungle or retreat from the French forces. The French went over to protecting their roads and bases. Viet Bac remained Viet Minh’s headquarters and training center for new troops. While the French lay low during 1947-49, Giap recruited new troops and acquired new equipment. The little force that had retreated from Hanoi together with Ho and Giap had now grown to a force from 3,000 men to 60,000.
Fighting along the border During 1949 Viet Minh gained a huge asset. The communists had won the war in China. China was more than willing to help its communist brothers in the south, and Viet Minh was able to both get equipment from, and train in China. The French, witch could not drive Viet Minh out of Viet Bac now built fortresses along the Vietnam-chinese border to prevent supplies to be moved between China and the Viet minh. The French underestimated Giaps ability to attack the French forts with his troops. In 1950 the first Viet Minh offensive was initiated. The French forts were attacked one by one, and too late the French military command realized how serious the situation was and ordered a retreat to Hanoi. Giap attacked the retreating French forces, which stood without an obvious commander and soon left equipment and wounded on the roads as they fled through the jungles. There they got lost and were outgunned by the Viet Minh troops, 10 against 1. By the end of 1950 the French had lost its forts along the Chinese borders, along with huge amounts of equipment and manpower. The French moral kept dropping as the Viet Minh moral rose higher and higher. With this success behind him Giap started to plan on how to drive the French out of Hanoi and even all of Indochina. 1950 Ho Chi Minh declared the independent Democratic republic of Vietnam; witch was recognized by Soviet and China amongst others. During this downtime for the French a new general arrived to Indochina; General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. He was one of the best officers from the war in Europe and he was believed to be able to turn the tide of war. De Lattre started reorganizing the French defenses so that they could defend themselves more easily. This was called the “De Lattre defense line” and was located around the Tonkin delta. Now, the French also got a lot of equipment from the US, witch was getting worried about the spreading communism through Asia. The Truman administration agreed to support Frances war in Indochina, witch resulted in a lot of US military material being given to the French.
The great counteroffensive In the middle of January 1951 came the second Viet Minh offensive, called the great counteroffensive. Massive waves of attacks were launched against the De Lattre lines northern parts. The French were pushed back against the Red river, but managed to hold with help of the Air force and artillery. Shortly after, the Viet Minh attacked the De Lattre line again. This time further east. French paratroopers reinforced the positions and the navy, artillery and air force gave heavy support. Yet again, Giap was forced to abort the attack and regroup. His third attack was against the De Lattre line, but from the south. The attack was initially successful, but was halted at the Day River, and after French reinforcements arrived Giap was forced to abort his attack again and pull back to Viet Bac. The attack cost the Viet Minh over 25,000 men and the previously high moral had now sunken. The French moral rose, thanks to their first major victory over Viet Minh and proof that they were led by a competent commander. None the less, also the French causalities were high. Both parts used the summer time to rest and rebuild their forces. By Autumn Giap was ready for a new offensive and struck against the southern areas again, and in October he managed to capture an important position and capture the town Nghia-Lo. The French dropped three battalions of paratroopers that together with artillery managed to repel the Viet Minh attack. Giap pulled back, realizing that he could not win in open combat. The French now thought that paratroopers supported by artillery and air support were enough to secure their areas. This would have catastrophic outcome later in the war. Also, General De Lattre had returned to France, dying from cancer and the French were now led by General Raoul Salan. During the following time the French attempted a series of raids, without managing to inflict any major damages on the Viet Minh. Towards the end of 1952, the Viet Minh forces consisted of around 125,000 men, supported by up to 250,000 regional and local troops. Viet Minh now had an artillery division consisting of 105mm pieces, along with heavy mortars and flak from China. All Viet Minh recruits were not there of free will however. Force recruitment was widespread and grim means of collecting food and equipment from villagers were used. The French force consisted of around 200,000 men of witch half consisted of their new ally – the VNA (Vietnamese national army). While Giap could utilize most of his troops in offensive operations, the French were bound to defending several strategic positions and could only use around 50,000 men for offensive operations.
Towards Laos Giap now focused on attacking French targets outside the De Lattre line between the Red and Black Rivers. The French tried to counter this with attacks against Viet Bac. Even though some success was made, the offensive did not make Giap leave the area between the Red and Black River. The French forces were also heavily attacked by the Viet Min and lost over 1,000 men.
With this knowledge Giap could proceed with his offensive against the Black River. Giap took several villages and advanced quickly. But at Na San, on November the 23rd 1952, Viet Minh was repelled by the French. Giap attacked the French fortifications around Na San another two times, but never managed to get through the defense lines. The French had secretly reinforced the defense with paratroopers. The offensive cost Giap over 7,000 men and the French got even more convinced that if they just drop paratroopers their forts would remain impenetrable. Giaps forces were, even though the defeat, able to carry on the offensive and Giap now focused on forts along the Vietnamese-Laos border. His supply lines were yet however to get strained and he had to abort the offensive and pull back.
During 1953 the French carried out several operations in an attempt to find and destroy Viet Minh units. Most of them were without result, but especially one (Op. Hirondelle), carried out by paratroopers was successful. In april 1953 Giap launched another offensive against Laos with three divisions. General Salan sent French reinforcements to Laos to reinforce the royal capital Louang Prabang and Xiangkhoang. They arrived just before the monsoon rains. Giap called of the attack and moved back with most of his units to Vietnam. The French were saved from a possible defeat. The Viet Minh offensives were worrying the French and they started looking for a way to prevent future Viet Minh attacks against Laos. In October 1953 General Giaps troops once again moved against Laos. The French had gotten a new commander, General Henri Navarre who decided to cut Giaps route off. Navarre decided to build a fort near the Laos border, close by the village of Dien Bien Phu.
Dien Bien Phu On November the 17th 1953 two of Frances best airborne battalions were dropped over Dien Bien Phu, during Operation Castor. They quickly cleared the surrounding area, so that airplanes could land and new men and heavy material could be flown in. The goal was to build a base from witch French troops could attack Viet Minh units that were to attack Laos. Also, the French hoped to be able to lure enemy units to the base were they could be defeated with, what the French thought was their superior firepower. The French had earlier had bases supplied with air bridges, far outside their own lines. This time though, the plan was much dared. Giap saw this as an excellent chance to capture a large French force and destroy it. He ordered four divisions to the valley. Viet Minh carried dozens of 105mm artillery pieces and a large amount of mortars and flak cannons to their hillside positions. This must have been extremely hard, since there were no vehicles or roads available, so they had to cut their way through the jungle. On scene the cannons were hid and camouflaged.
Soon, the French
started to get a feeling of Viet Minh forces in the area. At first, the
French fort north of Dien Bien Phu was ordered to retreat back to the
new camp. Of 2,000 retreating toops, 200 made it to Dien Bien Phu after
severe attacks from the Viet Minh. The French pulled all exposed units
back to Dien Bien Phu, including a large force stationed in Laos. In
time, the camp was completely cut off from landside supplies and the
French had to rely on supply via air. At this time, Navarre considered
pulling all forces out of the Valley, but before he managed to do
anything there were too many Viet Minh units in the mountains to do
anything. The French did not think that the Viet Minh would be able to
capture the base. They belived that an attack would end as it did in Na
San, nor did they believe that Viet Minh had any heavy artillery.
As the snare was
slowly tightened around the base, French causalities started to rise.
The French command kept sending more soldiers together with artillery,
tanks and airplanes to support the position. While the soldiers in the
field started to feel pressed, the commanders in Hanoi were certain of
French victory.
On the 13th of March Giap gave order of an attack against Dien Bien Phu. A massive artillery bombardment destroyed the airstrip. Now, all supplies and reinforcements had to be dropped by parachute. Viet Minh started to attack the French outposts around the base one by one. A series of bloody battles took place, and the French did not manage to hold most of their positions, and they got overrun. The Vietnamese causalities were very high, but the French were getting more and more cornered. They kept dropping reinforcements by parachute.
On the 30th of March Giap launched a new, large scale attack wave against Dien Bien Phu and he took out a series of important forts and managed to take a very important position in the valley, overlooking all the French areas. Now, the result of the battle was already decided. Even though the desperate situation, more paratroopers kept arriving but they were not enough to fill the places of their fallen comrades. The French only had a few troops left, and shortage of ammunition, food, water and medical supplies made them believe in that only a miracle could save them.
On the 6th
of May, Viet Minhs final attack against the remainder of the camp was
launched. Most positions fell quickly, even though many French units
making heroic stands. The French commander, De Castries realized that
the situation was hopeless and gave order of a seize-fire at 17,30.
For Viet Minh, the victory was huge. But in truth, the certainty of the victory was unclear at many times during the battle. The heavy Viet Minh causalities threatened the entire operation. The moral in some VM units were so low that the officers threatened to shoot the soldiers unless they fought – and soldiers were indeed shot by their own. Further, all Viet Minh medical abilities had expired during the last months of fighting, making the causalities stagger and many soldiers doubting before getting shot and facing a certain death.
After the Indochina war The Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954 recognized the 17th parallel as a "provisional military demarcation line" temporarily dividing the country into two zones, Communist North Vietnam and pro-Western South Vietnam. In August 1954 began the last French operation “Operation Passage to Freedom” consisting of the evacuation of catholic and loyalist Vietnamese civilians from communist North Vietnamese prosecution. Because of religious persecution under communist rule, around 60% of the north’s 1.5 million Catholics fled. Around a million Vietnamese refugees left the communist North Vietnam during operation Passage to Freedom after Vietnam was partitioned. The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. However, the United States and the State of Vietnam refused to sign the document. From his home in France Emperor Bảo Đại appointed Ngô Đěnh Diệm as Prime Minister of South Vietnam. With American support, in 1955 Diệm used a referendum to remove the former Emperor and declare himself the president of the Republic of Vietnam. When the elections were prevented from happening by the Americans and the South, Việt Minh cadres who stayed behind in South Vietnam were activated and started to fight the government. North Vietnam also invaded and occupied portions of Laos to assist in supplying the guerilla fighting (National Liberation Front) in South Vietnam. The war gradually escalated into the Second Indochina War, more commonly known as the Vietnam War in the West and the American War in Vietnam. |