Theme 1

1945- Ho Chi Minh announced Vietnam was independent and a democratic republic

France wanted to maintain colonial rule and to recover their image after the last war

1946- attempts at negotiations in Paris, but french started to move north so vietminh took to the hills to use Guerilla tactics

1947- Operation Lea, 9,000 Vietminh killed

1949- Emperor Bao Dai invited to set up a pro french government in Saigon, as a puppet ruler

French defeats

De Lattre, fortifications in Hanoi to Tonkin, estimated 14,500 killed1953, General Giap invaded Laos, extended the war, French retaliated in Dien Bien Phu

1954- Dien Bien Phu, French defeat

Effects of the first Indochina war;

1. End of French colonial rule

2. Division of Vietnam

3. Rise of communism in southeast Asia