Indochina Wars
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- For the war fought between India and China, see Sino-Indian War.
The Indochina Wars refers to wars of national liberation that erupted in the wake of World War II, fought in Southeast Asia from 1947 until 1979, between nationalist Vietnamese against French, American, and Chinese forces. The term "Indochina" originally referred to French Indochina, which included the current states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In current use, it applies largely to a geographic region, rather than a political area. The four wars were:
- The First Indochina War (or the "French War" in Vietnam) began in the wake of World War II, which lasted until the French defeat in 1954. After a long campaign of resistance Viet Minh forces had claimed a victory after Japanese and Vichy French forces surrendered in the North at the end of World War II. During World War II, the South was temporarily occupied by the British forces, who restored French Republic colonial control. The communist/nationalist Viet Minh, whom the Allies had supported during the war, continued fighting the French with support from China and the USSR, ultimately driving the French out of Indochina.
- The Second Indochina War (or "Vietnam War" in the West, or the "American War" in Vietnam) began as a conflict between the United States-backed South Vietnamese government and its opponents, both the South Vietnamese-based National Liberation Front and the Communist North, beginning in the late 1950's and lasting until 1975. The United States, which supported France in the first war, backed the South Vietnam government in opposition to the National Liberation Front and the Communist-allied North. The North benefited from military and financial support from China and the Soviet Union, members of the Communist bloc.
- The Cambodian-Vietnamese War followed the Second Indochina War, with Vietnam invading Cambodia and deposing the democidal Khmer Rouge regime.
- The Third Indochina War (or the Sino-Vietnamese War) was a short war fought in February-March 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Chinese launched an invasion of Vietnam as punishment for the invasion of Cambodia and withdrew a month later.
- See also: Indochina War timeline
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[edit] French colonization
French colonization and occupation of the region was rooted with missionaries of the 16th century, Catholicism among a converted minority. While Gia Long tolerated Catholicism, his successors Minh Mang and Tu Duc were staunch Confucians, and admired China, not France. They brutally suppressed Catholicism and attempted to remove French influence, which provoked the Catholic nations of Europe to retaliate. Confucian isolationist policy led the Vietnamese to refuse industrial modernization, and they were ill-equipped against the French. In August 1858, Napoleon III of France ordered the landing of French forces at Tourane, (present-day Danang), beginning a colonial occupation which was to last almost a century. By 1884, the French had complete control over the country, which now formed the largest part of French Indochina.
A continuous thread of local resistance began with Ham Nghi, then to Phan Dinh Phung, Phan Boi Chau and lastly to Ho Chi Minh, who returned to Vietnam from France and joined the Viet Minh in 1941. A founding member of the French Communist Party, Ho Chi Minh had de-emphasised his communist ties and dissolved the Indochinese Communist Party, to win trust and gain power. When a famine broke out in 1945, causing 2 million deaths, the Viet Minh arranged a massive relief effort, which won over many people to their nationalist cause. Ho Chi Minh rose to become the leader of the Viet Minh.
When World War II ended, North Vietnam came under the control of Ho Chi Minh. The Japanese surrendered to the Chinese Nationalists in North Vietnam, and the Viet Minh organized the "August Revolution" uprisings across the country. Emperor Bao Dai happily abdicated power to the Viet Minh, on August 25, 1945. In a popular move, Ho Chi Minh made Bao Dai "supreme adviser" to the Viet Minh-led government in Hanoi, which asserted its independence on September 2 as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). In 1946, Vietnam had its first constitution.
In 1948, France tried to regain its colonial control over Vietnam. In South Vietnam, the Japanese surrendered to British forces, who had supported the Free French in fighting the Viet Minh, along with the armed religious Cao Dai and Hoa Hao sects, and the Binh Xuyen organized crime group. The French re-installed Bao Dai as head of state of Vietnam, which now comprised central and southern Vietnam. The ensuing war between the French-controlled South and the independent Communist-allied North, is known as the First Indochina War.
[edit] The First Indochina War
In the First Indochina War, the Communist North Vietnamese supported by the Communist powers of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union fought to hold their independence from the French supported by the French loyalist-Vietnamese and the United States, and to liberate the French-controlled south. This Independence/Cold War lasted from December 1946 until July 1954, with most of the fighting taking place in areas surrounding Hanoi. The War ended with the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and French withdrawal from Vietnam.
[edit] The Second Indochina War
The Second Indochina War, better known as the Vietnam War, pitted the recently-successful Communist Vietnam People's Army (VPA, PAVN) (also incorrectly known as the North Vietnamese Army, or NVA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (South Vietnamese guerrilla fighters allied with the PAVN, known to the West as the Viet Cong, meaning 'Vietnamese Communists') against U.S. troops and the U.S.-backed ARVN (South Vietnamese soldiers). Because there was no declaration of war, there is much disagreement as to when the war began, although 1955 (the first arrival of U.S. advisors in South Vietnam) and 1964 (open declaration of U.S. involvement) are commonly cited. During the War, the North Vietnamese transported most of their supplies via the Ho Chi Minh Trail (known to the Vietnamese as the Truong Son Trail, after the Truong Son mountains), which ran through Laos and Cambodia. As a result, the areas of these nations bordering Vietnam would see heavy combat during the war.
For the U.S., the political and combat goals were ambiguous: Success and progress were ill-defined and, along with the large numbers of casualties, the Vietnam War raised moral issues that made the war increasingly unpopular in the United States. The 1968 Tet offensive came in direct contradiction to glorified reports of the war's progress, and although it was an enormous military victory for South Vietnam and the U.S., it was ironically also a turning point in public support for the war.
The United States began withdrawing troops from Vietnam starting in 1970, and the last troops were withdrawn following the January, 1973 Paris Peace Accords. The Accords called for a cease-fire, and prohibited the North Vietnamese from sending more troops into South Vietnam, although the North Vietnamese were permitted to continue to occupy regions of South Vietnam they had conquered in the 1972 Easter Offensive.
However, the North Vietnamese never intended to abide by the agreement. Fighting continued sporadically through 1973 and 1974, while the North Vietnamese planned a major offensive, tentatively scheduled for 1976. The North Vietnamese Army in South Vietnam had been ravaged during the Easter offensive in 1973, and it was projected that it would take until 1976 to rebuild their logistical capabilities.
The withdrawal had catastrophic effects on the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN.) Shortly after the Paris Peace Accords, the United States Congress made major budget cuts in military aid to the South Vietnamese. The ARVN, which had been trained by American troops to use American tactics, quickly fell into disarray. Although it remained an effective fighting force throughout 1973 and 1974, by January 1975 it had disintegrated. The North Vietnamese hurriedly attacked the much weakened South, and met with little resistance.
Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was taken by the PAVN on April 30, 1975, and the Second Indochina War ended.
The fighting that took place between North and South Vietnam following U.S. withdrawal is sometimes called the Third Indochina War; however, this term usually refers to a later 1979 conflict - see below.
[edit] The Third Indochina War
The Third Indochina War was fought in February-March 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
In 1978, the Vietnamese had invaded neighboring Cambodia and drove the ruling Khmer Rouge from power. The Vietnamese invaded because the Khmer Rouge had been persecuting and committing genocide against ethnic-Vietnamese.
The Khmer Rouge was a political ally of the Chinese. In 1979, the Chinese government launched an invasion of Vietnam as punishment for the Vietnamese expedition into Cambodia.
Fighting was short but intense. After either deciding the Vietnamese had taken enough punishment or deciding that they would not be able to defeat the Vietnamese (this is disputed), the Chinese withdrew in March. As a lasting result of this conflict, to this day, Vietnam maintains a large standing army.
