what did the french have to do with the vietnam war?

Answer 1

The ruled the region until they were defeated at Diem Bien Phu

Answer 2

The French had a significant presence in indochina especially with the trade routes of the Mekong River delta until 1954 when they were expelled by Diem Bien Phu.The Americans had defeated them in a battle at Khe Sahn. France had a colony in Vietnam since the midle 1800's but the Japanese killed the French soldiers there in 1945. After that it eas agreed that the Chinese would militarize the North and the British in the South. When negotiation broke off between the French and the Viet Minh there was civil war between 1945-1954. It also did not help the cause that China became Communist in 1949 thus directing the North Vietnamese in a different direction eventually under Ho Chi Minh.

Answer 3

Well Llordlloyd isn't going to win any popularity contests, but he's largely correct. Prior to WWII Vietnam was little different to other 'colonies' in Asia (such as Malaya or Indonesia). Where it seemed to 'go off the rails' was just after the war. At that stage you had a group that had been resisting the Japanese (Ho Chi Minh) with the help of the OSS (CIA in modern-speak) putting in a bid for independence, while the French were scrabbling together some proxy forces to hold the place for them while they assembled their own expeditionary force. Classic case of a colonial power not having sufficient force to do the job properly - the French would have been better to abandon the idea of direct French rule and encouraged an alliance with Ho who would have been a stalwart ally to the West against any expansion in that direction by China. The Vietnamese and Chinese have been at war for over a thousand years.

When I read about the French castigating the US for shortsighted policies in the Middle East I have to (generally) agree with the criticism, but also note that the French speak with real experience - they have already done all the dumb things (several times over) and only learnt the lesson after thousands of their own people, and tens of thousands of their colonial subjects, died pointlessly.

Answer 4

Vietnam was a French colony from the mid 19th Century. They gradually expanded their interests in Vietnam, which centred mainly on rubber plantations. Vietnam at this time was quite divided, with little communication between the north south and inland tribes. In 1940 the Nazis occupied France, and in 1941 the Japanese forced the French to accept Japanese troops into Vietnam. From here, they in 1941 invaded Malaya at the same time as Pearl Harbour.
In 1945, the Japanese disarmed the remaining French soldiers and imprisoned them, killing most.

When the nuclear bomb ended WW2, there were no French soldiers to occupy Vietnam: it was agreed the Chinese should occupy the north, the British the south. A nationalist guerrilla movement, the Viet Minh, under the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, declared itself the government and the Chinese recognised it. A French armoured division was sent out from Europe, and the British handed over to it. It occupied the South, which remained relatively peaceful.

At first the French agreed to talks with the Viet Minh, and the divided French Government at home had no real policy on its colonies. But soon, conflict broke out and the French shelled north Vietnam, and moved in to occupy Hanoi, the capital. A long war thus began, which lasted from 1945 to 1954. The focus of the war was in the North, where the Viet Minh were based.

The French had few resources after WW2 and their army in Indochina, as Vietnam was called, was very poorly equipped. But the Viet Minh also had few weapons. In 1950 French units were defeated on the border with China along the Cao Bang ridge- an enormous shock for the French. This battle secured for the Viet Minh a supply line to the newly-communist Chinese. In 1951 the Viet Minh attacked the Red River delta- the productive agricultural area around Hanoi, but the revitalised French fought back fiercely and held their ground.

By this time, the Cold War was dividing the world: America had previously been opposed to the French war as a colonial war- but now it came to be seen as a war against communism. The French began to receive better equipment from the Americans, but the soldiers in Indochina still regarded themselves as forgotten. The French government remained divided about whether to continue the war or get out: many in France though colonialism was wrong, and the country remained very poor. The French began to cultivate a Vietnamese government under emperor Bao Dai- a lazy playboy king who had previously been a puppet of the Japanese. He was not ambitious nor a leader. A race began: the French wanted to build up a Vietnamese army and government as an alternative to the Viet Minh, and get out.

In 1954 a new French General, Navarre, arrived and resolved to defeat the Viet Minh forces. He brought on a major battle at Dien Bien Phu- but the French lost in an epic battle in which their troops fought with great bravery. As the battle raged, peace talks about Vietnam's future were brought on in Geneva- the loss of the battle resulted in the division of the country into North and South, pending elections. The French left, the Americans arrived to take over their anti-communist war, and a whole new war gradually began.

The simplistic and triumphalist American responses above really do make the writers look like the arrogant, ignorant retards that some people think typefy America.

Answer 5

Like others said Vietnam was a turbulent French Colony (one positive of the colonization is the French influence on Vietnamese cuisine).

France's main interest in Vietnam (and Southeast Asia in general) was the Mekong River. They wanted to establish trade routes using the mighty Mekong to move the goods.

To the dismay of the French neither the Mekong nor the Vietnamese were inclined to be cooperative in this enterprise.

Answer 6

Nothing! They where smart enough to leave, but some military country used the opportunity to try out the latest weapons, make a lot of money for a few politicians and weapons dealers, humiliating themselves in the process and haven't learned a thing from it. Now, Vietnam, like Germany and Japan shows said country, how to produce superior quality products, increasing trade deficit, buying up land and companies in said country, until they own it and kick the second time the fat lazy asses of said war mongering country.

Answer 7

I remember having to learn where VietNam was. I already knew where French IndoChina was ...

Answer 8

They lost the battle of Dien Bien Phu whereas American won the battle of Khe Sahn.

Answer 9

It was their colony, Indochina, and they had been fighting nationalists for decades before we decided that communism was the cause of it all and started meddling.

Answer 10

it was a french territory