Something To Read About

Through the beginning of the 20^th century, a number of foundations were formed by the Vietnamese people including the Modernization Society and Vietnamese Restoration Society. In 1919, nearing the end of the first world war, Ho Chi Minh, then known as Nguyen Ai Quoc shows up at the Versailles Peace Conference trying to stop the colonizing of the French in Vietnam and demanded freedom for the Vietnamese people. Nguyen Ai Quoc the former president of the Vietnamese Communist Party and Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In 1920, Nguyen became founding member of the French Communist party. Communist International then summoned him to Moscow Russia three years later for training.

Also during 1919, the religion of Cao Dai, Cao meaning “High” and Dai meaning “Palace”, was adopted in the southern region of Vietnam. This religion contains elements from Christianity, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam. This occurance in separated beliefs among the Vietnamese only continued to divide the North and the South even more.

By 1927, the Vietnamese Nationalist party was formed in order to try and rid Vietnam of the French, who were still occupying their territory. The party was not designed to be peaceful at all, it was designed to be violent and overthrow the French regimes and to create a democratic republic in Vietnam. In February of 1930, the party lead an attack on military posts in Tonkin. The party was not coordinated and most of the leaders were captured or killed.

“World War II brought the Japanese to Vietnam. Japan had already been at war with China since 1937 and was anxious to take advantage of Germany’s victory over France to secure basis in Indo-China from which to strike the Burma Road and prevent supplied from reaching the Chinese.” (Tucker)

During World War II, the Vietnamese people faced oppression from not only France but Japan as well. In August of 1940, the Franco-Japanese treaty was signed giving the Japanese military facilities in northern Vietnam. The Japanese continued to use these areas until their surrender at the end of World War II and their surrender in August 1945. Before the Japanese surrendered, the country was divided at the 16^th parallel. Throughout 1945 until 1947 there were many power struggles between the French, Japanese, and Vietnamese for the land the Vietnamese occupied.

In October 1949 Mao Zedong, a communist leader, defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Army in a Chinese Civil War. This victory leads to anti-communism in America. This overall results in containment for communist countries.

On May 8^th 1954 the Geneva Convention was held in order to decide what should be done about Vietnam. The conference was attended by Britain, China, the United States, Soviet Union, France, and Vietnam. On July 21^st the convention decided to divide Vietnam again at the 17^th parallel. Elections were to be held in two years to restore Vietnam and reunify the country. After the French leave later that year, Ho Chi Minh returns from an eight year exile to take control of North Vietnam, the overwhelming communist part of the country. Bao Dai was put in place as the prime minister for South Vietnam. Also around this time, 90,000 communists leave South Vietnam and go to the North.

 Duiker, William. Historical Dictionary of Vietnam. United States: Scarecrow Press Inc., 1998.

Spencer, Tucker C. Vietnam. United States: The University Press of Kentucky, 1999.