One area studied in GCSE History is the Cold War, which lasted from the end of World War II until the fall of the Soviet Union. As a part of this, students will look at Vietnam and the involvement of the French in that country.
The situation, and subsequent war, in Vietnam were major influences on the Cold War. After the defeat of the Japanese in the Far East the French returned to Indo China (including Vietnam). Their involvement was intended to re-establish their former colonies.
Find out more about the French involvement in Vietnam, and its effect on the Cold War, in this quiz.
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You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - The Cold War and Vietnam
There were plenty of ambitious Vietnamese keen to fill the power vacuum emerging in Vietnam. However the Japanese soon had to give way to the French
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Ho was determined to use his irregular forces to drive the French out of Vietnam
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If Vietnam was to be divided, then an East-West line roughly half way seemed a reasonable boundary
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The French military were keen to avenge the defeat of 1940 with victory in the colonial war In Vietnam
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North Vietnamese Communist forces operated as regular infantry divisions rather than as guerrillas. This same commander masterminded their operations against the Americans, ensuring their departure from Vietnam in 1973
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Ho attached great importance to support from comradely Communist states, which provided not only recognition, but also arms and equipment
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The French military were still determined to recover France's pre-war colonies
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There was no shortage of general officers in the high command of the Fourth Republic's army who were happy to take command in Vietnam - to salvage the French army's reputation
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Political support in Paris was running out, and bad weather made it impossible either to leave or to reinforce this vast air and army base under sustained Communist attack
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It was widely believed that negotiations of this kind were best conducted well away from the actual fighting
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