Reasons for the French failure in Indochina
- Created by: Alasdair
- Created on: 20-06-17 19:48
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- Reasons for the French failure in Indochina
- Ho's popularity
- Late 1951, US official pointed out unpopularity of Fr puppet emperor, Bao Dai, whose government 'has no appeal whatsoever to the masses'
- In sharp contrast, Ho seen by many Vt as patriot who cared about ordinary people of Vt.
- His fairer redistribution of land and educational and health-care programmes helped to win over Vietnamese peasantry
- Viet Minh's strengths
- Although Fr had more men and materials, Ho's Viet Minh proved elusive and determined
- 'You can kill ten of my men ffor everyone I kill of yours but even at those odds, you will lose and I will win' - Ho to a Frenchman
- Guerrilla tactics
- Utilised physical geography of country
- Make surprise attacks then retreat to western Vietnam's jungle and mountains (which were enveloped by monsoon for half year)
- Perfected from years of repelling Chinese
- Other advantages of VM
- Chinese supplied them with weapons
- Most important of all, fought for inspiring cause, Vietnamese freedom and social justice
- Although Fr had more men and materials, Ho's Viet Minh proved elusive and determined
- French units
- Road bound
- Armoured columns
- Struggled on Vt's frequently flooded dirt tracks
- One Fr officer lamented: 'If only the Vietnamese would face us in a set battle, how we could crush them'
- Giap
- Trained and commanded VM forces from 1944
- Initially only 5000 troops
- declared war on French in Nov 1946
- Giap's strategy was to start with guerrilla warfare to wear down enemy then move to set-piece battles as his army grew stronger
- Like Ho, Giap paid great attention to winning over ordinary people
- Mao gave democratic Republic of Vietnam diplomatic recognition, armaments, advice and sanctuary in China if regular soldiers were in trouble
- By 1952
- Giap commanded over 250,000 regular soldiers and militia nearing 2 million
- Each army division was supported by 40,000 porters carrying rice or ammunition along jungle trails and over mountain passes
- Many porters unmarried women 'the long-haired army'
- V found more effective than male porters because they were easier to train, had no family responsibilities and were perceived as less threatening by the enemy
- Many porters unmarried women 'the long-haired army'
- Giap's soldiers willing suffered for their country and their freedom, marching over mountains and through jungles, often with insufficient food
- Units held self-criticism sessions during which errors were admitted and forgiven
- Giap paid great attention to winning over ordinary people and his soldiers followed his rules when dealing with civilians
- Be polite and fair
- Do not bully
- Do not fraternise with women
- Try not to cause damage and if you do, pay for it
- Dien Bien Phu
- French had problems whilst Ho and Giap went from strength to strength
- Tried 'yellowing' their army (enlisting local Vt)
- Did not trust them and gave them little responsibility
- French people beginning to lose heart and interest in Indochina
- Tried 'yellowing' their army (enlisting local Vt)
- 1954
- French fortress
- Designed to prevent VM invading Laos
- Fr did not anticipate peasants dismantling heavy artillery and in the cover of darkness moving it to hill above fortress
- Easily bombarded from high ground
- French had problems whilst Ho and Giap went from strength to strength
- Ho's popularity
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