France, the Vietminh and the Domino Theory (concise)

During the Second World War (1939 - 1945)

• The French rule within Vietnam was opposed by a group called the Vietminh (founded in 1941 by Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Vo Giap).
• The Vietminh used the Japanese invasion of Indochina (1940) as an opportunity to overthrow the French and Japanese.
• The Vietminh were aided by the US Intelligence Service who equipped and trained their guerilla forces.
• The Japanese were defeated in WWII and were forced to withdraw from Indochina in 1945.

Post - war Vietnam (1945)

• Ho Chi Minh occupied the cities of Hanoi and Saigon and it was declared that Vietnam was a new independent and democratic republic.
  
• This was short-lived as the French…