Reasons Why French Left Vietman in 1954

Reasons Why French Left Vietman in 1954

In 1939, Vietnam was part of a French indo-china. This area

was Laous, Cambodia and Vietnam. This area was all part of

the French empire in the 19th century. The French colonial

rule was barely resisted by the people of Vietnam but this

harsh rule led to growing anti-colonial feeling. Working

conditions in factories were very poor. Peasant farmers

struggled with high taxes and the use of forced labour

because public works projects did little to help. Very few

Vietnamese people could rise to positions of importance in

the colonial government. In 1885, the emperor of Vietnam, Han

Nghi, began a revolt against the French and by the early 20th

century nationalist parties were formed and demanded

independence.

There was a huge divide between the French and the

Vietnamese, The French were rich and the Vietnamese were

poor. Indo-china was rich in natural resources. It was the

worlds third biggest grower of rice. It also had coal, corn

and rubber. It was an important area to control.

In 1940, the French were involved in the second world war.

France fell to the Germans and the pro-German Vichy

government was established, the Japanese took over Vietnam,

Cambodia and laous. They allowed the French government to be

in control. They had to control the country. They could use

roads, railways and air-fields whenever they wanted. Japan

was only interested in Vietnam as a provider o...

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...nity to attack the Garrison.

He used 50,000 peasants to carry 200 pieces of artillery

and 25,000 shells as well as food for the 40,000 soldiers.

He made them carry them on bikes with the tyres stuffed with

cloth so they didn’t pop. He then surrounded the French

base. Giap destroyed the air-field and the French were cut

off. Over 3,000 soldiers from France were killed in this

battle and then a further 8,000 more died in captivity. For

the people of France, it was a devastating defeat. They had

lost over 90,000 French soldiers in nine years of fighting.

The Vietminh lost a lot more men, an estimate of 200,000,

but significantly, this small nation in south east Asia had

defeated a major European country.