In this second episode of the Vietnam series, the focus is on the failure of the French to maintain a foothold in Vietnam at the close of World War II. The dismal end for the French came in 1954 at the battle of Dienbienphu, followed by the Geneva conference in the same year.
Despite $2.5 billion in aid to France from the Americans, the French lost control of its imperial outpost in Indochina. After Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence in 1945, the British interceded to allow the French back in. Ho never compromised his vision for an independent Vietnam.
After making a temporary agreement to partition the southern part of Vietnam into a separate state, the French break their promise of March, 1946, seeking to return their puppet ruler Bar Dai to an artificial rule over the entirety of Vietnam. Negotiations at Fontainebleau failed, and fighting ensued. By late 1946, Ho's government is forced out of Hanoi, and the first Vietnam War has begun. President Truman authorizes $10 million in aide to the French (planes, tanks, fuel, napalm) in May 1950.
Navarre becomes the fifth commander in as many years for the French. He now tries a "search and destroy" method against the Vietminh. The French call it "the dirty war." The "search and destroy" approach will be the bane of the American war in Vietnam in the 1960s.
Eventually, the site of Dienbienphu in northwest Vietnam is selected by the French as the site for a major battle. It was supposed to be an impregnable French base. But the French never counted on the determination of the Vietnamese. As noted in an on-camera interview with General Giap, "In war, you must win."
After destroying the French bases with artillery in the hills, Giap changes his tactic to the "human wave" in the movement of troops advancing slowly through trenches and tunnels. The Vietminh now settle in for a long siege that will ultimately destroy the French.
April 29, 1954 marks the opening of the Geneva Conference. On May 7, the final fall of Dienbienphu occurs. With the Americans present but not participating at Geneva, a turning point in the deliberations comes with the new French President Pierre Mendès-France promising to strike a deal within a week.
The two major points raised at Geneva are (1) a temporary partition established at the 17th parallel and (2) a deadline for elections that will re-unify Vietnam, to be held in 1956. The United States refuses to sign the accord. By the end of the conference on July 21, 1954, there is in place a "declaration," if not an international agreement. In two years, the Vietnamese nationalists were expecting a free election to determine their own course. Following the conference, the French troops pulled out of Vietnam, ending the First Vietnam War. The French were finished in Vietnam.
It is clear from this program that under Dulles and Acheson, the Americans had, in 1954, no intention of recognizing international diplomacy or allowing Ho Chi Minh to rule over all of Vietnam. The frustrated, sweating American diplomat interviewed in the program attests to the doctrinaire American position of "might makes right" during the period of the Cold War.
At a time when American leaders should have learning from the mistakes of the French, they were instead already exhibiting the hubris that would be the undoing of the American Century.
Despite $2.5 billion in aid to France from the Americans, the French lost control of its imperial outpost in Indochina. After Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence in 1945, the British interceded to allow the French back in. Ho never compromised his vision for an independent Vietnam.
After making a temporary agreement to partition the southern part of Vietnam into a separate state, the French break their promise of March, 1946, seeking to return their puppet ruler Bar Dai to an artificial rule over the entirety of Vietnam. Negotiations at Fontainebleau failed, and fighting ensued. By late 1946, Ho's government is forced out of Hanoi, and the first Vietnam War has begun. President Truman authorizes $10 million in aide to the French (planes, tanks, fuel, napalm) in May 1950.
Navarre becomes the fifth commander in as many years for the French. He now tries a "search and destroy" method against the Vietminh. The French call it "the dirty war." The "search and destroy" approach will be the bane of the American war in Vietnam in the 1960s.
Eventually, the site of Dienbienphu in northwest Vietnam is selected by the French as the site for a major battle. It was supposed to be an impregnable French base. But the French never counted on the determination of the Vietnamese. As noted in an on-camera interview with General Giap, "In war, you must win."
After destroying the French bases with artillery in the hills, Giap changes his tactic to the "human wave" in the movement of troops advancing slowly through trenches and tunnels. The Vietminh now settle in for a long siege that will ultimately destroy the French.
April 29, 1954 marks the opening of the Geneva Conference. On May 7, the final fall of Dienbienphu occurs. With the Americans present but not participating at Geneva, a turning point in the deliberations comes with the new French President Pierre Mendès-France promising to strike a deal within a week.
The two major points raised at Geneva are (1) a temporary partition established at the 17th parallel and (2) a deadline for elections that will re-unify Vietnam, to be held in 1956. The United States refuses to sign the accord. By the end of the conference on July 21, 1954, there is in place a "declaration," if not an international agreement. In two years, the Vietnamese nationalists were expecting a free election to determine their own course. Following the conference, the French troops pulled out of Vietnam, ending the First Vietnam War. The French were finished in Vietnam.
It is clear from this program that under Dulles and Acheson, the Americans had, in 1954, no intention of recognizing international diplomacy or allowing Ho Chi Minh to rule over all of Vietnam. The frustrated, sweating American diplomat interviewed in the program attests to the doctrinaire American position of "might makes right" during the period of the Cold War.
At a time when American leaders should have learning from the mistakes of the French, they were instead already exhibiting the hubris that would be the undoing of the American Century.