Did the U.S. tragically miss the chance in 1945 to help IndoChina claim it's independence and avert 30 years of war?
THE INDOCHINA WAR, 1945-1975
After World War II ended the world was in turmoil. The great world powers Great Britain, France, Russia, China,the United States and other countries either wanted their pre-war dominions back or wanted to expand their existing territories.
Great Britain tried to regain her Commonwealth. Russia expanded her territory into Eastern Europe. And France wanter her pre-war territory of Indo-China back.
The French wanted to regain the wealth Indo_China offered them. After almost 6 years of war they were broke. Indo-China offered her a way to regain her wealth.
However, not just the French, British, Chinese, Russians(only slightly) and the U.S. had fought the Japanese. In Indo-China the indigenous peoples fought the Japanese as well. In Vietnam a leader who had fought the Japanese very hard arose. His name was Ho Chi Minh.
When the French returned and tried to reclaim Indo-China many people resented it. After all hadn't we fought the Japanese as well? Many Vietnamese resented it as well. Thus started a conflict which would end in Vietnam becoming a nation again. A free independent nation after almost a 1,000 years of being conquered . To achieve freedom the Vietnamese led by Ho Chi Minh, drove the French from Indo-China and then fought another war with the U.S.
During the war with the French Indo-China war the U.S. supported her ally, France. One has to wonder why? The French were weak and had lost Indo-China to Japan. The people of Indo-China fought hard against the Japanese.
It is my opinion that the U.S. made a great mistake at this time. She supported her ally without knowing a great deal about her allies, adversary. That lack of knowledge about the people of Vietnam and her leader, would lead the U.S. into a horrible and terrible conflict with Vietnam. That lack of knowledge about the people the U.S. was fighting would continue throughout the Vietnam war and after. One simply has to wonder why?
It took them 30 years to achieve their goal of Independence. .