Summary BAND 6 INDOCHINA ESSAY PLANS MODERN HISTORY NOTES (93)
10 views 0 purchase
Course
History
Institution
12th Grade
32 PAGES - IN DEPTH, BREAKDOWN STRUCTURED ESSAY PLANS for "Peace and Conflict: Conflict in Indochina 1954-79" notes, from past HSC past papers, and textbook essay questions.
Structured essay plans provide IN DEPTH detail, with points taken from textbooks and academic articles. Includes HISTORIAN...
Conflict in Indochina (1954-79)
Key features:
Nature and role of nationalism
Nature and role of communism
Nature and consequences of US involvement
Strategies and tactics
Impact of war on civilians
Reasons for communist victories
Geneva Questions
Extra Geneva Questions for practice:
● To what extent could the Geneva Accords be considered a ‘fragile solution’ to the
problems in Indochina in 1954?
● Account for the failure of the Geneva Accords by 1964.
● To what extent did the Geneva Peace Agreement contribute to conflict in Indochina?
2017 {for this one, just argue moderate extent, US involvement largely influenced
increasing tensions}
Assess the importance of the Geneva Peace Agreement to
developments within North and South Vietnam to 1964. 2009
● Geneva conference was extremely important in shaping developments in north and
south vietnam - politically, economically, socially and militarily
● Terms at geneva although generated some optimism with the conflict in indochina,
ultimately was doomed to fail - influenced by cold war pressures and tensions, mistrust,
america’s refusal to sign accords and its reliance on compliance meant that the geneva
accords did not solve any tensions = COMPROMISE WHICH SATISFIED NOBODY
● In fact, terms of accords reinforced ideological divisions between the communist north
and the us backed south → became a ‘proxy war’ which aimed to prevent the falling of
the RVN to Ho’s communists in the North (DRV)
○ US nationalism and strong belief in democracy led to vietnam becoming an
extension of a civil conflict within the cold war environment
P1: POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN N AND S
- Political developments in the north and south demonstrated vietnam was an ideological
battleground for cold war powers (us and ussr/china)
DRV RVN
, JOCELYN MAR - YEAR 12 2023
● Geneva accords further consolidated ● Diem in leadership from 1954 (state
ho’s desire to see reunification under leader) → was the ‘winston churchill
vm → believed they had of asia’ and would help save the
● Reinforced nationalist views, ‘south’s domino from the northern
nationalist before communist, wanted communists
independence from colonial rule ○ Rigged elections in 56 →
○ Continued development of the declares himself president
tightly controlled one party ○ nepotistic, corrupt and
state ran by Ho increasingly authoritarian,
○ Stability in government for 25 suppressed peasants,
years buddhists, and had growing
opposition to his rule (about 20
groups)
● Substantial reliance on the US and
their ever growing support particularly
through eisenhower and kennedy
mean that policies and ruling of diem
was also approached from a cold war
stance → hindered success
○ Truman’s ‘Truman Doctrine’
and policy of containment
(march 1947), Eisenhower’s
“domino theory), Kennedy’s
time in office being dominated
by advice of Sec of Defence
Robert MacNamara →
aggressive, reduced things to
statistics, had little/no
understanding of culture in
vietnam/nationalist
commitment to cause and
inability to differentiate
between nationalism and
communism
○ Ie battle of ap bac january
1963 → showed the lack of
commitment to cause by the
americans and how they
underestimated the strength of
the vc
P2: SOCIAL/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN N AND S
- Geneva accord terms, particularly the 300 migratory period culminated in movement of
individuals (opposition groups), from the north to the south, adding to political tensions
issues around land reform and religion - impacting us involvement in the south to
resistance in the north
, JOCELYN MAR - YEAR 12 2023
DRV RVN
● Movement of the buddhists and ● The influx of buddhists to the south
catholics to the south led to repression - and diem’s
○ Buddhists → mainly moved favouritism of catholicism
due to not being suitable for ○ Self immolations in 63 (may,
buddhist beliefs, mainly the june)
educated and rich → however ○ Sparked outrage amongst the
would be repressed under peasants
diem’s regime ○ Led to diem’s downfall in 1963
○ Catholics → largest opposition - assassination by South Viet
group moved to south troops (had been instigated by
● ‘56 peasant uprising → showed Ho’s US ambassador Henry Cabot
commitment to nationalism before lodge due to increasing
communism → quelling disputes and worries about diem’s nepotism
ensuring that there was peasants and and corruption, had image for
vietnamese were united in same the us back home, wanted to
cause, protesting for liberation and win public support and assure
independence → through americans that vietnam was
cooperatives in ‘58 (allowing peasant worth fighting for)
voices to be heard in village ● Factionalism increased under diem
government systems and involving backed by kennedy → NLF promised
women labour forces) land reform
○ Strategic hamlets (1962) →
which were no more
successful than agrovilles at
protecting peasants
○ Open arms campaign (1963)
→
● Harsh policies towards communism
○ 1956: Ordinance 47 - illegal to
be associated with
communists
○ 1959: Law 10/59 - legal right
for tribunals to try those
associated with communists
P3: MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN N AND S
- Terms of demilitarisation and prohibition of foreign bases not followed by us
- Highlighted by us involvement (us not being signatories to the accords allowed them
military involvement)
- Had foreign bases and troops in RVN who were dependent on american largesse by
1957
DRV RVN
, JOCELYN MAR - YEAR 12 2023
● Increases fevour to which the DRV ● Eisenhower begins massive
equips military involvement in vietnam post geneva
● Aid from soviets and china = ○ Poured infrastructure, financial
highlights again, ideological battle and military resources into the
between the allied and the communist south
powers ○ Diem’s regime = survives
● Giap greatly expands the VC forces because of us backing
from 1957 onwards ○ Superficial prosperity,
○ Coastal defence dependent on US largesse
○ Tanks ○ ARVN training, focus on
○ Commando troops modernising and expanding
○ Guerilla warfare tactics army
○ Airforce ● Kennedy’s involvement =
○ Ie battle in 1958 showed preoccupation with counter
americans strength of the VC insurgency
and demonstrated ○ Use of counterinsurgency
effectiveness guerilla warfare - methods and covert operations
human waves through cia (colonel lansdale
● Prioritisation of ideological warfare as and John Foster Dulles)
well as physical warfare & ● Gulf of tonkin resolution (1964)
reintroduction of conscription in 57 ○ August: uss maddox fired on
with promise of pay by DRV torpedoes → gives
○ Followed mao’s peasant Johnson legal right to declare
communism war/increase us involvement in
○ Had political cadres attached indochina
to each fighting cell
○ Ultimately resulted in army
united to fight both under
nationalist and communist
cause
CONCLUSION:
- Overall, geneva conference greatly contributed to the political, social and military
developments in the DRV and RVN
- For the north, dissatisfaction with the terms of the geneva accords (vm felt like they had
been denied right to a reunified vietnam under communist rule, being encouraged by
ussr/china to accept terms of accords, desire to prove strength against western powers
after french defeat and dien bien phu, but still wanting independence from colonial rule)
→ meant increased fervour in united nationalist cause → and increased ideological
commitment
- For the south, geneva resulted in increased us involvement → us viewing south as a
‘domino’ which could fall to the communist north → thus, increased military involvement
to secure defeat of communists, however, was largely ineffective as did not take into
account the strength and commitment of the vc → resulted in the collapse of diem’s
regime and quagmire in us → drained resources and increased moral obligation to
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller jocelynmar. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $30.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
