The Role of Guerrilla Warfare in the First Indochina War
Examine the reasons for a contribution of Guerrilla warfare to the outcome of one twentieth century war.
The word guerrilla comes from the Spanish word ‘little war’, and involves a struggle between an established army and irregular forces. There are specific tactics that are employed by guerrilla fighters. Guerrilla warfare was used by the Viet Minh in the first Indochina war against the regular army of France. The guerrilla forces of Ho Chi Minh were fighting to rid Vietnam of Imperialistic powers, namely France. They chose to use guerrilla tactics because they could not confront Frances vastly superior army in a traditional battle and win. The method the Viet Minh used was successful and by 1954, France had withdrawn from Indochina completely
Since 1887, Vietnam had been part of the French Empire and the government in Paris considered it to be the ‘jewel of the orient’. The French extracted huge amounts of money from Vietnam by taxing everyday commodities like alcohol, salt and opium and controlling the supply of rubber and rice. This made the few French colonials very wealthy while the majority of the peasant population suffered poverty and famine.
In 1918, at the Versailles peace talks, a young man named Nyugen Ai Quoc appealed to the US President Woodrow Wilson for help in removing France from Vietnam and setting up a Nationalist government, but was ignored. He continued for the rest of his life to pursue an independent Vietnam.
In 1940 during World War Two, France surrendered to Nazi Germany and a pro-German government was established in France. It allowed the Japanese army to take over Vietnam. The Japanese treated Vietnamese just as badly as the French, and in 1945 there was a devastating famine in Tonkin province. Meanwhile, Nyugen Ai Quoc, now know as Ho Chi Minh had established a group of nationalist rebels in the North called the Viet Minh. They fought a little with the Japanese in the North but they had little weaponry.
The Japanese were
The word guerrilla comes from the Spanish word ‘little war’, and involves a struggle between an established army and irregular forces. There are specific tactics that are employed by guerrilla fighters. Guerrilla warfare was used by the Viet Minh in the first Indochina war against the regular army of France. The guerrilla forces of Ho Chi Minh were fighting to rid Vietnam of Imperialistic powers, namely France. They chose to use guerrilla tactics because they could not confront Frances vastly superior army in a traditional battle and win. The method the Viet Minh used was successful and by 1954, France had withdrawn from Indochina completely
Since 1887, Vietnam had been part of the French Empire and the government in Paris considered it to be the ‘jewel of the orient’. The French extracted huge amounts of money from Vietnam by taxing everyday commodities like alcohol, salt and opium and controlling the supply of rubber and rice. This made the few French colonials very wealthy while the majority of the peasant population suffered poverty and famine.
In 1918, at the Versailles peace talks, a young man named Nyugen Ai Quoc appealed to the US President Woodrow Wilson for help in removing France from Vietnam and setting up a Nationalist government, but was ignored. He continued for the rest of his life to pursue an independent Vietnam.
In 1940 during World War Two, France surrendered to Nazi Germany and a pro-German government was established in France. It allowed the Japanese army to take over Vietnam. The Japanese treated Vietnamese just as badly as the French, and in 1945 there was a devastating famine in Tonkin province. Meanwhile, Nyugen Ai Quoc, now know as Ho Chi Minh had established a group of nationalist rebels in the North called the Viet Minh. They fought a little with the Japanese in the North but they had little weaponry.
The Japanese were