Vietnam and their

fight for
Independence
Presentation by Class 10 A
 Introduction

• Vietnam is located in Southeast

Asia on the eastern edge of the
peninsula known as Indochina.

• Its neighbors include China to the

north and Laos and Cambodia to
the west. 
 History and Origins
• For over thousands of years, China ruled over Vietnam from 111 B.C. — 980 A.D. until
when a Vietnamese commander named Ngo Quyen organized a revolt that drove the
Chinese out.
• The new kingdom called Dai Viet, (replacing the Chinese name Annam) was ruled by the
Ly dynasty (1005-1225) and Tran dynasty (1225-1400) which declined gradually.
•By then China under Ming dynasty seized this opportunity to invade power in 1407. Dai
Viet became Annam once more.
•By the beginning of 15th century. Le Loi, a wealthy landowner launched a movement of
national resistance in 1418; after a 10-year struggle, the Chinese were forced to withdraw. 
•He declared himself an emperor and came to be known as the founder of the third great
Vietnamese dynasty Le dynasty. Later Dai Viet was divided between rival kingdoms: the
Trinh in the north and the Nguyen in the south.
. Colonial Vietnam
• In 1802, Nguyen lord, with the help of the French, defeated the Trinh and renamed
the country Vietnam.
• The decision to invade Vietnam was made by Napoleon III in July 1857. By 1890,
however, France had taken over Vietnam by deposing the Nguyen dynasty.
• The French stormed the harbour defenses on September 1 and occupied the town.
• The Vietnamese, unable to mount effective resistance to the invaders concluded a
peace treaty which ceded the conquered territories to France. The entire colony was
named Cochinchina.
• In August 1883 the Vietnamese court signed a treaty that turned northern Vietnam
(named Tonkin by the French) and central Vietnam (named Annam) into French
protectorates. 
• Ten years later the French annexed Laos and added it to the so- called Indochinese
Union, which the French created in 1887.
 . The dilemma of Colonial Education
•Education was seen as one of the ways of civilising "natives". But the French
feared that Education may make the Vietnamese aware of their surroundings and
enable them to question colonial domination.

•French citizens living in Vietnam feared that they would lose their jobs to
educated Vietnamese people.

• To consolidate power, Vietnamese were taught in lower classes and French were
taught in higher classes. - Vietnamese students were deliberately failed, especially
in their final years, so that they could not qualify for better-paid jobs.

•Textbooks glorified the French and portrayed Vietnamese as backward and

primitive.

•The Tonkin Free School started in 1907, aimed to provide Western Style
Education. In 1926, a major protest occurred following an incident at Saigon
Native Girls School where a Vietnamese girl, who was asked to sit back to let a
French girl sit, refused to give up her seat .
 The Great Hanoi Rat hunt!
• A rat hunt started in 1902.
• The French hired Vietnamese workers and paid
them for each rat they caught.
• On 30th May, for instance, 20,000 rats were
caught but still there seemed to be no end.
• A bounty was paid by the French as when a tail
was given as a proof that a rat had been killed.-
So, the rat catchers took to just clipping the tails
and releasing them, so that the process could be
repeated.
• Some people in fact, began raising rats .The
French were forced to remove the bounty
programme.
• This didn't prevent the Bubonic plague, which
swept through the area in 1903.
. Vision of Modernisation

• In late 19th century resistance to French domination was led by

scholar activists. Phan Boi Chau was one such nationalist.

• book  History of Loss of Vietnam. The book focused on the

loss of sovereignty and severing ties with China.

• Other nationalists strongly differed with Phan Boi Chau. One

such was Phan Chu Trinh. He was intensely hostile to the
monarchy and opposed to the idea of resisting the French. His
desire was to establish a democratic republic.
Phan Boi Chau (1867-1940) Phan Chu Trinh (1872-1926)
Other ways of Modernisation
• The "Go East" Movement occurred among
Vietnamese nationalists (usually cited as 1907-
1908) in an effort to modernize Vietnam
with the view of deposing the French rule
and restoring the Nguyen dynasty.

• Approximately 300 students went to study in

Japan following the Japanese success against
Russia in 1907.

• Vietnamese students organized the association

for the restoration of Vietnam.

• Soon, the anti imperialist movement in

Vietnam came under a new type of leadership. .
. The Vietnamese Communism

• In February 1930, Ho Chi Minh brought together competing nationalist

groups to establish the Vietnamese Communist (Vietnam Cong San Dang)
Party, later renamed the Indo-Chinese Communist Party
• In 1940 Japan occupied Vietnam, as part of its imperial drive to control
Southeast Asia. So nationalists now had to fight against the Japanese as well
as the French.
• The League for the Independence of Vietnam which came to be known as
the Vietminh, fought the Japanese occupation and recaptured Hanoi in
September 1945.
• The Democratic Republic of Vietnam was formed and Ho Chi Minh became
Chairman.
The First Indo China War (1946-1954)

The First Indochina War began in French Indochina

on December 19, 1946, and lasted until July 20,
1954. Fighting between French forces and their Viet
Minh opponents in the south dated from September
1945.
. The two Vietnams (1954-1965)

• The new republic faced a number of challenges. The French tried to

regain control by using the emperor, Bao Dai, as their puppet.
• After 8 years of struggle , the French were FINALLY defeated in
1954!
• In the peace negotiations in Geneva that followed the French defeat,
the Vietnamese were persuaded to accept the division of the country.
 GENEVA ACCORDS 1954
• Laos , Cambodia and Vietnam gain independence from colonial rule

• North and south were split:

• Ho Chi Minh  north [ USSR AND PPL’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA]

• Bao Dai’s  south. [ USA AND UK ]

• Later Ngo Dinh Diem removed Bao Dai and made himself the president
of Republic of Vietnam(South Saigon regime).
ONGOING CONFLICT! 
• Diem built a repressive and authoritarian government. Anyone who
opposed him was called a communist and was jailed and killed.
• He favoured the French law and persecuted Buddhism[he was catholic
which was minority and Buddhists were majority also a reason why he
outlawed them].
• His dictatorial rule came to be opposed by a broad opposition united
under the banner of the National Liberation Front (NLF).
• With the help of the Ho Chi Minh government in the north, the NLF
fought for the unification of the country. The US watched this alliance
with fear. It decided to intervene decisively, sending in troops and
arms.
. The entry of US and its
Aftermath
• “Domino Theory”  if
one country falls the
other will too.

• The president “ John F

Kennedy” sent many
advisors to support the
South.

• BUT the US was not

OFFICIALLY involved
in this fight.
THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT!
• In August 1964 US naval ship[ USS
MADDOX ] was attacked by north
Vietnamese boats[3] in the gulf of Tonkin.
• The US congress passed “The Gulf of
Tonkin”
• US is officially at WAR!!
• Lyndon B. Johnson President of the
US.
• FAKE INCIDENT!
The second Indo China war (1955-1975

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second

Indochina War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of
Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the
Indochina Wars and was officially fought between
North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
 Ho Chi Minh Ngo Dinh Diem

Served as the Prime Minister of A Vietnamese politician. Who

Democratic Republic of Vietnam
served as President of South
and defeated the French unions
Vietnam from 1955
Group 1. Tasmiya Fathima[presenter]
2. Sumaiya Afreen[ppt creator]
Membe 3. Zahrath Nisa[sent points]

rs 4. Safira .A.S[sent points]

5. Sharleez Fathima[sent points]
6. Zainab. A.R[sent points]
7. Shaziya Wafeeqa[sent points]
THANK
YOU