Asian Literature

At some point in the 1500s, a number of European countries sailed through to   Southeast Asia to buy products like silk, rice, spices, and tea. Among them were France, Britain, and Spain. France particularly was impressed by Vietnams fertile and rich farmlands. The land was filled with mineral deposits and natural resources which France figured would be a good venture to make money for. This saw France send troops to conquer Vietnam and by the late 1800s, Vietnam was captured and declared Frances colony. Harsh colonial rule was then imposed upon the Vietnamese whereby the French constructed factories, excavated mines, developed tea and rubber plantations and forced the Vietnamese to work in these plantations. They were also forced to pay high taxes and were not allowed to hold any important political office or business positions.  The French also built churches and looked to convert the Vietnamese to Christianity (Kalman, 2002).

According to Maga (2000), Frances loss of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 was a contributing factor to the invasion of Vietnam in the name of reclaiming the lost glory. The postwar French government even went ahead to declare that France would become the centre of world business by 1900, which would make it the envy for all as well. In a bold move nicknamed Tonkin Ferry by the press, France, led by Prime Minister Jules Ferry, launched a successful military campaign and established a protectorate over Tonkin (Northern Vietnam) and invaded Central Vietnam, Annam.  This enabled him to connect longstanding French trade and Catholic interests in Southern Vietnam with the rest of the country. That was not enough.  France had a geopolitical agenda more to the pride and glory. The new Southeast Asian empire, to the postwar French government, was a weighing scale to English colonization interests in the region. It was a battle for colonies with the English and a cold war ensued between France and Britain. A single colony was never enough and the game was won by the nation with most colonies. Hence Vietnam became Frances security in their supremacy battle with the English.

The colonial rule was characterized by oppression and this resulted to farmers revolting against landlords and strikes by workers (Gibbons 1995). This however did not deter the French and they held on. The Vietnamese on the other hand did not give up and put up the resistance which eventually paid off. North Vietnam gained independence under its leader, Ho Chin Minh, who was also the leader of Commun party in Vietnam. The South was still however under a fraudulent government, backed by the United States and France, and North Vietnam sought to take control over it. It went ahead and attacked the South and this saw the Americans send thousand of soldiers to help the Vietnamese in the South. Schulzinger (1997) explains that the United States had been deeply involved in Vietnamese politics since the Geneva Conference held between May and July 1954. All along, it sought to frustrate the efforts to unite North Vietnam under the leadership of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam which was headed by Ho Chi Minh. Consequently, the United States supported the establishment of an alternative regime in the South which was headed by Ngo Dinh Diem and named the Republic of Vietnam (Schulzinger, 1997).

The Americans were however careful to distinguish their operations from those of the French and those of Great Britain. Although there emerged uncertainties about Diems political skills, he successfully established his rule in the North and the US opted to advance what experts portrayed as nation-building in South Vietnam. The North under Ho Chi Minh failed to reach a consensus with Diems regime and that was reason enough to trigger the resurgence of civil war by the end of the decade. During the period of the civil war, the United States remained the primary support of Diems government (Schulzinger, 1997).

President David Eisenhower together with his advisers was convinced that Diem portrayed true nationalism that could easily deny Ho Chi Minh the success won with his fighters in the war against the French. However, a few representatives of the Eisenhower government were concerned with the success and popularity of Diems government and constantly expressed their fears. This was not taken seriously and the United States officials in Washington and Saigon instead opted to pay no attention to the political limitations of the Republic of Vietnam. President David Eisenhowers administration had become trapped by success in South Vietnam (Gibbons, 1995).

Growing dissatisfaction with the incompetence and corruption of Diems government came to a conclusion during a military coup masterminded by Duong Van Minh. This saw the execution of Diem. South Vietnam was left with no one to take charge until Nguyen Cao Ky became leader in June 1965. South Vietnam continued to get military support from the US and attacks on the north continued. On the other hand, North Vietnam was receiving weaponry and technical support from the Soviet Union and other Communist states. In the end, the US and South Vietnam were unable to defeat the North forces and this led to the eventual withdrawal of the United States.

In conclusion, both France and the United States were blinded in that they did not realize the divisions between North and South Vietnam. Hence the different positions taken by the sides during the wars in Vietnam