The Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War as it is also known has always been a subject of thorough historical research, especially the main causes of this conflict. There is a vast variety of books and research papers dedicated to this topic, However; we can single out some major ones, like for instance “Vietnam War. A History”, the book that was written by a prominent American journalist Stanley Karnow.
Even though in the overwhelming majority of cases, the author focuses attention on the history of Vietnam since the Involvement of the French troops in the nineteenth century, he also gives background information as to the struggles of the Vietnamese against the domination of China’s government.
The main peculiarity of this book is that the author tries to remain as objective as possible, overall, it is worth mentioning that “Vietnam War. A History” is believed to be the most unbiased book devoted to the conflict in Vietnam.
It is also worth mentioning that in the authors belief, Vietnam was like a tidbit for superpowers like for example the United States, the Soviet Union, or France.
The chapter, which is called “The War with the French” explores the factors, that contributed to the downfall of the French dominion in Vietnam. Moreover, the author analyzes the antebellum situation in the country, especially before the intervention of American troops.
According to Stanley Karnow, one of the main reasons for the war itself was the vast discrepancy that existed between Buddhist Vietnamese and Catholic Vietnamese in terms of social and financial status. Probably, to a certain degree, the war was triggered by this division of Vietnamese society. It should be mentioned that this problem was extremely acute at the end of French rule in the country.
The author believes that the French government made a great number of unnecessary steps after 1885 the year then France assumed almost entire control over Vietnam. First, they tried to impose a Western lifestyle in the country, which was not always appropriate. The French government turned Vietnam into a plantation economy country, which was undoubtedly very detrimental because such an approach gave no possibilities for further development. Moreover, the civil rights of Vietnamese people and their calls for autonomy were practically disregarded. It comes as no surprise that such policy sparked off a wave of protest. Forced labor, high taxes, and oppressive law enforcement could not produce anything but resistance from the Vietnamese people. Every person, who disagreed with this regime was considered to be a dissident and subsequently arrested. The author argues that if the French government agreed to make some concessions to the Vietnamese people the country would not have become a pro-communist state (Karnow, 1997).
The situation took a different turn after the two world wars. First, the territory of Vietnam was under Japanese control nevertheless, according to Postdate conference Vietnam was again submitted to the control of the French government. It is worth mentioning that the role of France was to supervise (as it was explicitly stated at the Potsdam conference) but the French interpreted this function differently. They refused to acknowledge the countrys independence which was called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, although it was officially recognized by many communist nations. Naturally, in the United States, these events were perceived as the bright example of communist expansionist and soon the so-called Military Assistance and Advisory Group were formed to give a helping hand to the French government. Stanley Karnow believes that the United States government could not allow the USSR to take control of Vietnam because it would have a disastrous effect on the position of the country in the East.
Moreover, the author believes that the US government was very skeptical of the chances that the French had against the Vietnamese and probably this is the main reason why the French troops were not given sufficient support.
The battle of Dien Bien Phu put an end to the domination of France in Indochina. This victory can be explained by the fact that the Vietnamese forces received sufficient support from China and the Soviet Union. The French government asked for a cease-fire and subsequently all of the above-mentioned resulted in establishing The Democratic Republic of Vietnam, whose policy was strongly influenced by the Soviet Union and China.
Thus, we can arrive at the conclusion that in the chapter “The War with the French” Staley Karnow provides a thorough analysis of the events that caused or probably to a certain degree contributed to the involvement of the United States. Moreover, the author believes that the war in Vietnam could have been averted if the French rule in the country had been more prudent.
Bibliography
Stanley Karnow. (1997) Vietnam: A History. Penguin Books.