Ben Dunn
To what extent did guerrilla tactics of the Vietcong enable them to achieve victory?
Its critical strategic position in south east Asia bordered by China, Cambodia and Laos made Vietnam of great significance to Western and Communist powers. France conquered the country between 1858 and 84 and it became part of France's Indo-China empire which included Cambodia, Laos and Annam.
Vietnamese nationalists were very frustrated by Bao Dai's collaboration with foreign imperialists and Ho Chi Minh became leader and established the Vietminh (Independence) League which was committed to ridding the country of the Japanese and French.
At the end of World War ll, France struggled to reassert control in and to restore Bao Dai. This led to bitter fighting and the final defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu. The Vietminh were nationalists and communists, who treated the ordinary Vietnamese people with the respect they hadn't received from their French or Japanese colonial masters and also promised a fairer distribution of wealth, power and national freedom.
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