New Nations in Southeast Asia Pages 586-591 New Nations in Southeast Asia

Objectives Describe the French colonial control in Southeast Asia Trace the sequence of events before, during, and after the Vietnam War

Vietnam

Colonialism French established colonies in Vietnam, Laos “pronounced louse”, and Cambodia Britain took over Burma Thailand remained independent

Vietnam – A colony of France Vietnam = an important source of raw materials French colonists sent tons of rice, coal, and tin back to France The French got wealthy, the Vietnamese suffered

1920’s Vietnam Anti-French feelings Formed organizations to oppose French rule One group = Vietnam communists led by Ho Chi Minh (wanted to create an independent Vietnam) Led protests, labor strikes

Captured by Japan During WWII, the Japanese captured Vietnam Japan used Vietnam’s resources to support its war effort Rice was shipped to Japanese soldiers, leaving little for the people of Vietnam More than two million starve to death

Vietnamese Communists (Viet Minh) Viet Minh start to take control as Japanese crumble at end of WWII Viet Minh capture northern region Ho Chi Minh declared independence and became nation’s new leader

French don’t give up… Aided by the British, went to war against communists After 8 years of fighting, the French lose a huge battle at Dien Bien Phu Sign an armistice

Armistice Definition: an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce The armistice called for Vietnam to be divided in half until elections to unify the nation could be held Communists continued to control North Vietnam French controlled South Vietnam

The United States in Vietnam Armistice failed to bring peace U.S. was afraid of the spread of communism (stood firm against communism in the Cold War) Wanted to preserve democratic governments in Southeast Asia

War Breaks Out South Vietnamese rebels were supported by North Vietnam U.S. began to help South Vietnam in 1954 – provided the country with weapons, money, and advisors In 1965, U.S. sent troops and planes to help in the fighting

The end of the war Public opinion in U.S. became divided as American troops suffered losses By 1973, U.S. began removing troops out of Vietnam Two years later, South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam More than 58,000 Americans died and nearly two million Vietnamese died

After the War Vietnam faced serious problems Much of the country had been damaged by bombing and ground fighting Communist government took control of property and businesses after the war Planting crops was dangerous – fields contained unexploded bombs after the war

Many Vietnamese were unhappy with the communist government…. More than one million South Vietnamese left their nation on overcrowded boats Decided to risk their lives at sea to settle in free countries rather than live under a communist government More than 600,000 moved to the U.S.

Change in Southeast Asia Vietnam also had trouble with it’s neighbor, Cambodia Cambodia’s leader, Pol Pot, had come to power in 1975 Pol Pot’s rule was a REIGN OF TERROR Educated Cambodians were considered enemies, and many were murdered More than one million people were killed In 1978, Vietnamese soldiers invaded Cambodia, forcing Pol Pot and his supporters to flee The U.N. supervised elections in 1993, and the Vietnamese troops left Cambodia

Sum it Up In the middle 1800s the French began to establish a colony in Vietnam The colony of Vietnam provided France with raw materials After WWII the Viet Minh fought for independence from France The U.S. fought with South Vietnam against communist forces in North Vietnam until 1973 1975 Vietnam became unified, but faced economic and social problems