First Indochina War Facts & Worksheets

First Indochina War facts and information plus worksheet packs and fact file. Includes 5 activities aimed at students 11-14 years old (KS3) & 5 activities aimed at students 14-16 years old (GCSE). Great for home study or to use within the classroom environment.

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First Indochina War Worksheets

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First Indochina War Activity & Answer Guide 1
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Table of Contents
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    Summary

    • Historical Background
    • Course of War
    • After the War

    Key Facts And Information

    Let’s know more about the First Indochina War!

    The First Indochina War lasted from December 1946 to August 1954 and was a fight between the Việt Minh and French colonial forces to control Vietnam. People in the West often call it the First Indochina War. This war is called the Anti-French War in Vietnam. The war involved two small, poorly equipped armies fighting over large areas, where strategy and tactics were essential. In the end, the French were defeated because of Vietnamese tactical innovation and local knowledge. This worried Western leaders about what might happen politically in Vietnam.

    Collage depicting the events during the First Indochina War
    Collage depicting the events during the First Indochina War

    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE FIRST INDOCHINA WAR

    • French Indochina slowly took over Vietnam from 1858 to 1887. Nationalism grew until the Second World War, when France’s hold on the country weakened. Phan Bội Châu, a Vietnamese revolutionary, was a key figure in the early resistance. He saw Japan’s modernisation as a model and, with Prince Cường Để, a revolutionary and nationalist, started the organisations Duy Tân hội and Vietnam Cong Hien Hoi in Japan. Châu was sent to China because of pressure from the French. There, he founded the Viet Nam Quang Phục Hội after witnessing the Xinhai Revolution, led by Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China.
    • Chinese General Yuan Shikai’s government put him in jail from 1914 to 1917. In 1925, French agents caught him and sent him back to Vietnam, where he was kept under house arrest until he died in 1940. While Germany was in charge of France, Japan invaded French Indochina in September 1940. The Japanese kept the French colonial government as a puppet, just like Vichy France did.
    • Emperor Bảo Đại of Vietnam worked with both sides. During the Franco-Thai War (October 1940–May 1941), Thailand made some small gains along Cambodia’s border. However, France won the Battle of Ko Chang, which ended the war with only minor changes to the borders. Hồ Chí Minh started the Việt Minh in 1940 as a nationalist group. In 1941, the Indochinese Communist Party joined him to fight Japan as a united front.
    • Japan kicked out the Vichy French in March 1945, put Bảo Đại in charge of a Vietnam that was supposed to be independent, and arrested French officials. The Việt Minh’s Tonkin Revolutionary Military Conference in April 1945 called for a general uprising and urged France and Charles De Gaulle, Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, to recognise Vietnamese independence and fight Japan.
    • In August 1945, Truong Chinh, North Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman, spoke out against Japan’s Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and the ‘Three Alls’ policy. He also said that the Japanese were causing ethnic divisions and spying on the Việt Minh. He also said that Vietnamese women were among those who were forced into sexual slavery. Japan caused about $2 billion in damage and started the 1945 famine, which killed one to two million people in northern Vietnam. 
    • People blamed both France and Japan for the famine, and when Chinese troops came to disarm Japan, the streets of Hanoi were full of dead bodies. Hồ Chí Minh, a Vietnamese revolutionary, said in Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence that the French and Japanese were responsible for more than two million deaths. United States (US) President Franklin D. Roosevelt and US Army General Joseph Stilwell were against restoring French colonial rule.
    • Roosevelt suggested that China take over Indochina, but Chiang Kai-shek, military leader of the Republic of China, turned down this idea. After Roosevelt died in April 1945, the US was less opposed to France retaking control. The First Indochina War was a fight between the Việt Minh and French colonial forces for control of Vietnam from December 1946 to August 1954. People in the West usually call it the First Indochina War. It is called the Anti-French War in Vietnam. 
    • It was a war between two small, poorly equipped armies that fought over large areas. Strategy and tactics were essential. In the end, the Vietnamese were able to defeat the French because of their tactical creativity and knowledge of the area. This made Western leaders worried about what might happen politically in Vietnam.

    Events after Japan’s surrender

    • On 15 August 1945, Japanese troops in Vietnam gave up, and on 20 August 1945, they signed a ceasefire with the US. The temporary government of France wanted to bring back colonial rule in Indochina. On 22 August 1945, OSS officers Archimedes Patti and Carleton B. Swift Jr., along with French official Jean Sainteny, went to Hanoi to free Allied prisoners of war (POWs). However, the Imperial Japanese Army, which was still the only police force, arrested French troops and Sainteny, helping the Việt Minh.
    Japanese troops lay down their arms to British troops
    Japanese troops lay down their arms to British troops
    • From 9 March to 19 August, the Việt Minh said they led a nationwide rebellion with Hmong and Muong allies, taking over six provinces. However, some reports disagree with this. During the August Revolution, Japanese troops let nationalists take over public buildings and weapons. Some of the weapons, including French ones, went to the Việt Minh, who also hired more than 600 Japanese trainers.
    • Hồ Chí Minh got Emperor Bảo Đại to give up his throne on 25 August and become the supreme advisor to the Việt Minh government. On 2 September, General Leclerc signed Japan’s surrender to France on the USS Missouri. At the same time, Ho declared Vietnam’s independence, echoing the US Declaration of Independence and accusing France of giving the country to Japan twice. On 13 September, Franco-British troops landed in Java and Saigon, which were still under the command of Japanese Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi.
    • On 21 September, Allied troops, led by British General Sir Douglas Gracey, declared martial law and took Saigon. The Potsdam Agreement said that 200,000 Chinese troops led by Chinese General Lu Han would take over northern Indochina up to the 16th parallel, while British troops would hold the south.
    • The Chinese let the DRV run local government, but they also imprisoned French soldiers, supported the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (VNQDĐ), a nationalist and democratic socialist political party, and put poorly trained warlord troops from Yunnan all over the region. Lu Han took over the French governor general’s palace after kicking out the French staff. Leclerc arrived in Saigon on 9 October to restore order, prepare for Tonkin’s militarisation, and consider taking Hanoi back. 
    • The Việt Minh held parades to welcome Chinese troops, which helped to promote their shared cultural heritage. Ho got gold to pay for weapons and Chinese gifts, like a golden opium pipe for Lu Han. He also sent rice, with two-thirds of French shipments going to the Chinese. Chinese troops abused people a lot and punished Vietnamese crimes very harshly, and the Chinese asked for the elections to be put off.
    • Chiang Kai-shek planned to leave on time, but Lu Han wanted China to take over. On 17 October, Ho asked world leaders to stop the French from coming back, saying that Vietnamese nationalist rivals were to blame for letting it happen. From Yunnan, Chinese communist leader Chu Chia-pi helped the Việt Minh fight the French. In February 1946, Chiang made France give up all of its China concessions in exchange for China leaving northern Vietnam. 
    • This allowed French troops to return in March. The VNQDĐ was crushed in a purge led by the Việt Minh that killed thousands of rival nationalists, and China did not help.

    COURSE OF WAR

    • In March 1946, France and Hồ Chí Minh signed a preliminary agreement that recognised the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) as a free state within an Indochinese Federation in the French Union. It also said that a small number of French troops could replace Chinese troops that were leaving. Later talks got stuck on Vietnam’s place in the Union and its reunification with Cochinchina, which High Commissioner Georges d’Argenlieu had set up in June 1946. After talks in Paris fell apart, Hồ and French Minister Marius Moutet signed a September modus vivendi that confirmed the terms from March, set a date for treaty talks to start by January 1947, and did not say anything about a Nam Bộ reunification referendum.
    • There was a shaky peace in the North, but a customs dispute in Haiphong led to fighting in November 1946. On 23 November, the French fleet bombed Vietnamese districts, killing 6,000 civilians. The Việt Minh agreed to a ceasefire and left the cities, but they were ready to fight on. Giáp sent 30,000 men against the city, and on 19 December, fighting spread to Hanoi, forcing Hồ’s government to retreat to the mountains. By early 1947, France had taken back most of the provincial capitals, and a guerrilla war began.
    • In 1947, Hồ and General Võ Nguyên Giáp retreated to the Việt Bắc while France strengthened its hold on the main cities and put off primary operations until after the rains. The Việt Minh lost 7,200 to 9,500 men in October’s Operation Léa and November’s Operation Ceinture, but they did not take over the leadership. Politically, France pushed for an ‘autonomous’ state led by Bảo Đại (excluding Cochinchina). The first plans fell through, but in March 1949, France agreed to terms for unification.
    • In January 1950, France recognised the unified State of Vietnam as an associated state while still controlling foreign policy and defence and keeping French Union forces in the country. Laos and Cambodia also became independent within the Union. The Vietnamese National Army was made up of French Union’s French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) officers to make up for the fact that it was smaller than the People’s Army of Vietnam.
    • The Việt Minh messed up French logistics in 1948–1949, but the Communists won in China and sent advisers, weapons, supplies and training bases. Giáp made five regular divisions: the 304th, 308th, 312th, 316th and 320th. In January 1950, China and the USSR recognised the DRV. In March, the US and the United Kingdom (UK) recognised Bảo Đại. In May, the US started giving military aid to France. The start of the Korean War in June 1950 made the US even more opposed to the DRV.
    • Giáp’s attacks along the border took Lào Cai, destroyed RC4 positions like Đông Khê, forced the expensive evacuation of Cao Bằng, caused Lạng Sơn to be abandoned, and left most of northern Tonkin under Việt Minh control. French General Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny was appointed in December 1950. He built the De Lattre Line and used scorched-earth tactics that turned civilians against him. Việt Minh attacks on Vĩnh Yên (January 1951), Mạo Khê (March 1951) and the Day River (May 1951) all failed with heavy losses.
    • By 18 June 1951, de Lattre had counterattacked and cleared Red River Delta pockets. A stalemate followed: General Charles Chanson was killed (31 July 1951); France took Hòa Bình but then gave it back (November 1951–early 1952), with many deaths; ‘hedgehog’ defences appeared at Nà Sản; and Operation Lorraine (October–November 1952) hit hard but only had temporary effects. In April 1953, Giáp invaded Laos to put pressure on France. In May, General Henri Navarre took charge and decided that victory was impossible.
    • Navarre then devised a plan to capture cities and control roads, thereby forcing negotiations. France strengthened Điện Biên Phủ and dropped 1,800 paratroopers into the valley on 20 November 1953, as part of Operation Castor. The valley is 12 miles long and 8 miles wide, and mountains surround it. Giáp gathered more than 40,000 troops to surround about 15,000 French troops.
    • Giáp’s decision started the war’s most extended battle, which was later called ‘57 Days of Hell’. Artillery destroyed the airstrips starting on 13 March 1954. Resupply was difficult because of the monsoon weather. By the end of April, only three strong points were left. Giáp led the last attack on 6 May after a failed French sortie and rocket bombardment with Soviet Katyushas on 4 May. French General Christian de Castries stopped firing at 5.30 pm on 7 May, as General René Cogny had told him to. The French lost at least 2,200 soldiers, 1,729 soldiers were missing and 11,721 soldiers were captured.
    Map of First Indochina War in 1954
    Map of First Indochina War in 1954
    • The Việt Minh lost about 25,000 soldiers, including up to 10,000 killed. The loss had a significant effect on the outcome of the Geneva talks in 1954. The talks in Geneva started in April 1954. Pierre Mendès France became prime minister on 17 June and promised peace within four months. He also set a four-week deadline for reporting by 20 July or resigning, while saying that France would not accept terms that went against its vital interests. 
    • One month after Điện Biên Phủ, GM100 was attacked at Mang Yang Pass on 24 June and again at Chu Dreh Pass on 17 July, the last battle of the war. The Geneva Accords were signed three days later. On 21 July 1954, three accords about French Indochina, which included Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, were signed. They went into force two days later. The Accords were between France, the Viet Minh, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, the US, the UK, and the future states that would be established from French Indochina. The agreement split Vietnam into two parts for a short time: the Việt Minh would run the northern part, and the State of Vietnam, which the former Nguyễn dynasty ruler Bảo Đại led, would run the southern part.

    AFTER THE FIRST INDOCHINA WAR

    • The end of the First Indochina War in 1954 brought about enormous changes in the politics and land of Southeast Asia. The Geneva Conference officially recognised the 17th parallel north as a temporary military border on 21 July 1954. This divided Vietnam into two different areas. The communists, led by Hồ Chí Minh, took over the north, and a pro-Western government took over the south. This government later became the Republic of Vietnam. At first, this barrier was only supposed to be temporary, but it quickly became a permanent split.
    • Operation Passage to Freedom started in August 1954, not long after the deal was made. With help from the US and France, this was a large-scale evacuation that allowed around a million individuals, many of them Catholics and other groups afraid of communist persecution, to migrate from North Vietnam to the South. The Geneva Accords also stipulated that national elections should be held in 1956 to reunite Vietnam under a single leadership.
    • However, neither the US nor Ngô Đình Diệm’s State of Vietnam signed the last document. The South Vietnamese delegation strenuously opposed any division of the country, but France went ahead with the idea put out by Việt Minh representative Phạm Văn Đồng. His plan said that elections overseen by local commissions would finally bring Vietnam together. In response, the US proposed their plan, which South Vietnam and the UK backed. 
    • This plan called for the elections to be overseen by the United Nations (UN). The Soviet Union strongly turned down this other option. In the meantime, former Emperor Bảo Đại of France named Ngô Đình Diệm as Prime Minister of South Vietnam. With much support from the United States, Diệm strengthened his grip on power and held a controversial referendum in 1955 that took Bảo Đại out of power. 
    • Diệm immediately declared himself the president of the Republic of Vietnam, which had just been formed. When the reunification elections in 1956 did not happen, Việt Minh agents who had stayed in the South were put back to work and started an insurgency. North Vietnam further expanded its power by invading and taking over areas of Laos to provide supply lines for the National Liberation Front, which was fighting against the South. The NLF is better known as the Viet Cong. The Second Indochina War, which is better known as the Vietnam War, began at this point.
    • The Việt Minh’s success and decisive victory at Điện Biên Phủ had effects that went much beyond Vietnam. Their victory gave a massive boost to independence movements all around the French colonial empire. The National Liberation Front started the Algerian War of Independence on 1 November 1954, just six months after the Geneva Conference, which was one of the most direct effects.
    • Benyoucef Benkhedda, who would later become the head of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic, applauded the Vietnamese triumph, calling it a powerful incentive for people who thought that armed resistance was the only way to be free. The French Communist Party helped the FLN by giving them money and information. Activists known as les porteurs de valises (the suitcase carriers) smuggled supplies to the rebels. People in France often talked about the Indochina War as an extension of the Cold War.
    • General Marcel Bigeard, looking back decades later, criticised the propaganda that made the war seem like a fight for freedom against communism. He said that it deceived many young recruits who ended up dying at Điện Biên Phủ. In the waning days of that siege, 652 men from different branches of the army parachuted into the castle for the first and last time in their lives to help their friends who were being besieged. 

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    Frequently Asked Questions About The First Indochina War

    • What was the First Indochina War?

      The First Indochina War was a conflict between French colonial forces and the Viet Minh (a nationalist-communist independence movement led by Ho Chi Minh) in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

    • What caused the war?

      Rising Vietnamese nationalism and the desire for independence after Japanese occupation in World War II.
      France’s attempt to reassert colonial control over Indochina after 1945. Growing Cold War tensions, with the Viet Minh supported by the Soviet Union and China, and France receiving U.S. backing.

    • How did the war end?

      The war ended with the Geneva Accords (1954), which:
      Ended French colonial rule in Indochina. Temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh’s forces controlling the North and Bao Dai’s government (later South Vietnam) in the South. Scheduled elections for reunification (which never took place, leading to the Vietnam War).