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> It was a civil war, initiated by the North, in which mostly Vietnamese killed other Vietnamese. No. It was initiated by the South, when it refused (with US s
by mirimir 6y ago
> It was a civil war, initiated by the North, in which mostly Vietnamese killed other Vietnamese.
No. It was initiated by the South, when it refused (with US support) to participate in a national UN-monitored election, which Ho Chi Minh would likely have won.
Edit: Statement of Eisenhower, from Wikipedia:[0]
> I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly eighty percent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bảo Đại. Indeed, the lack of leadership and drive on the part of Bảo Đại was a factor in the feeling prevalent among Vietnamese that they had nothing to fight for.
0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
- peteretep 6y ago> No. It was initiated by the South, when it refused (with US support) to participate in a national UN-monitored election Hostilities were initiated by the North in the form of a guerrilla war.
- mirimir 6y agoSome years before the war started, the factions that became the North (majority) and South (minority) participated in negotiations at Geneva. The deal stipulated national elections, with interim partition (North and South) after a delay to allow migration. But the South faction, realizing that it would lose, declined to participate. And that's what precipitated the conflict. It's crucial to keep in mind that it was the North faction that had been fighting for independence from France. And that the South Faction comprised largely the colonial bureaucracy and Catholics.