The Indochina War 1945-1954 (Full Documentary)

[@realtimehistory]

Get Nebula with 40% off annual subscription with my link: go.nebula.tv/realtimehistory Watch Red Atoms on Nebula: nebula.tv/redatoms

[@ChrishenJamesYap]

Wut

[@superchug2469]

You think you can do videos on the war of 1812 please

[@superchug2469]

Do you think you can do a video on the Guadalcanal campaign during late 42 and early 43 important battle.

[@oklahomasupernaturalfarmin8919]

@@ChrishenJamesYap🎉🎉🎉 I am so happy happy birthday 🎉 I hope you have a great day and a great q day too and q😂😂q😂a

[@oklahomasupernaturalfarmin8919]

@@ChrishenJamesYap

[@oldesertguy9616]

Once again, you broke the events down and gave me a better understanding of events. Keep it up.

[@LindaYariger]

Same!

[@itzjcee557]

Same also! I knew a little history and of coarse Dien bien phu but this vid lays it out start to finish most excellently. Thanks 👍👍

[@Industrialitis]

The Ken Burns documentary is a great telling of the war in Vietnam also.

[@thethirdjegs]

the only history channel that will never underestimate vietnam

[@July41776DedicatedtoTheProposi]

Jack Kennedy visited Vietnam in the 1950s. He said that it was a civil war against colonialism, just like America fought against the British.

[@johnd2058]

He later declared a global general hybrid war against Communist imperialism in his inaugeral speech, then got us deeply committed to a regime then governed by the Catholic theocratic Ngo regime.

[@MrChuck365]

Let us hope and pray that future American presidents remember that the USA is a non-sectarian country, and we do not support any government based on its religion.

[@johnd2058]

... *I* see what you're getting at, Chuck, but the actual shared problem is summed up by something Madame Ngo told the American Ambassador at a dinner party: "We like your money, but not your advice."

[@July41776DedicatedtoTheProposi]

@@johnd2058 Your statement has no historical basis. Kennedy rejected sending combat troops to South Vietnam by saying that “I am a goddamn war hero and no one is gong to call me weak for not sending combat troops to Vietnam.” Furthermore, JFK often stated how he wanted a different father, a different wife, and a different religion.

[@zjeee]

Politicians are politicians, they will say whatever they think suits their interest at that moment while implementing policies that is contrary. There is no such thing as an honest politician.

[@jankusthegreat9233]

This is my favorite history channel

[@thanh-tungnguyen3837]

Vietnamese people fought two Western superpowers, the French and the Americans back to back. Even though, the consequences of the American war are still felt today, a lot of people dont hate the Americans nearly as much as they do the French. To the Vietnamese, both were invaders that had no business of being there. But at least with the Americans, they were on somewhat "equal" terms, enemy to enemy. The French, for the most part of a long dark century, were like a giant leech sucking so much blood leaving just enough to keep the Vietnamese alive but with no strength to fight back.

[@freefall9832]

Tragic. Totally unnecessary.

[@itsanit123]

Then the Chinese

[@trevornorfolk3103]

​@@itsanit123 enemies since ancient times.

[@jamesr792]

You forgot the Chinese not long after. The Vietnamese are insanely tough. They deserve respect for their resilience.

[@brenthud2170]

"With the Americans, it was just business. With the French, it was personal. With the Chinese, it is eternal."

[@brianbunker2150]

Great information and thank you for covering topics that get brushed over.

[@radicalradioOz]

Meanwhile France moaned because it was occupied by another country in Europe. Double standards.

[@vgames6792]

And noting really change since then same scripts, same tactics to this day. Thus coalition of the willing, "civilians" in bombers

[@MaxMinXX]

France: the Germans were mean, oppressing, and barbaric conquerors. Also France: we are your overlords, Vietnam.

[@BStrapper]

Americans: we never robbed anyone's land. Brits: we never invaded anyone's land etc etc

[@AlexC-ou4ju]

@@BStrapper russians: we are totally fighting against fascism in Ukraine.

[@oliviervece6121]

See what france had done in Vietnam in termes of education, culture and so on.see how many vietnamese were on the french side. It will avoid stupidity and ignorance in the comments.

[@sonogamirinne7172]

​@@oliviervece6121 it not

[@thanh-tungnguyen3837]

@@oliviervece6121 Educating the ones who kept his country men on a leash to serve as slaves for French overlords in French plantations is not education, its advanced exploitation. The French claimed to be protectorate of Indochina but as usual surrendered as soon as the Japanese came and even colloborate with them to starve 2 million of our people to death in 1945. Oh, we fought the Chinese for thousands of years, but we don't hate them as much. We feared their cruelty only half as much as we feared the French's barbarity. Oh, a nation of socalled Liberty, Equality, Fraternity committing such horrible attrocities on my people for a century long.

[@joeyj6808]

Poor Uncle Ho! He did everything possible to make Vietnam a Western ally after the war, but the US, UK and French just weren't having it. Their loss!

[@MarkBautista-mq9sq]

They came around eventually lol

[@thanh-tungnguyen3837]

@@MarkBautista-mq9sq Think about the 30 years of bloodshed that could have been avoided.

[@chrisschaeffer9661]

So True and We Americans like too Ignore this!! Damn France

[@davidjackson2690]

He had been a Communist for over 40 years man.

[@seanoregan998]

EXACTLY

[@amotaba]

It's wonderful to have such a high quality content for free on youtube. I really love this channel

[@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists]

Havent you learnt this in school ?

[@tellemanndergaertner]

Whoever believes they have the right to step into a foreign country and tell its citizens what they can and cannot do, is surely a madman.

[@serpentines6356]

There were Vietnamese that didn't want the commie invasion either. And communism is still a threat. The South Vietnamese wanted American help. Remember the Vietnamese that wanted to get out, and many died trying to get out when the Americans left? There were also the "boat people", many Hmong.

[@yihanzhao2564]

@@serpentines6356 as if the south vietnamese leadership was totally not corrupt and completely propped up by the cia

[@blondequijote]

@@yihanzhao2564 the more I learn about the cia, the more I think our foreign relations would have been better served by a Decentralized Stupidity Department.

[@ReySchultz121]

​@@yihanzhao2564 The irony of that statement was that the CIA didn't want to stop or support a coup, thinking that it would simply make things worse. The coup that happened was both surprising and unsurprising, nonetheless, the CIA and the White House rejected it since they believed it would only further instability. It did.

[@zjeee]

Well what if the citizens of that country request foreign intervention, is it okay then? If the legitimate government request help you are not allowed to help? Very simplistic view that ignores reality. Nothing is black and white.

[@BigJoe2.0]

You guys have been producing some great content lately and more often as well! Love the channel!

[@MilitarySummaryChannel2024]

*Having read several books about the battle, the one thing that always amazes me is the sheer logistics for the vietnamese at the battle, and the insane work put in by the porters.*

[@indianajones4321]

Wow, I had been researching the Indochina War yesterday, great timing!

[@truckmusic1]

Bruh. You’re in the algorithm.

[@ClassicFormulaOne1]

Thanks for another great video! ❤

[@abduljada6152]

And the thanks extends to your folks who raised a man.

[@faenethlorhalien]

9 years and few people talk about it. This is truly a forgotten war. ...

[@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists]

Sorry ?

[@ohhi5237]

name some wars fought by denmark, YOU DONT CARE ABOUT THE VICTIMS

[@henryng9406]

Merikans only care about reality TV. 😢😢😢

[@wullieg7269]

the anniversary of DIEN BIEN PHU was this year see anthony quinn films

[@theoutlook55]

Um, forgotten or poorly understood? Yes the latter, but not the former.

[@kurbanbaev_khayrulla]

Love your channel! Thanks for this beautiful content!

[@jebbroham1776]

This is exactly what led the United States into disaster as well. It was Kennedy's wife who pleaded with JFK to get involved in Vietnam, but before that it was Eisenhower who sent advisors to train the troops of the South to fight what was initially viewed as an insurgency. It soon became clear that this was not merely an insurgency but a full fledged move for national independence.

[@zjeee]

By that time it was not about independence it was a civil war between communism and democracy. Communism won and Vietnam has had no elections since.

[@wullieg7269]

the brits were winning until french return

[@shavpookie]

(Deep) state department officials prevent the delivery of letters to Trumen.

[@donbrashsux]

I’ve being to Dien bien phu and there is a huge monument out in the hills and a museum in the city Well worth visiting this part of Vietnam

[@DT-wp4hk]

Are the fortifications or ruins there?

[@JustinAndrews74]

I'd like to visit DBP then. I've been all over Vietnam.

[@donbrashsux]

@@DT-wp4hkthey have bunkers and officers displayed where the battle took place and old tanks and war stuff .. the museum in the city is well worth a visit also

[@giakesieuthi8232]

Bây giờ Việt Nam có bảo tàng lịch sử quân sự Việt Nam,nơi trưng bày và nói về tất cả những người anh hùng,những cuộc chiến chúng tôi đã đi qua. Có cả xác b52, xe tăng, tên lửa, mig 21....

[@AloneComes]

absolutely amazing, your videos are always a highlight!

[@Crim_tams]

For the algorithm! ✊ Love this channel fellas all your latest videos have been awesome and I hope they get some more eyeballs on them

[@jasonpalacios1363]

For the French, this is the first time since the Haitian Revolution of 1804 that the French lost those wars against their colonial subjects in a horrible, humiliating way.

[@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists]

Colonial subjects is may be correct but they lost big in 1848 and 1918

[@jasonpalacios1363]

@@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists How did the French lost in 1848 and 1918? Are you referring to the French BTW?

[@skiteufr]

​@@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists what did France lose in 1848 and 1918 ? Pretty much the opposite

[@michaelmangano1732]

The haven’t always used the best judgement

[@BStrapper]

Soon after it was the usa's turn in a perfectly humiliating way.

[@Phantom2316]

After delivering all day long this is a blessing thank you for the free content 🐐♥️

[@100mvua]

concise , informative and well researched . well done

[@FonokFonok-mo6mp]

Afghanistan is often called the graveyard of empires. As I see Vietnam deserves a similar moniker.

[@kennyg1358]

Afghanistan is just a graveyard in general. Many more Afghans died than invaders on all occasions.

[@HWDragonborn]

Vietnam is like the Afghanistan of Asia

[@plkngtun]

Sorry to break it to you, but Afghanistan also resides on the Asian continent 😂😂​@@HWDragonborn

[@RHCollector]

​@@kennyg1358doesn't matter, all about winning. That's what Americans say to soften their egos.

[@harrykrebs]

FDR was completely opposed to France returning to be a colonial power. Truman took a different path.

[@arifahmedkhan9999]

Precisely what he said lol

[@pudanielson1]

@tekinfomedi You have no idea why South Vietnam existed and their quest for sovereignty.

[@jalpat2272]

​@tekinfomedi I wonder why South Vietnam has Catholic president on Buddhist majority nation.

[@Jesse-mt2ri]

He wanted to rebuild France as a power after the humiliation of the Vichy

[@July41776DedicatedtoTheProposi]

@@Jesse-mt2ri so what is your point?

[@mitondo6123]

This has so much details not seen in other documentaries!

[@danmcdonald9117]

Great video! Detailed

[@celticman1909]

Other sources state that the French demands to reestablish customs duties and tax collection on the Vietnamese people of the Haiphong / Hanoi region precipitated the French Naval bombardmet of civilian areas. Yes, 6500 civilians were estimated killed in that heinous act.

[@redeset8586]

650 000 civilians ? this is completely unrealistic

[@celticman1909]

@@redeset8586 six thousand five hundred.

[@redeset8586]

@@celticman1909 ah ok, this is more logical now

[@celticman1909]

@@redeset8586 Yes, my mistake. A typo.

[@rossbrook5919]

Great content as always, many thanks.

[@billlam7756]

Amazing documentary. My grandfather was vietminh fought against french and japanese later moved down south for religious reason in the mid 50s, my father fought for the south during vn war

[@chris5634C3PO]

Great post, gives a concise understanding of what happened.

[@kanskejonasidag1]

Blown away by the level of this content. Thank you!

[@memirandawong]

Such complicated and evolving alliances.

[@jamesbradford2564]

The Vietnamese are a beautiful people👍❤️. A Vietnam vet😎

[@addysong1628]

My dad was in Nam with the 101st Airborne. Later in life he came to respect Ho Chi Minh and realize most of the Vietnamese people just wanted to be free and not controlled by colonial powers and puppets. I was in Iraq, and while we have no sympathy for al-Qaeda, we can understand the motives of the regular insurgents, fighting in their own hometowns.

[@freefall9832]

We weren't led well. Tragic errors were made.

[@teacherdude]

One of the most balanced docs I've seen on this period and region, thanks for making it.

[@이이-n4z8y]

So balanced it's 100% cultural marxism.

[@umber_wall]

thank you for all the wonderful content.

[@TrickiVicBB71]

You really went into the details of the war. Historigraph did do some videos, but in broad strokes

[@justintaylor6842]

Absolutely brilliant. I really enjoyed this. Thanks

[@gammon1183]

Excellent work and presentation, Subbed 😎

[@alsob1062]

France installing a tactical brothel in an advanced base, is a very french thing to do.

[@bigsarge2085]

Thank you!

[@michaelfield3024]

Outstanding doco. Much appreciated.

[@bikkiikun]

It would be interesting to know how Cambodia and Laos fared after the 1st Indochina War, apart from the two famous or infamous keywords, Ho Chi Minh Trail and Killing Fields.

[@Brian-----]

7:20 in French colonial times Saigon was in Cochinchine, not Annam, which was the middle province’s name. The Vietnamese divide Vietnam into a north, a middle, and a south; not only a north and a south as foreign powers divided it.

[@RichardCorongiu]

Beautiful precis . Thank you. Lot of detail " made simple " ...a real lot of detail.

[@thangnguyenvan1072]

I am Vietnamese 🇻🇳. And the comment that China wants Vietnam to accept the compromise of dividing the country because they achieve their goal of creating a buffer zone with the United States as well as not wanting a unified, autonomous Vietnam that does not listen to them, this comment is completely correct 👍

[@gurufabbes1]

This is excellent.

[@tibzig1]

It never fails. When one is weak, one is kicked around by greater powers using all manner of "Euphemisms" and like phrases.

[@zjeee]

It is human nature, just look around there are always people that lust for power and like to push around others. In human history the strong always conquer the weak.

[@hhvictor2462]

The Japanese military presence in Vietnam during the war and after is worth a video.

[@herberthall8082]

The Viet minh had taken over Vietnam and declared it independent after Japan lost and before the French troops returned. The West then helped the French to take Vietnam back by force.

[@come7850]

Appreciating the effort for pronunciation of french names

[@MupChoi]

This film talks about Ho dislike Confucius administrator, but reality was the Nguyen Dynasty adopted the Mandarin as the administration language of Vietnam and Ho's father is one of them. Ho himself started his education from a Confucius home schooling and his father was one of such teachers until he was demoted to the countryside. From the start of this film, the real history of the Ho's family tree was truncated. The real start of French colonial Indochina was from a territory called Cochin China and this territory was a stronghold of Cambodia King Sisowath call Khmer Krom. The failure of French Indochina was the French intelligent failure and because the French betrayed the true people put them in power, which was the Khmer. Before the French, there were pocket of resistant against the Vietnamese and Siam, and Kampuchea Krom was one of them. Within one year of French took the whole of Cambodia voluntarily into French protectorate, a rebellion of Achar Swa, followed by Pou Kampo and Prince Si Votha were all supported by the previous colonial master. Like this film and many books truncating the truth about the history of Indochina. The French would be a little more successful if they cultivate the Khmer and Laotian. Instead, the French choose the easy way out and adopted the language of administration of the Nguyen's Mandarin and got kick out of Indochina by descendent of the Nguyen's Mandarin. Among descendant of the Nguyen's Mandarin were Ho Chi Minh, Pham Vam Dong, Vo Nguyen Giap, Khieu Samphan, Thiounn Prasith, Thiounn Mum, incognito Saloth Sar and Ieng Sary.

[@angkhoanguyen6114]

The king of Southeast Asia is speaking. 😂😂😂

[@guillaume6761]

Love this channel

[@julienzajac4843]

Great video

[@EKcyclist]

Your work is amazing! Thank you! One question I have is about the pronunciation of Vietnamese names. Giap, for example- is have heard this pronounced as “Zap” in Ken Burns’ excellent documentary series. Could any Vietnamese viewers, or those with language knowledge, clarify if possible? Many thanks.

[@internetandrew]

"G" is pronounced as a "z" in the northern accent, but in the south it's pronounced as soft "g".

[@EKcyclist]

@@internetandrew thank you!

[@anhkhoiphan5895]

That's wrong. "G" followed by an "i" is always pronounced as "z" or "j" in Vietnamese spelling rule. If you want to write something like "gee" in Vietnamese, add the letter h between g and i: "ghi". Many Italians will be familiar with this, just like the difference between gi and ghi in "Giorgio" and "Lamborghini".

[@EKcyclist]

@@anhkhoiphan5895 thank you very much!

[@pudanielson1]

@@anhkhoiphan5895 Ya, when quoc ngu was being written it took a lot of written pronunciation from Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Greek and Portugese.

[@preferreduser6601]

Excellent work.

[@Nodice055]

Really fascinating stuff. Japanese troops working with british and Vietmen forces was not on my bingo card, haha. Thanks for the high quality work, as always!

[@MisterNiceGuy830]

Great Video! BTW, Nguyen is pronounced = Win

[@abduljada6152]

Thank you Real Time History for your high quality work and upmost respect for your audience. May Allah bless you all.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Thank you ,an excellent ( RTH) channel ....for sharing this magnificent episode ..

[@lukeldh8064]

Those early September days in 1945 must have been very heady. The greatest war in human history was over, the empires of old have collapsed in on themselves, a new nation declared, so much possibilities and opportunities for a people to determine their own future. History didn't have to play out the way that it did but for a handful of those in power at the top, their ideologies and politics that caused the deaths and suffering of millions. Here's to hoping that enough of us learn from history and not bedazzled by those who claim to be larger than life, that We should hold power to account, that governments exist to serve Us and not the other way around.

[@zjeee]

Yep to determine their own future, fast forward to 2024 and there are still no elections and only allowed party is the communist party. They replaced one overlord with another. At least their new overlord is local I suppose that is a little better.

[@cherylmarcuri5506]

Hear, hear! VERY well said!

[@freefall9832]

Strange cycle.

[@ExProductions95]

Normal people learn from history but the greedy people who run nations do not care about history or even human lives. If they can make money off a war and manage the PR of the war so they keep power they dont care. Lyndon B. Johnson made millions off of Vietnam, thats the reason once he had JFK killer he instantly escalated Vietnam. His family was making millions off military contracts for helicopters

[@mojewjewjew4420]

Naive and foolish to think this way, reality is that war is inevitable.

[@earheadsix4119]

After reading Bernard Falls Street Without Joy and much later seeing the brief scene in We Were Soldiers I grew fascinated with French Mobile Group 100. That’d make an interesting video.

[@danijel3227]

This presentation is University worthy, and every other video on this chanel.

[@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists]

we learned that in 10th grade....strange....are you American ? Oh my bad....sure you are.....

[@freefall9832]

​@@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists?

[@smugwendigo5123]

​@@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists are you french?

[@tertommy]

From someone in the know: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

[@antoniocarrascosa6060]

Muy buen documental, enhorabuena desde España

[@kidmohair8151]

rêves de gloire... I suppose if France hadn't collapsed in 1940, and then been so quickly liberated in 1944, they might have been able to see the folly of trying to hold onto the idea of empire... still, a mere 2 years later they were trying to brutally suppress the Algerians in much the same way. it has taken them far too long to learn. and they're still at it, although they now cover it in the sobriquet of peace-keeping. West Africa, New Caledonia....

[@bisky-z3s]

There eyes are fixed a few countries east these days

[@namvu3721]

Bản chất của họ là thế, nhưng tương lai rất mù mịt. Khi các nước từng là thuộc địa trở lên giầu có và mạnh mẽ, còn nước Pháp ngày càng suy yếu. Giờ chỉ lấy tài sản cướp được đem bán ăn dần, làm được cái gì nữa.

[@nguyenhoangphuc856]

ahh the typical hypocrisy of France 🤣

[@kidmohair8151]

@@nguyenhoangphuc856 not just France...the US, Britain, and all colonial powers.

[@nageyebelieday7158]

The narrator has superb presentation skills which enabled him to give the full picture of the French defeat in Dien bien phu, which subsequently ended the French Indo-china. In hindsight, if France had allowed the Vietnamese people to become fully independent, no doubt that the outcome would have been different. They might have stayed in Laos and Cambodia to say the least. Nevertheless, this should have been an alarm bell for the Americans whose historic defeat was even more humiliating than the French. Similarly, if the Americans had been true to their Geneva agreement which stipulated the re-unification of Vietnam after two years via free and fair elections, the outcome would have been different too.

[@vijayanchomatil8413]

So why was France so adamant about keeping the colonialist state Vietnam when other colonialists were giving up their properties like Britain. It seems strange.

[@archiebellega956]

Britain is the only one "giving up", the Dutch doesn't, while German basically lost their colonies.

[@twogenders]

Excellent objective analysis. For not following his far more experienced Chinese advisers, who had vast experience dealing with KMT with air, armor, and artillery superiority in their Civil War, the inexperienced Viet Ming general cost his side tens of thousands of hardcore Viet Ming forces that were sorely missed in latter operations. Thus prolonging the war.

[@gsmiro]

What if the French did not go to Dien Bien Phu but stayed at Na San? If they don't advance too far out of their way, without the battle of Dien Bien Phu, the negotiations would have been different.

[@silverpleb2128]

It would have surely been different for sure, both sides needed a decisive victory over its counterpart to be seen as the victorious side by others nations, during the negociations.

[@aesirgaming1014]

One of the oldest mistakes in the book: creating a strategy based on the assumption that your enemy hasn't learned from his mistakes.

[@kmarks97236]

What a tragedy. Men with vision could have avoided a lot of suffering. I also wish this had been taught in school so we could have better understood how this happened.

[@ClassicCase]

"...a British-French-Japanese force..." Months before they were killing each other, now they're fighting side-by-side. The cold war really is something.

[@WhenInDarknessSeekTheLight]

Yes a coalition of evil.

[@daphuc502]

Actually Vietnam were never divided into two states , neither were Germany or Korea. ALL three territories, Korea , Vietnam , Germany ... were divided into OCCUPATION ZONES . Germany were divided into 5 ZONES , not two independent states , in the case of Korea ,since Korea were Japanese territory, it were divided into Soviet ZONE and American ZONE , not North and South Korea states . In the case of Vietnam, it were divided into FRENCH ZONE and VIETNAMESE ZONE , not North Vietnam and South Vietnam states , it were not even VIETNAMESE in South Vietnam.

[@64maxpower]

Won't France ever learn?

[@Kenneth-p1b]

They should abandon their dreams of Napoleonic glory

[@henryng9406]

Same question should be asked of Merika & many western countries.

[@64maxpower]

@henryng9406 yeah but I wouldn't be American if I didn't wave the flag

[@Gutvald]

Tell that to Russia, China, US, British, Turkey ...

[@Chancellor-g9b]

And France a snicky coloniser terrified west Africa ​@@Gutvald

[@yfyoung-bi6qo]

These two super powers never declare war on North Vietnam and never intend to fight to the end.

[@solocanaanite4655]

1:39 Y’all still don’t know that Ho Chi Minh was nobility before he renounced it?

[@asocialsocialist2534]

Poor Vietnamese were at war for over 30 years… and still won in the end !

[@zjeee]

Vietnamese fought the Chinese and even the Mongols for centuries, nothing new to them.

[@DougguoD]

Wow, a lot here I didn't know 👀

[@asmodeus0454]

Fredrik Logevall's _Embers of War_ is the best book on the Franco-Vietrminh War and its aftermath up to the early 1960's.

[@CoteVolet]

France has 175 000 soldiers there during the war and less before for a large terrotories : Cambodge, laos, vietnam - against 800 000 soliders involved by USA during vietnam war

[@painmt651]

It is weird that this was happening at the same time as the Gemini and Apollo Space missions. My childhood memories… I remember the first moon landing and the first prisoner exchanges, and the look of the American POW’s as they got off of a jetliner…

[@areng871]

British also bring back dutch to indonesia after its declare independance. So vietnam and indonesia seems have same feelings towards western power

[@JanKowalski-ej6lh]

Wonderful, concise and informative presentation of events in this region in 1945-54. It is clear that the French provided too few men and materials to defense Dien Bien Phu. Had they doubled the strength of this fortress, the history would have been different. I do not mean that Vietnam would not finally get independence, but that it would take a different course with less influence of the communists.

[@gogrape9716]

French no better than the Japanese....

[@Tony-m4b]

The West has some very serious PTSD issues with South East Asia.

[@theawesomeman9821]

Not only did the Vietnamese drive out the French but were able to rid their country of French influence which many former French colonies cannot boast.

[@SnoopReddogg]

Except for the Vietnamese predilection for baguettes.

[@kyngo550]

The Algerians did the same for their own war of independence too (and they’re also one of Vietnam’s best Arabic-speaking allies as well). One of the few differences between Vietnam and Algeria, however, is that French is still mostly a major, frequently-used language in Algeria whereas the percentage of French speakers who are native Vietnamese, regardless of fluency, are much lower (between 1 and 5 percent). However and interestingly, Vietnam is a member of La Francophonie while Algeria is not.

[@theawesomeman9821]

@@kyngo550 But doesn't France still interfere with Algerian politics?

[@kyngo550]

@@theawesomeman9821 From what I know, only some influence but it’s usually in certain sectors such as oil and minerals. However, the Algerian government mostly follows a very independent foreign policy that is not influenced by global powers. It’s the same foreign policy that Vietnam follows as well (and why they maintain great relations with France and the US, as much as they still do with Russia and China, even though they still have territorial claims they’re still disputing with China).

[@kyngo550]

@@theawesomeman9821 Recently, the current governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger (and in the past, even Guinea did it) had removed a lot of French influence in their governments, economies, and industries as well.

[@RogerRoger-bk1pi]

They were promised independence after the war, and when it didn’t happen…

[@angkhoanguyen6114]

Thus they chose to reclaim their own independence.

[@trongphan923]

Ho Chi Minh started with trying to talk with the French, it didn't work, he got a death sentence in Vietnam instead, funny enough they didn't give him a death sentence in France while he was staying there.

[@ultrajd]

I can’t even imagine what the French populous must have been thinking while these events were taking place. I mean Europe is in ruins in many areas. Millions of people are dead, and France is still reeling from the recovery effort. Can you imagine being a French soldier and thinking that you know you’ve lived through the initial invasion and occupation of your home country. Where you have either gone on to become a member of the free French or maybe you fought as a resistance fighter. Then you see your country liberated finally thinking that maybe the world is going to get better. Only to discover that you are now being made to deploy away from France and over to Southeast Asia just because some autocratic morons want to keep the French Empire idea alive.

[@zjeee]

Most troops were not French theh were locals and from other colonies

[@Gutvald]

There were probably many youngs men there who were too young to fight in 39/45 and eager to "do their part" in this war.

[@bisky-z3s]

They kept it alive through assuring banking initiatives. Conquests can always be traced back to banking. Still going on today.

[@redeset8586]

In metropolitan France, it was only volunteers that would go. A lot of troops there were also either from local minorities fearing vietnamese oppressions or vietnamese pro-french.

[@mojewjewjew4420]

Nah, fighting communism was worth any price.

[@CPTNCRASHALOT]

Ho came from the country side is a crazy statement

[@frauleinhohenzollern]

What's even in Vietnam worth colonizing? Vietnam seems like one of the poorest most undeveloped place on earth. It's like Italy invading Ethiopia in 1935... Why? The idea is to gain something from the areas natural resources which aren't being developed by the native population....

[@jessealexander2695]

The French benefitted from tea, rice, coffee, pepper, coal, zinc and tin produced in Vietnam. Colonizing is not only about resources (which were often being used by native populations, but not always in the way Europeans used them), but also about prestige or rivalries with other powers. Some colonies cost their imperial metropoles more than they produced, but the epires didn't give them up for prestige or military strategy reasons.

[@quangNguyen-fp3ts]

Look at Vietnam's geographical location. And look at Vietnam's incredibly fast-growing economic indicators. You'll know it.

[@trunganguc732]

Thank you very much for the wonderful video. Bringing in various view of Indochina war and politic at one of the most (if not the most) fluctuation time of our nation (im a Vietnamese). Why i said various view? Because in Vietnam, most people still believe President HCM was a communist at first sight and his policy was against the West (im indicate American, England, etc) at all cost (by missconcept propaganda and politc intend education). The main stream media and history class also never acknowledge the confusion and troublesome of Vietnam political at that time (so many politic group and even Viet Minh has it own problem) and still think president HCM was the supremier leader at that time. One thing i event never hearded of is England actually fought Viet Minh at that time. Btw thanks again for the very informative vid. Cám ơn bạn rất nhiều!

[@huskerredskin7253]

Brits wanted to hold on to their colonies and hoped helping the French would help their cause. Ironically, citizens of their former colonies are colonizing the UK and France.

[@fabiodeoliveiraribeiro1602]

The Vietnamese peasants humiliated, defeated and expelled the French from Vietnam, ending France’s colonial adventure in Asia. This lesson should be remembered now by Emmanuel Macron, because I am quite certain that French colonialism in Russia can only result in the defeat of the French and the destruction of Paris.

[@matthewwalkemar8726]

Is this just a compilation of previous videos or does it have new material?

[@realtimehistory]

the intro is new, otherwise it's three previous videos

[@matthewwalkemar8726]

@@realtimehistory thanks 🙏

[@OkayDohkay]

Great channel, wonderful presentations. The host/narrator reminds me of Jake Gyllenhaal. I don’t know why I needed to share that lol. Also, if it fits on this channel, I think exploring political cartoons and other propaganda would be interesting to hear about. I’m not sure how it can be done in the ‘real time‘ format. I think I read the narrator (sorry, his name escapes me right now) studied this topic in college. It’s possible this topic was already covered and I missed it in the list of videos. Anyways, thanks for the history! Great work!

[@truckmusic1]

Is your name OkayDohkay a reference to the Fall Out tv show

[@OkayDohkay]

@@truckmusic1 It was just a random name I came up with years ago. As a kid I’d say “okie-dokie” and I guess this inspired my user name. I saw a few episodes of that show a while back but I don’t remember hearing that. Now I’m curious and will have to go back to it to see where they’ve used it. 😆

[@jinshiksung]

They have no chance with Chino weapon and food flow in

[@tonyhawk94]

As a French I never really understood the fascination of some in my country for those wars, colonial wars are the most immoral, brutal and useless of all, especially after being liberated from…an imperialistic invader. Communist or not, Vietnam had a rightful claim to its plain sovereignty.

[@skiteufr]

Like today, we French, have the right to refuse the colonisation of our country through a thing called immigration

[@tromxuasnoc5511]

Et bien ferme-là !

[@tonyhawk94]

@@tromxuasnoc5511 On est à cran on dirait. :)

[@tonyhawk94]

@@tromxuasnoc5511 haha c‘est un espace commentaire si t‘es pas content tu es libre de passer :)

[@zjeee]

Dont feel bad, China tried to invade them in 1979, they did not care about them being communists either.