When was french indochina established

But France was gradually losing its grip in Indo-China. It suffered heavy defeats and military casualties. After being forced to surrender at the fortress of Dien Bien Phu on 7 May , France realised that it could not continue fighting this costly war far from its shores on the sole ground of anti-communism. The Geneva Accords of 21 July put an end to the conflict and France was obliged to leave the country.

Vietnam was divided into two parts: whilst northern Vietnam fell under the communist control of Ho Chi Minh, a nationalist dictatorship took power south of the 17th parallel. Viet Minh rebels took control of Hanoi on August 19, Chinese government troops entered northern Vietnam in August British troops intervened in support of the French government beginning on September 11, The French government recognized the independence of Vietnam as a free state within the Indochinese Federation and the French Union on March 6, , but the Viet Minh refused to accept the arrangement.

British troops withdrew from Vietnam in May , and Chinese troops withdrew from Vietnam in July French government troops clashed with Vietnamese nationalists in Haiphong on November , , resulting in the deaths of 20 French government soldiers and 6, Vietnamese. Conflict Phase December 19, July 31, : Vietnamese nationalists launched a military offensive against French government troops in the Annam and Tongking provinces on December 19, , and the French government declared martial law on December 20, French government troops defeated the Vietnamese military offensive on February 19, Use precise geolocation data.

Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Congress and officials in the Administration were equally determined not to intervene unless they could do so as a part of a larger coalition.

Britain and other members of NATO declined to participate in rescuing what they thought was a lost cause. In the wake of the French defeat, the French and Vietnamese, along with representatives from the United States and China, met in Geneva in mid to discuss the future of Indochina.

They reached two agreements. First, the French and the Viet Minh agreed to a cease-fire and a temporary division of the country along the 17th parallel. The second agreement promised that neither the North nor the South would join alliances with outside parties, and called for general elections in Laos and Cambodia were to remain neutral.

The United States did not sign the second agreement, establishing instead its own government in South Vietnam. Like Bao Dai, Diem was an unpopular choice in Vietnam as he had waited out the nationalist struggle against France abroad.