The Geneva Accords are remembered as a failure, chiefly because major nations did not adhere to their terms. The Geneva gathering had in fact been convened to discuss two other Cold War hotspots, Berlin and Korea. By the time it began, the Viet Minh had overrun the French base at Dien Bien Phu, forcing Vietnam onto the agenda.
What was the result of the Geneva Accords of 1954?
The Geneva Accords were signed in July of 1954 and split Vietnam at the 17th parallel. North Vietnam would be ruled by Ho Chi Minh’s communist government and South Vietnam would be led by emperor Bao Dai.
How many Vietnamese were involved in the Geneva Accords?
Around 140,000 Vietnamese also moved in the opposite direction, south to north, with little or no assistance. 1. The Geneva Accords refer to a series of agreements pertaining to the future of Vietnam. They were produced during multilateral discussions in Geneva between March and July 1954.
What did the Geneva Conference do for Vietnam?
The Geneva conference adopted a similar approach in Vietnam. Vietnamese territory would be divided temporarily into north and south, then given a road map to free elections, self-government, reunification and independence.
What is America’s violation of the Geneva Accords?
America’s so-called “violation” of the joint election clause of the Geneva Accords is something every American should be proud of. The only part of the story that’s really regrettable is that the US was ultimately unsuccessful in keeping Communism out of South Vietnam.
How did the Geneva Accords cause the Vietnam War?
In July 1954, the Geneva Agreements were signed. As part of the agreement, the French agreed to withdraw their troops from northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections within two years to choose a president and reunite the country.
What was the effect of the Geneva Accords?
Among the terms of the Geneva Accords were the following: Vietnam would become an independent nation, formally ending 75 years of French colonialism. The former French colonies Cambodia and Laos would also be given their independence. Vietnam would be temporarily divided for a period of two years.
What did the Geneva Accords do to Vietnam quizlet?
The Geneva Accords stated that Vietnam was to become an independent nation. Elections were to be held in July 1956, under international supervision, to choose a government for Vietnam. During the two-year interval until the elections, the country would be split into two parts; the North and the South.
Why did the Vietnam War start?
At the heart of the conflict was the desire of North Vietnam, which had defeated the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1954, to unify the entire country under a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Union and China.
Why did the US became involved in Vietnam?
The U.S. entered the Vietnam War in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism, but foreign policy, economic interests, national fears, and geopolitical strategies also played major roles. Learn why a country that had been barely known to most Americans came to define an era.
What were the 4 major outcomes of the Geneva Convention?
This convention provided for (1) the immunity from capture and destruction of all establishments for the treatment of wounded and sick soldiers and their personnel, (2) the impartial reception and treatment of all combatants, (3) the protection of civilians providing aid to the wounded, and (4) the recognition of the ...
What was the major result of the Geneva Accords of 1954 quizlet?
The Geneva Accords ended the French involvement in North Vietnam and divided the country.
What were key things resulting from the Geneva Convention?
It requires humane treatment for all persons in enemy hands, without any adverse distinction. It specifically prohibits murder, mutilation, torture, cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment, the taking of hostages and unfair trial. It requires that the wounded, sick and shipwrecked be collected and cared for.
How did the Geneva Accords contribute to the Cold War?
The Geneva Accords of 1954 concluded the First Indochina War. Its main effect was to split Vietnam into a communist North and capitalist South, although the original plan was to create a unified, independent Vietnam. The provisional boundary between North and South was drawn at the Seventeenth Parallel.
What was the purpose of the Geneva Conference?
On May 8, 1954, representatives of Democratic Republic of Vietnam (communist Vietminh), France, China, the Soviet Union, Laos, Cambodia, the State of Vietnam (democratic, as recognized by the U.S.), and the United States met in Geneva to work out an agreement. Not only did they seek to extricate France, ...
What countries did the French seek to unify?
Not only did they seek to extricate France, but they also sought an agreement that would unify Vietnam and stabilize Laos and Cambodia (which had also been part of French Indochina) in the absence of France.
What was the Geneva accords?
The Geneva Accords of 1954 were an attempt to end eight years of fighting between France and Vietnam. They did that, but they also set the stage for the American phase of fighting in Southeast Asia.
Where was the peace conference held?
A peace conference in Geneva, Switzerland, sought to extricate France from Vietnam and leave the country with a government suitable to Vietnam, Communist China (a Vietminh sponsor), the Soviet Union, and Western governments.
What did the 1956 elections mean for Vietnam?
Nevertheless, they believed that the 1956 elections would give them control of all Vietnam.
Did the Geneva Accords get France out of Vietnam?
From the outset, it had not the intention of letting Ngo Dinh Diem, president in the south, call the elections. The Geneva Accords got France out of Vietnam, certainly. However they did nothing to prevent an escalation of discord between free and communist spheres, and they only hastened American involvement in the country. Cite this Article.
Which country would be divided in half along the 17th parallel?
By July 20, the contentious meeting had agreed to the following: Vietnam would be divided in half along the 17th Parallel (in the thin "neck" of the country). The Vietminh would control the northern section, the State of Vietnam would control the south.
What did Dulles believe about the election?
Dulles, 2 however, viewed any Communist victory as unacceptable, even if the election was democratic. He convinced Eisenhower to support a South Vietnamese government under Ngo Dinh Diem. Dulles insisted that Diem was not bound by the Geneva accords to hold any election – a position the autocratic Diem eagerly supported.
How many pages does Howard Zinn's book cover?
The late professor Howard Zinn uses similar language in his textbook A People’s History of the United States: Dr Zinn devotes thirty-two pages of his freshman American history textbook to the Vietnam War. That’s seven pages more than his coverage of the American Revolution that created our nation!
How many documents were there in the Geneva Accords?
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Geneva Accords consisted of “The 10 documents— none of which were treaties binding the participants —consisted of 3 military agreements, 6 unilateral declarations, and a Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference.” 3 (Italics added) The language of that Final Declaration makes it clear that it is not an actual treaty: “The Conference takes note of,” “The Conference expresses satisfaction at,” etc.
What subject shows the bias of college campus liberals more than any other?
If there is one subject that shows the bias of college campus liberals more than any other, it is the Vietnam War. Many university professors of today were radical anti-war students in the 1960’s, and the habit of condemning America’s role in Vietnam seems to only harden with age. It is perhaps not surprising that when a radical group ...
What is the real story of the Vietnam War?
The real story of the Vietnam War is very different from the portrayal college students are getting from their gray-pony-tailed professors. There was no American “violation” of a commitment to area-wide elections. There was no American commitment to hold such elections.
How many people voted with their feet in Vietnam?
Meanwhile Ho Chi Minh’s regime in North Vietnam was so brutal in its repression of its own people that something like one million people voted with their feet by fleeing to the South. According to this Wikipedia page, as many as three million people might have fled the North if the Communist government had not stopped most of them.
Which country did Ho Chi Minh split into?
Ho Chi Minh agreed to pull his forces north of the 17 th parallel, temporarily dividing the nation into North and South Vietnam . Because of Ho’s broad popularity, he seemed assured of an easy victory in elections scheduled for within the next two years.
What happened between 1963 and 1965?
The coup was followed by a chaotic succession of 12 different governments in South Vietnam between 1963 and 1965. 6. Gulf of Tonkin Incident. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, also known as the U.S.S. Maddox incident, marked the formal entry of the United States into the Vietnam War.
What did Ho Chi Minh say about the Vietnam War?
Did you know? Ho Chi Minh used the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a model for his Proclamation of the Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, writing: “All men are born equal: the Creator has given us inviolable rights, life, liberty, and happiness!”. 2.
What battle was the French defeated in?
2. Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The conflict between the French and the Viet Minh came to a head at the decisive Battle of Dien Bien Phu, when, after a four-month siege, the French lost to the Viet Minh under commander Vo Nguyen Giap, marking the end of French rule in Vietnam. The question of who would rule Vietnam and how drew the interest ...
What happened to the Geneva Accords?
The resulting Geneva Accords would dissolve the French Indochinese Union. The Geneva Accords were signed in July of 1954 and split Vietnam at the 17th parallel. North Vietnam would be ruled by Ho Chi Minh’s communist government and South Vietnam would be led by emperor Bao Dai.
When did Ho Chi Minh declare Vietnam independence?
Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence from France on September 2, 1945, just hours after Japan’s surrender in World War II. When the French rejected his plan, the Viet Minh resorted to guerilla warfare to fight for an independent Vietnam.
What was the Cold War?
Vietnam was a battleground in the Cold War, when the United States and Soviet Union grappled for world domination. By war’s end, North and South Vietnam would be reunited, but at great cost. Here are six events that led to the Vietnam War. 1.
What was the Vietnam War?
The conflict in Vietnam took root during an independence movement against French colonial rule and evolved into a Cold War confrontation. The Vietnam War (1955-1975) was fought between communist North Vietnam, backed by the Soviet Union and China, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States. The bloody conflict had its roots in French ...
What was the name of the group that trained 100,000 native southerners for guerrilla warfare?
Ho Chi Minh ’s regime in Hanoi then trained 100,000 native southerners for guerrilla war and launched a campaign of assassination and kidnapping of South Vietnamese officials. In December 1960 the Viet Cong (as Diem dubbed them) proclaimed the formation of a National Liberation Front (NLF),…
What were the conditions of Ho Chi Minh's regime?
In these adverse conditions Ho Chi Minh’s regime became repressive and rigidly totalitarian. Attempted agricultural reforms in 1955–56 were conducted with ignorant brutality and repression. “Uncle” Ho, as he had become known to the North Vietnamese, was able to preserve his immense popularity, but he abandoned a kind of humane quality that had distinguished some of his previous revolutionary activities despite ruthless purges of Trotskyists and bourgeois nationalists in 1945–46.
What was Ho Chi Minh's impact on the United States?
One of its effects was to cause a grave crisis in the national life of the mightiest of capitalist countries, the United States.
What was the Geneva Accords?
The Geneva Accords and the Second Indochina War. From May to July 21, 1954, representatives of eight countries—with Vietnam represented by two delegations, one composed of supporters of Ho Chi Minh, the other of supporters of Bao Dai—met in Geneva to find a solution. They concluded with an agreement according to which Vietnam was to be divided ...
When was Ho Chi Minh's book published?
Most of Ho Chi Minh’s writings are collected in the two-volume Selected Works, published in Hanoi in 1960, in the series of Foreign Language Editions. Jean Lacouture.
When did North Vietnam become involved in war?
Beginning about 1959 , North Vietnam again became involved in war. Guerrillas, popularly known as the Vietcong, were conducting an armed revolt against the U.S.-sponsored regime of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam. Their leaders, veterans of the Viet Minh, appealed to North Vietnam for aid.
Where did the old statesman travel?
The old statesman had better luck in the field of diplomacy. He traveled to Moscow and Beijing (1955) and to New Delhi and Jakarta (1958), skillfully maintaining a balance between his powerful communist allies and even, at the time of his journey to Moscow in 1960, acting as a mediator between them. Linked by old habit, and perhaps by preference, ...
How did North Vietnam violate the Geneva Accords?
North Vietnam violated the Geneva Accords by failing to withdraw all Viet Minh troops from South Vietnam, stifling the movement of North Vietnamese refugees , and conducting a military buildup that more than doubled the number of armed divisions in the North Vietnamese army while the South Vietnamese army was reduced by 20,000 men. U.S. military advisers continued to support the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, which was created as a replacement for the Vietnamese National Army. The failure of reunification led to the creation of the National Liberation Front (better known as the Viet Cong) by Ho Chi Minh's government. They were closely aided by the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) of the North, also known as the North Vietnamese Army. The result was the Vietnam War .
What did Bidault propose?
Bidault opened the conference on May 8 by proposing a cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire in place, a release of prisoners, and a disarming of irregulars, despite the French surrender at Dien Bien Phu the previous day in northwestern Vietnam.
What countries were involved in the Vietnam War?
Diplomats from South Korea, North Korea, the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States of America (US) dealt with the Korean side of the Conference. For the Indochina side, the Accords were between France, the Viet Minh, the USSR, the PRC, the US, the United Kingdom and the future states being made from French Indochina. The agreement temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones, a northern zone to be governed by the Viet Minh and a southern zone to be governed by the State of Vietnam, then headed by former emperor Bảo Đại. A Conference Final Declaration, issued by the British chairman of the conference, provided that a general election be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state. Despite helping create some of the agreements, they were not directly signed onto nor accepted by delegates of both the State of Vietnam and the United States. The State of Vietnam, under Ngo Dinh Diem, subsequently refused to allow elections, leading to the Vietnam War. Three separate ceasefire accords, covering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, were signed at the conference.
What were the successor states of the Geneva Conference?
Three successor states were created: the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Kingdom of Laos and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the state led by Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh. The State of Vietnam was reduced to the southern part ...
When did the Indochina talks begin?
While the delegates began to assemble in Geneva from late April, the discussions on Indochina did not begin until May 8, 1954. The Viet Minh had achieved their decisive victory over the French Union forces at Dien Bien Phu the previous day. : 549
Who was the leader of the French government in Vietnam?
On June 18, following a vote of no-confidence, the French Laniel government fell and was replaced by a coalition with Radical Pierre Mendès France as Prime Minister, by a vote of 419 to 47, with 143 abstentions. : 579 Prior to the collapse of the Laniel government, France recognized Vietnam as "a fully independent and sovereign state" on June 4. A long-time opponent of the war, Mendès France had pledged to the National Assembly that he would resign if he failed to achieve a ceasefire within 30 days. : 575 Mendès France retained the Foreign Ministry for himself, and Bidault left the Conference. : 579 The new French government abandoned earlier assurances to the State of Vietnam that France would not pursue or accept partition, and it engaged in secret negotiations with the Viet Minh delegation, bypassing the State of Vietnam to meet Mendès France's self-imposed deadline. On June 23, Mendès France secretly met with Zhou Enlai at the French embassy in Bern. Zhou outlined the Chinese position that an immediate ceasefire was required, the three nations should be treated separately, and that two governments existed in Vietnam would be recognized. : 584
Why did Poland join the ICC?
Because issues were to be decided unanimously, Poland's presence in the ICC provided the communists effective veto power over supervision of the treaty. The unsigned "Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference" called for reunification elections, which the majority of delegates expected to be supervised by the ICC.
Background
Geneva Conference
- On May 8, 1954, representatives of Democratic Republic of Vietnam (communist Vietminh), France, China, the Soviet Union, Laos, Cambodia, the State of Vietnam (democratic, as recognized by the U.S.), and the United States met in Geneva to work out an agreement. Not only did they seek to extricate France, but they also sought an agreement that would ...
Main Elements of The Agreement
- By July 20, the contentious meeting had agreed to the following: 1. Vietnam would be divided in half along the 17th Parallel(in the thin "neck" of the country). 2. The Vietminh would control the northern section, the State of Vietnam would control the south. 3. General elections would occur in both north and south on July 20, 1956, to decide which Vietnam would govern the whole coun…
A Real Agreement?
- Any use of the term "agreement" with respect to the Geneva Accords must be done loosely. The U.S. and the State of Vietnam never signed it; they simply acknowledged that an agreement had been made between other nations. The U.S. doubted that, without United Nations supervision, any election in Vietnam would be democratic. From the outset, it had not the intention of letting …
The Collapse of French Indochina and Rise of Ho Chi Minh
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
- The conflict between the French and the Viet Minh came to a head at the decisive Battle of Dien Bien Phu, when, after a four-month siege, the French lostto the Viet Minh under commander Vo Nguyen Giap, marking the end of French rule in Vietnam. The question of who would rule Vietnam and how drew the interest of world superpowers, who watched the situation in Vietnam with gro…
The 1954 Geneva Accords Divide Vietnam
- The Geneva Accords were signed in July of 1954 and split Vietnam at the 17th parallel. North Vietnam would be ruled by Ho Chi Minh’s communistgovernment and South Vietnam would be led by emperor Bao Dai. An election was scheduled in two years’ time to unify Vietnam, but the U.S., fearful that a national election would lead to communist rule, ensure...
The Cold War
- Vietnam was divided during the Cold War, when tensions between the U.S. and The Soviet Union were at an all-time high. Mao Zedonghad proclaimed the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and in January of 1950, China joined with the Soviet Union to formally recognize the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam. During the Cold War, the U.S. practiced a polic…
The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem
- Emperor Bao Dai was succeeded by Catholic nationalist Ngo Dinh Diem. His strong anti-communist stance was popular with the Americans who helped him rise to power. But Diem’s preferential treatment of the Catholic minority led to protests throughout South Vietnam. In May 1963, eight Buddhist protestors were killed by government officials in Hue. In response, Buddhis…
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
- The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, also known as the U.S.S. Maddox incident, marked the formal entry of the United States into the Vietnam War. “In the summer of 1964 the Johnson administration was laying secret plans for an expansion of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Any such wider action should have congressional support, officials determined, and the Gulf of Tonkin incident p…