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.
@@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.
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.
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.
... *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."
@@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.
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.
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.
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 the more I learn about the cia, the more I think our foreign relations would have been better served by a Decentralized Stupidity Department.
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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....
@@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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
@@anhkhoiphan5895 Ya, when quoc ngu was being written it took a lot of written pronunciation from Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Greek and Portugese.
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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 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. 😆
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
In 1953, the Vietminh began to expropriate land from landlords. If they were accused of tyrannical practices, the landlords were tried in a kangaroo court and could be executed immediately if found guilty. Thousands were killed during this reign of terror. Though Ho did not publicly condemn these actions, Ho did attempt to temper his more bloodthirsty colleagues behind the scenes, encouraging them to use indoctrination rather than guns. Despite his best intentions, Ho could never have prevented the violence socialism inevitably brings. The decision to pursue socialism is always to make the decision to kill.
There were Japanese soldiers on both sides of Indochina war. In the battle of Dien Bien Phu, Viet Minh still had some Japanese, while French foreign legion deployed some ex-Waffen SS soldiers.
The Brits and especially the French surrendered and became collaborators as soon as the Japanese came. To them, keeping the slaves at their rightful place is more important than fighting facism.
p. sure i've seen most of these recent YT releases before but, that's not the point here! thanks for all the great stuff Real Time History, and it was because that i got a subscription to Nebula last year to support you and check it out which was worth every cent too! 🤩
thanks glad you liked it. and for what it's worth, we're now usually adding some new scenes to these compilation videos. in this one for example the intro was completely redone. In the 1943 video we added entire chapters that weren't published before.
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!
Deer team (the Americans sent to help the Viet Minh) is wildly over stated. I would also like to point out that Viet Minh constituted more than just communist. Until the end of the war it a coalition of nationalists and communists. The nationalists were purged at the end. The Japanese were also used by the British to police the south as the British didn’t have enough persons to fill the role. Some Japanese stayed bc they didn’t get fight the “final fight” defend Japan. So they viewed this as a continuation of their war against white people. Some of the soldiers would help train Viet Minh forces. Ho chị Minh didn’t control the party like westerns think. Especially in the beginning he managed a coalition of communists, that slowly over time kowtowed to HCM. Vietnamese units that served with the French troops performed better because they knew the Viet Minh wouldn’t take them as prisoners, instead execute them as “enemies of the people”. They fought the hardest bc they knew they had no way out of it went bad. Na San was an educational experience for both sides and both sides came away with the same conclusions. Unfortunately for the French they didn’t fully adopt the lessons learned. Giáp talks about this in great depth in his memoir. As far as the Na San is concerned Giáp didn’t call off the attack till the French managed to do a complete air withdrawal from the combat zone. Resulting in no victory for either side. The French learned that a defense in-depth was the needed method. Giáp learned that he needed to “grab the enemy by the belt buckle” preventing them from calling in close air support or artillery. Basically making the French advantage in hardware useless unless they were willing to kill their own. Then at DBP the French places an armored unit commander, (who didn’t fully agree with and understand the defense in depth strategy), in charge of a defending a hedgehog defense base. Dien Bien Phu also had a puppet kingdom using the white Thai which was one of the reasons why they picked that valley. Air support for DBP as also difficult to supply by air. Most flights couldn’t fly into the valley easily and had to take one of only three air routes. The methods of the getting the artillery into the paths was insane. They managed to move artillery into the valley sometimes having to passing within 200 meters of French locations. The Viet Minh also had a massive diversionary campaign leading up to the war to pull French troops away from DBP in the weeks prior to the battle. They wanted to force French to send troops to defend roads in the center and the south. The Chinese trained assault brigades were also highly effective at closing the distance and taking the hills in DBP. Part of the reason for the battle at DBP was that the Viet Minh wanted to have a major victory on the heals of a Paris Peace talks in Korea, so that the Vietnamese could come to the peace talks with a recent victory.
love this , i know every thing is not simple and always wonder why everything lead to war in Vietnam, thank for your video i know the true or at list a different POV
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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).
@@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.
I find it hard to believe that a country that had barely recovered from its greatest defeat of all time managed to regain independence only thanks to the help of foreign powers. The next day this country declares war in Indochina on the other side of the world xD
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.
The French underestimated the tenacity of the Vietnamese and the willingness of them to fight to the last man! A problem that America inherited and in turn made the same mistakes the powers that be listened to the wrong advisors and tried to impose our will on a people who just wanted to be left alone
Why Indochina in the first place if not Caesar ambition beyond monk trader king Nguyen? it failed to launch deadly tropical diseases against its enemies since only fortress Da Lac was a success?? Why Dien Bien and Cao Bang were supposed to be the next fortresses? High and super higher and eco sustainable for their super Goth races??
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.
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.
@@snowlee-ml7rrHo Chi Minh hadn’t established relations with China and Soviet not until after 1950s. Most of people don’t understand that Ho Chi Minh or Uncle Ho was a pro-American before the American betrayed him by helping the French.
The french involvement in Vietnam started when the 1st emperor of the last viet dynasty asked for french help through the intermediary of catholic missionaries in SVN to battle against Nguyen Hue because he was being soundly beaten by the latter who is revered as a national hero north and south. Nguyen Hue soundly thrashed the Qin army in Hanoi and like his predecessors kept VN from becoming a chinese province. otherwise VN could have suffered the same fate as Tibet and Xinjiang which are both chinese provinces today. the communist regime rightly in my opinion considered the Nguyen dynasty as traitors and hence all public buildings, monuments & streets named after them were wiped off at 1975.
Yes of course Vietnam was worried about being controlled by China lets also not forget China invaded Vietnam 1979. Also a footnote Tibet and Xinjiang were independent, the PRC annexed the region in the 1950s. One can argue about if it was right or not but trying to ignore they were independent countries in the 1940s is just ignorant.
Xinjiang and Tibet have never been countries in the past 200 years. In addition, if Vietnam becomes a province of China, France and the United States will not dare to invade Vietnam, and Vietnam may have a better economy and infrastructure than it is now.
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Wut
You think you can do videos on the war of 1812 please
Do you think you can do a video on the Guadalcanal campaign during late 42 and early 43 important battle.
@@ChrishenJamesYap🎉🎉🎉 I am so happy happy birthday 🎉 I hope you have a great day and a great q day too and q😂😂q😂a
@@ChrishenJamesYap
France: the Germans were mean, oppressing, and barbaric conquerors.
Also France: we are your overlords, Vietnam.
Americans: we never robbed anyone's land.
Brits: we never invaded anyone's land
etc etc
@@BStrapper russians: we are totally fighting against fascism in Ukraine.
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.
@@oliviervece6121 it not
@@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.
Once again, you broke the events down and gave me a better understanding of events. Keep it up.
Same!
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 👍👍
The Ken Burns documentary is a great telling of the war in Vietnam also.
Jack Kennedy visited Vietnam in the 1950s. He said that it was a civil war against colonialism, just like America fought against the British.
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.
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.
... *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."
@@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.
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.
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.
Tragic. Totally unnecessary.
Then the Chinese
@@itsanit123 enemies since ancient times.
This is my favorite history channel
the only history channel that will never underestimate vietnam
Great information and thank you for covering topics that get brushed over.
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.
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.
@@serpentines6356 as if the south vietnamese leadership was totally not corrupt and completely propped up by the cia
@@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.
@@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.
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.
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!
They came around eventually lol
@@MarkBautista-mq9sq Think about the 30 years of bloodshed that could have been avoided.
So True and We Americans like too Ignore this!! Damn France
It's wonderful to have such a high quality content for free on youtube. I really love this channel
Havent you learnt this in school ?
9 years and few people talk about it. This is truly a forgotten war. ...
Sorry ?
name some wars fought by denmark, YOU DONT CARE ABOUT THE VICTIMS
Merikans only care about reality TV. 😢😢😢
the anniversary of DIEN BIEN PHU was this year see anthony quinn films
Um, forgotten or poorly understood? Yes the latter, but not the former.
Thanks for another great video! ❤
And the thanks extends to your folks who raised a man.
Wow, I had been researching the Indochina War yesterday, great timing!
Bruh. You’re in the algorithm.
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.
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.
the brits were winning until french return
You guys have been producing some great content lately and more often as well! Love the channel!
Love your channel! Thanks for this beautiful content!
Afghanistan is often called the graveyard of empires. As I see Vietnam deserves a similar moniker.
After delivering all day long this is a blessing thank you for the free content 🐐♥️
absolutely amazing, your videos are always a highlight!
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.
650 000 civilians ? this is completely unrealistic
@@redeset8586 six thousand five hundred.
@@celticman1909 ah ok, this is more logical now
@@redeset8586 Yes, my mistake. A typo.
concise , informative and well researched . well done
For the algorithm! ✊
Love this channel fellas all your latest videos have been awesome and I hope they get some more eyeballs on them
Meanwhile France moaned because it was occupied by another country in Europe.
Double standards.
You really went into the details of the war. Historigraph did do some videos, but in broad strokes
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.
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.
Colonial subjects is may be correct but they lost big in 1848 and 1918
@@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists How did the French lost in 1848 and 1918? Are you referring to the French BTW?
@@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists what did France lose in 1848 and 1918 ? Pretty much the opposite
The haven’t always used the best judgement
Soon after it was the usa's turn in a perfectly humiliating way.
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....
There eyes are fixed a few countries east these days
One of the most balanced docs I've seen on this period and region, thanks for making it.
So balanced it's 100% cultural marxism.
Great content as always, many thanks.
Great video! Detailed
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
Are the fortifications or ruins there?
I'd like to visit DBP then. I've been all over Vietnam.
@@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
Blown away by the level of this content. Thank you!
FDR was completely opposed to France returning to be a colonial power. Truman took a different path.
Precisely what he said lol
@tekinfomedi You have no idea why South Vietnam existed and their quest for sovereignty.
@tekinfomedi I wonder why South Vietnam has Catholic president on Buddhist majority nation.
He wanted to rebuild France as a power after the humiliation of the Vichy
@@Jesse-mt2ri so what is your point?
Beautiful precis . Thank you. Lot of detail " made simple " ...a real lot of detail.
Outstanding doco. Much appreciated.
Appreciating the effort for pronunciation of french names
The Vietnamese are a beautiful people👍❤️. A Vietnam vet😎
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.
We weren't led well. Tragic errors were made.
Thank you!
It never fails. When one is weak, one is kicked around by greater powers using all manner of "Euphemisms" and like phrases.
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.
Won't France ever learn?
They should abandon their dreams of Napoleonic glory
Same question should be asked of Merika & many western countries.
@henryng9406 yeah but I wouldn't be American if I didn't wave the flag
Tell that to Russia, China, US, British, Turkey ...
And France a snicky coloniser terrified west Africa @@Gutvald
I heard the VietCong played Panzerlied over loudspeakers into the French encampment in the evenings.
From what I know, this isnt true.
There were a lot of germans fighting for the french during Indochina.
@@silverpleb2128 Now french and germans are colonies of the US. Karma's a b1itch.
The Japanese military presence in Vietnam during the war and after is worth a video.
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.
This is excellent.
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.
"G" is pronounced as a "z" in the northern accent, but in the south it's pronounced as soft "g".
@@internetandrew thank you!
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".
@@anhkhoiphan5895 thank you very much!
@@anhkhoiphan5895 Ya, when quoc ngu was being written it took a lot of written pronunciation from Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Greek and Portugese.
Thank you Real Time History for your high quality work and upmost respect for your audience. May Allah bless you all.
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.
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.
Hear, hear! VERY well said!
Strange cycle.
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
Naive and foolish to think this way, reality is that war is inevitable.
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!
Great video
Short answer: It's not that complicated. We occupied someone's home and we got kicked out.
The West has some very serious PTSD issues with South East Asia.
France installing a tactical brothel in an advanced base, is a very french thing to do.
Excellent work.
Love this channel
This presentation is University worthy, and every other video on this chanel.
we learned that in 10th grade....strange....are you American ? Oh my bad....sure you are.....
@@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists?
Great Video! BTW, Nguyen is pronounced = Win
Muy buen documental, enhorabuena desde España
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.
Thank you ,an excellent ( RTH) channel ....for sharing this magnificent episode ..
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!
Is your name OkayDohkay a reference to the Fall Out tv show
@@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. 😆
Fredrik Logevall's _Embers of War_ is the best book on the Franco-Vietrminh War and its aftermath up to the early 1960's.
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."
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.
The king of Southeast Asia is speaking. 😂😂😂
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.
One of the oldest mistakes in the book: creating a strategy based on the assumption that your enemy hasn't learned from his mistakes.
Best documentry ive seen on the French War in Vietnam and how the American War started and the Americans poured in where Angels feared to Tread.
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.
Most troops were not French theh were locals and from other colonies
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.
They kept it alive through assuring banking initiatives. Conquests can always be traced back to banking. Still going on today.
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.
Nah, fighting communism was worth any price.
In 1953, the Vietminh began to expropriate land from landlords. If they were accused of tyrannical practices, the landlords were tried in a kangaroo court and could be executed immediately if found guilty. Thousands were killed during this reign of terror. Though Ho did not publicly condemn these actions, Ho did attempt to temper his more bloodthirsty colleagues behind the scenes, encouraging them to use indoctrination rather than guns. Despite his best intentions, Ho could never have prevented the violence socialism inevitably brings. The decision to pursue socialism is always to make the decision to kill.
French no better than the Japanese....
52:58
i have a feeling that this is YOUR estimate based on (i saw in a dream)
the real figures were pretty damn close
The British, French, and Japanese were fighting together?
In fall 1945?
Against the Vietnamese?!
yup
There were Japanese soldiers on both sides of Indochina war.
In the battle of Dien Bien Phu, Viet Minh still had some Japanese, while French foreign legion deployed some ex-Waffen SS soldiers.
The Brits and especially the French surrendered and became collaborators as soon as the Japanese came. To them, keeping the slaves at their rightful place is more important than fighting facism.
How The World Changed From The Beginning Of The 20th Century, And Still Going On In The Year 2024 😢
p. sure i've seen most of these recent YT releases before but, that's not the point here! thanks for all the great stuff Real Time History, and it was because that i got a subscription to Nebula last year to support you and check it out which was worth every cent too! 🤩
thanks glad you liked it. and for what it's worth, we're now usually adding some new scenes to these compilation videos. in this one for example the intro was completely redone. In the 1943 video we added entire chapters that weren't published before.
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!
Deer team (the Americans sent to help the Viet Minh) is wildly over stated. I would also like to point out that Viet Minh constituted more than just communist. Until the end of the war it a coalition of nationalists and communists. The nationalists were purged at the end.
The Japanese were also used by the British to police the south as the British didn’t have enough persons to fill the role.
Some Japanese stayed bc they didn’t get fight the “final fight” defend Japan. So they viewed this as a continuation of their war against white people. Some of the soldiers would help train Viet Minh forces.
Ho chị Minh didn’t control the party like westerns think. Especially in the beginning he managed a coalition of communists, that slowly over time kowtowed to HCM.
Vietnamese units that served with the French troops performed better because they knew the Viet Minh wouldn’t take them as prisoners, instead execute them as “enemies of the people”. They fought the hardest bc they knew they had no way out of it went bad.
Na San was an educational experience for both sides and both sides came away with the same conclusions. Unfortunately for the French they didn’t fully adopt the lessons learned. Giáp talks about this in great depth in his memoir.
As far as the Na San is concerned Giáp didn’t call off the attack till the French managed to do a complete air withdrawal from the combat zone. Resulting in no victory for either side.
The French learned that a defense in-depth was the needed method.
Giáp learned that he needed to “grab the enemy by the belt buckle” preventing them from calling in close air support or artillery. Basically making the French advantage in hardware useless unless they were willing to kill their own.
Then at DBP the French places an armored unit commander, (who didn’t fully agree with and understand the defense in depth strategy), in charge of a defending a hedgehog defense base.
Dien Bien Phu also had a puppet kingdom using the white Thai which was one of the reasons why they picked that valley.
Air support for DBP as also difficult to supply by air. Most flights couldn’t fly into the valley easily and had to take one of only three air routes.
The methods of the getting the artillery into the paths was insane. They managed to move artillery into the valley sometimes having to passing within 200 meters of French locations.
The Viet Minh also had a massive diversionary campaign leading up to the war to pull French troops away from DBP in the weeks prior to the battle. They wanted to force French to send troops to defend roads in the center and the south.
The Chinese trained assault brigades were also highly effective at closing the distance and taking the hills in DBP.
Part of the reason for the battle at DBP was that the Viet Minh wanted to have a major victory on the heals of a Paris Peace talks in Korea, so that the Vietnamese could come to the peace talks with a recent victory.
The communists are the true nationalists.
love this , i know every thing is not simple and always wonder why everything lead to war in Vietnam, thank for your video i know the true or at list a different POV
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.
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.
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.
They have no chance with Chino weapon and food flow in
They were promised independence after the war, and when it didn’t happen…
Thus they chose to reclaim their own independence.
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.
Is this just a compilation of previous videos or does it have new material?
the intro is new, otherwise it's three previous videos
@@realtimehistory thanks 🙏
British also bring back dutch to indonesia after its declare independance. So vietnam and indonesia seems have same feelings towards western power
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.
Except for the Vietnamese predilection for baguettes.
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.
@@kyngo550 But doesn't France still interfere with Algerian politics?
@@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).
@@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.
Jesse, would japanese support have turned the tide of war for the french? Many in Japan were eager to fight.
I find it hard to believe that a country that had barely recovered from its greatest defeat of all time managed to regain independence only thanks to the help of foreign powers. The next day this country declares war in Indochina on the other side of the world xD
OH MY GOSH IM HERE THIS EARLY FINALLY!
Who cares? Does that make you interesting in your head?
@@shakiMiki Making snide remarks doesn't make you interesting either
@@prodiptabose3425 i would bet money they are depressed and angry .
Can someone explain what is going on with this guy’s cast at 45:51 ?
Bruh what happened with Gracey the boy ? Our Vietminh just want to welcome ur arrival but u kicked us out lol ? What a naughty commander
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.
Like today, we French, have the right to refuse the colonisation of our country through a thing called immigration
Et bien ferme-là !
@@tromxuasnoc5511 On est à cran on dirait. :)
@@tromxuasnoc5511 haha c‘est un espace commentaire si t‘es pas content tu es libre de passer :)
Dont feel bad, China tried to invade them in 1979, they did not care about them being communists either.
dudes complaining because the upscale isn’t 5fps come on 😂
The French underestimated the tenacity of the Vietnamese and the willingness of them to fight to the last man! A problem that America inherited and in turn made the same mistakes the powers that be listened to the wrong advisors and tried to impose our will on a people who just wanted to be left alone
Why Indochina in the first place if not Caesar ambition beyond monk trader king Nguyen? it failed to launch deadly tropical diseases against its enemies since only fortress Da Lac was a success??
Why Dien Bien and Cao Bang were supposed to be the next fortresses? High and super higher and eco sustainable for their super Goth races??
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.
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.
however
39:47 They really thought of everything
Gotta have your priorities
Great job ! I think RU will follow the railways to Pokrovs. New UKR defense lines are designed to create a fire bag around the city
Guess where Ho Chi Minh got his arms in 1945 ? Hint, they were stockpiled in Iwo Jima and Okinawa and they weren't Japanese.
you want to know from everywhere they had from Japan, Soviet , Chinese , US , UK even Germany but made most from handmade in pacbo cave
CHINA AND SOVIET!
@@snowlee-ml7rrHo Chi Minh hadn’t established relations with China and Soviet not until after 1950s. Most of people don’t understand that Ho Chi Minh or Uncle Ho was a pro-American before the American betrayed him by helping the French.
The french involvement in Vietnam started when the 1st emperor of the last viet dynasty asked for french help through the intermediary of catholic missionaries in SVN to battle against Nguyen Hue because he was being soundly beaten by the latter who is revered as a national hero north and south.
Nguyen Hue soundly thrashed the Qin army in Hanoi and like his predecessors kept VN from becoming a chinese province. otherwise VN could have suffered the same fate as Tibet and Xinjiang which are both chinese provinces today.
the communist regime rightly in my opinion considered the Nguyen dynasty as traitors and hence all public buildings, monuments & streets named after them were wiped off at 1975.
Yes of course Vietnam was worried about being controlled by China lets also not forget China invaded Vietnam 1979. Also a footnote Tibet and Xinjiang were independent, the PRC annexed the region in the 1950s. One can argue about if it was right or not but trying to ignore they were independent countries in the 1940s is just ignorant.
Xinjiang and Tibet have never been countries in the past 200 years. In addition, if Vietnam becomes a province of China, France and the United States will not dare to invade Vietnam, and Vietnam may have a better economy and infrastructure than it is now.
Xinjiang and Tibet weren't independent countries, they're just client/vassal states of China for centuries