The French controlled Vietnam (Indochina), extracting resources from it (such as rubber) and abusing the population. Vietnamese freedom fighters learned about communism and used the ideology to liberate themselves from France. The famous battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954) was the first time a non-European society was able to defeat and push out a technologically superior European power. This sent shock waves around the world and sparked similar revolutions, notably in Algeria. Please carefully review the three videos which focus on French treatment of Vietnamese, the life of Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Note: The French had just suffered defeated at the hands of the Nazis in Europe during WWII and fought for their own freedom, only to go to Vietnam and exert power over another population demanding its freedom. Ho Chi Minh and other Vietnamese used the French Revolution’s language and ideology in their own quest for liberation.
