Dead End Alley: The United States, France, and the First Indochina

Identifications

Phan Boi Chau
Ho Chi Minh
Vo Nguyen Giap
O.S.S.
Truman Doctrine
Aloss of China
Adomino theory
Bao Dai
Battle of Cao Bang
Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG)
European Defense Community (EDC)
General Henri Navarre
Dien Bien Phu
Operation Vulture
United Action
Geneva Accords

1		Why were the statements of Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap=s statements on September 2, 1945 both informative and ironic?
2		What was the Vietnamese legacy of resistance to foreigners?
3		How did President Franklin Roosevelt view French colonialism in the region? How did his views change in the period immediately preceding his death?
4		How does the author critique the Truman administration=s perceptions of the Vietminh?
5		Why was 1950 important for changing a Alocalized anticolonial struggle into a major and increasingly dangerous theater in the emerging Cold War? Why and how did the United States become more prominently involved in the conflict?
6		How did the Cold War expand in Europe in the period, 1947-1950, and what effect did it have on the struggle in Indochina?
7		Why does the author argue that in 1950 American assessments of the situation in Vietnam was off the mark?
8		In late 1950, the United States committed more aid, both military, economic, and technical. What did it hope to gain from the French? Were its efforts effective?
9		How did the French view U.S. assistance in the period, 1950-1952?
10		What did leaders such as Rob McClintock and General J. Lawton Collins see as the sources of the French problems in defeating the Vietminh? What did the Eisenhower administration propose as a solution to the problems?
11		Why were Dulles and Eisenhower unwilling to commit U.S. forces to relieve the French at Dien Bien Phu? What role did Congress play? Why was the United Action plan a failure?
12		What were the Adeep marks that Battle of Dien Bien Phu imposed on those involved?
13		How did the various parties view the Geneva Accords?