1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to This 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast where we dust off 4 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: a little piece of history and placed it, ever so 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: gently on your brainshelf. Every day. Today is December nine, nineteen. 6 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: The day was December nineteenth, nineteen. The First Indochina War began. 7 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: By the late nineteenth century, France controlled Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: The grouping was collectively known as French Indochina. French imperialism 9 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: at the time spanned Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: As with other French colonial territories, French Indochina involved the 11 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: heavy exploitation of people and resources to France's benefit. In Vietnam, 12 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: the French administration imposed all sorts of social and political 13 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: changes on people. Trade in products like opium, salt, rice, wine, 14 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: and t were lucrative, but economic progress only benefited the 15 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: French and a small group of wealthy elites. The French 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: also instituted a new extensive taxation system, and while there 17 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: were some improvements in education in Vietnamese cities, the children 18 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: of peasant farmers did not see that benefit and much 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: of the population remained alliterate, plus the French often pushed 20 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: propaganda about its culture in schools. Traditional buildings were destroyed, 21 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: landownership was concentrated in the hands of a small class 22 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: of landlords, while a landowning middle class of indigenous Vietnamese 23 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: people was not existent, and the Vietnamese bureaucracy lacked real 24 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: power while French authorities exercised extensive power. Those are just 25 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: some of the ways French rule disadvantage and harmed locals. 26 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: But the Vietnamese did resist France's tyrannical rule. Anti colonial 27 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: and nationalist resistance movements popped up in Vietnam. Leaders and 28 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 1: supporters of these movements called for Vietnamese independence. Ideas of 29 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: resistance morphed over time, with sentiment geared toward the old 30 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: imperial order at first, and later toward new ideas that 31 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: embraced Western values. After World War One, resistance kicked into 32 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: high gear, but revolutionary efforts to out the French were unsuccessful. 33 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: Then came World War Two. In nineteen forty, the Japanese 34 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: invaded French Indochina and collaborated with officials who were loyal 35 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: to France's Vichy regime, but resistance leader and communist Ho 36 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,119 Speaker 1: Chi Men and the Indo Chinese Communist Party had succeeded 37 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: in uniting Vietnamese folks in the fight against French authority 38 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: before Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party organized the 39 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: Vietnam a Nationalist alliance that called for an end to 40 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: Japanese occupation and for Vietnam's independence from France. After the 41 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: Japanese formally surrendered to the Allies in September of nineteen, 42 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: the Vietmin proclaimed Vietnam's independence as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 43 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,679 Speaker 1: and Ho Chi Minh assumed power. The French and Ho 44 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: Chi Men reached in agreement in March of nineteen forty six, 45 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: but negotiations weren't practical and fighting escalated as Chinese and 46 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: British troops supported the re establishment of French colonial rule. 47 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: French forces took southern Vietnam, and in November, French naval 48 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: vessels bombarded the northern court city of Hifang and killed 49 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: thousands of people. The Vietmin responded by attacking the French 50 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: in Hi Fong and Hanoi. The Vietmain's attack against the 51 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: French at Hannoi marked the start of the First Into 52 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: China War. For the next eight years, the Vietmain remained 53 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: engaged in guerrilla war against the French. Finally, in May 54 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: of nineteen fifty four, the war ended when the French 55 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: suffered a major defeat at d n B and Fou. 56 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: At the nineteen fifty four Geneva Conference, Vietnam was split 57 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: into the Vietmain controlled North Vietnam and France's South Vietnam. 58 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: Though that conflict had come to an end, political struggles 59 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: in Vietnam continued as the Vietnam War ensued. I'm Eve 60 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: Jeffco and hopefully you know a little more about history 61 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If there's something I missed 62 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: in the show today, you can let us know at 63 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: t D i h C Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, for Instagram. 64 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: You can also shoot us an email at this day 65 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,799 Speaker 1: at i heart media dot com. Thank you for listening 66 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: to today's episode. We'll see you again tomorrow with another one. 67 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 68 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,039 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 69 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: favorite shows.