Assess the consequences of the Vietnamese victory against the French for Indochina in the periods 1954-1964.
The Vietnamese victory against the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 brought about dramatic changes to Indochina. These changes took place in the Geneva Conference which shortly happened after the battle of Dien Bien Phu. General Vo Nguyen Giap and Ho Chi Minh who were the Vietminh’s leader had only one goal and that was to unify Vietnam and declare independence from colonial rule but however their goals were not achieved at the end of the Geneva Conference due to a number of reasons.
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was a humiliating defeat for the French but however this victory was a resounding victory for the Vietminh …show more content…

The Geneva Peace Agreement ended with Vietnam being divided into two at the 17th parallel which divided Vietnam into South Vietnam which would be held by forces who fought with the French and North Vietnam which was held by the Vietminh forces led by Ho Chi Minh. The Agreement also included that there will be an election for the unification of Vietnam in 1956 July but however the U.S did not sign the peace agreement. The agreement also ended with Laos and Cambodia to become independent under a royalist government and remaining French forces were forced to withdraw.
The North defined itself as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It became a communist regime led by Ho Chi Minh with its capital in Hanoi. The southern nation was called the Republic of Vietnam. It established its capital in Saigon and was led by the French-educated Catholic, Ngo Dinh Diem. South Vietnam quickly became an ally of the United States and Diem was "our man" in Vietnam. The North however was being supported by Communist China and the Soviet Union who supported Ho Chi Minh’s nationalist movement during the first Indochina war.
When the agreement was signed it allowed up to 300 days for the people of Vietnam to move to either South or North Vietnam. This brought about another separation of the Vietnamese people and was far from what Ho Chi Minh sought to achieve after countless years of fighting to unify Vietnam. Vietnam soon became another country which was apart of Cold War as the U.S.