What this lesson teaches
I can weigh up why the Korean War and the Vietnam War broke out, and what followed each war.
Syllabus K330, The Cold War, Learning Outcomes. Assess the reasons for the outbreak of the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and their aftermath.
Make a guess
The 1954 Geneva settlement split Vietnam at the 17th parallel and proposed national elections for July 1956. What do you think happened?
- The elections were held, and Ho Chi Minh's side won.
- The elections never took place, so the split became lasting.
- Both sides agreed to keep two separate countries.
Show the answer
The elections never took place, so the split became lasting.
The USA and the South had not accepted the declaration, and Diem refused the vote. Two rival states took shape.
The 1954 Geneva settlement split Vietnam for a short time and planned elections for 1956, but the elections never happened.
France ruled Vietnam before 1954. Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Minh, a communist-led movement fighting for independence. In 1954, it defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu. The Geneva settlement of 1954 then ended France's war.
Opposing forces were to move north or south of a line near the 17th parallel, a line of latitude 17 degrees north of the equator. Ho's Democratic Republic of Vietnam ruled the North. The non-communist State of Vietnam ran the South. The final declaration proposed elections across the whole country in July 1956 to choose one government. The split was meant to be temporary.
The USA and the State of Vietnam did not accept the final declaration. Ngo Dinh Diem, the South's leader, refused to hold nationwide elections. He argued that voting could not be free in the communist North. The USA backed him. It feared a communist win, because the communists were strong and Ho was a famous independence leader. We cannot know for sure who would have won.
The elections never took place. Both sides still claimed the right to rule the whole country, and the planned peaceful route to reunification had failed.
- Dien Bien Phu, 1954
- Viet Minh defeat the French.
- 17th parallel
- Temporary line between North and South.
- July 1956
- Planned elections that never happened.
Real examples to use
Dien Bien Phu, 13 March to 7 May 1954
The Viet Minh besieged the French base for 56 days until it fell, which pushed France to settle at Geneva.
Elections planned for July 1956
The Geneva final declaration called for nationwide elections two years later. Diem refused, and they never took place.
Worked example: A plan is not an event
A student writes: Vietnam was peacefully reunited by the 1956 election.
- Geneva planned elections for 1956.
- Diem refused to hold them, with US support.
- So there was no election and no peaceful reunification.
Watch out for this
Geneva created two permanent countries that both sides accepted.
The split was meant to be temporary. Both governments still claimed all of Vietnam.
Check your understanding
What happened to the elections planned for 1956?
- They reunited Vietnam under the South.
- They never took place, because Diem refused and the USA backed him.
- They were held, and Ho Chi Minh won a large majority.
Show the answer
They never took place, because Diem refused and the USA backed him.
Yes. The peaceful route to reunification failed.