What event occurred after Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence?

1 Answer
Mar 25, 2016

The French troops that had seized Southern Vietnam bombarded Haiphong, triggering the first war of Indochina which lasted for 8 years until the defeat of the French in 1954 at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

Explanation:

When Japan formally surrendered to the Allies on September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam. France which has seized southern Vietnam try to stop the independence of Vietnam. In 1946, French warships bombarded the northern Vietnamese city of Haiphong, killing thousands.

In response, the Viet Minh launched an attack against the French in Hanoi on December 19, 1945–the beginning of the First Indochina War. During the eight-year war, Mao Zedong’s Chinese communists supported the Viet Minh, while the United States aided the French and anti-communist Vietnamese forces. In 1954, the French suffered a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu, in northwest Vietnam, prompting peace negotiations and the division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel at a conference in Geneva. Vietnam was divided into northern and southern regions, with Ho in command of North Vietnam and Emperor Bao Dai in control of South Vietnam.