getbeaverootnabooteh t1_j9zty9o wrote on February 25, 2023 at 7:56 PM

Reply to comment by Happypappy007 in TIL of the less well known and earlier War in Vietnam (1945-1946), which was a military success. by VengefulMight

It wasn't for no good reason. Right after WW2 the US government cared a lot about Europe, but didn't care much about the East/SE parts of Asia.

The Americans wanted French support in stopping the advance of Soviet Communist power in Europe. The French wanted to reestablish their empire.

So the Americans supported the French desire to reestablish their empire in Southeast Asia because that helped them to secure French support for stopping the Commies in Europe.

Happypappy007 t1_ja001hj wrote on February 25, 2023 at 8:38 PM

I’m aware of the postwar geopolitical concerns. Had Vietnam become independent after WWII, It was unlikely to cause any change in French politics. We were going to supply DeGaulle and DeGaulle was going to resist communism.

getbeaverootnabooteh t1_ja3hjvc wrote on February 26, 2023 at 3:57 PM

DeGaulle wouldn't have turned France into a full-blown Communist one-party Soviet client state. But he could've definitely thrown a hissy fit and refused to fully cooperate with US military and economic plans in Europe for a while.

Happypappy007 t1_ja3j7tx wrote on February 26, 2023 at 4:09 PM

DeGaulle was infamously proned to hissy fits.

Most historians give Truman high marks for his foreign policy. In the main, I do too. His Vietnam policy- if you can call it that - was a major blunder.