Triumph of Will

The US looked at the first Indo-China War with a lot of interest. With a strong anti-communist bias, the Truman administration (1945-53) analyzed it more as a fight against communism rather than a nationalist war of Independence. It is ironic that the US moved away from the Atlantic Charter of 1941 which was committed to the liberation of the colonies within five years

- 

On 30 April 1975, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam was captured by North Vietnam. Ever since it is marked as Reunification Day. This process began with the signing of the Paris Accord ending US involvement in South Vietnam on 27 January 1973. Richard Nixon's administration (1969-74) proclaimed it to be "peace with honor" and immediately after, on 29 March, the US troops exited Vietnam.

Nixon assured the South Vietnamese government that the US would intervene if the peace accord was broken by North Vietnam. Significantly Nixon's promise came before the Watergate scandal which led to his resignation; his successor, Gerald Ford had to stick to the timetable of withdrawal as the US Congress was unwilling to support any further escalation.

A resurgent North Vietnam was inspired by the heroic leadership of Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) and the Viet Minh, a disciplined force of communist fighters which earlier liberated Vietnam from Japanese occupation in 1945. More significantly, after the Japanese surrender the Viet Minh preserved its independence fighting the French when Britain tried to put France back as the ruler. This led to the first Indo-China War from 1946 to 1954 when the French Navy bombed Viet Minh soldiers at Haiphong port on 23 November 1946 maiming and slaying thousands. Viet Minh retaliated with the killing of some French citizens on 19 December 1946.

Winston Churchill had already declared in his famous speech at Fulton, Missouri, in March 1946 the descendance of the Iron Curtain in Europe. The Cold War seemed inevitable. President Harry Truman, a year later, distinguished between free institutions, elected government by free elections with constitutional protection of individual freedom with rule of terror and repression, and a controlled press with no individual liberty.