Question

Which statement(s) below are true?

Ho Chi Minh and his supporters defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu.

After World War II, civil war broke out in Vietnam because the country became independent.

The United States feared if Vietnam fell to Communism, its neighbors would
too.

France supported the United States in the conflict against Vietnam.

Answer 1

True: 1 and 3.

1. True — Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces (led militarily by Vo Nguyen Giap) defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, which precipitated French withdrawal and the Geneva Accords.

2. False — After WWII Vietnam sought independence and conflict arose because France tried to reassert colonial control (a war of national liberation against France), not because the country had become an independent, stable state. (A later civil war did develop between North and South after the 1954 partition.)

3. True — U.S. policy was driven by the “domino theory”: officials feared that if Vietnam fell to Communism, other countries in the region might follow.

4. False — France did not support large-scale U.S. military intervention in Vietnam; Paris (especially under de Gaulle) opposed U.S. policy and did not send forces to fight alongside the U.S.