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While both Japan and China were allied with the Entente powers during the course of the First World War, the Western victory contrasted in its effects in each of the Asian countries. As the Japanese used the war as an excuse to gain control of German concessionary areas in China, control of these parts by the Japanese government was solidified in the Treaty of Versailles. This angered many of the Chinese nationalist politicians and sparked a series of protests against the betrayal by Entente powers {political}.

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After Sun Yat-sen’s death, the position at the head of the Nationalist Party was passed over to Chiang Kai-shek, a former attendee of the Whampoa Military Academy. Allied with dominating warlords throughout the region, Chiang formed an army that helped the Nationalists gain control of territory throughout China, such as the Yangtze River valley and Shanghai. This occupation of Shanghai also corresponded with the ruthless tactics imposed on the working class, murdering thousands of communist supporters on the streets and setting the stage for the civil war that was to take place between the two political parties {political/social}.

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Japan’s struggle to compete with the world’s superpowers led to the decision to invade neighboring Manchuria. As the invading power began pushing towards the Chinese mainland, putting pressure on the Nationalist Party of China, the Nationalist preoccupation with suppressing the communist party had to be put on hold in order to focus on the more immediate threat. After a forced signing of a treaty between the two parties, the Communists opened the door to a new opportunity in gaining an advantage over the Nationalists. This led to the ultimate Communist victory in 1949 followed by the establishment of the People’s Republic of China {political}.

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After the early establishment of a communist headquarters in Hunan, Chiang launched a series of attacks towards the area in order to rid the opposing party of their rising influence in China. In order to escape the dangerous raids, Mao and his 90,000 followers made the Long March to the Chinese city of Shaanxi, losing over half of the initial travelers during the journey across thousands of miles of difficult terrain. The party was able to reestablish its capital which later gave the communists advantage during the Japanese invasion in terms of location, putting their guerrilla forces in the direct path of oncoming attacks {political}.

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As the Communist Party slowly began gaining control of the country, the government leaders prioritized the need to reestablish China’s influence in East Asia. This led to Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict, competing against the United States’ support in the south and resulting in permanent partition of the neighboring Korean nation {political}.

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By the 1950s, the alliance between China and Soviet Russia began to dwindle as a rise in border disputes and China’s refusal to remain inferior to the northern superpower created heavy tensions between the former collaborators. Stalin’s death in 1953 and the rise of Khrushchev to power worked to further extend the failure of the relationship. Mao Zedong was left to believe that he himself was now “the chief theoretician and leader of the communist world” {cultural}.

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After initial French support of the rising Nguyen dynasty, the reign of leaders such as Minh Mang led to French distrust of the developing super-Confucian society which contradicted the European desire to push Catholicism into the country. Using military defeats at home and increased quarrels between Nguyen rulers as motive, France launched an objective to gain control of Vietnam and neighboring Laos and Cambodia. The colonizers used their newly-conquered areas as sources of financial revenue which in turn worsened the already-difficult economic status of the Vietnamese people {political/economic}.

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With the establishment of the Viet Minh forces during World War II, the nationalist resistance managed to gain influence in the war for independence. Led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Viet Minh used guerrilla tactics to offset the French colonizers and gain support throughout the rural north. After gaining control of the northern city of Hanoi in 1945, the communist leader Ho Chi Minh declared the independent nation of Vietnam but still lacked the control of southern regions desired by dominating nationalist forces {political}.

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To match the Viet Minh’s successes in the north, as well as looking for ways to regain strength as a result of Nazi domination, the French reinforced their title as an imperialist power by reoccupying Saigon with British support. This was followed by France’s desire to reassert control over the entire nation by launching a war against the resisting forces in the north, breaking a previous truce with the Viet Minh {political}.

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The critical battle at Dien Bien Phu arose as the main conflict which allowed full decolonization and withdrawal of French forces from Vietnam to take place. The battle pitted the French against the highly effective guerrilla tactics used by the Viet Minh. After surrounding the enemy at their base in Dien Bien Phu, the Vietnamese forces used complex tunnel systems to transport weapons and supplies, pushing the enemy towards the center which eventually forced the French to surrender {political/human-environmental}.

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After suffering heavy losses at Dien Bien Phu, the French were forced to comply with the decisions made during the Geneva Conference held in Switzerland. The treaty declared Vietnam independent from foreign powers and started the withdrawal of French forces from the nation. In settling political disputes, the agreement promised national elections to take place in two years time under which the communist-dominated north and the politically-fragmented south would reunite under one ruler. After the elections failed to take place, Ho Chi Minh’s army named the Viet Cong launched an attack on its southern counterparts in an attempt to unite the nation under a single communist regime {political}.

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As the Cold War sparked U.S. competition against the Russian superpower and promoted anti-communist propaganda to rise among the American population, the U.S. government sent in its first troops to South Vietnam in the 1950s to protect the nation from further communist influence. Throughout decades of bombings and herbicide usage which destroyed the local environment, the U.S. style of fighting failed to gain victory over the guerrilla-based Viet Cong, leading to withdrawal of American forces after a series of treaty organizations established communist rule throughout {political/human-environmental}.

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