Originally, Vietnam had been controlled by the Chinese. By the 1880s, however, France took over Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The new name for this territory became known as French Indochina. Many of the Vietnamese people longed to be independent and wished to no longer be ruled by foreign nations.
During World War II, Japan attacked Vietnam. Japan wanted to take Vietnam from the French. The Vietnamese people fought against the Japanese and even received aid from the United States.
Once the War had ended, many Vietnamese thought they would be granted independence. The Vietnamese had succesfully fought the Japanese and helped to bring an end to World War II. Sadly, France did not want to give up its hold on Vietnam. Many of the Vietnamese people were enraged and the stage was set for another war.
