In 1862, Lincoln adopted the radicalRepublican position that emancipation was a military necessity. Eventually Lincoln justified the war inabolitionist terms. After the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect (January 1863) the war lastedfor almost two more years and public discontent with the war increased.
Following a Japanese occupation in the 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First Indochina War, eventually expelling the French in 1954. Thereafter, Vietnam was divided politically into two rival states, North and South Vietnam.ietnam's independence was gradually eroded by France â aided by large Catholic militias â in a series of military conquests between 1859 and 1885. In 1862, the southern third of the country became the French colony of Cochinchina.
As a result, the Viet Minh had to launch another anti-colonial war, this time against France, the traditional imperial power in Indochina. Between 1946 and 1954, the Viet Minh used guerrilla tactics to wear down French troops in Vietnam.Finally, in May of 1954, the Viet Minh scored a decisive victory at Dien Bien Phu, and France agreed to withdraw from the region.Ho Chi Minh, the Viet Minh leader, was very popular and would have become the president of all of Vietnam in free and fair elections.s a result, the Viet Minh had to launch another anti-colonial war, this time against France, the traditional imperial power in Indochina. Between 1946 and 1954, the Viet Minh used guerrilla tactics to wear down French troops in Vietnam.