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186-626: Through 1954, Vietnam was part of French Indochina, along with Laos and Cambodia. During the war, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Vietnam and remained there until 1945, when the Axis powers were defeated. The Japanese were removed from Vietnam with the help of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh forces. Following the war, France began to reoccupy the Indochina region and reassert its former dominance. Much of this can be traced back to

372-607: A 15,000-strong force, some of which had been trained by French military advisers. They were opposed by 5,000 troops from the Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa domains. At the two road junctions of Toba and Fushimi just south of Kyoto, the two forces clashed. On the second day, an Imperial banner was given to the defending troops and a member of the Imperial Family, the Prince Ninnaji , was named nominal commander in chief , in effect making

558-528: A Qing territory. It marked the first overseas deployment of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. An Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors of 1882 called for unquestioning loyalty to the Emperor by the new armed forces and asserted that commands from superior officers were equivalent to commands from the Emperor himself. Thenceforth, the military existed in an intimate and privileged relationship with

744-511: A counterbalance to the Chinese troops camped at Asan. Simultaneously, the Japanese decided to send a reinforced brigade of approximately 8,000 troops to Korea. The reinforced brigade, included auxiliary units, under the command of General Oshima Yoshimasa was fully transported to Korea by June 27. The Japanese stated to the Chinese that they were willing to withdraw the brigade under General Oshima if

930-510: A course of action or policy, and refusal to expand the local militia." Additionally, the French officially refused to accept help from the U.S. in the form of training Vietnamese troops by US military instructors. There is a suggestion at the end of the report that the French would need to accept American aid to train the Vietnamese army and to supply them, if they wanted to change their policy of arming

1116-612: A decisive blow to the Russian armies. Over-reliance on infantry led to large casualties among Japanese forces, especially during the siege of Port Arthur . The Empire of Japan entered the war on the Entente side . Although tentative plans were made to send an expeditionary force of between 100,000 and 500,000 men to fight in France on the Western Front , ultimately among the few actions in which

1302-414: A desire to restore French glory and national pride after the humiliation the nation suffered during the course of World War II. The French also wished to reclaim the Indochina region to regain control over the vast rubber plantations across the country. The people of Vietnam were completely against the return of the French. The Vietnamese experienced a lot of abuses by the French during their colonization in

1488-607: A deteriorating situation in Vietnam. A 1950 CIA intelligence report noted that the threat of Communism in Indochina was rising as rebel attacks on French outposts continued and highlighted the weaknesses of the French. An intelligence report on Indochinese military developments revealed how vulnerable the French military was, due to the fall of the French border holding at Dong Khe, as well as some attacks they had suffered in Tonkin. The report doubted France's ability to hold Indochina much longer if

1674-513: A factor in the government's abolition of the han system . The military ministry ( Hyōbushō ) was reorganized in July 1871; on August 29, simultaneously with the decree abolishing the domains, the Dajōkan ordered local daimyos to disband their private armies and turn their weapons over to the government. Although the government played on the foreign threat, especially Russia's southward expansion, to justify

1860-570: A higher degree of return for their low pay than they otherwise would have received. However, at the end of the war, the Imperial Japanese ministry of finance cancelled all military bank notes, rendering the military yen worthless. Throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army had shown immense brutality and engaged in numerous atrocities against civilians , as well as prisoners of war – with

2046-576: A means of resolving disputes. This was enacted by the Japanese in order to prevent militarism , which had led to conflict. However, in 1947 the Public Security Force was formed; later in 1954, in the early stages of the Cold War , the Public Security Force formed the basis of the newly created Ground Self-Defense Force. Although significantly smaller than the former Imperial Japanese Army and nominally for defensive purposes only, this force constitutes

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2232-522: A national army, the immediately perceived danger was domestic insurrection. Consequently, on August 31, the country was divided into four military districts, each with its own chindai ( garrison ) to deal with peasant uprisings or samurai insurrections. The Imperial Guard formed the Tokyo garrison, whereas troops from the former domains filled the ranks of the Osaka, Kumamoto, and Sendai garrisons. The four garrisons had

2418-696: A permanent barrier to Communist expansion in Southeast Asia." The new CIA team in Saigon was the Saigon Military Mission, headed by United States Air Force Colonel Edward Lansdale , who arrived on June 1, 1954. His diplomatic cover title was Assistant Air Attaché. The broad mission for the team was to undertake paramilitary operations against the enemy and to train the ARVN in the arts of psychological warfare , just like Lansdale had done in an earlier conflict in

2604-638: A shortage of supplies, especially food, medicine, munitions, and armaments, largely due to submarine interdiction of supplies, and losses to Japanese shipping, which was worsened by a longstanding rivalry with the Imperial Japanese Navy . The lack of supplies caused large numbers of fighter aircraft to become unserviceable for lack of spare parts, and "as many as two-thirds of Japan's total military deaths [to result] from illness or starvation". Compared to respective armies in Europe or America , soldiers in

2790-523: A step would weaken their ability to contain Vietnamese nationalism." U.S. intelligence community notes how cautious the French were in arming a Vietnamese army. The report further claimed that "French reluctance to expand or strengthen the Vietnamese National Army is indicated by insistence on allocation and distribution of US military aid under French control, failure to make plans for necessary financing, inability of French officials to agree on

2976-400: A straight bar ( Sous-Lieutenant for "1st Lieutenant") were called Ong Mot ("Mister One") and those with two straight bars ( Lieutenant for "2nd Lieutenant") were unofficially named Ong Hai ("Mister Two"). Since anyone working for the government was called Quan the rank Lieutenant soon replaced it, Quan Mot became Sous-Lieutenant , Quan Hai became Lieutenant and so forth. After

3162-538: A total of about 8,000 troops – mostly infantry, but also a few hundred artillerymen and engineers. Smaller detachments of troops also guarded outposts at Kagoshima, Fushimi, Nagoya, Hiroshima, and elsewhere. By late December 1871, the army set modernization and coastal defense as priorities; long-term plans were devised for an armed force to maintain internal security, defend strategic coastal areas, train and educate military and naval officers, and build arsenals and supply depots. Despite previous rhetoric about

3348-581: A wrecked merchant vessel from the Ryukyu Kingdom on the southwestern tip of Taiwan. 12 men were rescued by the local Chinese-speaking community and were transferred to Miyako-jima in the Ryukyu Islands. The Empire of Japan used this as an excuse to both assert sovereignty over the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was a tributary state of both Japan and Qing China at the time, and to attempt the same with Taiwan,

3534-850: The Hokushin-ron doctrine, and the Japanese establishment of a puppet state in Manchuria brought the two countries into conflict. The war lasted on and off with the last battles of the 1930s (the Battle of Lake Khasan and the Battles of Khalkhin Gol ) ending in a decisive victory for the Soviets. The conflicts stopped with the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact on April 13, 1941. However, later, at

3720-606: The Battle of Saigon had begun. The private crime syndicate Binh Xuyen and the Vietnamese National Army would wage conflict for around a month in Cholon. The Binh Xuyen had been influential (as a powerful Saigon gang) in post-colonial Vietnam, and had even stolen arms and fought the French, however they were defeated quickly. Diem had issued the Binh Xuyen an ultimatum to come under control or be eliminated. The damage caused by

3906-512: The Bolshevik Revolution , the Imperial Japanese Army initially planned to send more than 70,000 troops to occupy Siberia as far west as Lake Baikal . The army general staff came to view the Tsarist collapse as an opportunity to free Japan from any future threat from Russia by detaching Siberia and forming an independent buffer state. The plan was scaled back considerably due to opposition from

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4092-558: The CEFEO . The Emperor awarded the Hoàng Diệu promotion's senior and junior classes with a Saint-Cyr styled saber as new officers of the armed forces. As a symbol of the handover of self-defense responsibility of the whole Vietnam to the VNA, the senior class fired 4 traditional arrows in each direction (the arrows being a symbol of the old days of imperial Vietnam and its armed forces). Alumni of

4278-921: The Dagu forts near Tianjin. Four days later, the Qing court declared war on the foreign powers. The British, in light of the precarious situation, were compelled to ask Japan for additional reinforcements, as the Japanese had the only readily available forces in the region. Britain at the time was heavily engaged in the Boer War , and, consequently, a large part of the British army was tied down in South Africa. Deploying large numbers of troops from British garrisons in India would take too much time and weaken internal security there. Overriding personal doubts, Foreign Minister Aoki Shūzō calculated that

4464-587: The First Indochina War . The French developed the VNA's strength as they sought to delegate more operations to native loyalist forces. Bảo Đại's army fought along the French Union forces during the until 1954 and the partition of Vietnam . In 1955, the State of Vietnam was dissolved and replaced by Ngô Đình Diệm 's Republic of Vietnam in the south while Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam remained

4650-687: The French Foreign Legion and others exiled to France or the United States. Benefiting with French cadres assistance and United States material support the VNA quickly became a modern army modeled after the CEFEO Expeditionary Corps . Officers and Non-commissioned officers were trained in local schools of cadres known in French as Ecoles des Cadres , or at the elite National Military Academy, Dalat (EETD). The Dalat Preparatory Military School ( école militaire préparatoire, EMP )

4836-526: The French military mission to Japan (1918–19) , headed by Commandant Jacques-Paul Faure , was requested to assist in the development of the Japanese air services. The Japanese invasion of Taiwan under Qing rule in 1874 was a punitive expedition by Japanese military forces in response to the Mudan Incident of December 1871. The Paiwan people , who are indigenous peoples of Taiwan, murdered 54 crewmembers of

5022-724: The German General Staff , was established directly under the Emperor and was given broad powers for military planning and strategy. Other known foreign military consultants were Major Pompeo Grillo from the Kingdom of Italy , who worked at the Osaka foundry from 1884 to 1888, followed by Major Quaratezi from 1889 to 1890; and Captain Schermbeck from the Netherlands, who worked on improving coastal defenses from 1883 to 1886. Japan did not use foreign military advisors between 1890 and 1918, until

5208-657: The Ho Chi Minh trail . The Ho Chi Minh trail was an interlocking trail system that was created through the borders of Laos and Cambodia that reach from North Vietnam to South Vietnam. During the construction of this trail, native guides had to be used to guide the North Vietnamese troops through the wild countryside. Campsites that were built along the side of the trail grew into way points for troops to gather and rest. The trail stretched 800 miles and could take up to three months to travel by foot. Laos had been demilitarized during

5394-525: The Moscow -backed Far Eastern Republic . The continued Japanese presence concerned the United States, which suspected that Japan had territorial designs on Siberia and the Russian Far East . Subjected to intense diplomatic pressure by the United States and Great Britain, and facing increasing domestic opposition due to the economic and human cost, the administration of Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō withdrew

5580-530: The Nanjing Massacre being the most well known example. Other war crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army included rape and forced prostitution , death marches , using biological warfare against civilians, and the execution of prisoners of war. Such atrocities throughout the war caused tens of millions of deaths. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution renounced the right to use force as

5766-586: The SDECE French intelligence agency. Some of them would be used as cadres in the North Vietnam Commandos ( Commandos Nord Viêt-nam ). In 1951, French General de Lattre commander of the CEFEO ordered for the creation of the North Vietnam Commandos to Louis Fourcade. These remained operational until 1954 with Fourcade as the "Big Boss" ( le Grand Patron ) until June 21, 1953. Their mission

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5952-608: The Second Sino-Japanese War , in 1937. As war approached, the Imperial Army's influence with the Emperor waned and the influence of the Imperial Japanese Navy increased. Nevertheless, by 1938 the Army had been expanded to 34 divisions. From 1932 to 1945 the Empire of Japan and the Soviet Union had a series of conflicts . Japan had set its military sights on Soviet territory as a result of

6138-632: The Yalta Conference , Stalin agreed to declare war on Japan; and on August 5, 1945, the Soviet Union voided their neutrality agreement with Japan. In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army had 51 divisions and various special-purpose artillery, cavalry, anti-aircraft, and armored units with a total of 1,700,000 people. At the beginning of the Second World War , most of the Japanese Army (27 divisions)

6324-461: The siege of the diplomatic legations in Beijing . An international force consisting of British , French , Russian , German , Italian , Austro-Hungarian , American , and Japanese troops was eventually assembled to relieve the legations. The Japanese provided the largest contingent of troops, 20,840, as well as 18 warships. A small, hastily assembled, vanguard force of about 2,000 troops, under

6510-453: The 1890s, the Imperial Japanese Army had grown to become the most modern army in Asia: well-trained, well-equipped, and with good morale. However, it was basically an infantry force deficient in cavalry and artillery when compared with its European contemporaries. Artillery pieces, which were purchased from America and a variety of European nations, presented two problems: they were scarce, and

6696-448: The 1960s. The North Vietnamese however did not respect the Laos treaty with the U.S., Instead, the North Vietnamese disregarded the peace treaty and begun their construction of the trail to aid their southern Vietnamese allies. Pictures revealing the trail's construction were taken by Vietnamese journalists. However, some of the greatest dangers were not the humans following the trail but rather

6882-555: The Accords addressed the issue of what to do with Vietnam since the Viet Minh had ended colonial rule in the north. Although the United States had agreed to respect the Accords, it would not sign them because the U.S. government disagreed with the provision that split Vietnam at the 17th parallel. These Accords would come to play a major role in the United States' decision to interfere with the situation in Vietnam. The U.S. government had provided

7068-499: The CIA became interested hitting at North Vietnam's navy; the agency called it Operation VULCAN. In order to fulfill this operation, the CIA hired "18 South Vietnamese who had been trained in underwater demolition" to target the port of Quảng Khê , which "was home to several of the DRV's Swatow-class gunboats ". The CIA was able to get The USS Catfish to do reconnaissance, and intelligence collection.

7254-455: The CIA did not make a concerted effort to gain a better understanding of the history and culture of Vietnam. The CIA instead focused on the military forces occupying the territory instead of the political and economic forces that motivated them. The diplomats were not getting clear information in 1954 and early 1955, but the CIA station "had ... no mandate or mission to perform systematic intelligence and espionage in friendly countries, and so lacks

7440-555: The CIA knew that losing Vietnam to Communism would place the rest of Southeast Asia at risk. Even before the CIA was formed, teams from the OSS , including one under Major Archimedes Patti , was in French Indochina , assessing the situation, and discussing alternatives with parties on all sides, including Ho Chi Minh . CIA officers moved to French Indochina in 1950 as a part of the legation of

7626-464: The CIA sent men to train Hmong fighters in guerrilla tactics, eventually engaging soon-to-be-General Pao's approximately 10,000 men. These Hmong forces would prove valuable to the CIA's tactics for the remainder of the war, despite insecurities on both sides as to the allegiance of the other. It was during 1961 that Vang Pao expressed concerns as to the dedication of the CIA in aiding and remaining supportive of

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7812-414: The CIA that Saigon was quiet, and that the CIA should stop reporting a coup was imminent or in progress. The CIA also reportedly recognized that Diem would have political issues as early as August 1954. It is reported that policy surrounding Diem was set with this in mind. Relations with Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, began as early as 1952, also signaling that the CIA predicted issues with Diem. Despite having

7998-720: The CIA was purposely aimed to wean the southern part from the Communist-controlled north through the 17th parallel. In order to prevent the North Communist military from gaining control over the entire Vietnamese region, the CIA and Diem's Special Forces established the rural self-defense units to mark the beginning of American counterinsurgency efforts in Vietnam. For the immediate nine years, the CIA will continue to work closely with Ngo Dinh Nhu to aid Diem in establishing national political institutions in South Vietnam. In 1954,

8184-433: The CIA would remain consistent in its activities in Vietnam. The CIA's expansion included various stations throughout Vietnam and Laos. A station was also located in Cambodia, but relations with that country were broken off in 1963 and reinstated only during the 1970s. The CIA stations, though initially used solely for gathering intelligence and providing interpretations of events in Indochina, came to gain as much importance as

8370-407: The CIDG so that they did not give the appearance of a "covert offensive military unity." Buon Enao was the "first CIDG Area Development Center, which controlled social and economic development services as well as the village defense system in the surrounding area." Tony Poe was recruited into the CIA after he graduated from San Jose State University and finished his training in 1953. Poe worked with

8556-597: The Chinese left Asan prior. However, when on 16 July, 8,000 Chinese troops landed near the entrance of the Taedong River to reinforce Chinese troops garrisoned in Pyongyang , the Japanese delivered Li Hongzhang an ultimatum, threatening to take action if any further troops were sent to Korea. Consequently, General Oshima in Seoul and commanders of the Japanese warships in Korean waters received orders allowing them to initiate military operations if any more Chinese troops were sent to Korea. Despite this ultimatum, Li, considered that Japanese were bluffing and were trying to probe

8742-424: The Chinese readiness to make concessions. He decided, therefore to reinforce Chinese forces in Asan with a further 2,500 troops, 1,300 of which arrived in Asan during the night of July 23–24. At the same time, in the early morning of July 23, the Japanese had taken control of the Royal Palace in Seoul and imprisoned King Gojong , forcing him to renounce ties with China. During the almost two-month interval prior to

8928-431: The Communist signing of the Geneva agreements had legitimized them, and they would need to immediately move to control the North while planning for long-term control of the country. It went on to say that the Viet Minh "will probably emphasize social and economic reforms and the participation of all political, economic, and religious groups in state activity." This National Intelligence Estimate went on to suggest that while

9114-407: The Diem government was in official control of the South, it remained unpopular because of a disconnect of the government from the people. Certain pro-French elements may have been planning to overthrow it. CIA experts also noted that Diem would have political issues on top of already sinking popularity. Viet Minh elements would remain in the South and create an underground resistance force, discredit

9300-606: The Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles approved a massive counterinsurgency program with the goal of launching a "village defense program in the lightly populated but strategically important Central Highlands." The involvement of the CIA rose substantially when they were given the task of supporting "irregular formations" that did not fall under other agencies' jurisdictions, which include civil wars, guerrilla wars, and rebellions. They were given this job because of an interagency task force recommendation in January 1962. Later that year in May 1962, Defense Secretary McNamara promised

9486-429: The Donghak Peasant Revolution would lead to Chinese intervention in Korea. As a result, soon after learning word about the Korean government's request for Chinese military help, immediately ordered all warships in the vicinity to be sent to Pusan and Chemulpo . On June 9, a formation of 420 rikusentai , selected from the crews of the Japanese warships was immediately dispatched to Seoul, where they served temporarily as

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9672-542: The Far East Division chief Desmond FitzGerald "a blank check...in terms of men, money, and material." This illustrates the important mission given to the CIA by the Department of Defense and the White House. CIA begins to sponsor and train the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) in the South-Central Highlands. These were local defense operations with a mobile support component, "Mike Force", made up primarily of Nung mercenaries. Most CIDG units eventually became Vietnamese Rangers. These forces were intended to help combat

9858-424: The French because it was found that the CIA would often bypass them to open channels to Vietnamese nationalists. CIA activity expanded when the Indochina region became three separate states and grew exponentially during the French War in 1953 to 1954 when France was essentially forced to accept American assistance with unconventional warfare activities. Despite this resilience by the French, CIA intelligence perceived

10044-515: The French from their lands. North Vietnamese troops were prepared to fight the French to the bitter end in order to ensure victory and their freedom. The loss of thousands of French men made it easy for North Vietnam and the Viet Cong to win the war. France lost a lot of their supporters of the war after many of their men were killed. It was also beneficial to the North Vietnamese efforts when they began to receive outside assistance. The Soviet Union sent military hardware that they used in combat against

10230-488: The French resilience of not needing their support. The CIA became convinced that without any action the southern part of Vietnam would fall to the communist control just as the North had been captured by the communist forces. The CIA without the approval of the State, supported Diem to step up a strong foothold in the Vietnamese region in the same year. The CIA's support for Diem could be traced to 1952, through an established relationship with his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu. The move by

10416-473: The French with logistical support in their mission to defeat the Viet Minh. It was only a matter of time, however, before the French needed military support as well. Essentially, the Geneva Accords forced the United States to decide if it was willing to provide such assistance. As historian Thomas L. Ahern Jr stated, "In the end, the importance of halting Communism overshadowed the risks, and the United States embarked on its 21-year effort to create in South Vietnam

10602-405: The French. After suffering a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954, France lost control of Viet Nam above latitude 17 degrees north; this came to be the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam. Soviet- and Chinese-made weapons and captured American ones given to the North Vietnamese army by China played a key role in the defeat of France. The CIA held classified documents which detail the threat of

10788-420: The Head-of-State, Bảo Đại made the most controversial decision concerning the armed forces of the new State of Vietnam: recognizing all non-communist military forces in the country as independent armies within the VNA. These forces included: Viet Binh Doan, Bao Chinh Doan, Bình Xuyên (approximately 40,000 strong), Hòa Hảo (30,000 men under different leaders) and Cao Đài (25,000 men). Doing so, Bảo Đại solved

10974-411: The Hmong after their use in the Vietnam War. Laos, in 1961, was more important than even the incoming president knew. Kennedy had organized a meeting with Eisenhower, who was on his way out of the Oval Office, to discuss the strategic importance of Laos. They discussed "keeping the 'cork in the bottle'...to prevent communist dominion over most of the Far East." Eisenhower saw Laos as so important, that he

11160-557: The Hmong starting in March 1961. He was then transferred to Long Tieng. In Long Tieng Poe ran field missions with the Hmong partisans. After he took an enemy round in the stomach in January 1965, and one-too-many confrontations with Vang Pao, Poshepny was transferred up-country, to the land of Yao tribesmen. The tribesmen thought of him as "a drinker and an authoritarian commander and a mercurial leader, who could threaten and bribe to get his way" He died on June 27, 2003. In February 1962, two disgruntled South Vietnamese air force pilots bombed

11346-415: The Imperial Japanese Army received a rather meagre salary; however, the cost of living in Japan was also cheaper than in most Western nations. The below table gives figures from December 1941, when one Japanese yen was worth approximately $ 0.23. For comparison, in 1942, an American private was paid approximately $ 50 per month (or 204 yen), meaning the lowest ranking soldier in the United States military

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11532-399: The Imperial Japanese Army was involved was the careful and well executed attack on the German concession of Qingdao in 1914 and the seizure of various other small German islands and colonies. During 1917–18, Japan continued to extend its influence and privileges in China via the Nishihara Loans . During the Siberian Intervention , following the collapse of the Russian Empire after

11718-451: The Japanese forces in October 1922. In the 1920s the Imperial Japanese Army expanded rapidly and by 1927 had a force of 300,000 men. Unlike western countries, the Army enjoyed a great deal of independence from government. Under the provisions of the Meiji Constitution , the War Minister was held accountable only to the Emperor ( Hirohito ) himself, and not to the elected civilian government. In fact, Japanese civilian administrations needed

11904-399: The Japanese of the action. It was decided to send 2,500 men to Asan , about 70 km from the capital Seoul. The troops arrived in Asan on June 9 and were additionally reinforced by 400 more on June 25, a total of about 2,900 Chinese soldiers were at Asan. From the very outset the developments in Korea had been carefully observed in Tokyo. Japanese government had soon become convinced that

12090-409: The Japanese, constituting slightly less than half of the assault force, accounted for almost two-thirds of the losses, 280 of 453. The Russo–Japanese War (1904–1905) was the result of tensions between Russia and Japan , grown largely out of rival imperialist ambitions toward Manchuria and Korea . The Japanese army inflicted severe losses against the Russians; however, they were not able to deal

12276-509: The North Vietnamese. The document concludes that the mission was considered successful and the military was prepared to continue such operations which often ended with the summary of "mission successful, price heavy". The Geneva Agreements were proposed in order to end suspension of flights that went through the Laotian airspace. The agreement went into place in October 1962. Later, the CIA grew afraid that they might demoralize their liaison partners so they did not disclose information pertaining to

12462-431: The North. It initially had roughly 25 000 troops, including about 10 000 irregulars. 1000 French officers were given the task of training and supervising the new army. The State of Vietnam was proclaimed on July 2 of the same year, with former Vietnamese emperor Bảo Đại as Chief of State. The VNA's ranks gradually grew as the VNA fought alongside the French against the communist Việt Minh led by Ho Chi Minh during

12648-584: The Philippines, had its first medical team beginning in late 1954. By 1955, it had more than 100 doctors and nurses at 10 medical center locations in South Vietnam to treat refugees and to train Vietnamese medical personnel. The second pacification operation was launched late April 1955 in the southern Dinh Dinh and northern Phu Yen portion of Central Vietnam . North Vietnamese troops needed a way to link themselves with their allies in Southern Vietnam. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers were able to supply troops and military operations through secret tunnels and

12834-409: The Philippines. Part of this meant proposing a legislature and a judicial system to signal that Diem was open to checks and balances and was not trying to be beyond reproach in his position. By April 1956 Diem had considered and rejected the model proposed by Orendain and was more concerned about the broad authority he needed that very moment. All the while Lansdale had little to no real oversight from

13020-452: The Philippines. Although Lansdale worked for the OSS briefly in World War II, he was never a CIA employee. Working in close cooperation with the U.S. Information Agency , a new psychological warfare campaign was devised for the Vietnamese Army and for the government in Hanoi. Shortly after, a refresher course in combat psy-war was constructed. One example of psychological warfare dealt directly with misinformation. Lansdale would later recall

13206-446: The Royal Laotian Armed Forces, Vang Pao. Pao was a member of the nomadic Hmong tribe, a southeast Asian ethnic minority dwelling primarily in the mountains of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the CIA quickly realized the potential use of the Hmong as guerrilla fighters against Laotian as well as North Vietnamese communist forces. First donations of food, blankets, and then by January 24, 1961, 300 Hmong received weapons to Vang Pao's troops,

13392-461: The State (or Nation) of Vietnam', chữ Hán : 軍隊國家越南 ; French : Armée Nationale Vietnamienne , lit.   'Vietnamese National Army') was the State of Vietnam 's military force created shortly after the Élysée Accords , where the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại . It was commanded by Vietnamese General Hinh and

13578-554: The U.S. embassy in its scale of political relations with the South Vietnamese government due to its broad range of activities. The CIA stations in Vietnam were also responsible for conducting a full-scale war in Laos at that time in addition to South Vietnam paramilitary operations. In 1961, the U.S. government entrusted the CIA with irregular operations in Laos with the intent of negotiated settlement. In Vietnam, U.S. Army Special Forces teams were engaged in tribal programs similar to

13764-521: The United Kingdom, by any standards, despite being widely considered a "first rate" or professional fighting force, men serving in the IJA were very poorly compensated. Complicating matters further was that, by 1942, most Japanese soldiers were paid using the Japanese military yen (JMY), an unsupported currency that could not be redeemed for the regular Japanese yen. In territories under Japanese occupation,

13950-696: The United States and its allied coalition partners withdrew from Vladivostok , after the capture and execution of the White Army leader, Admiral Kolchak, by the Red Army. However, the Japanese decided to stay, primarily due to fears of the spread of communism so close to Japan and Japanese-controlled Korea . The Japanese Army provided military support to the Japanese-backed Provisional Priamurye Government , based in Vladivostok, against

14136-453: The United States in the city of Saigon. After their arrival, CIA involvement expanded to a new large base in Hanoi. The CIA's activities in Vietnam did not grow any further due to the French discouraging CIA activity (the French were still clinging to the idea that they could one day still dominate Vietnam and the U.S. was against this course of action). CIA involvement in Vietnam was discouraged by

14322-644: The United States sent forces to Siberia to bolster the armies of the White movement leader Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak against the Bolshevik Red Army . Once the political decision had been reached, the Imperial Japanese Army took over full control under Chief of Staff General Yui Mitsue ; and by November 1918, more than 70,000 Japanese troops had occupied all ports and major towns in the Russian Maritime Provinces and eastern Siberia. In June 1920,

14508-577: The United States. In July 1918, the U.S. President , Woodrow Wilson , asked the Japanese government to supply 7,000 troops as part of an international coalition of 24,000 troops to support the American Expeditionary Force Siberia . After a heated debate in the Diet , the government of Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake agreed to send 12,000 troops, but under the command of Japan, rather than as part of an international coalition. Japan and

14694-783: The VNA but the French CEFEO. Other officer and NCO alumni were coming from all French Union national armed forces including Cambodia , Overseas ( Martinique , Reunion , French Guiana ), metropolitan French and " French citizens " of French West Africa and India. On April 20, 1952, the Dalat military academy celebrated its first promotion ( Hoàng Diệu ) with a " baptism " which is the Saint Cyr -French West Point - fashion. Celebrating officials included Chief of State, H.M. Emperor Bảo Đại , Prime Minister Trần Văn Hữu , General Governor of French Indochina Gautier and French General Salan , commander of

14880-672: The Vatchay Light Infantry Commando school located in the Halong Bay , were trained to anti-guerrilla warfare including bayonet fighting, close quarters combat , jujutsu art, river crossing, basic rope bridge (known as "monkey bridge") crossing, enhanced camouflage , minefield crossing, barbed wire field crossing and trench warfare . Military ranks were organized after the French army 's hierarchy. Shoulder patch insignia would have three, two or one bar or star. Generals would have three stars while NCO officers with

15066-684: The Viet Cong or the Vietnamese Communists against the French. The CIA feared the loss of control of Vietnam. They wished for the French to remain in power. The six-page document from 1950, explains the position of the Central Intelligence Agency on Indochina. While the Viet Cong was trying to expel France from power in Vietnam, there was also a fear that there would be an intervention from the Chinese Communists. Regardless of this,

15252-579: The Viet Cong ranks or North Vietnam at the time. Many of the contacts that they had were double agents run by the Viet Cong. Much of the intelligence gathered regarding North Vietnam was unreliable. U.S. and South Vietnamese military personnel believed that the bulk of North Vietnamese supplies were being shipped over the Ho Chi Minh trail, however, more than 80 percent of Northern supplies were sent by sea. U.S. Special Forces also began to train some Laotian soldiers in unconventional warfare techniques as early as

15438-443: The Viet Minh continued to attack. The authors of the report feared that, "if these attacks [were to] develop into a coordinated, a large-scale Viet Minh offensive, an action which [might] soon be within Viet Minh capabilities, French maintenance of control over Indochina – by means of their own forces alone – [would] be seriously threatened." This document also noted French hesitancy to bolster the Viet Minh, "apparently fearing that such

15624-538: The Vietnamese army; the scope of U.S. aid to the French was greatly expanded during and after the Eisenhower administration. Without aid from the United States, there would be little practical effect from this ostensible change in French policy. There was a reestablishment of a covert action section in Saigon Station. There was also unilateral covert action which was suspended in 1953 under State Department pressure. This

15810-426: The Vietnamese. During 1953–1954, the involvement of the CIA increased when the French finally accepted U.S. assistance with the unconventional (guerrilla) warfare tactics they faced, as the French were facing large and costly losses at the hands of what would become the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese forces. The primary aid initially offered by the U.S. was military aid in supplying military hardware and training of

15996-612: The World War II U.S. or Australian Imperial similar Slouch hat ( chapeau de brousse nicknamed "broussard"). Uniforms were mixed U.S., French and British ( SAS airborne). Heavier equipment of the armoured cavalry was made of World War II vintage U.S. light tanks as they had the ability to be drop stripped and assembled by specialized engineering companies on location. Việt Minh captured arms like German Karabiner 98k with bayonet , U.S. Browning MGs or Japanese "knee mortars" were sometimes used. These arms would often be supplied to

16182-559: The World War Two era submarine confirmed that the Swatows were indeed at Quang Khe. Aerial Reconnaissance confirmed three Swatows each having "frogmen" attached to their demolition.  In June 1962, the demolition crew, called the "frogmen", were carried by the Nautilus III within swimming distance of the North Vietnamese port, at which point the divers swam to the various military ships in

16368-478: The advantages of participating in an allied coalition were too attractive to ignore. Prime Minister Yamagata likewise concurred, but others in the cabinet demanded that there be guarantees from the British in return for the risks and costs of a major deployment of Japanese troops. On July 6, the 5th Infantry Division was alerted for possible deployment to China, but without a timetable being set. Two days later, on July 8, with more ground troops urgently needed to lift

16554-493: The agency's broad span of activities reached into almost every aspect of the Indochina war. The agency conducted several paramilitary programs and conducted a full-scale war in Laos and South Vietnam . Following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, the United States anticipated the expansion of Communism in Vietnam and Southeast Asia as a whole, if they should sit aloof and keep to

16740-492: The armed forces. In 1931, the Imperial Japanese Army had an overall strength of 198,880 officers and men, organized into 17 divisions. The Manchurian incident , as it became known in Japan, was a pretended sabotage of a local Japanese-owned railway, an attack staged by Japan but blamed on Chinese dissidents. Action by the military, largely independent of the civilian leadership, led to the invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and, later, to

16926-413: The arming and training of paramilitary forces. While preventing a communist Laos remained the objective of the CIA for the next 14 years, the focus of their paramilitary operations changed over time. Until 1964, the Hmong fighters in Laos focused on trying to fight back North Vietnamese fighters and on preventing further encroachment. They were highly important, because the U.S. hadn't begun putting troops on

17112-475: The army numbered approximately 17,900 from a population of 35 million at the time; it doubled to about 33,000 in 1875. The conscription program slowly built up the numbers. Public unrest began in 1874, reaching the apex in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, which used the slogans, "oppose conscription", "oppose elementary schools", and "fight Korea". It took a year for the new army to crush the uprising, but

17298-460: The army of this state was established before. According to the national defense decree of the State of Vietnam dated April 13, 1949; a national military force named the "National Guard" established on the basis of the pro-French autonomous military forces of the Vietnamese in the North and Central and South, including the paramilitary organization of the right-wing Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam in

17484-471: The army would undertake immediate landings on the coast between Shanhaiguan and Tianjin, and advance to the Zhili plain in order to defeat the main Chinese forces and bring the war to a swift conclusion. If neither side gained control of the sea and supremacy, the army would concentrate on the occupation of Korea and exclude Chinese influence there. Lastly, if the navy was defeated and consequently lost command of

17670-416: The army, those who failed the exam were excused from all examinations except for the national guard. Recruits who passed entered the draft lottery, where some were selected for active duty. A smaller group would be selected for replacement duty ( hojū-eki ) should anything happen to any of the active duty soldiers; the rest were dismissed. One of the primary differences between the samurai and the peasant class

17856-411: The arrival of William Colby in the region, and it became increasingly noticeable throughout 1959 that Diem was becoming paranoid regarding security issues and the military. This time saw a constant back and forth between Diem and Nhu over control of the military in the region. The year 1959 saw Diem's authority quickly being lessened, as Tran Quoc Bhu had insisted upon it. The CIA had very few contacts in

18042-450: The assignment of developing a paramilitary organization in the north.... A second paramilitary team for the south was formed, with Army Lieutenant Edward Williams doing double duty as the only experienced counter-espionage officer, working with revolutionary political groups. Working with available data, the CIA produced a National Intelligence Estimate in August 1954. It began by stating that

18228-517: The benefit of expert warnings, it is clear that the CIA acted beyond the scope of its experts. By 31 January 1955, a paramilitary group had cached its supplies in Haiphong, having had them shipped by Civil Air Transport , a CIA proprietary airline belonging to the Directorate of Support. Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu had been exploited by the help of CIA advisors to help defeat one of the challenges to

18414-518: The cadres formation raised with 54 new battalions raised and hundreds of young Vietnamese officers commissioned. By November the Vietnamese National Army was almost wholly manned by Vietnamese personnel of all ranks. On the other hand, until 1954 some Vietnamese were trained four months in Infantry Instruction Centers ( Centre d'Instruction de l'Infanterie, CII ) based in southern Vietnam. Once licensed these recruits would not be part of

18600-400: The campaign, the imperial government established logistical relay stations along three major highways. These small depots held stockpiled material supplied by local pro-government domains, or confiscated from the bakufu and others opposing the imperial government. Local villagers were routinely impressed as porters to move and deliver supplies between the depots and frontline units. Initially,

18786-402: The cause – such as Tottori ( Inaba ) , Aki ( Hiroshima ) , and Hizen ( Saga )  – emerged to take a more active role in military operations. Western domains that had either supported the shogunate or remained neutral also quickly announced their support of the restoration movement. The nascent Meiji state required a new military command for its operations against

18972-476: The city. The allies then consolidated and awaited the remainder of the 5th Division and other coalition reinforcements. In early August, the expedition pushed towards the capital where on August 14, it lifted the Boxer siege. By that time, the 13,000-strong Japanese force was the largest single contingent, making up about 40 percent of the approximately 33,000 strong allied expeditionary force. Japanese troops involved in

19158-526: The command of British Admiral Edward Seymour, departed by rail, from Tianjin, for the legations in early June. On June 12, mixed Boxer and Chinese regular army forces halted the advance, some 30 miles from the capital. The road-bound and badly outnumbered allies withdrew to the vicinity of Tianjin , having suffered more than 300 casualties. The army general staff in Tokyo became aware of the worsening conditions in China and had drafted ambitious contingency plans, but

19344-575: The creation of an Imperial Guard ( Goshinpei ) of six thousand men, consisting of nine infantry battalions, two artillery batteries and two cavalry squadrons. The emperor donated 100,000 ryō to underwrite the new unit, which was subordinate to the court. It was composed of members of the Satsuma, Chōshū and Tosa domains, who had led the restoration. Satsuma provided four battalions of infantry and four artillery batteries; Chōshū provided three battalions of infantry; Tosa two battalions of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and two artillery batteries. For

19530-498: The declaration of war, the two service staffs developed a two-stage operational plan against China. The army's 5th Division would land at Chemulpo to prevent a Chinese advance in Korea while the navy would engage the Beiyang fleet in a decisive battle in order to secure control of the seas. If the navy defeated the Chinese fleet decisively and secured command of the seas, the larger part of

19716-546: The encounter at Toba–Fushimi, as well as yeoman and masterless samurai from various domains. The imperial court told the domains to restrict the size of their local armies and to contribute to funding a national officers' training school in Kyoto. However, within a few months the government disbanded both the military branch and the imperial bodyguard: the former was ineffective while the latter lacked modern weaponry and equipment. To replace them, two new organizations were created. One

19902-664: The entry to the Bohai Gulf, in mid-October. While, the First Army pursued the remaining Chinese forces from Korea across the Yalu River, Second Army occupied the city of Dairen on November 8 and then seized the fortress and harbor at Port Arthur on November 25. Farther north, the First army's offensive stalled and was beset by supply problems and winter weather. In 1899–1900, Boxer attacks against foreigners in China intensified, resulting in

20088-542: The event in his memoirs: "The first idea was used just before the French quit the city of Hanoi and turned over control to the Viet Minh . At the time, the Communist apparatus inside the city was busy with secret plans to ready the population to welcome the entry of Viet Minh troops. I suggested that my nationalist friends issue a fake Community manifesto, ordering everyone in the city except essential hospital employees to be out on

20274-504: The expense of the domains advocated for the creation of a standing national army along European lines under the control of the government , the introduction of conscription for commoners and the abolition of the samurai class. Ōkubo Toshimichi preferred a small volunteer force consisting of former samurai. Ōmura's views for modernizing Japan's military led to his assassination in 1869 and his ideas were largely implemented after his death by Yamagata Aritomo . Aritomo has been described as

20460-460: The fall of 1959 under the code name Erawan. This was because after President Kennedy took power who refused to send more American soldiers to battle in Southeast Asia. Instead, he called upon the CIA to use its "tribal forces" in Laos and to "make every possible effort to launch guerrilla operations in North Vietnam with its Asian recruits." Hence, under this code name, General Vang Pao , who served

20646-580: The father of the Imperial Japanese Army. Yamagata had commanded mixed commoner-samurai Chōshū units during the Boshin War and was convinced of the merit of peasant soldiers. Although he himself was part of the samurai class, albeit of insignificant lower status, Yamagata distrusted the warrior class, several members of whom he regarded as clear dangers to the Meiji state. In March 1871, the War Ministry announced

20832-470: The fighting had acquitted themselves well, although a British military observer felt their aggressiveness, densely packed formations, and over-willingness to attack cost them excessive casualties. For example, during the Tianjin fighting, the Japanese, while comprising less than one quarter (3,800) of the total allied force of 17,000, suffered more than half of the casualties, 400 out of 730. Similarly at Beijing,

21018-555: The fighting resulted in around a thousand casualties, and tens of thousands more homeless. In January 1956 Diem promulgated Ordinance 6, which authorized detention and reeducation for anyone considered a danger to the state. This led to a problem of overcrowding as there were already 20,000 alleged communists that had been placed in detention camps since 1954, according to Diem's Information Ministry. Lansdale claimed that there were 7,000 political detainees in Saigon's Chi Hoa prison alone. Operation Brotherhood, created by Ramon Magsaysay in

21204-400: The first time, the Meiji government was able to organize a large body of soldiers under a consistent rank and pay scheme with uniforms, which were loyal to the government rather than the domains. The Imperial Guard's principal mission was to protect the throne by suppressing domestic samurai revolts, peasant uprisings and anti-government demonstrations. The possession of this military force was

21390-410: The foreign menace, little substantive planning was directed against Russia. In February 1872, the military ministry was abolished and separate army and navy ministries were established. The conscription ordinance enacted on January 10, 1873, made universal military service compulsory for all male subjects in the country. The law called for a total of seven years of military service: three years in

21576-772: The founding of the Republic of Vietnam in 1955, the VNA was renamed the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Its military ranks and hierarchy were reformed. Organized as a modern army the Ground Force included artillery, infantry, signal communications and armored cavalry units. In 1953, the ANV formed six mobile groups - the GM 11, 21, 31, 32, 41 and 42 - made up of three infantry battalions and an artillery group, as well as an airborne group, groupement aéroporté 3. Airborne regiments including paratrooper "TDND" ( Tieu Doan Nhay Du , "Commando Battalion"),

21762-516: The government, and undermine French-Vietnamese relations. On October 26, 1954, Lansdale lured two key personnel in a planned coup against South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem out of the country. Lansdale invited Hinh and staff to visit the Philippines. U.S. personnel dealing with the Government of Vietnam had difficulties understanding Vietnamese politics. This can be attributed to the fact that

21948-653: The government, in light of the Triple Intervention refused to deploy large forces unless requested by the western powers. However, three days later, the general staff did dispatch a provisional force of 1,300 troops, commanded by Major General Fukushima Yasumasa , to northern China. Fukushima was chosen because his ability to speak fluent English which enabled him to communicate with the British commander. The force landed near Tianjin on July 5. On June 17, with tensions increasing, naval Rikusentai from Japanese ships had joined British, Russian, and German sailors to seize

22134-419: The ground in any great numbers, yet. After that, in 1965, the report describes the Hmong activities in Laos as "flitt[ing] over mountain trails or mov[ing] by air to occupy key high ground and to harass Hanoi's tanks and artillery," meaning that U.S. troops took on a frontline role and asked the paramilitary forces to operate in more difficult terrain and in less standard ways. The Buon Enao Project Buon Enao

22320-496: The guerrilla tactics of the Vietcong.The CIDG grew out of a Military Operations Section (MOS) program led by Gilbert Layton. Layton's priority was strengthening the intelligence network in the country, specifically in the border regions with Cambodia and Laos. Layton sought to find locals that could gather intelligence on Viet Cong installations in the area. He proposed a program "designed to recruit as many as 1,000 tribesmen to operate in

22506-418: The guerrilla-infested high plateau areas bordering on northern Cambodia and South Laos." His proposal for a crop station and seed distribution was approved but it suffered many delays and problems. CIA Deputy Chief William Colby expanded the intelligence gathering operation into a defense building operation known as the "Montagnard defense program." In 1961, the CIA also strengthened contact with then-captain in

22692-716: The guerrillas by China as captured material from the Chinese Civil War (the NRA had been supplied by both Nazi Germany and the USA) or left behind by the Japanese Southern Expeditionary Army Group after the Pacific War . With the 1954 cease-fire, pro-French and optimistic General Nguyễn Văn Hinh stated that as early as 1955 "a Vietnamese division will be sent to France as compensation for sacrifices in Indochina by

22878-473: The imperial institution. Top-ranking military leaders were given direct access to the Emperor and the authority to transmit his pronouncements directly to the troops. The sympathetic relationship between conscripts and officers, particularly junior officers who were drawn mostly from the peasantry, tended to draw the military closer to the people. In time, most people came to look more for guidance in national matters more to military than to political leaders. By

23064-484: The last holdouts but there are reports of other Japanese holdout later then December 1974. Total military in August 1945 was 6,095,000 including 676,863 Army Air Service. Over the course of the Imperial Japanese Army's existence, millions of its soldiers were either killed , wounded or listed as missing in action . Vietnamese National Army The Vietnamese National Army ( VNA ; Vietnamese : Quân đội Quốc gia Việt Nam , lit.   'Military of

23250-496: The latter. This great unit will participate in the defense of Europe as part of the opposition between the western and eastern blocs." However the European Defence Community project was rejected by France and Nguyễn Văn Hinh's French counter-intelligence SDECE / GCMA -backed planned coup (scheduled for end October 1954) against pro-USA and CIA -backed ( Edward Lansdale ) Ngô Đình Diệm failed. The Vietnamese general

23436-416: The loose assembly of domain forces with the imperial court , which was the only national institution in a still unformed nation-state. The army continually emphasized its link with the imperial court: firstly, to legitimize its cause; secondly, to brand enemies of the imperial government as enemies of the court and traitors; and, lastly, to gain popular support. To supply food, weapons, and other supplies for

23622-404: The mid 19th century. The people of North Vietnam rallied around their recently returned revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and looked to him to gain at long last, their independence. The French spent nine years (1946–54) attempting to regain control of Vietnam. France did not realize that the current Vietnamese were much stronger than those that they were familiar with. They greatly underestimated

23808-496: The military and diplomats, and Lansdale was no longer involved with Vietnam. On May 11, 1961, President Kennedy gave the authorization to begin "a program for covert actions to be carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency which would precede and remain in force after any commitment of U.S. forces to South Vietnam." Kennedy was giving the CIA the job of preparing for the eventual landing of U.S. troops. Later that year, in October 1961

23994-439: The military yen – or "Japanese invasion money", as it came to be known by the locals – was the only legal tender in circulation. The Japanese authorities seized or ordered surrendered all other bank notes in territories under their occupation and provided compensation at an "exchange rate" as they saw fit, in the form of JMYs. This had the effect of affording Japanese soldiers in many occupied territories

24180-644: The modern army of Japan. Separately, some soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army continued to fight on isolated Pacific islands until at least the 1970s, with the last known Japanese soldier surrendering in 1974. Intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda , who surrendered on Lubang Island in the Philippines in March 1974, and Teruo Nakamura , who surrendered on the Indonesian island of Morotai in December 1974, appear to have been

24366-406: The mother nature one would encounter along the way. Guides were needed for groups to navigate the dangerous trail. Snakes and spiders would flood the clothing of travelers along with dangerous terrain. For these reasons, travelers needed to practice great precaution along the way. The trail quickly became one of the secret forces of the war. Once United States officials gathered intelligence about

24552-552: The nation depended upon the cooperation of its vassals' armies. The opening of the country after two centuries of seclusion subsequently led to the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War in 1868. The domains of Satsuma and Chōshū came to dominate the coalition against the shogunate. On 27 January 1868, tensions between the shogunate and imperial sides came to a head when Tokugawa Yoshinobu marched on Kyoto , accompanied by

24738-628: The navy was unable to bring the Beiyang fleet into battle in mid-August, temporarily withdrew from the Yellow Sea to refit and replenish its ships. As a consequence, in late August the general staff ordered an advance overland to the Zhili plain via Korea in order to capture bases on the Liaodong Peninsula to prevent Chinese forces from interfering with the drive on Beijing. The First Army with two divisions

24924-425: The need for a strong centralized authority and although the imperial side was victorious, the early Meiji government was weak and the leaders had to maintain their standing with their domains whose military forces was essential for whatever the government needed to achieve. The leaders of the restoration were divided over the future organization of the army. Ōmura Masujirō who had sought a strong central government at

25110-527: The new Prime Minister's authority. Lansdale and the South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem had been working together; however, they did not agree on the government system they wanted in South Vietnam. In August 1955, Lansdale brought Juan Orendain, a Filipino constitutional scholar, to Saigon in order to sway Diem in a direction similar to the American system. Lansdale was hoping he could have the same effect on Diem as he had previously when working with Magsaysay in

25296-527: The new army created resentment among the samurai class. Although the nascent Meiji government achieved military success, the war left a residue of disgruntled warriors and marginalized commoners, together with a torn social fabric. After the defeat of the Tokugawa shogunate and operations in Northeastern Honshu and Hokkaido a true national army did not exist. Many in the restoration coalition had recognized

25482-503: The new army fought under makeshift arrangements, with unclear channels of command and control and no reliable recruiting base. Although fighting for the imperial cause, many of the units were loyal to their domains rather than the imperial court. In March 1869, the imperial government created various administrative offices, including a military branch; and in the following month organized an imperial bodyguard of 400 to 500, which consisted of Satsuma and Chōshū troops strengthened by veterans of

25668-539: The newly appointed ambassador, U.S. Special Representative in Vietnam General J. Lawton Collins , sign the following agreements: Both generals acknowledge the size of the new force would be insufficient to protect South Viet Nam against an external aggression, hence ultimate reliance is placed on the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization ( Cold War era Asian equivalent to NATO ) which France and

25854-612: The one with Vang Pao. However, the CIA was in operation control because any deployment of Vietnam-based units to or across the Laotian border would be clandestine. The CIA was instructed by Washington to make decisions and which indigenous elements would participate. Another key event that occurred in 1954 was the creation of the Geneva Accords. Signed by France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and three Associated States of Indochina including Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam,

26040-471: The opposing Communist-led military force which has once adopted the synonymous name National Army of Vietnam (also Quân đội Quốc gia Việt Nam ) in about the same period but then soon renamed itself as the existing Vietnam People’s Army . On 26 October 1955, the VNA was reorganized as the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces . The Vietnamese National Army was officially created on 8 December 1950. However,

26226-499: The outcome of the naval operations. Clashes between Chinese and Japanese forces at Pungdo and Seongwhan caused irreversible changes to Sino-Japanese relations and meant that a state of war now existed between the two countries. The two governments officially declared war on August 1. Initially, the general staff's objective was to secure the Korean peninsula before the arrival of winter and then land forces near Shanhaiguan. However, as

26412-466: The policy basis that halted some operations. TARZAN was developed in order to monitor the North Vietnamese road traffic and then the findings would be taken back to the CIA. They were a sabotage team that was released near Route 2. On December 30, a sabotage team that was sponsored by SEPES was called LYRE. This was a part of the nine teams developed that often did not go into full effect. Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA )

26598-469: The port and attached their bombs. However, "how many of them detonated remained unclear, for one of them went off prematurely, with the swimmer already spotted and trying to escape". One Frogman is believed to have been caught in the explosion of one gunboat and died. The Nautilus III was chased down by a Swatow at which point the Swatow collided with the Nautilus III , and all crew, except one, were captured by

26784-465: The presidential palace in hopes of killing Diem and forcing a new leadership, but their plan failed as he was in a different part of the palace when the attack happened. Diem reassigned military officers to improve his security, however, he still did not undertake political reforms. It was also agreed upon in 1962 to grow the Laotian irregulars despite potential diplomatic consequences. In the Spring of 1962,

26970-500: The pro-imperial forces officially an Imperial army. The bakufu forces eventually retreated to Osaka, with the remaining forces ordered to retreat to Edo. Yoshinobu and his closest advisors left for Edo by ship. The encounter at Toba–Fushimi between the imperial and shogunate forces marked the beginning of the conflict. With the court in Kyoto firmly behind the Satsuma-Chōshū-Tosa coalition, other domains that were sympathetic to

27156-654: The problem of having to spread the army too thin in the war against the Việt Minh. Furthermore, the independent forces did not need money from the central government since they either were self-financed through clandestine activities or they were armed and financed by Savani's 2e Bureau in Vietnam. The Bình Xuyên was an organized crime military force in Saigon that provided part of Bảo Đại's luxury life. In 1955, with Lansdale 's support, Prime Minister Diem ordered all forces to surrender their weapons and to be part of one army. Some groups joined willingly while others were attacked by

27342-436: The provinces of Zhili , Shandong and in Manchuria, as a result of the tense situation on the Korean peninsula. These actions were planned more as an armed demonstration intended to strengthen the Chinese position in Korea, rather than as a preparation for war with Japan. On June 3, the Chinese government accepted the requests from the Korean government to send troops to help quell the rebellion, additionally they also informed

27528-520: The regular VNA. By late 1955, all these forces ceased to exist. Many of their ranks joined the NVA or the Việt Minh, while others returned to a civilian life. Just like in the CEFEO, most of the VNA's military equipment was World War II vintage. Firearms were mixed U.S. and French. Helmets were mostly U.S. M1 Helmet (and airborne version) with some French copy "Model 51" ( modèle 51 , M51) and certain units wearing

27714-431: The regular army ( jōbigun ), two years in the reserve ( dai'ichi kōbigun ), and an additional two years in the second reserve ( daini kōbigun ). All able-bodied males between the ages of 17 and 40 were considered members of the national guard ( kokumingun ), which would only see service in a severe national crisis, such as an attack or invasion of Japan. The conscription examination decided which group of recruits would enter

27900-493: The relatively small number that were available were of several different calibers , causing problems with ammunition supply. In the early months of 1894, the Donghak Peasant Revolution broke out in southern Korea and had soon spread throughout the rest of the country, threatening the Korea capital Seoul , itself. The Chinese, since the beginning of May had taken steps to prepare the mobilization of their forces in

28086-408: The resources to gather and evaluate the large amounts of information required on political forces, corruption, connections, and so on." In Thomas Ahern's monograph, he stops short of saying that the agency was an actor in the coup that overthrew South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem . Within the monograph it is noted that on the morning of the coup the U.S. Military Command in Vietnam (MACV) advised

28272-529: The rest of the CIA as these actions were taking place. Though he took advantage of this autonomy to improvise, it also meant he had little to no backup to enforce or further persuade Diem into a governmental separation of powers. During one encounter in early 1955, Diem rejected US ambassadorial representative J. Lawton Collins 's nominee for commander of the Army of Republic of Vietnam . Collins wanted competence, whereas Diem preferred someone loyal. On April 27, 1955,

28458-414: The rival Vietnamese state in the north. In early May, civil war ensued in the capital of South Vietnam when the VNA fought General Lê Văn Viễn's Bình Xuyên forces in the latter's controlled areas of Saigon. By 1956 all French Union troops withdrew from Vietnam and most of the VNA officers remained in service in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . After the fall of Saigon breaking in 1975, some joined

28644-544: The royal Lao family was recruited. He then recruited and trained his Hmong soldiers to ally with the CIA and fight against the communist North. In April 1961, Lansdale, who had been designated the Operations Officer for an interagency Task Force in charge of political, military, economic, psychological, and covert character, was to go to Vietnam. Changes of policy in Washington however, transferred these responsibilities to

28830-414: The sea, Japanese forces in Korea would be ordered to hang on and fight a rearguard action while the bulk of the army would remain in Japan in preparation to repel a Chinese invasion. This worst-case scenario also foresaw attempts to rescue the beleaguered 5th Division in Korea while simultaneously strengthening homeland defenses. The army's contingency plans which were both offensive and defensive, depended on

29016-469: The shogunate. In 1868, the "Imperial Army" being just a loose amalgam of domain armies, the government created four military divisions: the Tōkaidō , Tōsandō , San'indō , and Hokurikudō , each of which was named for a major highway. Overseeing these four armies was a new high command, the Eastern Expeditionary High Command ( Tōsei daisō tokufu ), whose nominal head was prince Arisugawa-no-miya , with two court nobles as senior staff officers. This connected

29202-526: The siege of the foreign legations at Beijing, the British ambassador offered the Japanese government one million British pounds in exchange for Japanese participation. Shortly afterward, advance units of the 5th Division departed for China, bringing Japanese strength to 3,800 personnel, of the then-17,000 allied force. The commander of the 5th Division, Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi, had taken operational control from Fukushima. A second, stronger allied expeditionary army stormed Tianjin , on July 14, and occupied

29388-716: The so-called 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th BAWOUAN, were later created. These elite units were referred as the "BPVN" ( Bataillon de Parachutistes Viêt-Namiens , "Vietnamese Paratroopers Battalions") by their French allies. Some of these paratroopers were attached to the GCMA special forces. The VNA air force first took part in the First Indochina War during the joint Operation Atlas in April 1953. The aviation consisted of Morane Saulnier MS-500 reconnaissance planes and Douglas DC-3 and DC-4 transport aircraft useful in airborne operations. The navy included amphibious vehicles such as Landing Craft Infantry , Landing Craft Mechanized , small craft and materiel. The Marine Troops corps

29574-428: The streets not just for a few hours of welcome but for a week-long celebration. In actuality this would mean a seven-day work stoppage. Transportation, electric power, and communication services would be suspended. The simple enlargement of plans already afoot should give the communists an unexpectedly vexing problem as they started their rule." The celebration did not last a week. The Communists thought that this manifesto

29760-429: The strength and capability of the Communist Vietnamese force. The Viet Minh, or Viet Cong as they came to be called, were not going to let the French take control of their region without a fight. The men of the Viet Cong were communists and did not want to surrender their beliefs to the French. Together with the North Vietnamese army, they would defend their land. The Viet Minh used military and political tactics to expel

29946-474: The support of the Army in order to survive. The Army controlled the appointment of the War Minister, and in 1936 a law was passed that stipulated that only an active duty general or lieutenant-general could hold the post. As a result, military spending as a proportion of the national budget rose disproportionately in the 1920s and 1930s, and various factions within the military exerted disproportionate influence on Japanese foreign policy. The Imperial Japanese Army

30132-439: The third French military mission to Japan (1884–89) . However, after France's defeat in 1871 the Japanese government switched to the victorious Germans as a model. From 1886 to April 1890, it hired German military advisors (Major Jakob Meckel , replaced in 1888 by von Wildenbrück and Captain von Blankenbourg) to assist in the training of the Japanese General Staff. In 1878, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, based on

30318-446: The third agency with oversight of the IJA. At its height, the IJA was one of the most influential factions in the politics of Japan . In the mid-19th century, Japan had no unified national army and the country was made up of feudal domains ( han ) with the Tokugawa shogunate ( bakufu ) in overall control, which had ruled Japan since 1603. The bakufu army, although a large force, was only one among others, and bakufu efforts to control

30504-411: The trail, they quickly installed motion sensors across the trail to catch insurgents. The complexity of the trail grew further during the 1960s. Detecting Viet Cong movements on the Ho Chi Minh trail was exceedingly difficult. The trail was a complex collection of interconnecting footpaths. The flexibility afforded by its complexity meant multiple routes could be traversed from north to south. As such, it

30690-435: The victories proved critical in creating and stabilizing the Imperial government and to realize sweeping social, economic and political reforms that enabled Japan to become a modern state that could stand comparison to France, Germany, and other Western European powers. The early Imperial Japanese Army was developed with the assistance of advisors from France, through the second French military mission to Japan (1872–80) , and

30876-445: The wealthier domains and, in June, the organization of the army was fixed, where each domain was required to send ten men for each 10,000 koku of rice produced. However, this policy put the imperial government in direct competition with the domains for military recruitment, which was not rectified until April 1868, when the government banned the domains from enlisting troops. Consequently, the quota system never fully worked as intended and

31062-412: The wealthy. Under the new 1873 ordinance, the conscript army was composed mainly of second and third sons of impoverished farmers who manned the regional garrisons, while former samurai controlled the Imperial Guard and the Tokyo garrison. Initially, because of the army's small size and numerous exemptions, relatively few young men were actually conscripted for a three-year term on active duty. In 1873,

31248-420: Was French counterpropaganda and attempted to order everyone back to work, which took three days. The second SMM member, Major Lucien Conein, arrived on July 1. A paramilitary specialist, well known to the French for his help with French-operated maquis in Tonkin against the Japanese in 1945, he was the one American guerrilla fighter who had not been a member of the Patti Mission. In August, he went to Hanoi with

31434-432: Was a Rhadé village that was the location of a CIA experimental program designed to strengthen defenses against the Viet Cong. The CIA brought several proposals to the village elders, and almost all were met with protest or skepticism. After satisfying all of their concerns, the Americans were able to build a perimeter border fence as well as dispensary. They also armed the villages and trained them how to shoot. They were named

31620-415: Was abolished the following year. The Imperial forces encountered numerous difficulties during the war, especially during the campaign in Eastern Japan. Headquarters in faraway Kyoto often proposed plans at odds with the local conditions, which led to tensions with officers in the field, who in many cases ignored centralized direction in favor of unilateral action. The army lacked a strong central staff that

31806-425: Was activated on September 1. In mid-September 17, the Chinese forces defeated at Pyongyang and occupied the city, as the remaining Chinese troops retreated northward. The navy's stunning victory in the Yalu on September 17, was crucial to the Japanese as it allowed the Second Army with three divisions and one brigade to land unopposed on the Liaodong Peninsula about 100 miles north of Port Arthur which controlled

31992-488: Was capable of enforcing orders. Consequently, military units were at the mercy of individual commanders' leadership and direction. This was not helped by the absence of a unified tactical doctrine, which left units to fight according to the tactics favored by their respective commanders. There was increased resentment by many lower ranked commanders as senior army positions were monopolized by the nobility together with samurai from Chōshū and Satsuma. The use of commoners within

32178-464: Was due to the French exposing paramilitary operations against the Vietminh in Ha Noi that the agency did not previously clear with them. The CIA's mission in Saigon was to directly assess the nationalist politicians. The primary cause and motivation behind the intervention of the U.S. and CIA through 1954 was to gather intelligence and provide interpretations of the events that occurred in Indochina through an American perspective. Outside of North Vietnam,

32364-432: Was earning equivalent to the maximum salary of an Imperial Japanese major, or the base salary of an Imperial Japanese lieutenant colonel, and about 25 times as much as an Imperial Japanese soldier of the same rank. While disproportionate salary ranges were not uncommon between militaries during World War II, for example Australian enlistees could expect to receive roughly triple as much in pay as their counterparts fighting for

32550-554: Was easy to shift to a different route if the security of one area was compromised. Furthermore, the length of the trail and the small number of persons using it on any given segment, coupled with its flexible nature made detection all but impossible. In attempts to combat troop and supply movement along the trail, the CIA and U.S. military set up heat and movement sensors along the trail to track enemy movement. U.S. forces also attempted to use air dropped listening devices to track enemy troops and pinpoint Viet Cong movements. 1959 also saw

32736-483: Was eventually dismissed, leaving South Vietnam in November 1954, following French general Raoul Salan 's departure and return to France in October. The French-American secret war and influence struggle in Vietnam engaging the SDECE against the CIA continued until 1956 when the CEFEO Expeditionary Corps was dissolved and returned to France. On December 13, 1954, the 1954–55 French High Commissioner in Indochina (CEFEO Expeditionary Corps Commander), General Paul Ély, and

32922-468: Was led by its first director Lieutenant Savani, a metropolitan French who was educated in the Autun EMP. It was created in 1936 after the Autun EMP as the Dalat School of the Eurasian Servicemen's Children ( Ecole des Enfants de Troupe Eurasiens de Dalat, EETED ). Once dissolved during the Japanese occupation in 1944, General de Lattre reformed the EETED as the Dalat School for Children of Soldiers ( Ecole des Enfants de Troupe de Dalat ) in 1950. In 1953,

33108-428: Was loyal to Bảo Đại. The VNA fought in joint operations with the French Union 's French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO) against the communist Việt Minh forces led by Ho Chi Minh . Different units within the VNA fought in a wide range of campaigns including the Battle of Nà Sản (1952), Operation Hautes Alpes (1953), Operation Atlas (1953) and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954). It should not be confused with

33294-593: Was modelled after the French Troupes de marine . Their particular navy blue uniform with white gaiters is still used by the French Fusiliers Marins . Special forces consisted of Vietnamese commandos trained by French officers in local schools. They used a whole different personnel, uniform, equipment, training and warfare compared with the regular airborne or infantry troops. The GCMA airborne commandos ( Groupe Commando Mixte Aéroporté , "Airborne Mixed Commando Group") were Vietnamese ethnic minorities or Laotian montagnard partisans led by paratrooper officers of

33480-452: Was originally known simply as the Army ( rikugun ) but after 1928, as part of the Army's turn toward romantic nationalism and also in the service of its political ambitions, it re-titled itself the Imperial Army ( kōgun ). In 1923, the army consisted of 21 divisions, but in accordance with the 1924 reform it was reduced to 17 divisions. Two leaps in the development of the military industry (1906–1910 and 1931–1934) made it possible to re-equip

33666-451: Was stationed in China. A further 13 divisions defended the Mongolian border, due to concerns about a possible attack by the Soviet Union. From 1942, soldiers were sent to Hong Kong (23rd Army), the Philippines (14th Army), Thailand (15th Army), Burma (15th Army), Dutch East Indies (16th Army), and Malaya (25th Army). By 1945, there were 6 million soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Army. From 1943, Japanese troops suffered from

33852-439: Was the military affairs directorate which was composed of two bureaus, one for the army and one for the navy. The directorate drafted an army from troop contributions from each domain proportional to each domain's annual rice production ( koku ) . This conscript army ( chōheigun ) integrated samurai and commoners from various domains into its ranks. As the war continued, the military affairs directorate expected to raise troops from

34038-412: Was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan . Forming one of the military branches of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF), it was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Army Ministry , both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan , the supreme commander of IJAF. During the 20th century, an Inspectorate General of Aviation became

34224-421: Was the right to bear arms; this ancient privilege was suddenly extended to every male in the nation. There were several exemptions, including criminals, those who could show hardship, the physically unfit, heads of households or heirs, students, government bureaucrats, and teachers. A conscript could also purchase an exemption for ¥ 270, which was an enormous sum for the time and which restricted this privilege to

34410-434: Was to collect intelligence, perform hit-and-run ambushes and bring confusion in Việt Minh controlled areas (northern Vietnam) wearing enemy uniforms and using unconventional warfare such as guerrilla techniques. These were based on both, GCMA director and famous counter-insurgency theorician Roger Trinquier 's experience as French Jedburgh in World War II, and on Việt Minh POWs collaboration. In 1949, after becoming

34596-434: Was worried about all of Thailand, Cambodia, and South Vietnam falling to communism if Laos went that way. The president was concerned that the Royal Laotian Army (RLA) was impotent and mutinous and did not want to rely on them. He was so concerned, that in this meeting, he said he would "as a last desperate hope...intervene unilaterally," if it were up to him. The interventions, as mentioned in the paragraph above, ended up being

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