Vietnam would be divided by a demilitarised zone (the DMZ), with the French withdrawing their forces from Vietnam north of the zone and the Viet Minh withdrawing their forces from the south. ... Before long Diem's authoritarian regime was challenged by local communists, backed by the regime in North Vietnam. The conflict emerged from the First Indochina War against the communist-led Viet Minh. Most of the funding for the French war effort was provided by the U.S. After the French quit Indochina in 1954, the US assumed financial and military support for the South Vietnamese state.
