Further, you will then understand why you need a framework like React should your project become complicated enough on the frontend.
For me, minimal web development means doing as much as I can at the server. This includes tracking client UI state if feasible. The more stuff you have in 1 domain like that the easier it becomes to control complexity.
When your state machine is split between 2 realms is when you get into traps that things like React were created to resolve.