Vietnam
CHY4U
Jan. 2014
BBC News, Vietnam War: History, N.d.,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/05/vietnam_war/html/introduction.stm (Jan. 17, 2014).
Vietnam War?
• The history of Vietnam is more than the story
of the Vietnam War.
– In fact, there were multiple wars before THE
Vietnam War:
– They were:
1. Vietminh vs. Japan
2. Vietminh vs. France
3. Vietnamese vs. Vietnamese (if this was a civil war)
• So then, what qualifies as The Vietnam War?
Which war is THE Vietnam War?
South Vietnam + US vs North Vietnam +Vietcong
(see note about the use of this term later on in
the presentation)
Civil War?
“The division of the country into a communist
North, led by Ho Chi Minh, and the noncommunist South, led by Ngo Dinh Diem,
created a new dynamic. Diem, a Catholic,
disliked the communists and rejected Ho Chi
Minh's vision of one socialist republic of
Vietnam. Thus, the conflict turned into a civil
war with Vietnamese fighting Vietnamese.”
Michigan State University, Asian Studies Presents Windows on Asia, Vietnam – History, 2011-2014,
http://asia.isp.msu.edu/wbwoa/southeast_asia/vietnam/history.htm#bullet6 (Jan. 17, 2014).
National Liberation Front (NLF)
“The united front had long and historic roots in
Vietnam. Used earlier in the century to mobilize
anti-French forces, the united front brought
together Communists and non-Communists in an
umbrella organization that had limited, but
important goals. On December 20, 1960, the Party' s
new united front, the National Liberation Front
(NLF), was born. Anyone could join this front as long
as they opposed Ngo Dinh Diem and wanted to
unify Vietnam.”
Vietcong: Should we this the term?
“The character of the NLF and its relationship to the Communists
in Hanoi [NV] has caused considerable debate among scholars,
anti-war activists, and policymakers. From the birth of the NLF,
government officials in Washington claimed that Hanoi directed
the NLF's violent attacks against the Saigon regime [SV]. In a
series of government "White Papers," Washington insiders
denounced the NLF, claiming that it was merely a puppet of
Hanoi and that its non-Communist elements were Communist
dupes. The NLF, on the other hand, argued that it was
autonomous and independent of the Communists in Hanoi and
that it was made up mostly of non-Communists. Many anti-war
activists supported the NLF's claims. Washington continued to
discredit the NLF, however, calling it the "Viet Cong," a
derogatory and slang term meaning Vietnamese Communist.”
Ibid.
Historical Perspectives
• American
• Vietnamese
– North Vietnamese
– South Vietnamese (gov’t, Vietcong/NLF, peasants)
• There are also Soviet, French and Chinese
perspectives, but we won’t focus on these as
much.
Escalation of the War
BBC News, Vietnam War: History, US Withdrawal, N.d.,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/05/vietnam_war/html/us_withdrawal.stm (Jan. 17, 2014).
Cold War Context
• Which wider Cold War events had an impact on
American thinking when it came to Vietnam?
– 1947: Truman Doctrine set the stage for American
perspectives with its containment philosophy
– 1949: China “going red” causes the US to see the first
domino down in Asia and fears spread of communism
further
– 1950-1953: the US fought to keep South Korea from
falling to communism
– YOU FINISH THE REST
Decolonization Context
• French imperialism is over
• Japanese imperialism is over
• Geneva Accords (see Moise for a short but clear
description,
http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPa
ges/EdMoise/viet4.html)
As Robert McNamara said in The Fog of War, it is
possible that the some Vietnamese people and many of
its leaders saw the US presence as another version of
imperialism.
Exam Question
• Analyze divergent perspectives on Vietnam
through the cold war and decolonization
contexts.
In the end…
• Never forget that any war is really a story of
human suffering. See this article about a book
of photos from Vietnam.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/01
/associated-press-vietnam-the-realwar_n_4023688.html