Vietnam

CHY4U

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. It is not only the story of war but that is what we’re focusing on.– 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?

For our purposes:

South Vietnam + US vs

North Vietnam + Vietcong/NLF (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 non-communist 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.

NLF Flag

Robert Brigham, Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History, PBS, N.d., http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/ (May 27, 2015)

US Marines hold up a captured NLF flag

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.

NLF Tactics

• NLF fighters were known for using guerrilla tatics– Such as tunnels at Cu Chi

• http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/cu-chi-tunnels

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).

Peak year 1968 with over 500 000 US troops in Vietnam

Escalation in Photos

• http://www.wnyc.org/story/photographic-history-war-vietnam/

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/FacultyPages/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

• Will relate to an analysis of divergent perspectives on Vietnam through the cold war and decolonization contexts. – It will ask you to do so in light of a PSD I will give

you on the exam.

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-real-war_n_4023688.html