Vietnam’s political landscape leading up to, during, and after the First Indochina War was exceptionally complex, with numerous foreign and domestic political forces vying for control. Particularly interesting are the triumphs and successes of the many Vietnamese political groups, who were very diverse in their goals and ideologies, but shared an overlapping cultural background. To varying degrees, groups invoked the values of “traditional Vietnamese society,” which Neil Jamieson defines as society in Vietnam’s Red River Delta and central plains during the nineteenth century. How did the use of traditional Vietnamese values function as a political tool for Vietnamese political groups from the 1940s to the 1960s? Essentially, these values were …show more content…
Over the next couple years, it mounted a “cultural front” and adopted patriotic sentiments, attracting students, artists, and academics to its anticolonial Communist cause. Despite their conflicts with Vietnamese nationalists, Vietminh ideology claimed to embrace traditional Vietnamese society’s familial and village-based hierarchy that was framed as part of the “natural order.” The Vietminh rhetorically embraced these values, establishing a code of ethics that Jamieson summarizes as “behave toward the party as if it were your family.” Additionally, the Vietminh’s Communist ideology has elements of both the Yin and Yang forces that Jamieson describes and argues traditional Vietnamese culture tried to balance. On the one hand, the Vietminh was ideologically dedicated to egalitarianism, a key element of Yin, while on the other, it emphasized strict ideological orthodoxy and male dominance, characteristics of Yang. In striking this balance, Vietminh ideology aligned in important ways with traditional Vietnamese values, though its modernizing goals were no doubt a divergence from traditional …show more content…
Diem’s failure to establish a united political community contributed to his downfall. Without Diem, various “supervillages” vied for political control of the South while appealing to traditional values. Loose coalitions made up of members of the groups who had left the North several years earlier resisted Diem’s regime and expressed their want to change the political environment in the Republic. They began to take over many institutional Yang positions in Saigon, though they were not strongly united under one “supervillage” banner. Outside of Saigon, a group of insurgents looking to usurp southern control united themselves not just as a “supervillage,” but as an even more closely knit “superfamily,” appealing to the most interdependent traditional social unit. Meanwhile, the Northern Communist “supervillage” moved south in an attempt to reclaim control over all of Vietnam. These three factions all outlasted the Bao Dai and Diem regimes, and all invoked the traditional system of interconnected, mutually obligated society. Appeals to traditional values were likely successful because these traditional values were still held across much of Vietnamese society during this
The Vietnam War, which lasted for two decades (1955-1975), was probably the most problematic of all American wars. US involvement in Vietnam occurred within the larger context of the Cold War between the US and the USSR. It was, and remains, morally ambiguous and controversial. The Vietnam War was slated as both a war against Communism and a war aimed at suppressing dangerous nationalist self-determination. Christian G. Appy's book, Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam, is a graphic and perceptive portrayal of soldiers' experiences and the lasting effects the Vietnam War has had on the American culture and people. Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam, is an analytical work that has three major purposes: 1. to show that those who fought in Vietnam were predominantly from the working class 2. to convey the experiences of the soldiers who served in Vietnam and 3. to offer his own scathing commentary of American actions in Vietnam.
Lawrence’s purpose in writing this book was concise and to the point. In recent history, due to the fall of the Soviet bloc, new information has been made available for use in Vietnam. As stated in the introduction, “This book aims to take account of this new scholarship in a brief, accessible narrative of the Vietnam War… It places the war within the long flow of Vietnamese history and then captures the goals and experiences of various governments that became deeply embroiled in the country during the second half of the twentieth century” (Lawrence, 3.) This study is not only about the American government and how they were involved in the Vietnam conflict, but highlights other such countries as France, China, and the Soviet Union. Lawrence goes on to say that one of his major goals in writing this book is to examine the American role in Vietnam within an international context (Lawrence, 4.) Again, this goes to show that the major purpose of Lawrence’s study included not only ...
E-History (2012, N.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/essays/battlecommand/index.cfm.
Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, portrays stories of the Vietnam War. Though not one hundred percent accurate, the stories portray important historical events. The Things They Carried recovers Vietnam War history and portrays situations the American soldiers faced. The United States government represents a political power effect during the Vietnam War. The U. S. enters the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam. The U.S. government felt if communism spreads to South Vietnam, then it will spread elsewhere. Many Americans disapproved of their country’s involvement. Men traveled across the border to avoid the draft. The powerful United States government made the decision to enter the war, despite many Americans’ opposition. O’Brien’s The Things They Carried applies New Historicism elements, including Vietnam history recovery and the political power of the United States that affected history.
shows how Uncle Chinh's position on being a Communist, gets in the way of Vietnamese
Vietnam was a highly debated war among citizens of the United States. This war was like no other with regards to how it affected people on the home front. In past war’s, the population of the United States mainly supported the war and admired soldiers for their courage. During the Vietnam War, citizens of the U.S. had a contradictory view than in the past. This dilemma of not having the support of the people originates from the culture and the time period.
In his article, “To Be Patriotic is to Build Socialsim”: Communist Ideology in Vietnam's Civil War, Tuong Vo challenges a standard view of the civil war between North and South Vietnam – the war is power struggle between the two camps. Based on a newly availble documents and other primary sources, Vu argues that “[V]ietnamese communists never wavered in their ideology loyalty during the period when key decisions about the civil war were made (1953–1960).....a modernizing socialist idology rather than a mere for national unification was driving the Vietnamese civil war from the north” (Vu 2009, 34–35).
The Vietnam War (1965-1975)was fought between the North and South Vietnam. The North was called Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the South was the Republic of Vietnam which was supported by the United States. On August 2nd, 1964 the USS Maddox was on a secret intelligent mission on the North Vietnamese coast where in the Gulf on Tonkin they were attacked by torpedo boats. The USS Turner Joy was attacked in the same area two days later. Due to the second attack Congress declared the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which led to air strikes.In 1959 there were 5,000 guerilla fighters and in 1964 the numbers jumped to 100,000. At Pleiku on March, 1965 U.S Marine barracks were attacked causing the three stage escalation bombing of North Vietnam to begin. The 3 year lasting bombing was used to force North Vietnam to stop supporting the "National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam" by destroying their industrial infrastructure and Vietnam's air defenses. Unfortunately this did not stop the North's support for the NLF. The U.S. Air Force bases were constantly being attacked so the U.S. on March 8, 1965 the 3,500 U.S. Marines was deployed to South Vietnam. At this point in time, the U.S. public supported the dispatch because the Vietnam War had been portrayed to the American people as a war against the spread of Communism. Johnson was president at the time and he kept adding more and more troops as the war went on. As the draft quotas increased, the American public protests started. When Nixon came into presidency his policy towards the Vietnam War was "peace with honor" in other words he wanted to widen the war. After more bombing and fighting, on January 27, 1973 the Paris Peace Accords was signed, restoring peace in Vietnam and U.S. forces pulled out. Nixon stopped all American attacks on Vietnam. The condensed summary of the Vietnam War is to see what presidents were involved in this war (Johnson, and Nixon) and what foreign policies were taken towards Vietnam mostly before the protests began.
For some it was all about knowledge and enlightenment. For others it was the drive to show that they were not puppets under the marionette master. But for the masses, it was just what the other kids were doing. Yet, when it really all came down to it, regardless of what they were representing, the youth counter-culture of the 1970’s was quite powerful. Who would have thought that the youth who in all previous wars had heeded their parents call now rejected and abandoned their ideals and almost formed their own sect in the political spectrum? In order to give a just analysis, to give an examination of the Vietnam Counter-Culture, one would have to look to the preliminary causes, the debates and diplomacy of the youth themselves, and the reflection where this has influenced today’s youth.
Most historians view the nature of the Vietnam War as rooted in the history of the French colonies in Vietnam and the growing ethnic, political, and economical division between Catholic and Buddhist Vietnamese. (Brigham, Robert, Hoffman, Kenneth)
In the mid 1960’s the United States involvement in Vietnam stirred controversy amongst the Americans and politicians. Across the U.S., the american public became increasingly more opposed to the war. Throughout the
LeCain, Timothy J. "Lecture 9: Vietnam and the 1960s" , Montana State University, Bozeman, 7, 9, 14 and 16 November 2006.
The Vietnam War was a war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1st 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30th 1975. This war was fought between the North Vietnamese Viet Cong and the government of South Vietnam. The criticism of the war in Vietnam started out as a reaction to President Johnson’s policy of fighting for a limited purpose and a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Criticism is valuable because it helps to correct communal procedures. That is a great advantage of exposed societies. But criticism works only if those in control have a sufficient intellect in order to recognize when a policy has gone wrong. The Vietnam War and its leaders is a "monument to the failure of that necessary wisdom" (Lewis). The supporters were known as “hawks.” As the President escalated the war effort, and became a hawk himself, his chief critics who disagreed with the war became known as “doves,” which included college students, faculty, and several other people who felt that the war was corrupt, was promoting no advantage for the US, and was increasing the number of casualties. But the Doves’ access to this goal is restricted: the war drags on. Many disaffected doves adapt to this situation by rebellion. They reject societal goals and means
Third, do we really know a country 8000 miles away from us? Knowing them so well that we are sure they would like our ideology. Fourth, our government had sent a “boy scout” to fight with those sophisticated Vietcong, some of our troops were composed of those people who just graduated from high school. In the 1960’s, according to the American government’s “Domino Theory”, if the Vietnam came under control of the communism, then the entire southeastern Asia would fall into communism too. Americans had already lost China, we certainly wouldn’t allow the southeastern Asia to follow in China’s footsteps, otherwise we would lose access to the huge resources and markets of Asia.
The Vietnamese people’s movement was very well coordinated during the Pacification period. The rebellion was not only led by court mandarins, but also by private scholars. The moral and military power of some of the rebel ...