Identification and Evaluation of Sources:
This investigation will examine the question: Is it more accurate to describe Ho Chi Minh as a communist or nationalist? Focusing on the time Ho Chi Minh was president of the communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam(1945-69) will allow for a proper analysis on his actions as ruler of North Vietnam to determine what type of leader he was, as well as the US role in his portrayal.
Ask about whether to include childhood and early beliefs The first source that will be evaluated is Ho Chi Minh’s 1945 address in Hanoi “Vietnamese Declaration of Independence”, which was delivered on September 2nd, 1945. The origin of this source is valuable because it was delivered by Ho Chi Minh himself, providing
Ho Chi Minh’s September 2, 1945 speech was given in front of hundreds of thousands of people with strong patriotic tone and diction recognized by any American inclined to listen. Ho pointed to the enslavement of the Vietnamese that had been enforced by the French Imperialists and how the continuous bartering of the Vietnamese territory by the French to the Japanese plundered the Vietnamese people into a state of extreme poverty. Time and time again, the Viet-Minh had worked to help the French stay afloat from Japanese Axis Powers and even offered to let the French join in the fight against the Japanese throughout WWII; however, the Viet-Minh was still met with bitter destruction of Vietnamese freedom and equality. Ho used his speech to
Finally, I will also show how their various works impacted public opinion and whether or not it largely affected the American government’s decision to pull troops out of Vietnam. The paper will include several sources from mainly historical monographs, journal articles, biographies, and autobiographies.
Communist activist Ho Chi Minh secretly returns to Vietnam after 30 years in exile and organizes a nationalist organization known as the Viet Minh (Vietnam Independence League). After Japanese troops occupy Vietnam during World War II, the U.S. military intelligence agency Office of Strategic Services (OSS) allies with Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh guerrillas to harass Japanese troops in the jungles and to help rescue downed American pilots.
Ho Chi Minh was a North Vietnamese leader. Ho Chi Minh led North Vietnam as a Communist. Ho Chi Minh also had the desire to see his country declaring its independence from the French empire which colonized his country for decades. In short, this can be said of Ho Chi Minh: Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist at heart and a Communist out of necessity. Below, there will be a discussion to support the hypothesis made regards to Ho Chi Minh and the magnitude of Ho Chi Minh’s nationalism and preference to the Communist movement mainly supported by North Vietnam, China and the Soviet Union against the non-Communist movement mainly led by the United States of America and its allies as well as South Vietnam and some groups within the Communist North Vietnam
Toward the end of the 19th century the French military overcame the Vietnamese and took control over Vietnam. Vietnamese emperors were powerless and French ruled them with tyranny. In 1890 Nguyen Tat Thanh was born. He was well educated and had aspirations of traveling the world. In fact he lived in Brooklyn, New York for nearly a year. His career as a politician started at the treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. He started a petition to make Vietnam independant, unfortunately for him as a young 29-year-old no one in Versaille listened. After the defeat of Nazis during World War II the Soviet Union began to expand their dictatorship. This is when Nguyen Tat Thanh, now known as Ho Chi Minh took it to his advantage and allied with the Soviets by ultimately making Vietnam communist. By the end of the First Indochina War, Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh forces came out victorious against the French. However, due to France’s alliance with the United States, the U.S. was obligated to step in. This is when the “The Vietnam War ” for the United States and the “Second Indochina War” for the Viet Minh has begun.
Background: The Vietnam war was a long conflict in Southeastern Asia, starting after World War II, ending in 1975. After losing the war, Japan seceded from the country in 1945, leaving the french with the urge of wanting to regain its long forgotten land. In addition, when China turned to communism in 1949, the communist views became a large influence in Vietnamese society. President Harry Truman was blamed for losing China to communists because he did not want to get the U.S troops involved so he instead aided the French. As a result, Vietnam wanted to become a Communist country; however, the United States was willing to help the lost cause of South Vietnam.
Based off of what I read in the book it appears to me that even though Ho Chi Minh sided with the communists he was more interested in the freedom of the Vietnamese people more than anything. I think that if the Soviets or the Chinese tried to tell him how to run his country just like the United States did then he would have broken contacts with them and would have sought allies from somewhere else. Because at the end of the day Ho Chi Minh’s main objective was liberation by any means necessary no matter who he sided with. As page 24 from Herring’s book states “Although a dedicated communist, Ho Chi Minh was no tool of the Kremlin, he accepted help from the communists but he wouldn’t give up Vietnamese independence to them (Herring 24).” Ho
Under Ho Chi Minh, the nationalist movement gained impeccable momentum. In fact, Lawrence describes Ho Chi Minh as a leader who “showed a remarkable ideological flexibility to succeed where earlier nationalists has failed” (17). Ho Chi Minh had the innate ability to attract people from all walks of life. Along with the elites, his supporters also included many peasants. The communist leader was able to appeal to a vast amount of individuals by advocating for Vietnamese independence through a social revolution. Eventually, when France’s influence weakened as a result of the German invasion of 1940, Minh’s political influence grew.
Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam War Ho Chi Minh can be presented as passionate nationalist who just wanted his home country of Vietnam to be free from outside rule. Others present him as a savage man who was not afraid to deteriorate anything that stood in his way, including killing majority of his own people. The presentation of Ho Chi Minh differs throughout sources because they were written in different time periods by different people. The article was written in the by one writer present day of those events happening, there was no filtering of information. The textbook was written after the fact with outside influence and multiple people involved.
During the same year nationalist from Vietnam were involved in a war with France, which was anticolonial, this same time the cold war with the Untied States and the USSR was “evolving into an ideological and power struggle with global dimensions” (18). This is how some many regions got involved in the war of Vietnam. Something that is important about the DECOLONIZATION of Vietnam during this time seemed to be nationalist faction, which was THE VIET MINH were led by communists, this
To understand the Vietnam War and its role as a proxy war in the escalation of arms and ideological chasm between the United States and the Soviet Union, it is important to consider its beginnings. While many consider the Vietnam War a single, continuous phase of conflict, my essay will attempt to discuss it as two separate ones (the First Indochina War and the Second Indochina War) in order to better understand how the different administrations took upon military and political decisions, often changing the strategy of U.S. involvement.
Ho Chi Minh was one of the well-respected leaders in Vietnam 66 years ago. He was the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam for 10 years. He was the one main figure who fought for independence from the French Union. Therefore, this statue symbolizes the political “war” Vietnam has been through. For his great work, in southern Vietnam, there is a city named after him, and this is Vietnam’s largest city, which is also call Saigon. Since North and South divide Vietnam, there are many political disagreements between the two. For example, I live in Northern California, for those who don’t know, part of San Jose is populated by a large group of Vietnamese. Most of us call this section of San Jose Vietnamese Town. A couple years back, there was a “political” disagreement with one of the new development in that
Ho Chi Minh, was a Vietnamese Comrade dynamic pioneer who was legitimate and pioneer of the Law based Republic of Vietnam. He was a key figure in the establishment of the Vote based Republic of Vietnam in 1945, and what's progressively the Comprehensive people group's Prepared oblige of Vietnam and the Viet Cong amidst the Vietnam
He uses this captivating charm to achieve an emotional influence on his listeners, communally and nationally. “He was universally called "Uncle Ho," a sobriquet also used in the North Vietnamese press. Before the constraint of war restricted him to official duties, Ho regularly visited villages and towns. Simply clothed, he was especially fond of dropping into schools and chatting with the children”(Whitman, 1969). He demonstrated the ideal of a clear-cut, humble, and zealous mature man who incorporates his wisdom in commanding the attention of his followers. He was relevant among them. His main objective was to gain independence for Vietnam no matter the sacrifice. As a communist, Minh founded the French Communist Party in 1930 (Moss, 2010). Ho Chi Minh was a passionate democrat who shares the certainty that the desire of the people must always be provided and permitted to triumph. ). “Ho Chi Minh was by far the best known Vietnamese leader. His leadership of the struggle to set free Vietnam from French colonialism had earned him massive prestige and a popular following among the rural masses who comprised 85 percent of the Vietnamese population (Moss, 2010 p. 83).” “His leadership skills were personable and this aided in his quest to employ communism in his country. Minh visited many countries and educated himself on the communist rule of those countries. Ho Chi Minh and the other Vietminh leaders were committed to unifying Vietnam under their
Additionally, there were dozens of hidden centers all over South Vietnam for squad and platoon leader, weapons and radio training. To ensure that the guerrillas understood why they were fighting, all training courses included political instruction”(pbs 4). With guerrilla warfare Ho Chi Minh was very successful in both winning the war and getting the people to think that they were in control of what they were fighting for.they diplomatic imprint Ho Chi Minh left was “symposium was told that Ho Chi Minh upheld the spirit of independence, self-determination, and self-reliance while promoting international unity and cooperation so as to effectively combine the national strength with the strength of the times” ( Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 3). This proves that his diplomatic ways were so successful during his room that even today Vietnam still uses it as a