Vietnamese Nationalism

Blood, gore, intense combat, little sleep, death. These are some words that describe the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War had 240 days of combat in one year. World War II had forty days of combat in four years(Interesting Facts). That statistic shows how rough the Vietnam War was. The fighting was constant between the two sides. This war was fought over politics and had many gruesome battles.

Three quarters of Vietnam is made up of mountains and hills, and densely forested highlands, with level land covering no more than 20 percent of the area.(Vietnam) Vietnam is an “S” shaped country stretching over 1,000 miles. It is divided into four geographic regions the highlands and the Red River Delta in the north, the Truong Son Mountains form the Central Highlands running almost the full length of Vietnam along its borders with Laos and Cambodia, the coastal lowlands, and the Mekong River Delta in the south.(Vietnam) The geographical aspects of Vietnam allowed for physical and mental exhaustion, fear of location, and fear of safety in the The Things They Carried .

Vietnamese did not magically appear in the United States, the Vietnam War sparked the immigration of Vietnamese to America. Vietnamese did not virtually exist in the United States until 1975 when the war forced Vietnamese to evacuate (Povell). The war began after Vietminh defeated France and split into North and South Vietnam (O’Connel). In 1956 communist Ho Chi Minh ruled the North Vietnam, and Bao Dai ruled the South, who the United States supported and backed up (O’Connel). The Vietnam War consisted of the North and South Vietnam, fighting against eachother in order to stay two separate countries. The North tried to overtake the South, and the United States sent in troops to

According to Kashima (2010), defining what culture means is a difficult task. Culture can be considered the individual differences of identity. Culture is established by numerous things such as ideology and beliefs. While categories of culture are not limited to only country, a common classification of culture is that of different countries. Vietnam’s culture is diverse, influences from many countries have played a role in shaping Vietnam’s culture. Years of Chinese rule, French imperialism, social conflicts and war have given Vietnamese culture a unique richness of language, music and history.

Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia. During 1887, France took control of Vietnam for its valuable resources, specifically rice and rubber. Laos and Cambodia, two countries neighboring Vietnam were also conquered by France. These three countries all formed a single colony known as "French Indochina". Vietnamese people didn't appreciate being colonized, many farmers lost their land and became poor while the French colonists grew rich.

South Vietnam president believed “the treaty put his country at the mercy of spies from the North and refused to accept it without significant changes” (Bia). It was signed in 10 May 1968 in Paris, to stop U.S’ direct military bombings, and temporary stop the fight between North and South Vietnam (Bia). The U.S army pulled out that same year, however, the Southern government still refuse to let go of power. “The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and the North and the South unified the following year” (Dougan 152). There was no gun shot at the revolution, local people said, described it just as a “tank parade”, only to get the Southern authorities to surrender. After the country united, some Southern soldiers still hid the forests and fought in small civil battles until the end of 1978. Vietnam finally ended its last war, and has kept peace with the U.S since.

Vietnam has a very rich history that often goes unnoticed and unaccounted for, this is most likely due to the war being such a big landmark in the history of Vietnam. Before the war many events transpired that would eventually lead up to the war. In the late 19th century Vietnam was considered to be a French colony. The French built their own standing infrastructure, they began to build railways and roads and bridges. All of this building meant heavy taxation on the Vietnamese. This was all good and progressive for vietnam however “Naturally the Vietnamese wanted independence.” (http://www.localhistories.org/viethist.html) From there Ho Chi Minh founded a revolution and within 20 years Vietnam came under Ho Chi Minh rule.

In the year 1975, the Vietcong took control over the Southern capital of Saigon when a full scale invasion was commenced, leaving the Southern Vietnamese vulnerable with no aid.

Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia that is bordered by China, the Gulf of Thailand, the China Sea, Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam is the location of the Vietnam War which started as a conflict between the Communists of North Vietnam and the non-Communists of South Vietnam. The Vietnam War was “…a manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.” U.S. President Harry S. Truman involved the United States in the war in an effort to stop the spread of Communism. “[It was] America’s longest and most unpopular war. It failed to achieve either of its two objectives – to defend a small, strategically unimportant country against what was seen as Communist aggression and to sustain America’s credibility as an ally in the [C]old [W]ar.” The Vietnam War lasted 18 years, 5 U.S. Presidents, and saw the U.S. military fight Communist forces that used new warfare tactics

France proposes a colonial system naming it Indochina which includes the following cities: Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China, Cambodia and Laos is then added. Ho Chi Ming was trained by the Soviet Union to be an international communist. Ho Chi Minh finds an Indochinese communist meeting in Hong Kong and attends. Ironically, France wanted control over Indochina but were then invaded by Nazi Germany. Japanese troops invaded

On March 29 in 1973, the last American troops left Vietnam, leaving thousands of missing behind. The same day, a few hundreds of war prisoners were released in Hanoi. Within a couple of months, the war between the North and the South was restored and it was soon apparent that the communists are more unified and have a military dominance. In Cambodia and Laos, where the fights were not so strong, the communist victory also seemed unavoidable. In March 1975 the northern Vietnam commenced a complete military invasion in the South. Southern president Thieu asked Washington for help, but the democratic majority in the Congress refused and on March 30, the Americans could watch on TV how North-Vietnamese tanks enter Saigon, which was soon renamed to Ho-Chi-Min’s town. Scenes in American embassy in Saigon, where thousands of scared Vietnamese fought for places on board of last American helicopters were a sad ending of the biggest American foreign policy catastrophe.

In 1975 Vietnam was taken over by communists from the north side of Vietnam government. People who worked for the south Vietnam government were killed by communists from the north.

Up until that point, the United States had been supporting South Vietnam against the unification efforts of the North; however, by 1975, public opinion, strategic losses, and an increased weariness of war in the US led to the American troops' retreat from Vietnam thereby allowing the North to defeat the South and unify Vietnam under a single

To understand the US involvement in Vietnam, it is necessary to understand the background of traditional independence and opposition to larger powers throughout Vietnamese history. The Vietnamese had a long history and tradition of opposing invading powers. This opposition and culture was to draw the U.S. into the longest war it has been involved in. This was an indirect but vitally important cause of US involvement in the Vietnam War. As early as 500BC, Vietnam was a country that held a strong sense of nationalism, and endeavoured for the goal of autonomy, independence, and self-rule. Up until modern history, there have been several events that have contributed towards intensifying this sense of nationalism and resistance against foreign powers. National resistance against the Chinese empire was one of the earliest examples of resistance against nationalism. Throughout the period of pre-modern history from 210 BC to 1789, resistances against foreign control and rule such as that against the Nan Yue, the Song, the Ming, and the Qing, were frequent. These attempts at national resistance came down to the basis that the nationalist Vietnamese did not want foreign influence determining the political future, culture, or customs of their country. Another main example that increased a sense of nationalism was French Colonialism. The French, who were appealed by Vietnam’s unique location, natural resources, and the extensive economic opportunities

In 939, Vietnam gained independence from China. An invasion was attempted in 1279 but failed. Success came in 1407 for China, but the reinvasion was short-lived mainly due to the powerful Vietnam army of the time. In 1620, Vietnam was divided. Nguyen in the south and Trinh in the north. Stability remained in Vietnam until the French invaded the country in 1858. The French established a protectorate of China in 1862.2 The French were able to merge Cambodia and Vietnam in 1887 which formed Indochina. Laos was added to Indochina in 1893. Even though Vietnam was under the imperial rule of China for over a thousand years, it managed to keep its cultural independence. Over the years, Vietnam experienced a series of conflicts with it?s neighbors as well as foreigners such as France and America, but was able to come out on top. Vietnam has a long history of resistance which has prepared them for battles against stronger nations irrespective of costs or loss of life. The Vietnam War was a period of military combat that pitted the communist north Vietnam army aided by the Chinese against the south Vietnam troops supported by America. The conflict lasted from 1954 till 1975 which ultimately unified the North and South Vietnam under the communist rule.