INDOCHINA essay plans PDF

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syllabus dot points for Conflict in Indochina course. All points covered....

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NATURE AND ROLE OF NATIONALISM The Indochinese conflict was, at its core, a nationalist struggle. After decades of repression, a nationalist campaign emerged to unify Vietnam as a single national state ruled by the Vietnamese themselves. The defeat at Dien Bien Phu initiated the significance of this nationalism providing a bargaining chip at the Geneva Conference which ultimately led to the Second Indochinese War with the result of re-unification. Ho Chi Minh cultivated a nationalist image to lead in this fight to independence and furthermore worked to stimulate the growth of the numerous opposition groups to the continued imperialist repression. Finally, US involvement and perspective on US nationalism ultimately extended what was essentially a civil conflict within a Cold War environment. Thus it is clear that nationalism within Indochina was key in the events of the Indochinese Conflicts and their outcome. IDEA ARGUMENT EVIDENCE - Roosevelt = “France has milked Indochina for 100 years” HISTORY OF  IMPERIALIST POWERS IN VIETNAM - Moise = “the state of Vietnam was virtually powerless” REPRESSION • 258 BC – Han Chinese occupation of Vietnam • Ruled by the Ngo Dynasty – dominated by the Trinh and Nguyen families - Under French = 53% of Vietnam’s exports went to France, allowed no opposition, Bao Dai = French puppet, Peasants forced to pay 40% of crop • French Colonialization by 1893 output to landlords • Japanese Occupation 1940-1946 •

DEFEAT AT DIEN BIEN PHU/GENEVA HO CHI MINH (image then martyr)

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NLF - Not communist organisation - Formed 1960 - Controlled by COSVN

US INVOLVEMENT US inability to understand and differentiate BW nationalism and communism

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US/French interference in the South from 1954  GROWTH OF INDPENDENCE MOVEMENTS W NATIONALIST AGENDAS Ad 40 = rebellion under Trung sisters 1923 = Constitutionalist Party sought liberal reform and peaceful protest 1926 = The Vietnamese Progressive Party, sought to cooperate with France Growing confidence amongst Vietnamese – small Asian nation versus humiliation of imperialist western super power + Bargaining position at Geneva Encouraged Viet Minh to continue fighting for the right to rule own country – recruitment increased dramatically “Uncle Ho” – father figure/uncle figure, Fiercely patriotic, “he who enlightens” Petitioned at Versailles for Vietnamese Independence formed Than Nien – Vietnamese Youth Association 1930 cofounder of ICP, 1941= ‘ league for Independence of Vietnam ‘Viet Minh’ + People’s Propaganda unit – spread name/nationalistic message – popularity  10 POINT PROGRAM (not compulsory to be communis) Overthrow Diem, liberal/democratic regime, independent economy Reduction of rent and intro of land reform Promotion of culture against American culture, ethnic + gender equality National army that looks after its soldiers Peaceful and neutral foreign policy, Peaceful reunification Opposition to imperialist domination  CONFUSED NATIONALISM WITH COMMUNISM COLD WAR DIVISION – North (Communist/Ho) vs South (Democratic? USA) Truman “containment”, Eisenhower “save the domino”  DIEM’S REGIME cultivated NATIONALIST RESISTANCE South = “domino to save”  PUPPET REGIME descent into dictatorship NEPOTISM, CORRUPTION, AUTHORITARIANISM (Can Lao) CULTIVATED OPPOSITION TO REGIME AND FOR NATIONALISM Binh Xuyen, Cao Dai, Viet Minh, peasants, Buddhists, NLF  led to coup  HO CHI MINH TRAIL Trail = NLF supply routes, bombing = escalated war into Cambodia/Laos Khmer Rouge + Pathet Lao = nationalist/communist platforms

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Cao Dai and Hoa Hao sought independence (religious) Vietnammese Nationalist Party (largest non-communist national group) ICP = sort independence 1930

- 7000 French casualties + 11 000 French prisoners - Karnow–“Geneva conference = no durable solution…interlude between wars” - Harpur = Geneva Conference – “allowed the communist party to strengthen – strong position to confront the problem of a divided country” - Lacouture = “The act brought no response from the peacemakers, but made him a hero to the politically conscious Vietnamese” - Karnow = “Ho had cultivated the image of a humble, benign ‘Uncle Ho’” - Osbourne = “unlikely cult figure” - Ho = “It was patriotism, not communism that inspired me” - Supplies to NLF from Ho Chi Minh trail  led to the inclusion of Cambodia - 3 man/woman cells - Regular force of 5500, irregular of 30 000 guerillas - VC + NLF Controlled 80% countryside by 1961 - In 1961 = 4000 government officials, school teachers /collaborators killed - Kolko = comments on success of the NLF mastering the conditions– resourcefulness/devotion + US trauma to society = “ingredients for victory” - Maclear= “Johnson (saw) a scenario of aggressive monolithic communism” - - Ball =saw issue in black and white: “their roots were still in Cold War rhetoric” - 1955 Denunciation campaign against French and VM sympathisers - Up to 90% of VM cells destroyed, over 80 000 people imprisoned - 1956 = Ordinance 47 law against communism - In 1958 est 40 000 political prisoners in South Vietnam, 150 000 by 1961 - Agrovilles and Strategic Hamlets =reduced food supply (+ social dislocation) - Slingsby = policy carried out with no finesse  peasants were ejected which were then burnt down. As resistance increased so did government repression. - 10 000 Viet Minh who survived in the late 1950s formed the nucleus of the NLF who presented Diem as puppet of American masters

AND was ROLE The role of Communism in the Indochinese conflict was a significantNATURE one and ultimately the OF causeCOMMUNISM for the extension of the war into the Second Indochinese Conflict. Whilst the priority agenda of all the opposition groups was nationalism, the most significant of these patriotic groups was Ho’s Indochinese Communist Party. This was a critical factor into drawing the US into the conflict in a Cold War environment that feared Ho’s brand of nationalism. US foreign policy was dominated by a determination to stop the spread of communism and thus American policy towards Indochina was distorted by its harsh stance on anti-communism. Furthermore, Ho’s fight for a unified Communist nation had significant and widespread impact on both the North, South and later had repercussions on Cambodia and Laos. IDEA ARGUMENT EVIDENCE - Dien Bien Phu - French suffered 7000 casualties and 11 000 POW Cold  GENEVA – egotistical show of supremacy between CW rivalries - Karnow = Geneva “produced no durable solution to the Indochina Conflict” War • 1954 Geneva Conference made the issue of a divided Vietnam a Cold War issue following - Ho pressured to accept the compromise of divide at 17th parallel, with French humiliation by small, Asian communist nation at Dien Bien Phu supposed self-determination election to be held 1956 • CHINA AND SOVIETS (communism) versus ALLIES = COLD WAR SIDESHOW • US John Dulles refused to recognise Ho’s DOV or shake hands with China - Maclear = “Johnson drew scenario of aggressive monolithic communism on  SUPERPOWERS • Allied fear of Communism the march, with South Vietnam as a measure of Free World’s determination” - Kennedy =“Vietnam represents a proving ground of democracy” • Current US foreign policy = Truman “containment”, Eisenhower “dominos”, IDEALISM, - Maclear=“can be measured in the last analysis in terms of American lives + $” PRESTIGE, SELF INTEREST AGAINST COMMUNISM AND IN REGION - Secretary Defence ‘US involvement’ = 10% to help Indochinese, 20% to keep • Fear = CONTINUED INTERFERENCE IN REGION + losing South Vietnam would mean losing out of China’s hands, 70% to avoid humiliating defeat the money invested (key motivator of Us policy) Ball: their roots were still in Cold War rhetoric • NSC=“The US must protect its position and restore its prestige in the Far East” - NLF – became NVA after 1964 South • THREATS OF COMMUNISM NB the choice of Diem proved destabilising regular force of 5500 and irregular of 30 000, controlled 80% of countryside • Viet Minh  Viet Cong (1960) – 10 000 remained in South, formed Nucleus of NLF by 1961 with 3 man/woman cells • Ho Chi Minh Trail  COSVN in North coordinated South + sent supplies through the trail, - In 1961 = 4000 government officials, school teachers /collaborators killed led to the inclusion of Cambodia and Laos due to US bombing the trail - Kolko = comments on success of the NLF mastering the conditions– NLF  10 point program: Overthrow Diem, liberal/democratic regime, independent economy, Reduction of rent resourcefulness/devotion + US trauma to society = “ingredients for victory” and intro of land reform, Promotion of culture against American culture, ethnic + gender equality, National army that looks after its soldiers, Peaceful and neutral foreign policy, Peaceful reunification

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= ‘tick in every box’ but his regime cultivated great opposition that assisted the communists in their nationalist agenda – Binh Xyen, Cao Dai, Viet Minh, military, peasants, Buddhists

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Strategic Hamlets  social dislocation, less food for peasants (keep communists out) ‘64 Gulf of Tonkin  USS Maddox, USS C Turner Joy = too close to North Vietnam coast during “patrol” = “attacked” = TONKIN RESOLUTION – entered war w/o declaring  “FLEXIBLE” COMMUNISM WITH NATIONAL GOAL Reform  Giap = moderate!, Truong Chinh = CHINESE MODEL RADICALISED Agricultural Tribunal (purge of feudal elements) = terror, denunciation, deaths Admitted errors 1958 = COOPERITIVSATION PROGRAM = FLEXIBLE/MODERATE/APPEAL  HO’S IMAGE = APPEAL OF COMMUNISM “Uncle Ho” – father figure/uncle figure, Fiercely patriotic, “he who enlightens” Petitioned at Versailles for Vietnamese Independence + People’s Propaganda unit – spread name/nationalistic message – popularity

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US interference: Bombing of trail strengthened/broadened Communists in Cambodia civil War 70-75 = unstable gov. Lol Nol (US) v Khmer Rouge (China/USSR) Victory 1975 = Communists – POL POT (Sihanouk couldn’t contain Communism/stop US bombing)

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Cambo dia

 SOLUTIONS – US AID PACKAGE OF $322MILLION US intervention  Puppet Regime under Diem = Devout Catholic, anti-communist, anti-French

- Diem = 98.2% vote in rigged election (100% in Saigon), “miracle man of Asia” Eisenhower, “the Winston Churchill of SE Asia” Johnson - NEPTISM/CORRUPTION/AUTHORITARIANISM = 1955 Denunciation campaign, 90% Viet Minh destroyed, 80 000 imprisoned - 3000 Strategic Hamlets by end of 1960 - Slingsby: policy carried out with no finesse  peasants were ejected which were then burnt down. As resistance increased so did government repression. ==== DIRECT MILITARY INVOLVEMENT 1964 - Karnow = Division = consolidation needed for eventual takeover - Over 100 000 died during campaign - By 1960 over 85% participation in Coopertivisation: position for reunification - Karnow = “Ho had cultivated the image of a humble, benign ‘Uncle Ho’” - Osbourne = “unlikely cult figure” - Ho = “It was patriotism, not communism that inspired me” - “revolutionary war to liberate the south” - 1975 = “extreme and pure communism” = YEAR ZERO – period of Angkor - Peasantificaation + elimination of Western influence (+Westernised Khmers) - Collectivisation + total obedience to state = 2.5 mill dead (overwork/ extermination)

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

The engagement of North Vietnam and US strategies and tactics following the initiation of direct US military involvement due to the 1964 Tonkin Resolution highlighted the effectiveness of these strategies. During the Indochinese Conflicts, the Vietnamese relied on propaganda, infiltration and guerrilla warfare with highly successful military and psychological results. The United States in their pride as a Western Super Power ignored the Vietnamese’s success against a similar Western Super Power just 10 years earlier against the French and fought with conventional tactics combined with mindless bombing campaigns. The ignorance and ineffectiveness of US campaigns highlighted the overarching success of the North Vietnamese. IDEA ARGUMENT NB the North were NLF  WARFARE VC • Guerrilla warfare (under command of General Giap)  cells/cadres NVA  sabotage/camouflage/terrorism/kidnapping • Jungle/Countryside/night  physical terrain (dense forests, elephant grass) = Americans unable to locate enemy + Americans weighed down with weaponry/packs of 60 kg • Ho Chi Minh Trail = 1300km from NV to SV via Cambodia – with 25 criss-cross routes, up to 2000 trucks per day  pushed communism to Cambodia • Tunnel systems = no bases/targets, US = nothing to bomb+ constant state of US reaction not proaction  PSYCHOLOGICAL North didn’t call it wham (pacification programs) • WHAM “people’s Propaganda Unit” spread name/message = popularity, Giap devised section of 1941 Viet Minh = “revolutionary war of independence” • Conventional Combat with NVA = kept US guessing = rockets, rifles, machine guns • Financed/supported by USSR and China = Cold War fears for US • Punji sticks/booby traps = contamination/maimed/amputation= psychological implications • Unable to identify the enemy ( all looked the same)North did this better  WARFARE – Westmoreland ARVN • Conventional Battles – usually NVA versus US, averaged 2 per year US ALLIES • Maximum firepower (all but nuclear weaponry)  bombs, napalm, chemical warfare (defoliants), helicopter ‘cavalry’ + “free fire zones” and “zippo raids” torching villages Bombing = OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER 65-68 bombing North Vietnam

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Search and Destroy (ARVN = search and avoid) – “reconnaissance” OPERATION CEDAR FALLS 1967 (re-infiltrated by VC within 2 months) OPERATION JUNCTION CITY 1967 (samesies but pushes communist – Cambodia)

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Secret Commando activity in Cambodia and North

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Secret then open bombing of trail = Cambodia and Laos

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ARVN = poorly trained/motivated/paid – untrusted (DIDN’T USE THEIR AREA KNOWLEDGE)

OPERATION MENU 1969 secret bombing of Cambodia OPERATION BARREL ROLL 1965 – bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail

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1968 TET

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 PSYCHOLOGICAL Pacification WHAM – “winning the hearts and minds” – relegated to the ARVN: largely unsuccessful due to the consistent murder of innocents Strategic Hamlets - social dislocation, less food for peasants (keep communists out) BOMBING = HUGE LOSS OF INNOCENTS = Vietnamese hatred of US (opposed WHAm) OUTLINE = Khe Sanh = distraction = element of surprise on public holiday of Lunar Year with 70 000 NV and VC coordinated attacks on 100 cities/towns in South Vietnam GOALS = break the stalemate, cause the ARVN to collapse, cause discontent/rebellion in SV IMPACT = Coordination not successful = US countered w heavy losses = MILITARY LOSS US had been claiming end is in sight = STRATEGIC/PSYCHOLOGICAL VICTORY FOR VIETNAM Johnson not re-election, peace talks, Nixon “peace with honour” + Vietnamisation

EVIDENCE - Giap = “elephant and tiger” analogy – prepared to be patient “the way to win is by small defeats, one after the other until the coup de grace” - Ho = “we will never give up!” - Marine McCarthy = “They were ghosts. You’d never see anybody” Mines/booby traps = 10% of US casualties – No targets = US aimlessly bombed killing 500 000 innocents - Villager of NLF required to dig 3 feet of tunnelling per day. Largest tunnel complex in Cu Chi district which was 20 miles from Saigon (200miles) - Leaders in North sacrificed 10 men for every 1 enemy they lost - Soldier = “You never knew where the enemy was and who was their friend. The enemy was all around you” - Karnow = “Ho had cultivated the image of a humble, benign ‘Uncle Ho’” - Osbourne = “unlikely cult figure” - Karnow = may peasants welcomed the VC and saw them as liberators - Pach = 96% of all American military engagements = enemy forces 150 men - Bombing of the North + limited bombing of South – 1/6 as much - Herbicides/defoliation = birth defects/mutations/infertility/cancers - 30 000 children deafened - ARVN desertion = 30% per annum - US soldier = 19, 41% black, 35kg backpack, 395 day tour of duty conscript, 20% addicted to heroin IMPACT OF FIGHTING = - 1.5 million dead (430 000 civilians), 3 million wounded, 1 million widows, 500 000 orphans - 2.2 million hectares of forest destroyed by 86 million litres of herbicide - 500 000 hectares of farmland lost, 60% rubber plantation destroyed - Economy = 40 years behind other South East Asian countries - 65 000 refugees escaped Vietnam before 1975 - 50% RVN lost homes - 3000 Strategic Hamlets by end of 1960 - Slingsby: policy carried out with no finesse  peasants were ejected which were then burnt down. As resistance increased so did government repression. Davis = media presented the attack on embassy as a moral defeat – Communists lost 60 000 to 4000 US - Cronkite = “ more certain than ever that Vietnam is to end in a stalemate” - Attacked US embassy in Saigon – VC platoon inside  TELEVISION: “A VC suicide squad stormed the US Embassy Wendesday” United Press International - Westmoreland requested 200 000 more troops seen as desperation. - Sheehan = Westmoreland’s mistake was in a second Dien Bien Phu

REASONS FOR COMMUNIST VICTORY/US DEFEAT/FALL OF THE SOUTH

The reasons for the communist victory are extensive but culminate with the success of the Communist effort. The Communist forces maintained a common goal, high morale with effective leadership, tactics and organisation. In contrast to this the US struggled to understand these military and political tactics, their persistent implementation of ineffective methods ultimately led to the exhaustion of the US budget and support following the turning point of the war that was TET. Furthermore, policy makers came to understand the nationalist struggle within Vietnam and recognise the flaws in the ‘domino’ theory. Thus, the inevitable communist Victory came as a result of the perseverance and success of the North and the flawed approach from the US. IDEA US Budget

Morale

Ineffective

strategies

TET

ARGUMENT • War Took valuable time away from domestic policies at home  LBJ’s Great society • US inflation due to ongoing costs – had already given French $2 billion to win First conflict • Congress cut aid from 1 billion to 700 million then ended completely in 1975 • Without US aid = South Vietnam inflation rocketed, 30% unemployment • Television War = DIVISION ON HOME FRONT with protest movement and dissatisfaction • War = psychologically taxing, decreased morale of troops and citizens • draft dodgers, conscientious objectors, Moratorium movement • Civil Rights activists – e.g. Martin Luther King (41% black men conscripted) • WATERGATE = mistrust, anger in society • War without honour: Operation Rolling Thunder/Operation Menu – not the good guys • Decreased morale in army: Increased mutinous activities/fragging (500 fragging 1971) • +++ Communism stopped being “dreaded” thing  breaking relations between Russia and China (no longer domino theory) • • • • • • • • • • •

No clear purpose By contrast

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Failure to understand true nature of war  (Cold War vs Nationalist war) Failure of conventional tactics AGAINST guerrilla warfare  maximum firepower (bombs, napalm, chemical warfare, etc.) had no targets due to tunnelling = only killing innocents Failure to ‘stop’ the trail - 1300km with 25 criss-cross routes, up to 2000 trucks per day Identification – didn’t know who was enemy/plus couldn’t see them in jungle/night ARVN = poorly trained/motivated/paid: untrusted (DIDN’T USE THEIR AREA KNOWLEDGE) WHAM failed +strategic Hamlets - social dislocation, less food for peasants Vs success of “people’s Propaganda Unit” spread name/message (Giap) Americans weighed down with weaponry/packs of 60 kg in jungle terrain Failure of regimes in South failure of Diem, then instability, then removal of aid to Thieu IMPACT = MILITARY LOSS but US had been claiming end is in sight = STRATEGIC/PSYCHOLOGICAL VICTORY FOR VIETNAM Johnson not...