Geographically, historically and culturally Vietnam was profoundly influenced by Chinese culture due to more than 1,000 years under Chinese rule. Chinese influence was less important in Vietnam from 1884 to 1945 after the French occupied Cochinchina and established their protectorate in Tonkin and Annam. By the end of the 19th century almost all the Vietnamese resistance forces were defeated by the French. The Vietnamese revolutionaries looked for different paths of national liberation, and thought of foreign aid. Phan Boi Chau and Cuong De admired the Japanese reforms. He founded Phong Trao Dong Du (Journey to the East Movement). Phan Chu Trinh loved Western democracy and modernization in exhorting non- violence (ahimsa). He was the soul of the Modernization Movement. Nguyen Tat Thanh (Ho Chi Minh) leaned toward the Comintern. He founded Vietnam Thanh Nien Cach Mang Dong Chi Hoi (Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association) in 1925, and Dang Cong San Viet Nam (Vietnam Communist Party) in 1930. He played an important role in the Vietnamese revolutions in the 20th century. Nguyen Thai Hoc headed Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnam Kuomintang), and adopted San Min Chu I (Three Peoples Principles) promoted by Sun Yat- sen. Bui Quang Chieu founded Dang Lap Hien (Constitutionalist Party), cherishing Phap- Viet De Hue (Franco- Vietnamese Cooperation). Ta Thu Thau, Phan Van Hum, Ho Huu Tuong chose Trotskyism known as the Fourth International. Ngo Dinh Diem was a mandarin. Nguyen Van Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky were military men. They all were trained and educated by the French before being backed by Washington to become leaders of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). International Politico- Cultural Influences on Vietnam in the 20th Century was the summary of the influences of the Big Five and Japan on Vietnam in the 20th century. It showed the readers how important foreign aid was in Vietnam, how Vietnam was modified by foreign aid, and how complicated the Vietnam problems were for not digesting different political doctrines and cultures smoothly.
The events of the 1920s and 1930s were crucial in the evolution of modern Vietnam. Yet our knowledge of this complex period of student strikes, revolt against the patriarchal family, debates on women's emancipation, and the search for a new worldview to replace the bankrupt Confucian ideology has been distorted by a preoccupation with the eventual establishment of a Communist regime there.
This book presents research focusing on the Vietnam Nationalist Party (Việt Nam Quốc dân đảng) from 1927 to 1954. It elaborates on the party’s establishment, political ideology and organizational structure, the Yen Bai Uprising, the party’s downfall, and its role in the Vietnamese Revolution. Findings are presented systematically and comprehensively, relying on official and unofficial, as well as domestic and foreign sources, including texts from localities and hometowns of vital figures in the organization. The author compares, contrasts and evaluates this complex collection of documents based on the theoretical perspectives of conflict theory, social system theory, social structuralism and functionism, dialectic materialism and Marxist theory. It is essential reading for Vietnamese and international researchers interested in Vietnam’s political context in the early twentieth century and for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Vietnam’s history and politics.
Now in its second edition, this comprehensive study of the Vietnam War sheds more light on the longest and one of the most controversial conflicts in U.S. history. The Vietnam War lasted more than a decade, was the longest war in U.S. history, and cost the lives of nearly 60,000 American soldiers, as well as millions of Vietnamese—many of whom were uninvolved civilians. The lessons learned from this tragic conflict continue to have great relevance in today's world. Now in its second edition, The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History adds an entire additional volume of entries to the already exhaustive first edition, making it the most comprehensive reference available about one of the most controversial events in U.S. history. Written to provide multidimensional perspectives into the conflict, it covers not only the American experience in Vietnam, but also the entire scope of Vietnamese history, including the French experience and the Indochina War, as well as the origins of the conflict, how the United States became involved, and the extensive aftermath of this prolonged war. It also provides the most complete and accurate order of battle ever published, based upon data compiled from Vietnamese sources. This latest release delivers even more of what readers have come to expect from the editorship of Spencer C. Tucker and the military history experts at ABC-CLIO.
"Vietnam 1946 is a masterful narrative of the immediate origins of the first Vietnam War. It is, by turns, vivid and shocking; it is always immensely revealing. Tønnesson brings forensic clarity to crucial events about which, even now, some sixty years later, fundamental misapprehensions exist. An outstanding work of scholarship of major international importance."—Martin Thomas, author of Empires of Intelligence "Tønnesson captures brilliantly the 1946 confrontation between two republics: France determined to redeem itself from Axis humiliation by regaining Indochina; Vietnam equally determined to retake independence after eighty years of colonial servitude. Tønnesson also demonstrates, however, that some leaders on each side really wanted a peaceful, mutually beneficial outcome. Descent into full-scale war was not inevitable. This is a carefully researched, clearly written analysis of a vital moment in the 20th century history of both countries. It is also a meditation on the elusive boundary between free will and determinism in human affairs."—David Marr, author of Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920-1945 “Stein Tønnesson's Vietnam 1946 answers the fundamental question about the first of Vietnam's 20th century wars, the one fought against the French: how did it happen? He has written a meticulously researched account which restores their contingency to the events. The first Indochina war, like those that succeeded it, was not inevitable and Tønnesson explains why and how it happened anyway.”—Marilyn Young, author of The Vietnam Wars 1945-1990
In the 1950s and 1960s and on into the 1970s, the United States was involved in two wars fought far from homeone in aid of South Korea against the neighboring Communist North Korea, and a second waged through the jungles of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Both of these military engagements were a reaction to what the United States feared as being Communist takeovers, and were surrounded by a strong degree of political controversy. This book explores both wars in detail to help readers understand why the conflicts occurred and what their lasting effects have been.