Vietnam and The First Half of the 20th Century WWI, WWII, and Ho Chi Minh

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Vietnam and The First Half of the 20th Century
WWI, WWII, and Ho Chi Minh
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• Ho Chi Minh
• Mandarin, but no room for a non-puppet Mandarin
  in French-controlled Vietnam
• French educated
• Impressed by the French philosophes
• George Carpentier boxing story
• And yet sees the mission civilatrice for the
  sham that it is rickshaw political cartoon

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WWI

• clash of imperial western powers
• Extremely bloodythink about the weapons of the
  Industrial Revolution
• Russian Communist Revolution
• Any clash between imperialist powers will be
  riveting to the imperialized

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U.S. and WWI

• Joined late and reluctantly
• We have no selfish ends to serve, said
  President Wilson. Instead we fight a war to
  make the world safe for democracy, a war to
  end wars.
• Relatively few U.S. soldiers died, but our forces
  and our supplies turned the tide and end the war.
  
• U.S. was increasingly scene as the arsenal of
  democracy
• U.S. was increasingly seen as a first-rate world
  power

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President Woodrow Wilsons Grand Vision for the
End of the War

• The Fourteen Points
• Attempted to prevent future war by removing the
  factors that caused WWI
• One of Wilsons central ideas was
  Self-determination
• Ethnic groups should be free to chart their own
  political structure

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For example
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Ho Chi Minh at Versailles
Your self-determination stuff is SOOO right
on!!! Please dont forget the Vietnamese!!!!
I couldnt agree more I heyyou arent
Europeanheywhy are why are these flags covering
my mouth
He attempted to give a message about Vietnam to
Wilson. Not successful.
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Wilson didnt mean Africa and Asia. He was
racist. Even if he had wanted to include them,
the French and British rejected Asian and African
self-determination

• Why?

Hos Attempt Made Him Famous in Vietnam
He was also a poet and writer. Hos
collected writings would fill twelve volumes of
some 600 pages each
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The French and British rejected
self-determination outside of Europe, pushing
instead the Mandate System
Umm.. Yes (giggle) you can be
independent(chuckle) just, wait until....
(snort) you are ready (ah, hahhahhah..hah I
kill myself)
Asshole!
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Thus, Ho embraced Communism and traveled widely
in the Soviet Union and China
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Why Communism?

• Lenin and Many Communists Were Publicly
  Anti-Imperialist
• Ho Chi Minh Adopted Lenins Dictum Revolution
  only when the time is right
• - When was the time right for
  Lenin???

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WWII

• Seeds were sown in the Treaty of Versailles at
  the end of WWI
• Frances terrible punishment of Germany was
  avenged by HitlerMaginot linesame train
• Vichy France
• (do we see the importance here for Vietnam!?)

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Japan Has Imperial Hopes

• Eyes wealth of loosely guarded Indochina
• Japans only real threat in Pacific is
• The U.S.
• Pearl Harbor
• Japanese smashed Vichy in Vietnam
• White mans aura was destroyed in Vietnam
• Ho reentered Vietnam

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Before His Death, FDR Spoke of His Support for
Independence in Indochina

• The French have had this land for over one
  hundred years and the people are no better off
  for it.
• However, this was not to be

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After Early Setbacks, U.S. Slowly Destroyed Japan
in the Pacific

• Ho was still open to working with America
• In return for weapons and training from the
  O.S.S. (earlier version of CIA), Ho rescued
  downed American pilots and provided information
  on Japanese troop movements
• O.S.S. documents saw Ho as a nationalist first
• Ho himself said this many times
• Many Asian nationalists sided with the Japanese
• However, Ho didnt want to kick the lion out the
  front door, but _______________

Dont try it, bub!
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U.S. Dropped Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima

• Japanese surrendered
• Ho, national hero in Vietnam, held a rally in
  Vietnam and declared Vietnamese independence
• He chose his wording darn carefully!!!
• Who was Ho appealing to with this wording?

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• Ho Chi Minh's Speech, Ba Dinh Square, September
  2, 1945 
• "All men are created equal. They are endowed by
  their Creator with certain
• unalienable Rights among these are Life,
  Liberty, and the pursuit of
• Happiness. This immortal statement was made in
  the Declaration of
• Independence of the United States of America in
  1776. In a broader sense, this
• means All the peoples on the earth are equal
  from birth, all the peoples have a
• right to live, to be happy and free.
• The Declaration of the French Revolution made in
  1791 on the Rights of Man
• and the citizen also states "All men are born
  free and with equal rights, and
• must always remain free and have equal
  rights."These are undeniable truths.
• Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the
  French imperialists, abusing the
• standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity,
  have violated our Fatherland and
• oppressed our fellow citizens. They have acted
  contrary to the ideals of humanity
• And justice. In the field of politics, they have
  deprived our people of every
• democratic liberty. They have enforced inhuman
  laws they have set up three