Vietnam - Revision history

Unknown user at 21:43, 1 May 2025

2025-05-01T21:43:37Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:43, 1 May 2025
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	* Diem recoiled from idea of US troops in Vietnam; larger American presence would compromise nationalist pretensions, give US greater leverage		* Diem recoiled from idea of US troops in Vietnam; larger American presence would compromise nationalist pretensions, give US greater leverage

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	[[Category:Watergate]]		[[Category:Watergate]]

Unknown user at 21:43, 1 May 2025

2025-05-01T21:43:19Z

Unknown user at 21:42, 1 May 2025

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Admin: /* Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place */

2017-08-18T05:08:57Z

Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:08, 18 August 2017
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	* Kennedy had rough first year in office - narrow margin of victory over Richard Nixon, defeat at Bay of Pigs, confronted Kremlin over divided Berlin, shaken five months into office when Nikita Khrushchev bullied him during summit meeting in Vienna		* Kennedy had rough first year in office - narrow margin of victory over Richard Nixon, defeat at Bay of Pigs, confronted Kremlin over divided Berlin, shaken five months into office when Nikita Khrushchev bullied him during summit meeting in Vienna
	* Kennedy to James Reston of NYT: "Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place."		* Kennedy to James Reston of NYT: "Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place."
	* Pressures from many in his administration~~...~~ Dean Rusk, Secretary of State, expounded toughness toward Asian Communism; allied with Robert McNamara, Ford executive who believed that investment could produce desired results; Senator J. W. Fullbright ~~was~~ also firm supporter of involvement in Vietnam		* Pressures from many in his administration
			** Dean Rusk, Secretary of State, expounded toughness toward Asian Communism
			** Rusk allied with Robert McNamara, Ford Motor Company executive who believed that investment could produce desired results
			** Senator J. W. Fullbright also firm supporter of involvement in Vietnam
	* April 1961 - Kennedy created task force for preventing Communist domination of South Vietnam, headed by George Ball, deputy under-secretary of state		* April 1961 - Kennedy created task force for preventing Communist domination of South Vietnam, headed by George Ball, deputy under-secretary of state
	* Diem recoiled from idea of US troops in Vietnam; larger American presence would compromise nationalist pretensions, give US greater leverage		* Diem recoiled from idea of US troops in Vietnam; larger American presence would compromise nationalist pretensions, give US greater leverage

Admin: /* Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place */

2017-05-10T03:20:34Z

Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:20, 10 May 2017
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	=Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place=		=Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place=

			* Eisenhower replaced by Kennedy in November 1960
			* Kennedy more concerned with Europe and Latin America than Asia
			* Kennedy had rough first year in office - narrow margin of victory over Richard Nixon, defeat at Bay of Pigs, confronted Kremlin over divided Berlin, shaken five months into office when Nikita Khrushchev bullied him during summit meeting in Vienna
			* Kennedy to James Reston of NYT: "Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place."
			* Pressures from many in his administration... Dean Rusk, Secretary of State, expounded toughness toward Asian Communism; allied with Robert McNamara, Ford executive who believed that investment could produce desired results; Senator J. W. Fullbright was also firm supporter of involvement in Vietnam
			* April 1961 - Kennedy created task force for preventing Communist domination of South Vietnam, headed by George Ball, deputy under-secretary of state
			* Diem recoiled from idea of US troops in Vietnam; larger American presence would compromise nationalist pretensions, give US greater leverage

	=Chapter 8: The End of Diem=		=Chapter 8: The End of Diem=

Admin: /* Chapter 6: America's Mandarin */

2017-05-10T02:40:11Z

Chapter 6: America's Mandarin

@@ Line 399: / Line 399: @@
 * Nearly a million Vietnamese made the journey - forerunner of tremendous flight of "boat people" from Vietnam after communists gained control of entire country in 1975
 * Majority Catholics, communities had fled
-* Refugees from north were fiercely anti-Communist
+* Anti-Communist refugees fleeing from North Vietnam to South Vietnam provided Diem with a political base
 =Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place=

Admin: /* Chapter 4: The War with the French */

2017-05-10T01:54:24Z

Chapter 4: The War with the French

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:54, 10 May 2017
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	{{Quote\|		{{Quote\|
	You fools! Don't you realize what it means if the Chinese remain? ~~Dont~~' you remember your history? The last time the Chinese came, they stayed a thousand years. The French are foreigners. They are weak. Colonialism is dying. The white man is finished in Asia. But if the Chinese stay now, they will never go.		You fools! Don't you realize what it means if the Chinese remain? Don't you remember your history? The last time the Chinese came, they stayed a thousand years. The French are foreigners. They are weak. Colonialism is dying. The white man is finished in Asia. But if the Chinese stay now, they will never go.

	As for me, I prefer to sniff French shit for five years than eat Chinese shit for the rest of my life.		As for me, I prefer to sniff French shit for five years than eat Chinese shit for the rest of my life.

Admin: /* Chapter 6: America's Mandarin */

2017-05-07T08:00:57Z

Chapter 6: America's Mandarin

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:00, 7 May 2017
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	=Chapter 6: America's Mandarin=		=Chapter 6: America's Mandarin=

			* Ngo Dinh Diem - ascetic Catholic steeped in Confucian tradition, mixture of monk and mandarin
			* Diem expected obedience, distrusted non-family members, unable to build constituency beyond Catholics and central Vietnam natives
			* Saw Communist uprising in narrow military terms, not in broad magnitude of politicial/social/economic revolution
			* Diem captured by Vietminh agents in September 1945, brought to Ho
			* Conversed, Ho offered to join forces, Diem left
			* Diem absconded for Europe and US, at Geneva conference Bao Dai met with Diem to ask him to be prime minister
			* On June 18, 1954, Bao Dai placed Diem before a crucifix and persuaded him to swear to defend Vietnam "against the Communists and, if necessary, against the French."
			* Bao Dai had dug his own political grave
			* General J. Lawton "Lightning Joe" Collins - former army chief of staff
			* Advised limits on aid, saw Diem as hopeless, suggested US withdraw

			{{Quote\|
			Instructed to sabotage the transportation network int he north in anticipation of the Vietminh takeover, Conein and his colleagues laced the oil destined for Hanoi's trams with acid, and they concealed explosives in the piles of coal that fueled railway locomotives. Conein proposed blowing up the Standard Oil and Shell storage tanks located at Haiphong, but his idea was rejected on the grounds that "we'll need them when we go back."

			- p. 237
			}}

			* National Geographic article, 1955
			* Massive movement of refugees from north to south
			* Nearly a million Vietnamese made the journey - forerunner of tremendous flight of "boat people" from Vietnam after communists gained control of entire country in 1975
			* Majority Catholics, communities had fled
			* Refugees from north were fiercely anti-Communist

	=Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place=		=Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place=

Admin: /* Chapter 5: The Light That Failed */

2017-05-07T07:41:36Z

Chapter 5: The Light That Failed

@@ Line 263: / Line 263: @@
 * "France's desperate effort to cling to its Asian possession escalated into an international crisis - and the American commitment gradually took shape.
-==Chapter 5: The Light That Failed==
+=Chapter 5: The Light That Failed=
 * 1947 - US launched Marshall Plan in western Europe to curb Communist inroads in France and Italy
@@ Line 317: / Line 317: @@
 {{Quote|
 Starting in November, Giap began to move thirty-three infantry battalions, six artillery regiments, and a regiment of engineers into the region, some over long distances. Reflecting afterward on the massive deployment, military historians judged that, in a conflict like the Indochina war, the mobility of individual soldiers outweighs the mobility of armies. That principle guided Giap in his struggles against France and, later, America. As he told me in 1990, his voice bursting with conviction: "In war there are two factors - human beings and weapons. Ultimately, though, human beings are the decisive factor. Human beings! Human beings!"
 }}
 =Chapter 6: America's Mandarin=

Admin: /* Chapter 5: The Light that Failed */

2017-05-07T07:04:15Z

Chapter 5: The Light that Failed

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:04, 7 May 2017
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	Starting in November, Giap began to move thirty-three infantry battalions, six artillery regiments, and a regiment of engineers into the region, some over long distances. Reflecting afterward on the massive deployment, military historians judged that, in a conflict like the Indochina war, the mobility of individual soldiers outweighs the mobility of armies. That principle guided Giap in his struggles against France and, later, America. As he told me in 1990, his voice bursting with conviction: "In war there are two factors - human beings and weapons. Ultimately, though, human beings are the decisive factor. Human beings! Human beings!"		Starting in November, Giap began to move thirty-three infantry battalions, six artillery regiments, and a regiment of engineers into the region, some over long distances. Reflecting afterward on the massive deployment, military historians judged that, in a conflict like the Indochina war, the mobility of individual soldiers outweighs the mobility of armies. That principle guided Giap in his struggles against France and, later, America. As he told me in 1990, his voice bursting with conviction: "In war there are two factors - human beings and weapons. Ultimately, though, human beings are the decisive factor. Human beings! Human beings!"
	}}		}}

	~~=Chapter 5: The Light that Failed=~~

	=Chapter 6: America's Mandarin=		=Chapter 6: America's Mandarin=

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:43, 1 May 2025
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	* The US commitment to the region dated back to 1950, when President Truman decided to help the French retain their hold over Indochina to block Chinese Communist expansion.		* The US commitment to the region dated back to 1950, when President Truman decided to help the French retain their hold over Indochina to block Chinese Communist expansion.

	==Chapter 2: Piety and Power=		==Chapter 2: Piety and Power==

	* Vietnam also known in Europe as Cauchinchina		* Vietnam also known in Europe as Cauchinchina
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	}}		}}

	==Chapter 3: The Heritage of Vietnamese Nationalism=		==Chapter 3: The Heritage of Vietnamese Nationalism==

	* Recorded history of Vietnam - begins in 208 BC, when Trieu Da, turncoat Chinese general, conquered Au Lac, domain in northern mountains of Vietnam populated by Viets (Mongolian descendants)		* Recorded history of Vietnam - begins in 208 BC, when Trieu Da, turncoat Chinese general, conquered Au Lac, domain in northern mountains of Vietnam populated by Viets (Mongolian descendants)
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	* Strained relationship with Soviets (forbade Communist resistance to Axis powers), but main concern was Vietnam		* Strained relationship with Soviets (forbade Communist resistance to Axis powers), but main concern was Vietnam

	==Chapter 4: The War with the French=		==Chapter 4: The War with the French==

	Lieutenant Colonel Peter Dewey of the OSS - the first American to die in Vietnam.		Lieutenant Colonel Peter Dewey of the OSS - the first American to die in Vietnam.
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	* "France's desperate effort to cling to its Asian possession escalated into an international crisis - and the American commitment gradually took shape.		* "France's desperate effort to cling to its Asian possession escalated into an international crisis - and the American commitment gradually took shape.

	==Chapter 5: The Light That Failed=		==Chapter 5: The Light That Failed==

	* 1947 - US launched Marshall Plan in western Europe to curb Communist inroads in France and Italy		* 1947 - US launched Marshall Plan in western Europe to curb Communist inroads in France and Italy
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	* Ngo Dinh Diem rejected eneva accords, predicted another war in Vietnam's future		* Ngo Dinh Diem rejected eneva accords, predicted another war in Vietnam's future

	==Chapter 6: America's Mandarin=		==Chapter 6: America's Mandarin==

	* Ngo Dinh Diem - ascetic Catholic steeped in Confucian tradition, mixture of monk and mandarin		* Ngo Dinh Diem - ascetic Catholic steeped in Confucian tradition, mixture of monk and mandarin
Line 519:		Line 519:
	}}		}}

	==Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place=		==Chapter 7: Vietnam is the Place==

	* Eisenhower replaced by Kennedy in November 1960		* Eisenhower replaced by Kennedy in November 1960