11-24 Lecture

11-24-2008 Lecture: Vietnam?s Histories and Cultures HANDOUT: ?Vietnam?s Histories and Cultures? China and Vietnam -214 BCE Qin Dynasty First Emperor -Established military post Northern Vietnam -Han dynasty controlled all of Red River delta within a century -China controls Vietnam for next millennium -Combination of Confucianism and Mahayana Buddhism -Blend together of cultures, not clash -Chinese army defeated by Ngo Quyen in 939 CE -China would recognize Vietnam?s independence as long as they sent tribute to China every three years -Vietnam repels three attempts at conquer by Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty?s Kublai Khan between 1225 and 1288 CE -Ming Dynasty in 1368, China again occupies Vietnam -Driven out by Vietnamese emperor Le Loi (1418-1420) Europe and Vietnam -1535 Portuguese begin buying silk -Portuguese followed by Dutch, French, and English -1630?s Nguyen Dynasty ruler builds two large walls across middle of Vietnam to separate North and South -Too many internal differences -Jesuits successful at converting Vietnamese to Christianity -More Christians in Vietnam than in China -Vietnamese writing Romanized by French priests -1787 central Vietnamese prince captures Saigon (in south) and Hanoi (in north) and unifies Vietnam under Nguyen Dynasty based in Hue -Appointed French Bishop Pignuea as foreign minister -French advisors to help modernize army and administration -Resented by Vietnamese within 30 years -1825 Vietnamese emperor calls Christianity ?perverse religion which corrupts men?s hearts? -By 1850?s 25 European priests, 300 Vietnamese priests, and 30,000 Vietnamese Christians executed -Using executions as justification, French occupy Saigon 1859 -Capture Hanoi and Hue 1882 -Declared Vietnam and Cambodia as French protectorate in 1884 -?Indochina? -1893 Laos added to Indochina -1920 Ho Chi Minh helped establish Communist party in France -1930 founded Vietnamese Communist party -Encouraged actions against the French -After WWII Japan drove France out and occupied Vietnam -Ho Chi Minh organized Viet Minh (League for Independence of Vietnam) -Sept 2, 1945 Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam?s declaration of Independence -French ignore declaration, try to reassert military authority -Shelling of Haiphong Harbor -Viet Minh attack French -US military aid to French 1950-1954 -French surrounded and defeated in Dien Bien Phu -Surrendered to Viet Minh Geneva Accords -Signed by France and Vietnam -Divided Vietnam along 17th Parallel -North Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh -South Vietnam to Ngo Dinh Diem -Election scheduled July 20, 1956 -300 days of free movements between north and south -900,000 people migrated from north to south -1956 US backed Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold elections -Maintains he did not sign Geneva Accords -Declared self President of South Vietnam -Viet Cong in South Vietnam mobilize resistance against President Diem -US support to Dim and embargo on North Vietnam -Viet Cong control nearly half of South Vietnam by 1961 Tonkin Bay Incident -August 1964 -Two US ships attacked in international waters by Northern Vietnamese -Unprovoked attack -In actuality, Maddox ship in North Vietnamese waters helping South Vietnam -Turner Joy ship never attacked -Tonkin Bay Resolution -Allows President to ?take all necessary measures? -US forces begin to arrive in South Vietnam in1965 -8 year war -Defending democracy, halting spread of communism -Strategic hamlets, free-fire zones, and search and destroy missions -Operation Phoenix -Civilian massacres -My Lai ?Massacre? March 16, 1968 -US had more bombs dropped on Vietnam in eight years than on all of Europe in all of WWII Paris Peace Agreement -Signed January 27, 1973 -USA, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Viet Cong -Ceasefire, withdrawal of US forces, return of US POWs (509 total) 3.14 million Americans served in Vietnam -58,183 killed or MIA Millions of Vietnamese killed North Vietnamese occupies Saigon April 30, 1975, reunifying country and ending war People?s Republic of Vietnam admitted into United Nations in 1977 -US lifted embargo against Vietnam in 1994 Background of My Lai Massacre -March 16, 1968 -Secret from the American public until the next January -Story came out in photographs in Life magazine -500 unarmed civilians killed by American soldiers -Intelligence that there was food stores in My Lai -?Search and destroy? mission -Permission to kill anyone suspicious -Looking for Viet Cong -Blend in with civilian population -US suffers a series of casualties -Did not know about a minefield laid by Koreans to capture Viet Cong -Severe casualties -Intelligence said that everyone in village My Lai was Viet Cong -All civilian villagers at market -Began early in the morning artillery and rocket firing -3 platoons, each enter village from slightly different direction -American troops firing on innocent civilians -Captain Q. Thompson sees from helicopter, lands between Americans and Vietnamese -Instructs American to stop chasing Vietnamese