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The Indochinese peninsula as a whole was originally populated by settlers from Indonesia. About two thousand BC Thai and Khmer invaders from the north-west developed settlements in the Mekong delta. Some time later seafaring people from India came to central Vietnam. There they founded an own kingdom. However, the Vietnamese people come after the Chinese, whose ancestors migrated from their original country to settle in the Mekong delta. This s ...
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The rebels overthrew the kingdoms in the north and already planned to eradicate the south. The catholic church decides to seek assistance from France and they sent out a monsignor called Pierre Pigneau. He made a trip back to France and begged for support from the French king Louis XVI. he finally secured help from French trades in India, who provided the southern kingdom in Vietnam with munition, arms and tools. With an army consisting of more ...
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When France fell to Nazi Germany in 1940 the government in Indochina had to accept Japanese troops in Vietnam who exploited the country in the way of a very good strategic position. The only group that did anything significant to resist the Japanese were the Viet Minh, a kind of freedom fighters. They were strongly supported by the United States who saw a good chance to weaken the enemies by helping the Viet Minh with their civil war. The leade ...
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Ho Chi Minh\'s declaration of Vietnam\'s independence on 2 September 1945 made little impression on the Allies. Once Japan had surrendered, they proceeded to put into effect the agreements made at Potsdam in regard to Indochina. During September British troops under the control of General Sir Douglas Gracey occupied the south of Vietnam (in effect Cochinchina and parts of Annam), while Chinese nationalist troops under general Lu Han occupied th ...
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The country was separated. In the north Ho Chi Minh ruled his communist government supported by Russia. The capital was Hanoi and all territories north of the 17th parallel line belonged to the DRV. A radical land reform was implemented providing about half a hectare of land each to some 1.5 million peasants. Enemies of the government were imprisoned or executed (more than fifteen thousand people died under the regime of Ho Chi Minh). The conta ...
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The presidential campaign of 1960 was fiercely contested between Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon, who had served two terms as Eisenhower\'s vice president. He had visited Vietnam for many time in cases of political affairs and he strongly supported the policy of containment of communism there. In November 1960 Kennedy won the elections and accordingly his way of dealing with the Vietnam question was not much different ...
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Now the whole power over the ROV lay in the hands of general Duong Van Minh. He also won a large measure of support from Johnson by cancelling martial law, releasing captures monks and nuns and promising total equality between all religions. Everything seemed to be perfect at this moment. However to Johnson\'s dismay Minh planned to dismantle the discredited hamlet program and seeked contact to the communist rebels. He also favoured neutralisat ...
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The United States forces were consulting about the best war strategy against the DRV. They key to success, as they saw it, was the use of maximum force in the shortest possible time. Before ninety four targets had been chosen and it would take sixteen days to destroy them all by intensive attacks. From the history the Air Force knew that gradually accelerating bombing campaigns had been less effective. For example the bombing of Japan at the en ...
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After the failure of the hit-and-run tactics the Viet Cong decided to change their strategy. As in the early Indochina War the communists placed their faith in the remarkable Vietnamese ability to endure heavy losses and deprivations until they finally achieved victory through wearing down the will of the enemies. The Viet Cong also wanted to attack the enemies in surprising actions to have better chances. In applying their strategy they enjoye ...
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The Viet Cong recognised that they had good conditions to win this war because of the weakness of the enemy troops. They finally decided to launch a major communist offensive to bring the war to an end for their advance. The general offensive would begin on 30 January 1968, the beginning of the three day Vietnamese lunar new year holiday, which is simply known as Tet. In the past years both sides had suspended most of their operations during th ...
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The secret strategy Nixon had talked about during the 1968 campaign for ending the war in Vietnam had three facets. If the DRV did not become more reasonable concerning the peace process, America would take drastic actions against North Vietnam and its supporters (Cambodia and Laos). The second facet should improve the relations with the Soviet Union to avoid other military actions. At last the American troops should return home before they had ...
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Nixon urged the South Vietnamese President Thieu to order the ARVN to undertake an independent operation to demonstrate the new self- sufficiency. However, the first great military operation without the aid of American forces failed and many soldiers were killed by the communist troops from the north. This operation is known as LAM SON 19 and is named after a long time ago victory over the Chinese.
By 1971 Nixon and Kissinger were aware that t ...
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The American bombing of North Vietnam had brought the communists back to the negotiating table at Paris, but they did not move far from their already known positions. They were especially inflexible on the issue of partitioning South Vietnam into areas controlled by themselves and by Saigon. President Nixon\'s delegation was in no position to haggle over these issues. In January 1973 the US Congress explained clearly that if the war would not c ...
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The communist victory over the Republic of Vietnam at the end of April 1975 propelled the communist Provisional Revolutionary Government into power. The PRG proceeded to blot out all reminders of the defunct ROV. The name of Saigon was even changed in Ho Chi Minh City. Masses of South Vietnamese people were taken to centres of re education to extinguish their last thoughts of democracy. The formal union of North and South Vietnam took place i ...
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There are so many reasons for the defeat of the American troops in Vietnam. First of all Johnson and McNamara judged the situation as completely wrong. They underestimated the strength of the communist troops and their support from China and Russia. The Viet Cong were also prepared to fight until death and they were dedicated to win or to die. They were highly motivated. Another support to the communists was the landscape of Vietnam. The Americ ...
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The man who would become famous under the synonyme Ho Chi Minh, the most famous one among more than fifty aliases, was born in Annam on 19 May 1880. His real name is Nguyen That Thanh and at this time nobody knew, that this person would become America\'s chief antagonist in the Vietnam War from 1965 until 1975. Little is known about his mother except she was a concubine. His father, Nguyen Sinh Sac, was of peasant origins. However, due to a stu ...
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The first phase: The Indochina war
After the withdrawal of the Japanese troops in 1945 the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam" was founded on September the 2nd in Hanoi in the North.
Under the President Ho Chi Minh, founder and president of the communistic "League for the Independence of Vietnam", the so-called "Vietminh", the North wanted the full power over the whole country. "Ho Chi Minh" means "The Enlightened" or "The Ocean of Light". ...
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1858 Vietnam is annexed by France
1887 Vietnam and Cambodia is ruled by France
1939-1941: Viet Minh seeks for independence
1945: The Viet Minh begins a war against French occupation with attacks in the North.
(declaration of independence - French offers only a free-state freedom)
1950: The USA begins to provide military and economic aid to the French in Indochina.
1954: The French are defeated. an agreement is signed, ...
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Theories of violence
Violence is part of our daily lives and always has been. Every day when we watch TV, listen to the radio or read the papers, we learn about acts of violence. There are three main theories why people use violence:
1. Violence is an instinct which we all have. Violence is necessary for survival. Some psychologists say that energy, will and courage are forms of violence. If violence is an instinct it will always be with us. Th ...
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Today I´m going to tell you something about violence, because I think this is one of the main problems in our time.
"Violence" may concern different aspects. The word violence itself has different meanings and can be used to describe several kinds of actions, as it has a psychological and a physical component.
Our world is full of violence. From all over we hear stories about mugging, shooting, riots, cruelty, war, murder and death. And if ...
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