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The Vietnam War, Public Opinion and American Culture

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The Vietnam War, Public Opinion and American Culture MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature The Vietnam War, Public Opinion and American Culture Diploma Thesis Brno2008 Supervisedby:Writtenby: Mgr.ZdeněkJaník,M.A.ZuzanaHodboďová Prohlášení: Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto diplomovou práci zpracovala samostatně a použila jen ty prameny,které jsouuvedenévseznamuliteratury. Souhlasím,abypráce byla uložena vinformačním systému (IS) Masarykovyuniverzity vBrně, popř. vknihovně Pedagogické fakulty MU a aby byla využita ke studijním účelům. Declaration: I proclaim that mydiploma thesis is a piece of individual writingand that I used only thesourcesthatarecitedinbibliographylist. I agree with this diploma thesis beingstoredinthe InformationSystem of the Masaryk University, eventually in the Library of the Faculty of Education, and with its being takenadvantageforacademic purposes. 16 th April2008,Brno………………………………………….... Poděkování: Ráda bych poděkovala panu Mgr. Zdeňku Janíkovi, M.A., vedoucímu mé diplomové práce, za jehocenné radya připomínky,které přispělyke konečné podobě tétopráce. Dále bychráda využila příležitosti a toutocestoupoděkovala svým rodičům za jejich pomocanevyčerpatelnoupodporu,kteroumivěnovalinejenvdoběmýchstudií. Acknowledgements: I wouldlike tothankto Mgr.ZdeněkJaník,M.A.,the supervisor of my diploma thesis, for his valuable advice andcomments that contributedtothe final form of this work. Furthermore,I wouldlike touse the opportunityandthanks tomyparents for their help andinexhaustiblesupportwhichtheydedicatedmenotonlyatthe timeof mystudies. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. - 5 - 1 THE VIETNAM WAR ................................................................................................................ - 7 - 1.1 THE MARTIAL HISTORY OF THE USA TILL THE CONFLICT IN VIETNAM ........................................... - 7 - 1.2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF VIETNAM , BACKGROUND OF THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION TILL THE BEGINNING OF THE VIETNAM WAR ........................................................................................ - 9 - 1.2.1 The First Indochina War, 1946-1954 ................................................................................. - 11 - 1.2.1.1 The U.S. foreign policy and military support ........................................................................ - 12- 1.2.2 The Second Indochina War, 1954-1975 .............................................................................. - 13 - 1.3 THE UNITED STATES GOES TO THE WAR IN VIETNAM , 1964 - 1973 ...................................... - 14 - 1.3.1 The American way of conducting of the war, military strategy ..................................... - 15 - 1.3.2 The Tet Offensive ................................................................................................................ - 17 - 1.3.2.1 The impact of the Tet Offensive ............................................................................................. - 17- 1.3.3 Vietnamization, Cambodia, 1969 – 1970 ............................................................................ - 20 - 1.3.4 Paris Peace Talks, 1971 - 1975 ..................................................................................... - 21 - 1.3.5 The Post-war impact of Vietnam ................................................................................... - 24 - 2 THE INFLUENCE OF THE VIETNAM WAR ON THE AMERICAN SOCIETY ........... - 31 - 2.1 Interpretation of the Vietnam War ......................................................................................... - 31 - 2.2 The Official Policies of the U.S. Government during the Vietnam War ................................ - 32 - 2.2.1 The U.S. System of War Propaganda .................................................................................. - 34 - 2.2.1.1 Power of Television ......................................................................................................... - 37 - 2.3 Development of the Public Response as a Reaction on a Course of the Vietnam War .......... - 40 - 2.3.1 Anti – war Movement .......................................................................................................... - 43 - 2.3.1.1 College Protests ............................................................................................................... - 45 - 2.3.1.2 Mass Media against the Vietnam War ............................................................................. - 45 - 3 THEMES OF THE VIETNAM WAR AND ITS EFFECT ON CULTURAL LIFE OF AMERICANS ...................................................................................................................................... - 49 - 3.1 American Literary Culture and the Vietnam War .................................................................. - 50 - 3.1.1 Novel ................................................................................................................................... - 50 - 3.2 American Music at the Time of the Vietnam War .................................................................. - 55 - 3.2.1 Music of Combat Zone ........................................................................................................ - 57 - 3.2.2 Protest music ...................................................................................................................... - 58 - 3.3 The Reflection of the Vietnam War in Television ................................................................... - 61 - 3.3.1 News coverage .................................................................................................................... - 62 - 3.3.2 Documentary film ............................................................................................................... - 72 - 3.3.3 Soap Opera, Serial Story .................................................................................................... - 73 - 3.4 Film Production ..................................................................................................................... - 79 - CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... - 95 - RESUMÉ .............................................................................................................................................. - 98 - RÉSUMÉ .............................................................................................................................................. - 99 - BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... - 99 - LIST OF ATTACHMENTS ............................................................................................................. - 112 - ATTACHMENTS ............................................................................................................................. - 113 - -4 INTRODUCTION The Vietnam War was one of the most obscure episodes and,at the same time, one of the most serious conflicts not onlyof the ColdWar periodbut alsoof the whole modernhistory.It was one of the longest andthe most unpopular Americanwar that took place in the 20 th century. The overall impact of the war conflict managed to influence lives of American next generations. Furthermore, it resulted in scission of American nation that had to face up to the defeat that was the first one in its total history. The American involvement in South Asia started in 1964 and ended after a longlastingperiod of hardstruggle bya frantic departure of all remaining U.S.military personnelfromSouthViet Nam´scapitalofSaigonin1975. The exceptionalityof this war conflict didnot consist onlyin its longdurationor on a large number of war casualties. On the contrary, many other innovative factors contributedtothe new wayof war perception.The talk is about the transmissionof war informationbymeans of various sorts of mass media,particularlybytelevision,whose impact on the Vietnam War played much more decisive role than in any other war conflict of the 20 th century. It was an absolutely innovative method that replaced newspapers and radio broadcasting, which was till that time the only way how to acquireinformation. Thanks tothe attitude of the U.S.government towards the presence of the mass media in Vietnam, the general public was actively involved in the Vietnam struggle, whichcausedandfinallyraisedthe wave of public opposition.The unlimitedaccess of journalists andphotographers inthe battlefieldenabledthe Americanpublic tosee the war as theyhadnot seenit sofar.The themes of the Vietnam War startedtofill title pages of all various kinds of newspapers.Moreover,the policythat was maintainedby the Americanpresident andhis administrators causedthe wave of anti-war protests and public commotions onthe home front.Althoughthe anti-war movement itself didnot have the power toturnthe Americanpeople completelyagainst the war,it achievedto influenceAmericanpoliticalandmilitarystrategy. The general questions of the Vietnam War themes are considerably complicated. Therefore,the mainaim of this diploma thesis is not tocover all aspects andpoints of view that have connection with the topic. On the contrary, the work will concentrate onlyonsome specific topics that are, from the author´s point of view,interestingand,at -5 the same time, inthe periodof the war inIraqalsotimeless.The mainaim of this
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