DOCSLIB.ORG

Strangers in Hanoi: Chinese, Americans, and the Vietnamese August Revolution of 1945 Peter M

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Strangers in Hanoi: Chinese, Americans, and the Vietnamese August Revolution of 1945 Peter M Strangers in Hanoi: Chinese, Americans, and the Vietnamese August Revolution of 1945 Peter M. Worthing Muskingum College On 30 January 1946, Brig. Gen. Philip Gallagher met with representa- tives of the War and State Departments to report on his observations following his period of service in northern Vietnam. General Gallagher had been in Hanoi from 22 August to 12 December 1945 as the senior advisor to the Chinese occupation force stationed in northern Indochina. At the time, he was one of a small handful of Americans who had first-hand knowledge of the independence movement that was unfolding in Vietnam. In his interview, General Gallagher offered his opinions on the situ- ation in Vietnam and the relationship between the Vietnamese, the Chinese, and the French in Hanoi. Gallagher noted that the "Annamese" were very well organized, well armed, and fully pre- pared to take to the hills to conduct guerilla warfare should the French attempt to reimpose colonial rule by force of arms. He had been im- pressed by the Vietnamese nationalist administration of Hanoi, de- spite its small numbers, and stated that Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the nationalist movement, was willing to cooperate with the United States, Great Britain, or the Soviet Union in order to forestall a return of French colonial rule.' Gallagher also pointed out that the relationship between the Chi- nese occupation force and the French colonials in Hanoi was extremely tense. He went on to describe the important role he and his staff had played in mediating disputes between the Chinese and the French, restraining both sides, and helping to preserve order in and around Hanoi. His statements reveal not only the contribution Gallagher felt he and his staff had made to keeping the peace, but also the frustra- tion he feit over his assignment there. Although ostensibly neutral between all parties, the Chinese, French, and Vietnamese alike expected American assistance in achieving their goals, forcing Gallagher into The Journal of American-East Asian Relations, Vol. 6, Nos. 2-3 (Summer-Fall 1997) @ Copyright 1997 by Imprint Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Richard L. Sharp of the Division of South- east Asian Affairs, January 30, 1946. Foreign Relations of the United States (hereafter cited as FRUS), 1946, The Far East, 8:16-17. greater involvement in the political struggles of Indochina than he preferred.2 General Gallagher was only one of many American mili- tary men who would experience the frustration of service in Vietnam, yet his experiences in Hanoi in 1945 reflect the extremely complicated political and international situation in Vietnam during the critical pe- riod after the end of the Pacific War and the August Revolution, in which Vietnamese nationalists seized political power in Vietnam. Studies of the Vietnamese August Revolution tend to fall into two groups, each emphasizing one key factor in explaining the success of the movement. One group stresses the historical circumstances pre- ceding the power seizure, namely the Japanese military occupation of Vietnam, the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese coup de force against the French in March 1945, and the Japanese surrender in Au- gust of that same year.3 The other group emphasizes the quality of the Viet Minh leadership and the soundness of Ho Chi Minh's strategy of combined political and military struggle.4 These two positions are by no means mutually exclusive, and for many it is a matter of giving primacy to one factor over the other. However, as David Marr points out in Vietnam 1945 (1995), the August Revolution cannot be treated as a purely Vietnamese affair.5 The scholar must view this complicated event in an international context, analyzing the roles of the various foreign actors, such as the French, the Americans, the Chinese, and the British, as well as the Vietnamese. With this in mind, this essay has two objectives. The first is to illus- trate the complexity of the situation in northern Vietnam and the con- fusion on the part of the non-Vietnamese actors. This is accomplished through an analysis of the roles of the Chinese occupation commander, Gen. Lu Han, and his senior American advisor, Brig. Gen. Philip Gallagher. Neither man had clear instructions as to how to handle the emerging dispute between Vietnamese nationalists and French colonials. When Lu and Gallagher arrived in northern Vietnam in August 1945, they had no real idea of the situation that awaited them. Gallagher later said of the mission, "I don't think many people knew where we were, or what we were doing and I sometimes wonder if 2. Ibid., 16-18. 3. This group includes Philippe Devillers, Histoire du Vietnam de 1940 a 1952 (Paris, 1952); Stein Tonnesson, The Vietnamese Revolution of 1945 (Oslo, 1991); Kiyoko Kurusu Nitz, "Independence Without Nationalists? The Japanese and Vietnamese Nationalism during the Japanese Period, 1940-1945," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 15 (March 1984). 4. This group includes William Duiker, The Communist Path to Power in Vietnam (Boul- der, Colo., 1981); Huynh Kim Khanh, Vietnamese Communism 1925-1945 (Ithaca, N.Y, 1981); John McAlister, Viet Nam: The Origins of Revolution (New York, 1969). 5. David Marr, Vietnam 1945: The Quest for Power (Berkeley, Calif., 1995), xxiii. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • This Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation Has Been Downloaded from Explore Bristol Research
    This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Mai, Thuy Title: The Politics of Nationalism in the Vietnamese Communist Discourse General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. The Politics of Nationalism in the Vietnamese Communist Discourse Thuy Thu Mai A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirement for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Social Science and Law, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies 30th January 2019 Word Count: 81,365 words Abstract The Vietnamese communists have always defined their revolution in national terms, telling the story of how the communists led the Vietnamese people to rescue and rebuild the nation from the plight of French colonisation and American aggression.
    [Show full text]
  • A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The
    BECOMING ONE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NATIONAL UNIFICATION IN VIETNAM, YEMEN AND GERMANY A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Conflict Resolution By Min Jung Kim, B.A. Washington, DC May 1, 2009 I owe my most sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor Kevin Doak, Ph.D. for his guidance and support and to Aviel Roshwald, Ph.D. and Tristan Mabry, Ph.D. for detailed and constructive comments. Min Jung Kim ii BECOMING ONE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NATIONAL UNIFICATION IN VIETNAM, YEMEN AND GERMANY Min Jung Kim, B.A. Thesis Advisor: Kevin M. Doak, Ph.D. ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to understand the dynamic processes of modern national unification cases in Vietnam (1976), Yemen (1990) and Germany (1990) in a qualitative manner within the framework of Amitai Etizoni’s political integration theory. There has been little use of this theory in cases of inter-state unification despite its apparent applicability. This study assesses different factors (military force, utilitarian and identitive factors) that influence unification in order to understand which were most supportive of unification and which resulted in a consolidation unification in the early to intermediate stages. In order to answer the above questions, the thesis uses the level of integration as a dependent variable and the various methods of unification as independent variables. The dependent variables are measured as follows: whether unified states were able to protect its territory from potential violence and secessions and to what extent alienation emerged amongst its members.
    [Show full text]
  • The Growing Salience of Online Vietnamese Nationalism
    THE GROWING SALIENCE OF ONLINE VIETNAMESE NATIONALISM Dien Nguyen An Luong TRENDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ISSN 0219-3213 TRS11/21s ISSUE ISBN 978-981-4951-89-0 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace 11 Singapore 119614 http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg 9 789814 951890 2021 TRENDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 21-J07715 01 Trends_2021-11.indd 1 31/5/21 3:17 PM The ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (formerly Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) is an autonomous organization established in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security, and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are grouped under Regional Economic Studies (RES), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). The Institute is also home to the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC), the Singapore APEC Study Centre and the Temasek History Research Centre (THRC). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued more than 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world. 21-J07715 01 Trends_2021-11.indd 2 31/5/21 3:17 PM THE GROWING SALIENCE OF ONLINE VIETNAMESE NATIONALISM Dien Nguyen An Luong ISSUE 11 2021 21-J07715 01 Trends_2021-11.indd 3 31/5/21 3:17 PM Published by: ISEAS Publishing 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 [email protected] http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg © 2021 ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction the Vietnamese Revolution in World History
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-15402-5 — Vietnam's Communist Revolution Tuong Vu Excerpt More Information Introduction The Vietnamese Revolution in World History The odds are stacked against revolutionaries in any society. Most have never had a chance to wield state power because even weak govern- ments command sufi cient forces to defeat them. Even if revolutions suc- cessfully overthrow the ancien régime , young revolutionary states from France to Russia have often faced powerful foreign enemies that make their survival even more remarkable. This book focuses on Vietnam as one of those rare exceptions in modern world history when revolution succeeded and endured. In this study, I trace the worldview of Vietnamese revolutionaries over an eighty- year period, starting from the 1920s when they were a band of outlaws who dreamed of building a communist paradise; through the decades in between, when they struggled to seize power, build a new society, and defeat foreign interventions; and to the late 1980s when they attempted in vain to save socialism at home and abroad. The revolu- tion effectively ended then, but its legacies are surprisingly resilient: the communist regime is under tremendous pressure for change but has stubbornly refused to abandon its widely discredited ideology. Thus, this book places ideology at the center of nearly a century of modern Vietnamese history. I argue that ideology helped Vietnamese communists persevere against great odds, but did not lead them to success and left behind dismal legacies. In the popular image, Vietnamese revolutionaries appear as pragmatic nationalists who inherited strong patriotic traditions and whose heroism deserves great admiration.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
    The Nationalist Movement in Chapter II Indo-China Vietnam gained formal independence in 1945, before India, but it took another three decades of fighting before the Republic of Vietnam was formed. This chapter on Indo-China will introduce you to one of the important states of the peninsula, namely, Vietnam. Nationalism in Indo-China developed in a colonial context. The knitting together of a modern Vietnamese nation that brought the different communities together was in part the result of colonisation but, as importantly, it was shaped by the struggle against colonial domination. If you see the historical experience of Indo-China in relation to that of India, you will discover important differences in the way colonial empires functioned and the anti-imperial movement developed. By looking at such differences and similarities you can understand the variety of ways in which nationalism has developed and shaped the contemporary world. The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China Fig.1 – Map of Indo-China. The The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China 29 1 Emerging from the Shadow of China Indo-China comprises the modern countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (see Fig. 1). Its early history shows many different groups of people living in this area under the shadow of the powerful empire of China. Even when an independent country was established in what is now northern and central Vietnam, its rulers continued to maintain the Chinese system of government as well as Chinese culture. Vietnam was also linked to what has been called the maritime silk route that brought in goods, people and ideas.
    [Show full text]
  • How Special Has the Special Relationship Between China And
    Xiaorong Han, Lingnan University (Hong Kong, China)*1 Series Editors Jürgen Rüland, Judith Schlehe, Günther Schulze, Sabine Dabringhaus, Stefan Seitz This article re-examines three important issues in Sino-Vietnamese relations, namely, Vietnam’s borrowing of the Chinese model, Vietnam and the Chinese World Order, and the management of conflicts between the two countries. It argues that whereas China and Vietnam have maintained a special relationship overall during the historical period, in these three aspects the relationship between the two countries demonstrates various degrees of uniqueness. In evincing the specialness of Sino-Vietnamese relations, the author attaches great importance to comparing and contrasting Sino-Vietnamese relations with relations between China and three other groups, including fellow states from the traditional East Asian Confucian world (Korea and Japan), non-Han minority groups in southern China, and Vietnam’s Southeast Asian neighbors. Due attention is also paid to analyzing the continuity and change between the pre-modern and modern periods. China; Vietnam; Chinese World Order; Conflict Management; Cultural Borrowing Please do not quote or cite without permission of the author. Comments are very welcome. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the author in the first instance. *1This manuscript is the result of a short-term fellowship awarded to me in 2015 by the Freiburg Southeast Asia research group sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under grant no. 01UC1307. I would like to thank BMBF for this opportunity and the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) and its research focus members for their kind support.
    [Show full text]
  • Vietnam Declares Independence from France
    Vietnam Declares Independence From France Darcy externalize off-key while bonkers Siffre bedaub kitty-cornered or tethers baptismally. Sandy Scottie sometimes chuckled his reticules toppingly and cockneyfying so creepily! Gerry still pegs exaggeratedly while ill-starred Jacques scumbling that crepe. It independence from france relinquished any pressure from chancellor and independent country was stated his declaration. Ly Nam De becomes the song emperor of Vietnam. A brief cleanse of Vietnam Bamboo Travel. But prosperity did not come with peace. You hear me frankly about peace advocates lobbied intensely human rights organizations differed over vietnam to a profound influence in moratorium and south vietnam was joined forces. Nlf supporters continued existence. That to vietnam declares independence from france attempting to keep sending signals of them from this allegation provided almost untouched in name of local languages of. Vietnamhtml. South Koreans and Thais, whose deployment under the SEATO Treaty was neat for tell the United States. Before the cookie settings change please take effect, Safari must restart. Sept 2 1945 Vietnam Declared Independence from France. The US Declaration of Independence and the French Revolution's Declaration of. The Viet Cong formed both regular army and guerilla units and were supplied via the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Within a vietnam from france declaring that we will to independence had stood for export to. French domination for cover than eighty years, a people usually have fought side buy side beneath the Allies against the fascists during and last years, such efficient people god be widow and independent. President Truman, seeing how First Indochina War view a knee against the similar of communism, called for increased military handbook to French Indochina.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessment Schedule – 2007 History: Examine How a Force Or Movement
    NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2007 — page 1 of 1 Assessment Schedule – 2007 History: Examine how a force or movement in an historical setting influenced people’s lives, in an essay (90469) Judgement Statement Achievement Achievement with Merit Achievement with Excellence CONTENT The influence of a related historical The influence of a related historical The influence of a related historical force or movement on an individual force or movement on an individual force or movement on an individual or group leading them to seek or group leading them to seek or group leading them to seek significant change is described. significant change is explained. significant change is comprehensively explained. and and and The consequences of actions taken The consequences of actions taken The consequences of actions taken to bring about change are to bring about change are to bring about change are described. explained. comprehensively explained. (Describing means a relevant idea (Explaining means: describing and (Comprehensive means the essay is stated and followed up with some then making links as to how / why covers a good range of content and amplification.) the force / movement was influential, backs the description and or the consequences were linked to explanation with accurate facts.) the desire to bring about change.) STRUCTURE The historical information is The historical information is The historical information is organised in an essay format that organised in an essay format that organised in an effective essay includes: includes: format that includes: • an introduction • an introduction • an introduction that clearly states • structured, sequenced • structured, sequenced the focus of the essay paragraphs containing paragraphs containing • sequenced, structured generalisations supported by generalisations supported by paragraphs that contain a wide evidence evidence range of generalisations • a conclusion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Restructuring of Vietnamese Nationalism, 1954-20061 Hy V
    The Restructuring of Vietnamese Nationalism, 1954-20061 Hy V. Luong n 2000, the Vietnamese socialist state organized the first international festival in the former imperial capital of Hue in Central Vietnam. Six Iyears later, at the fourth bi-annual festival, an elaborate and full procession to the imperial heaven-worship site (Nam Giao) from the former royal palace was recreated.2 In these four Hue festivals, the Vietnamese socialist state played an active role in the revitalization of the ritual space and symbolism of what it used to consider “backward feudalism.”3 In numerous other localities, with little direct involvement by the state, local festivities linked to once attacked ritual sites (shrines, temples, communal houses, pagodas) have also been recreated. While nationalism remains heightened in the mass media and many local events, the Vietnamese sociocultural landscape has undergone a fundamental transformation in the past two decades as Vietnam has become more and more integrated with the global capitalist system. This paper will examine the dynamics of the restructuring of Vietnamese discourses on culture and the nation at large over the past half a century. It is a process culminating in the Vietnamese socialist state’s official embrace of a broader range of past practices as a part of Vietnamese cultural legacies and in its official discourse on the nation, culture and development.4 I would suggest that this shift is rooted at least as much in the dialogic relation between the Vietnamese socialist state and local populations, as in the stronger integration of Vietnam into the global capitalist system.5 The restructuring of Vietnamese nationalism is also examined partly in relation to the hypothesis ______________________ 1 Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Radhika Desai and many other participants in the workshops on Asian nationalisms at the University of Victoria, as well as the anonymous referees for Pacific Affairs for their comments on the earlier versions of this paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Contents Exit
    02/2015 PANORAMA INSIGHTS INTO ASIAN AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS NATIONALISM IN ASIA AND EUROPE K o n r a d A d e n a u e r S t i f t u n g Panorama: Insights into Asian and European Affairs is a series of occasional papers published by the Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung’s “Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia/Singapore”. © 2015 Copyright by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Editor: Dr. Wilhelm Hofmeister Sub-editors: Megha Sarmah, Patrick Rueppel Publisher: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Ltd 34/36 Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore 089848 Registration Number: 201228783N Tel: (65) 6227-2001 Tel: (65) 6227-8343 Email: [email protected] Website: http//:www.kas.de/singapore Manuscript offers, review copies, exchange journals, and requests for subscription are to be sent to the editors. The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Cover photograph by ©iStock.com/Retrovizor Design, Layout and Typeset: Select Books Pte Ltd 65A, Jalan Tenteram #02-06, St Michael’s Industrial Estate Singapore 328958 Website: www.selectbooks.com.sg PANorAmA INsIghts INto AsIAN ANd EuroPEAN AffAIrs Nationalism in Asia
    [Show full text]
  • Origins of Southeast Asian Nations: a Question of Timing
    The Origins Of Southeast Asian Nations: A Question Of Timing The Origins Of Southeast Asian Nations: A Question Of Timing David Henley The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism Edited by John Breuilly Print Publication Date: Mar 2013 Subject: History, Asian history Online Publication Date: May 2013 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199209194.013.0013 Abstract and Keywords This chapter explores the historical origins of today's Southeast Asian nations. Some of the region's precolonial societies—including Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma on the mainland, but also Java in maritime Southeast Asia—had characteristics which predis­ posed them to serve as vehicles for modern nationalist movements: ethnic distinctiveness and homogeneity, and a tradition of political unity and independence. Whether or not this potential was realized, however, depended on whether the process of colonization rein­ forced or eroded existing political identities. A crucial factor here was the time lag be­ tween the demise of the indigenous state and the spread, via Western education, of a modern ideal of popular sovereignty. Where this lag was short, as in Vietnam (conquered in 1885), or nonexistent, as in uncolonized Thailand, nationalist movements crystallized around old polities and ethnicities rather than around new colonial states and communi­ cation communities (such as French Indochina). Where it was long, as in the case of Java, anticolonial nationalism created a new national community (Indonesia) coterminous with the new colonial state (the Netherlands Indies). Keywords: Nationalism, history, political geography, ethnicity, colonialism, Southeast Asia, Indochina, Indonesia THE subject of this chapter is the history of nations and nationalism in Southeast Asia up to the end of the period of European colonialism in that region—that is, up to approxi­ mately 1950.
    [Show full text]
  • Durham Research Online
    Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 15 March 2013 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Sutherland, Claire (2012) 'Introduction : nation-building in China and Vietnam.', East Asia., 29 (1). pp. 1-13. Further information on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12140-011-9171-y Publisher's copyright statement: The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com Additional information: Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk Introduction: Nation-building in China and Vietnam This special issue explores the changing nature of Chinese and Vietnamese nation- building in the era of globalisation and specifically, transnationalism. The concept of transnationalism encompasses migration, diaspora and much more, from complex trade routes and capital flows to a concomitant growth in alternative social formations, virtual communities, multiple identities and the like. At the same time, however, the transnational “signifies the resilience of nations and the state” ([6], p.
    [Show full text]