Vietnam A History Stanley Karnow

3 The Heritage of
Vietnamese Nationalism

t!. /

~~

~

.~'f.

'Ii-jeu Au, the Vietnamese equivalent ofJoan of Are, fought for Vietnam's
iI/dependence against Chirla in the third centllry A. D. Defeated at the age of twenty-
three, she committed suicide. lie I still worshiped as a sacred figure.

The economy of Vietnam, like that of all Southeast Asia, is based on the cultivation of
rice-a technique learned .from the Chinese. Crowing rice requires two factors: manual
labor alld water, both plentifUl in Vietrlam.

'. ",'

1\ wealrhy Vietllamese couple phoroj!raphed il'l front oj their luxurious !Jilla ill the
/'"rly twel'llierh cerl/ury. The mall is wearillg his French decoratio'l and Western shoes.
Ilis wife's /ems firl,<!ernails dl'l/ott' Iter ",({amiliarity with mam/(/I lahor.

A Vietnamese nationalist cartoon of the early 1930s depicts peasants routing French
colonial troops. The peasants are shouting: "Wipe out the gang of imperialists,
mandarins, capitalists, and big landlords!"

Vietnamese prisoners being held in stocks after an attempt to subvert a French army
garrison. This plot, uncovered in 1907, led to the execution of several Vietnamese
nationalists and the incarceration of many others.

No Chi Minh, then known as Nguyen Ai Quoc, at a French Socialist party congress
in December 1920. It was here that the Communists broke away to form their own
party, and Ho joined them. He was thirty years old.

//0 hi Minh (back row, third from left) with other Communist agents in Moscow in
tlir mid-J920s. He was then ,./si'·lg the name Unh, and his identity papers testified to
IiIs fluency in Vietnamese, French, Brill/ish, R,./SSian, and Chinese.

The French exported the
life-style of Paris to
Saigon-as they did to all
their colonies. The scene
here is the terrace of the
Continental Palace Hotel,
where the French elite met
to dine. The hotel is still
standing.

French colonial officials,
known as "native affairs
officers," in a Vietnamese
village at the turn of the
century. These officials
were said to be participat-
ing in a local ceremony de-
signed to rid the village of
an epidemic.

A local caricature spoofs a
Vietnamese who has been
converted by French
culture into a tennis
player. In fact, many
Vietnamese nationalists
who opposed colonial rule
were the products of
French schools.

Vietnamese art students
surround their French
teacher in a school in
Tonkin. Only a handjUl
of upper-class Vietnamese
benefited from French
education, which
nevertheless contributed to
Vietnam's modernization.

A handsome Vietnamese
prostitute poses in a
high-class opium den,
presumably in Saigon.
The French colonial
administration organized
the opium traffic in order
to raise revenues, and the
operation was highly
successfttI.

Paul Doumer, the French
governor-general oj
Indochina around the turn
oJ the century, put the
possession on a paying
basis by exploiting its
resources. Later president
oj France, he was
assassinated in Paris in
1932.































































4 The War with the French

Ho Chi Minh addresses an audience in Paris in 1946, prior to his departure from the
French capital following the breakdown of negotiations. Behind him is Admiral
Thierry d'Argenlieu, the French governor in southern Vietnam, who had maneuvered
to subvert the talks with Ho.

During World War II, the

u.s. Office oj Strategic

Services, precursor oj the
CIA, trained Ho Chi
Minh's Jorces in the
jungles oj northern

Vietnam. The ass team,

known as the Deer
Mission, was
headquartered in
Kunming, in southwest
China.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter

Dewey oJthe ass,

assigned to Saigon in
1945. He alienated French
and British officers by
contacting the Vietminh.
Accidentally killed in a
Vietminh ambush, he was
the first American to die
in Vietnam.

A roundup of Vietnamese nationalists by French troops in Saigon in late 1945. The
city was torn by rioting as Vietnamese nationalists tried to prevent the French from re-
establishing colonial rule.

Ullder an agreement to remove the Chinese forces, Ho Chi Minh agreed to the return

of the French army to Hanoi in 1946. Troops are seen here re-entering the city. The

welcoming crowd was composed mostly of French residents.

/11 /946, as they moved to install their new government in northern Vietnam, Ho Chi
Millil (l/'Id his followers organized various associatiorls-including this youth group,
/1I1I"s(' members were trained to sirlg political songs extolling Vietnam's independence.

Two senior French
officers, General Philippe
Leclerc (left) and Admiral
Thierry d'Argenlieu,
confer in Saigon in 1945
as they plan to reimpose
France's rule in Vietnam.
Behind d'Argenlieu is
General Douglas Gracey,
the British commander
who was ,assigned to
disarm the Japanese in
southern Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh in 1946
with General Leclerc (left)
and Jean Sainteny, a
French emissary. Sainteny
later acted as an intermedi-
ary between President
Nixon and the Vietnamese
Communists in 1969.

General Vo Nguyen
Giap, Vietminh
commander, reviewing
troops in northern
Vietnam in 1951 as the
war with France began to
gather momentum. The
Vietminh sustained serious
setbacks during the early
period of the war because
Giap overextended its
forces.

Ho Chi Minh seated, in
casual attire, flanked by
his senior comrades (left to
right) Pham Van Dong,
Truong Chinh, and Vo
Nguyen Giap. Truong
Chinh borrowed his
pseudonym, which means
Long March, from the
famous exploit of the
Chinese Communists in
1934.

Armed women warriors of
the Hoa Hao, a reformist
religious sect founded in
the Mekong delta. Like
most religious cults in
Vietnam, the Hoa Hao
rapidly developed into a
private army that operated
mainly for the benefit of
its leaders.

A leader of the Cao Dai
religious sect with armed
troops of the organization.
The ornate temple, located
near the southern
Vietnamese town of
Tayninh, displays statues
of the sect's saints, among
them Jesus, Buddha, and
Joan of Arc.