Why Was Communism so Attractive to Many Vietnamese Nationalists?
RECOMMENDED READING:Hoepper et al 1996 Inquiry 2. Jacaranda, pp.81-87
RECOMMENDED VIEWING:
History Channel's 'Biographies' 45min. - Ho Chi Minh (note the in-depth text explanation below on the YouTube site under 'About') CLICK HERE
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES IN HISTORY: Biographical look at Ho Chi MinhWork in pairs and navigate through the source-based biography PREZI and prepare an interview with the said person according with the success criteria below; be ready to present to the class!
NOTE: If you need to fill in any narrative gaps, please refer to the PowerPoint Biography further beneath.
SUCCESS CRITERIA (things to include):
Silver: Goes into the BACKGROUND of the figure and his POLITICAL VIEWS.
Bronze: Describes who this is and his BACKGROUND history.
Bringing it all together - Revision and Extended Writing Practise
REVISION:
Revise your understanding of why Communism was so appealing to Vietnamese nationalists by going back through your notes from the text activities (source analysis and narrative) and the interview with Ho Chi Minh activity and HIGHLIGHT THE EVIDENCE you might use in your writing task below.
EXTENDED WRITING:
Answer this sections focus question 'Why was Communism so attractive to Vietnamese Nationalists?' in an extended piece of writing using the source evidence studied above and other to support your ideas - the next installment in your preparation for the upcoming Category 1 Exam. The success criteria is below in order to guide you and allow you to self-evaluate, i.e. gauge how well you are doing. When you have finished the writing, post it in the 'Comments' at the bottom of the page for teacher and peer evaluation.
SUCCESS CRITERIA (things to include):
Silver: Analyses EXPLICIT reasons for Vietnamese nationalists to be attracted to communism.. CORROBORATES secondary evidence to support your ideas. Includes evaluation of the likely RELIABILITY of evidence used in your writing.
Bronze: Describes why communism was attractive to Vietnamese nationalists.
ReplyDeleteUnder the imperialist French regime, Vietnamese nationalists Ho Chi Minh saw communism as a democratic utopia. Ho studied two democratic ideologies which despised the notion of imperialism; socialism and communism. Both of these democratic ideologies promised "the liberation of Vietnam and the working people in the nation to be free from slavery" (p.81). For Ho and other Vietnamese nationalists, the need for Vietnam to become an interdependent nation was sought as the primary goal for all Vietnamese. This is evident in Source A7 where the oppressed Vietnamese are called to take action and fight for independence from the French Imperialism. Ho also makes a reference to this in his 1941 'Letter from Abroad' which brings the idea that the Vietnamese have suffered similar struggles under the Mongolian invasion. Ho sought the idea that Vietnam was full of nationalist due to the ongoing hardship the nation had undergo through each imperial regime over the centuries. Therefore in order to prevent colonization reoccurring in Vietnam Ho and other nationalist sought communism as the key to gaining independence. The suffering of the Vietnamese people under French imperialism caused nationalists like Ho Chi Minh to seek new democratic philosophy of communism which would enable the nation to become independent and the people to live in peace from the suppression of imperialism.
This is good Emily. What I suggest you begin to do is USE THE LANGUAGE OF HISTORY as a discipline. For example, where you want to demonstrate your explicit understanding of a topic, use something like 'it is explicitly stated in ... and implicitly shown in ...' This will help you to categorise, synthesise and analyse information more clearly and demonstrate your understanding of History as a discipline. Well done here.
DeleteThe ideology of communism was appealing to the nation of Indochina as it gave them hope for a brighter future of liberation and independence. During World War 2, a spark of hope and nationalist dreams spread the nation as the imperialist power which had once enforced slavery and exploited their people were now preoccupied. France had now become a puppet of the Nazi regime and Japan was engrossed in China. Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Mihn united as one and fought for the independence of their nation against imperialist powers during this time. The initial belief that a socialist or communist government would liberate the nation of Indo China began when Ho Chi Minh read the ‘Thesis on the National and Colonial Questions’. Through this text he established the belief that only communism or socialism would unite his people and guide them on their path towards liberation. This is explicit as Ho Chi Minh explains, ‘Dear martyrs, compatriots! This is what we need, this is the path to our liberation!’. Ho Chi Minh developed entire confidence in Lenin’s thesis and established that this belief would lead his people to freedom. In 1930, Ho Chi Minh made the appeal on the founding of the Communist Party of Indochina. However when the war drew to an end, the imperialist powers that Indochina thought had disappeared, returned to regain their country. However through the ideology of communism, Ho and his freedom fighters created war as they wished for full independence and self-determination. Eventually they achieved this in 1945. This appeal attracted the whole nation to unite as one and to fight against the exploitation and slavery they had endured for several years.
ReplyDeleteWell done Morgan. You encapsulate the idea behind the movement well. A few things to consider though. When using evidence, always use in-text referencing. And, you use the Language of the criteria, the language of history once here stating the explicit, but you don't refer to the implicit, nor state the motivations behind the movement explicitly. You will to corroborate further evidence to provide a stronger argument. And lastly, be careful not to confuse the reader jumping around dates - try to be chronologically sequential and clearly state when significant events take place.
DeleteHo chi minh was Vietnamese communist leader and the main force behind the Vietnamese struggle against French rule. Communism led Ho to have full confidence in Lenin ( R.Slavin prezi) . From this source it was deducted that to Ho, it was evident that the only way to get people out of oppression was by implementing socialism or communism. He believed capitalism would not benefit the situation as those who are oppressed are unable to work themselves out of oppression. Eluding that it would take too long and cause more suffering for the people, this is evident in Ho Chi Minhs statement “Capitalism Is the enemy of all colonised people” (ppt, Ho Chi Minh summary, Mr Halligan). It was also because it was the opposite ideal to the harsh capitalist rule they were living under, the Japanese and the French rule. Also at the time, by expanding communism, they were able to receive aid from the soviet super power as they believed in nurturing small communist nations. With France distracted by the war tearing apart their country, the time was right for Vietnam to come together as a communist nation and break free of the oppression and poverty the French and Japanese had brought them (Ho chi Minhs Letter).
ReplyDeleteYour first sentence and paragraph should not contain primarily information regarding Ho Chi Minh as the focus of the paragraph is not on him,its on why communism was so attractive to Vietnamese Nationalists. You should also incorporate more generalized perspectives eg what the people thought communism would bring to their lives. love Amber ft Morgan
DeleteSource A3, A4 and primarily A7 would aid you in developing a more convincing argument when evaluating the generalised perspectives
DeleteGood Bronte, but you need to use a more diverse range of sources in support of your ideas. You haven't really referred to the War and its impact on setting the conditions for Vietnamese independence. You could have taken direct quotes from the Prezi to support your first point, not reference the whole Prezi as it does not show the reader anything. You have a good framework here, but need to flesh it out further in preparation for the exam in our revision sessions.
DeleteThe ideology of communism was brought to Indochina, as described in Inquiry 2 (Hoepper, 1996), in the mid 1920’s, with the return of Ho Chi Minh, to Asia.
ReplyDeleteHo Chi Minh was an ambassador for communism, once stating that “capitalism is the enemy of all colonized people (Halligan, Ho Chi Minh summary). Due to the oppression and poverty caused by the colonization of Indochina by the French, this may have been the case in Indochina. Ho Chi Minh was a notable leader of the communist movement that brought independence to Vietnam.
Communism is a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. As Indochina was a nation previously doctored by unwanted rule, a government in which the people would play a more inherent role would be appealing to them after being dominated forcefully for so long. The element of working together for their profits would also be appealing to the country, as their unity in opposition of their former role, and desire for independence, had inspired a strong sense of nationalism which brought their community close together.
you make some good points and use good evidence at the beginning (both primary and secondary) perhaps needs a few more just to make your argument more valid, you give a good insight to the Vietnamese motivation for choosing communism go into more detail!
Deleteyou have analysed the explicit and implicit reasons why the Vietnamese were attracted to communism to an extent
it lacks the source evaluation thingy but from reading the other paragraphs it is lacking in the majority of ours we need to work on that oops
but good job considering you hadn't done the work before writing this .
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCommunism was an attractive ideology to Vietnamese Nationalists because to them it cleared the way for an independent Vietnam, free of foreign influences. Imperialist reign ensured the removal of capital income from Vietnam whose livelihood depended on the resources found within it. The patriotic sense of duty he had for his country saw Ho Chi Minh to accept and realise the benefits of communism to which he declared was the “…path of liberation.” Communism was the ideology of the oppressed, removing the shackles placed by capitalism which sought to privatise all trade found within its colonies, of which Vietnam was one. Since France was defeated by German troops and Japan occupied in China and other Allied forces it created the sense of nationalism within the people who sought to free themselves from the reign of capitalism. According to Ho Chi Minh this was the perfect time to rebel against foreign influence especially if all Vietnam was “… united and single minded” in their objectives to “…smash the picked French and Japanese armies.” This was supported in his “Letter from Abroad” which he penned in 1941 where he states that in the past the Mongolian Invasion was overcome when the country was united as one. The idea of independence and control over their resources enabled the belief that communism was the right path to follow, which made communism an attractive ideology to Vietnamese Nationalists.
ReplyDeleteWith centuries of oppression under foreign rule, the Vietnamese nationalists sought liberation and independence for their nation by means of out-dated Confucian ideals and unorganised rebellions. When these methods demonstrated failure, Vietnamese nationalists pursued different means for the realisation of a self-determined Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, known as the 'Enlightener', brought radical ideals, presenting Communism and Socialism as a way to ‘liberate the oppressed nations and the working people from slavery’ (Ho Chi Minh 1967, p. 81 Inquiry 2) Ho Chi Minh realised the injustices of imperialist rule by his upbringing in a working class family, with in a poverty-stricken Vietnam, and had since denounced the oppression of the Vietnamese from French colonialists in Paris, where he worked after WWI (Source A3, Inquiry 2). Ho Chi Minh was initially a nationalist, as portrayed in Source A3, accounting that he was inspired by the October Revolution under Lenin’s leadership as ‘he was a great patriot who liberated his compatriots’ and had joined the French Socialist Party as they addressed the oppression of Vietnam and showed sympathy, with no prior knowledge of Communism and Socialism. Hence, many nationalist, such as Ho Chi Minh, was attracted by communism as it demonstrated a path towards liberation. However, Ho’s confidence of Communism was intensified when he had grasped an understanding of Leninism and saw it as ‘the radiant sun illuminating [Vietnam’s] path to final victory’ (Ho Chi Minh 1967, p. 81 Inquiry 2).
ReplyDeleteThe Communist Party of Indochina was then found on February 1930 with the promise of a revolution led by proletariats for the oppressed and exploited people. As evident in source A4, the Party invited the support of various factions within the Vietnamese society, including workers, peasants, soldiers and youth, invoking a sense of inclusion and importance which evoked the interest of the masses. The Party also appealed to the majority by voicing their grievances, mainly poverty, with the reciprocal solution as outlined in Source A4; with promises of overthrowing French imperialism and feudalism, an independent Indochina, a worker-peasant and soldier government, and the abolition of public loans and poll tax, among others. This was further intensified by the Communist Party’s slogans and propaganda, exemplified in Source A7, depicting the party’s leaflets distributed in 1930. The leaflets illustrate a poverty-stricken Vietnam, depicting malnourished and lifeless bodies, caused by the corruption and injustices of the government under colonial rule. Moreover, an accompanying leaflet portray that the communists and with communist support, they can drive away ‘mandarins, capitalists and big landlords.’ They also used the Nghe-Tinh example, appealing to the people as living up to the noble name of their forefathers, serving as heroes to the nation. Thus, Vietnamese nationalists who aim for the liberty and sovereignty of Vietnam saw Communism as a gateway towards the accomplishment of this goal, providing an organized political movement against imperialism and feudalism.
Beautiful Kat. You integrate evidence to support your ideas well and use a range of sources. However, if possible it's always good to use sources and discuss from differing perspectives to show a broader understanding of the topic where possible - French and Vietnamese. Also, you need to refer to the War and its influence on the independence movement - setting the scene and creating the right conditions for Ho to progress the movement and claim independence. One last thing, I suggest you start using the Language of the discipline of History in your writing, that is, use the tee in the criteria such: ' as explicitly stated by...' Or 'the implicit message in Ho Chi Minh's statement is... And shows ...' Or 'from this evidence it can be seen that the motivation behind ...' This will help you to identify if you have addressed the criteria and deepen your understanding of how Hustory is presented. We done here!
DeleteCommunism was attractive to Vietnamese nationalists as communism provided hope for the Vietnamese and also offered a framework for the road to independence, as many were wishing to see happen. Nationalists by definition are people who believe strongly in their power as a country and would do anything that their country needs, and communism had been proven as the quickest route for independence. The communist take-over of China in 1949 was evidence of this, and this somewhat revived the hopes of the oppressed Vietnamese people (Lindsey, 2013). It is also important to note that the majority of the Vietnamese people were peasants and farmers, the class that communism affords power to, and so this would appeal to the Vietnamese nationalists as this is where the majority of the people sat in the social structure and to achieve any kind of independence one must gain the trust and support of the majority to make any kind of change. By appealing to the majority of Vietnamese people through the communist ideology, the nationalists could increase their numbers and therefore presence against the French and force the French to make some administrative changes through pressure. The appeal to the workers and peasants is evident in Ho Chi Minh’s speech on the founding of the Communist Party of Indochina in 1930, where he addresses the appeal to ‘workers, peasants, soldiers, youth, pupils!’ He further states “It will help the proletarian class to lead the revolution in order to struggle for all the oppressed and exploited people” and informing the Vietnamese people that the party will “establish a worker-peasant and soldier government”, making the communist ideal – everything is shared and workers hold weight in the country – attractive to those who have not experienced freedom. The communist ideal became attractive to the Vietnamese nationalists as it provided a ray of hope for the oppressed peoples, and by also empowering the majority, which created support for the nationalists and their cause for independence.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm late!!
You define nationalism and say that communism provided a framework to achieve independence, but you should explain the connection between the two. You explain the role of communism later but leave nationalism behind.
DeleteYou relate communism to the struggle for independence well in focusing on the peasant class - a key strategy of Ho Chi Minh - and support well with ONE source. However, can you corroborate this? Also, try to elicit the EXPLICIT and IMPLICIT meaning in the sources you use. For example, in the source you use above you could explain that Ho Chi Minh is explicitly appealing to the peasant, working class majority of Vietnamese, which is a key in any communist revolution. However, by articulating it in this way he is implicitly giving everyone a shared sense of identity, belonging and power in bringing about positive change in the struggle for independence. Furthermore, this implicitly backgrounds himself as the significant actor in this process and foregrounds the role of the people in a shared and common goal: independence, and facilitates a feeling of 'we are all in this together!'
Try to do this with the majority of the sources you use to show your historical analytical skills and your ability to think critically and exercise your higher-order thinking. You definitely can do this Shelby!