Page 221 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1998 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Vietnam Revolts against French and Japanese Rule

In August 1945 the Vietminh launched the August Rev- For these reasons we, members of the Provisional
olution to free Vietnam from French and Japanese Government, representing the entire population of
rule. In September, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s Viet Nam, declare that we shall henceforth have
independence in a formal Declaration of Indepen- no relations with imperialist France, that we can-
dence, extracts of which are provided below. cel all treaties which France has signed on the sub-
ject of Viet Nam, that we abolish all the privileges
For more than eighty years the French imperialists,
which the French have arrogated to themselves in
abusing their “liberty, equality, and fraternity,” have
our territory....
violated the land of our ancestors and oppressed our
countrymen. Their acts are contrary to the ideals of Viet Nam has the right to be free and independent
humanity and justice. and is, in fact, free and independent. All the people
of Viet Nam are determined to mobilize all their spir-
In the political domain, they have deprived us of all
itual and material strength, to sacrifice their lives
our liberties....
and property, to safeguard their right to liberty and
In the economic domain, they have exploited us independence.
without respite, reduced our people to the blackest Hanoi: September 2, 1945
misery and pitilessly looted our country.... Signed: Ho Chi Minh, President
[Fourteen additional signatures]
In the autumn of 1940 when the Japanese Fascists,
Source: Isaacs, H. M. (1945). New Cycle in Asia. As translated from La Republique (pp.
with a view to fighting the Allies, invaded Indochina 163–165), No. 1 (October).
to organize new war bases, the French imperialists,
on their knees, surrendered our country....

while adopting new ones in order to maintain tradition. States’ involvement inVietnam introduced changes in the
Firearms were mythologized in a positive manner. conduct of war and foreign affairs in general.Now the con-
Twentieth-century warfare in Southeast Asia saw a sensus is that nations should have clear objectives, a pop-
new concept emerge. Guerrilla and protracted conflict ular base of support, approval from the world community,
was prevalent as a means to defeat imperialism and and credibility if they are to wage a war successfully.
enhance nationalist sentiment. Filipino rebels made use
of guerrilla raids against U.S. troops during the early Warfare in
1900s but were eventually conquered. During the Japan- Southeast Asia Today
ese occupation of China and Southeast Asia in the 1930s Terrorist activities by Islamic fundamentalists in the late
and 1940s, Chinese nationalists and rebels used guerrilla 1990s and into the early twenty-first century have con-
tactics and foreign aid from the West to achieve victory tinued the earlier trend toward guerrilla warfare and pro-
and end foreign domination. Guerrilla warfare flour- tracted conflict.Western powers such as the United States
ished during the Cold War as indigenous Communist continue to support, either directly or indirectly, low-level
forces attempted to unify their countries under a Soviet warfare against those deemed terrorists or insurgents.
brand of Communism or their own style of socialist
Douglas E. Sawan
government.
TheVietnamese defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu
in 1954 and their eventual strategic victory over the Further Reading
United States in theVietnamWar showed how successful Andaya, B.W. (2003). Aspects of warfare in premodern Southeast Asia.
Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient, 46(2), 139–142.
guerrilla warfare and manipulation of public opinion
Benjamin, D., & Simon, S. (2002). The age of sacred terror. New York:
could be in overthrowing foreign domination.The United Random House.