QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (WEEK 4)

Vietnamese Declaration of Independence [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 26-29]: Why do you think the declaration opened with the language it did? How have the French oppressed the Vietnamese, according to the document? Why do you think the declaration referred to the “right” of Vietnam to be a “free and independent country”?

Ho Chi Minh’s letter to Charles Fenn [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 29-30]: Why do you think Ho wrote this letter? What does it suggest about Vietnamese attitudes towards the United States in the immediate aftermath of World War II?

In what ways did Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh seek American support for their struggle for independence in 1945 and 1946 after the end of World War II? What was the meaning and significance of Ho’s reference to the Philippines in his February 16, 1946, letter to Truman? [See Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 30-31]

State Department review of policy [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 31-34]: How did the United States respond to Ho’s appeals for American support? In what ways did the United States ally itself with France after World War II? Why?

Who was Bao Dai? Why did he abdicate in 1945? What happened with Bao Dai in 1949? Why? Whose interests did he serve?

George Kennan’s memoirs [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 34-36]: What does Kennan mean by the French “hav[ing] their weakness demonstrated”? Why was Kennan so pessimistic about the French effort to reassert its colonial control?

Dean Acheson’s telegram to the U.S. Consulate in Hanoi on May 29, 1949 [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 36-37]: How did the United States address the issue of whether Ho was a Communist or a nationalist? Were these identifications mutually exclusive?

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1954 news conference and Vice President Richard Nixon’s anonymous comments [Young, et al., The Vietnam War, 37-39]: Why was the United States committed to France’s war with the Viet Minh? What were the material motivations for American intervention? What were the ideological reasons? Security reasons? What did Nixon mean by “save Asia”?