vietnam war terms

geneva accords

arranged a settlement which brought about an end to the first indochina war. 1954; the agreement was reached at the end of the geneva conference. a ceasefire was signed and france agreed to withdraw its troops from the region. *french indochina was split into three countries: laos, cambodia, and vietnam. vietnam was to be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel until elections could be held to unite the country. these elections wer enever held; following repeated refusals to hold nationwide elections by diem and his declaration of leadership of a new state, south vietnam, the vietminh established a communist state in the north led by ho chi ming. the US gave Diem considerable support in the form of financial aid; due to the corruption evident in his regime and the question of the depth of support for him in vietnam, there was a certain amount of reluctance in doing so.

concerted uprising

by the summer of 1959, when the plenum's delegates returned to their various zones below the seventeenth parallel, the revolution had already begun in some areas. in what the party calls the ___ ___, peasant revolt had begun to shake the foundation of power in the south. genuine peasant uprisings in the south. in 59-60 a movement arose against the saigon government of south vietnam. washington blamed the hanoi-based communist party for fomenting the insurgency, and party leaders in the DRV, who at first feigned noninvolvement, in the end claimed credit for this. the rising of the masses against the oppressive government. in january 1960 communist operatives in the mekong delta province of ben tre launched the first of what became known as the concerted uprisings; they involved some small scale military strikes against RVN targets but they didnt have that many weapons so they relied on nonmilitary tactics like mass demonstrations and other forms of popular mobilization

plan x

le duan drew this up as the final phase of his bid for victory (1964) that included an ambitious offensive aimed at saigon; revolutionary troops throughout the capital would incite the people to rise up and seize power from the fallen puppet regime

theory of two mistakes

le duan's theory that the country's/ho chi minh's two mistakes were to negotiate with the french in 1945 and again in 1954; in 1945 he 'allowed' the french back into vietnam and in 1954 he agreed to the partition of vietnam at the 17th parallel

the loss of china

refers, in U.S. political discourse, to the unexpected communist party takeover of mainland china from the American-backed nationalists in 1949, and therefore the loss of china to communism. The loss of china was portrayed by critics of the truman administration as an avoidable catastrophe. The issue was exploited by the republicans at the polls in 1952. It also played a large role in the rise of joseph mccarthy, who, with his allies, sought scapegoats for that loss. During world war ii, FDR had assumed that china would become a great power after the war; according to some, fdr's lack of sufficient material support to chiang kai-shek (Chinese leader) during the war against japan in the 1930s and 40s and his deplorable choices of US diplomatic emissaries to china contributed to the failure of his policy. FDR thought of china as a power already securely held by chiang kai-shek, but his hold on power was tenuous, and once the Japanese were defeated, china would become a power vacuum, tempting to Moscow, and beyond the capability of the nationalists to control. In that sense, the collapse of china into communism was aided by the incompetence of roosevelt's policy

operation vulture

the name of the proposed American operation that would rescue French forces at the battle of dien bien phu in 1954 via b-29 raids based in the Philippines. The French farrison had been surrounded by the commnunist viet minh during the first Indochina war. The sequel of the failued operation condor. France wanted to secure direct American air intervention to relieve the dien bien phu siege, under a plan codenamed operation vulture.

three readiness campaign

the north vietnamese communists' call for readiness: to join the army, to partake in battle, and to go wherever the fatherland deems necessary

SEATO

the southeast asia treaty organization was an international organization for collective defense in southeast asia created by the southeast asia collective defense treaty, or manila pact, signed in September 1954 in manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on feb 19 1955 at a meeting of treaty partners in Bangkok Thailand. The organization's headquarters were also in Bangkok. Eight members joined the organization. Primarily created to block further communist gains in southeast asia, SEATO is generally considered a failure because internal conflit and dispute hindered general use of the SEATO military; however, SEATO-funded cultural and educational programs left long-standing effects in southeast asia. SEATO was dissolved on june 30 1977 after many members lost interest and withdrew. Member nations: Australia, france, new Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand,

can vuong

this was a large scale vietnamese insurgency between 1885 and 1889 against french colonial rule; its objectives were to expel the french and install the boy emperor ham nghi as the leader of an independent vietnam. the movement lacked a coherent national strucutre, and consisted mainly of regional leaders who attacked french troops in their own provinces. the movement initially prospered as there were few french garrisons in annam, but failed after the french recovered from the surprise of the insurgency and poured troops into annam from bases in tonkin and cochinchina. the insurretion in annam spread and flourished in 1886, reached its climax the following year, and gradually faded out by 1889

southern uprising of 1940

where the vietnamese flag first appeared, a failed uprisig against french rule in southern vietnam. resulted in many ICP members' execution or imprisonment. vietnamese anti-colonial intellectuals were supposed to have become more effective and pragmatic, exemplified by their acceptance of communist organizational discipline but to the contrary, the communists in the extreme south were plagued by a series of further tactical miscalculations and political failures. an aborted protest that left most of the ICP's rural leadership in cochinchina either dead, in prison, or hiding

uss maddox

1. American ship christened in 1944 after a short career in ww2 and participation in the Korean war. This warship was involved in the Vietnam war's only US naval surface engagement against north Vietnamese navy torpedo boats from the 135th torpedo squadron (gulf of Tonkin incident) which led to direct open warfare between the nation of north vietnam and the united states on august 7, 1964. The US Maddox supposedly detected north Vietnamese torpedo boats approaching at high speed. The Maddox then fired warning shots and then the north Vietnamese boats attacked. Sea battle ensued. Then a second attack supposedly happened but the images were false, but what came out of it was the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave LBJ the authority to assist any southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by communist aggression. It was LBJ's legal justification for deploying US conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against north Vietnam.

york harding

1. a character in the quiet American. An author in foreign policy. His theory is that neither communism nor colonialism are proper in froeign lands like Vietnam, but rather a third force—usually a combination of traditions—works best. ??

binh xuyen

1. a force often linked to its infamous leader, general le van vien, was an independent military force within the Vietnamese national army whose leaders once had lived outside the law and had sided with the viet minh. During its heyday, binh xuyen funded itself with organized crime activities in Saigon while effectively battling communist forces. These groups first emerged in the early 1920s as a loosely organized coalition of gangs and contract laborers about 2-3 hundred strong. Their early history consisted of cycles of kidnapping, piracy, pursuit, and occasionally imprisonment.

high modernism

1. a form of modernity, characterized by an unfaltering confidence in science and technology as means to reorder the social and natural world. The high modernist movement was particularly prevalent during the cold war, especially in the late 1950s and 1960s. ho chi minh highway?

associated states of indochina

1. laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. acquired greater internal independence within the French union and some external liberty but still remained legally subordinate to the French via the ministry in charge of relations with the associated states of Indochina and were subject to other limits on their full national sovereignty, especially in military, diplomatic, and monetary matters. Birthed in 1949. The Geneva accord affirmed the transformation of all three of the associated states into independent nations.

indochinese communist party

: a political party which was transformed from the old Vietnamese communist party in October 1930. This party dissolved itself on 11 november 1945. Goals were to overthrow French imperialism and Vietnamese feudalism and reactionary bourgeoisie, to make Indochina completely independent, to establish a worker-peasant-soldier government, to bring democratic freedoms to the masses, among other things;

brazzaville conference

1. (1944) a meeting of prominent free French leaders held in January 1944 in brazaaville, the then-capital of French equatorial Africa, during world war 2. After the fall of france in 1940 and the subsequent alignment of most of france's colonial empire with the allies, Charles de gaulle reconized the need to revise the relationship between france and its colonies in Africa. The conference recommended political, social, and economic reforms and led to the signature of the Brazzaville declaration. It reasserted france's mission to 'elevate' native peoples and to promote mutually beneficial economic growth. Participants acknowledged past errors and discussed a range of reforms, but they excluded self-government even in the most distant future and rejected any notion that france should account to the international community for the conduct of colonial affairs.

resolution 15

1. (1959) influenced by the reports of le duan and others, the central committee of the communist party of north Vietnam adopted resolution 15. The resolution sanctioned armed force to 'end the plight of the poor and miserable people in the south' and 'defeat each wicked policy of the American imperialists and their puppets.' The content and adoption of resolution 15 remained a closely held secret among senior party members until details were worked out for its implementation.

point four

1. : (1949) in his inaugural address, president harry s Truman calls for a 'bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of undeveloped nations'.' The resulting point four program (so-called because it was the fourth point in truman's speech) resulted in millions of dollars in scientific and technical assistance as well as hundreds of US experts sent to latin American, Asian, middle eastern, and African nations. Though Truman did not mention communism or the soviet union during his discussion of point four, it was clear that the program was part of a foreign policy designed to contain the soviet threat. Truman believed that this technical expertise could be used to foster economic development and opportunities for capital investment in the third world. such action would also benefit the united states, since past experience demonstrated that 'our commerce with other countries expands as they progress industrially and economically.' "democracy alone can supply the vitalizing force to stir the peoples of the world into triumphant action."

august revolution

1. : august 19, 1945—a revolution launched by the viet minh against French colonial rule in Vietnam. within two weeks, forces under the viet minh had seized control of most rural villages and cities throughout the north, center and south Vietnam, including Hanoi, were presideny ho chi minh announced the formation of the provisional democratic republic...on September 2, 1945, ho declared Vietnamese independence. The august revolution created a uniform government for the entire country. Bao dai was ousted, marking the end of the nguyen dynasty. Viet minh success in overthrowing frenchrule.

ministry of public security

1. : the ministry of the interior of Vietnam. it was established with the help of the soviet union and china, and in addition to the regular police officer corps, it also administrers the public security forces, which is the paramilitary force with primary mission for internal security, and the secondary military mission for helping the regular army to defend the country from foreign aggression.

na san

1. : this battle, the battle of na san, was fought between French union forces and the nationalist forces of the viet minh at na son, son la province, during the first Indochina war (which ended with the Geneva accords in 1954) for control of the t'ai region (northwest territory)—late 1952. French union victory and successful evacuation. Despite the victory, france was looking for a political solution to get out of Indochina and na san was abandoned in august 1953. Fought in late 1952 during the Indochinese revolution, this battle might have set French expectations as to what could be done positively with a forward bases, seized by paratroops and well defended. It may have set unreasonable expectations for the subsequent battle of dien bien phu.

caravelle manifesto

1. : written in april 1960 as a public criticism of ngo dinh diem by a group of anti-communist politicians and other Vietnamese notables. The manifesto criticized the diem regime's restrictions on freedom and pushed for reforms in south Vietnam. its name was derived from the fact that the signatories of the manifesto presented the document's contents at a press conference held at the caravelle hotel in downtown Saigon.

ngo dinh nhu

1. Vietnamese politician, the younger brother and chief political dvisor of south vietnam's first president, ngo dinh diem. Athough he held no formal executive position, he wielded immense unofficial power, exercising personal command of both the ARVN special forces and the can lao political apparatus (also known as the personalist labor party) which served as the regime's de facto secret police. His supporters helped intimidate the public and rig the 1955 state of Vietnam referendum that ensconced his elder brother, diem, in power.

project beefup

1. a 1961 large-scale military aid package that called for a big infusion of military aid to save the government of president diem, who was suffering not only from the advance of the VC but also from the repressive measures he was inflicting upon his own populace. An initiative that committed thousands of additional advisors, immense amounts of military hardware, and billions of dollars to president ngo dinh diem and his government. The US executed it secretly; it openly violated an international treaty.

thich quang duc

1. a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on june 11 1963. He was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by the south Vietnamese government led by diem. Photographs of his self-immoloation were circulated widely across the world and brought attention to the policies of the diem government. His act increased international pressure on diem and led him to announce reforms with the intention of mollifying the Buddhists. However, the promised reforms were not implemented, leading to a deterioration in the dispute.

tri quang

1. a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk best known for his role in leading south vietnam's Buddhist population during the Buddhist crisis in 1963. His campaign saw widespread demonstrations against the government of president ngo dinh diem, including the self-immolation of at least five Buddhist monks, led to a military coup in which diem and nhu were dseposed on November 1 1963 and assassinated the following day.

hoang minh chinh

1. a Vietnamese politician and dissident. He was one of the best-known figures and ideologists of the Vietnamese communist party during the 1960s and held several key government positions. In the late 1960s, he criticized decisions made by his own party and was sent to jail three times. He was opposed to any military action against the southern half of Vietnam during the Vietnam war and called for more democratic procedures within the ranks of the party. He would later become a member and the secretary general of the democratic party of Vietnam until it was dissolved in 1986. In 1967, he wrote a 200-page document criticizing the policies made by the communist party and was jailed twice for a total of 11 years and was under house arrest until 1990. ??

navarre plan

1. a career army officer, henry Navarre was appointed commander of French forces in Indochina in may 1953. He and his deputy developed this plan to end the crisis in Vietnam. the plan proposed a major strengthening of the Vietnamese national army, the addition of nine new French battalions to the Indochinese theater, withdrawal of scattered French forces, and the launching of a major offensive in the red river delta against the Vietminh. The US agreed to support the Navarre plan in 1953 with nearly 400 million in assistance. Eventually Navarre committed his augmented forced to the village of dien bien phu in northwestern Vietnam, hoping the vietnminh would stage a frontal attack on the French valley outpost. The rest was history. The French army was defeated and the French empire in Indochina was destroyed. ??

personalism

1. a philosophical school of thought searching to describe the uniqueness of god as supreme person or a human person in the world of nature, specifically in relation to animals. One of the main points of interest of personalism is human subjectivity or self-consciousness, experienced in a person's own acts and inner happenings—in everything in the human being that is internal, whereby each human being is an eyewitness of its own self. Other principles: persons have unique value, and only persons have free will. The cao lan party was the revolutionary personalist party, a south Vietnamese party founded and led by ngo dinh nhu for use as an instrument of control for the presidency of his brother ngo dinh diem. ???

taylor-rostow report

1. a report published in november 1961 on the situation in vietnam in relation to Vietcong operations in south Vietnam. the report was eld by general Maxwell taylor and walt rostow. The report called for improved training of ARVN troops, greater use of helicopters in counterinsurgency missions against north Vietnamese communists, increasing bombing of the north and increased use of the US combat troops.

pagoda raids

1. a series of synchronized attacks on various Buddhist pagodas in the major cities of south Vietnam shortly after midnight on august 21, 1963. The raids were executed by the army of the republic of Vietnam special forces under colonel quang tung and combat police, both of which took their orders directly from ngo dinh nhu, young brother of the roman catholic president ngo dinh diem. Xa loi pagoda, the largest pagoda in the south Vietnamese capital, Saigon, was the most prominent of the raided temples. Over 1400 buddhists were arrested, and the estimates of the death toll and missing ranged up to the hundreds. On orders from ngo dinh nhu, brother of roman catholic president ngo dinh diem, special forces troops stage synchronized attacks on Buddhist pagodas in cities across south Vietnam. These attacks are named after the xa o pagoda, the largest budda pagoda in the south Vietnamese capital of Saigon. It's the most prominent of all the temples that are attacked today and suffers heavy damage. Ngo dinh nhu had the special forces attackers dress in regular army uniforms, thus giving the impression that the army is behind the attacks. This is designed to allow the catholic ruling family to escape blame while embarrassing the leaders of the army, but the ruse doesn't last long. Anger against the government and ruling of south Vietnam, already quite strong, begins to reach the boiling point. Because of these events, the American government gives up on trying to get president ngo dinh diem to reach a settlement with the Buddhists and will instead advise US ambassador henry cabot lodge jr to encourage the south Vietnamese generals to stage a coup.

pac bo

1. a small village in northern Vietnam; near this village is a cave, in which ho chi minh lived for seven weeks, during February and march 1941, when he returned after 30 years of exile. The central committee of the communist party of Vietnam, chaired by ho chi minh, held its 8th plenum in the Vietnamese village of pac bo, in cao bang province, near the border of Vietnam with china. Nationalist and communist groups in pac bo formed in the viet minh, a coalition for Vietnamese independence, in 1941. On may 10 1941, ho chi minh convened the 8th plenum of the Indochina communist party, which formally established the Vietminh front. The founding documents proclaimed its goals to be the liberation of Vietnam from French colonial rule and Japanese military occupation.

peaceful coexistence

1. a theory developed and applied by the soviet union at various points during the cold war in the context of primarily Marxist-leninst foreign policy and was adopted by soviet-influenced socialist states that they could peacefully coexist with the capitalist bloc/nonsocialist states. This was in contrast to the antagonistic contradiction principle that communism and capitalism could never coexist in peace. The soviet union applied it to relations between the western world, particularly between the united states and NATO countries and the nations of the warsaw pact. It was the foreign policy of the soviet union started after ww2 toward imperialism, which wanted peace with the capitalists by abandoning the work of leading revolutions in imperialist countries. Since Lenin's first day in office, the soviet government made every effort to establish peace with capitalist nations, while at the same time encouraging the workers of these countries, primarily through organizations like the communist international, to overthrow their capitalist governments. The ideology of peaceful coexistence stipulated that helping workers to revolt would hamper the peace process with capitalism. Khruschev says it signifies in essence the repudiation of war as a means of solving controversial issues; it presupposes an obligation to refrain from every form of violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of another state; it implies renunciation of interference in the internal affairs of other countries; it means that political and economic relations must be put on a basis of complete equality and mutual benefit. It involves, he says, the elimination of the very threat of war; it is something which 'should develop into peaceful competition for the purpose of satisfying man's needs in the best possible way.'

edward lansdale

1. a united states air force officer who served in the office of strategic services and the CIA. He was an early proponent of more aggressive US action in the cold war. In 1953 he was an advisor on special counter-guerrilla operations to French forces against the viet minh. From 1954-57 he was stationed in Saigon as the head of the Saigon military mission. During the period he was active in the training of the Vietnamese national army and spreading claims that north Vietnamese agents were making attacks in south Vietnam. Before the widely discredited 1955 referendum that saw prime minister ngo dinh diem depose head of state bao dai and proclaim himself president of the newly formed republic of Vietnam, Lansdale advised diem, with whom he had a close friendship, to not rig the poll and to be content with a realistic with 60-70% result, advice diem did not take. Diem was credited with 98.2% of the vote overall and 133% in Saigon. In 1953 he was sent to Vietnam to advise the French in their struggle with the Vietminh. The following year, Lansdale and a team of 12 intelligence agents were sent to Saigon. The plan was to mount a propaganda campaign to pursue the Vietnamese people in the south not to vote for the communists in the forthcoming elections. Another task of his and his team was to promote the success of the rule of president ngo dinh diem. Figures were produced that indicated that south Vietnam was undergoing an economic miracle.

wolf ladejinsky

1. an American georgist agricultural economist and researcher, first serving in the united states department of agriculture, then the ford foundation, and later the world bank. He was a key adviser on land reform to the governments of several Asian countries, including south Vietnam from 1955 to 1961 under diem.

the pleiku incident

1. an attack on an American airbase that leaves nine americans dead and 128 wounded by viet cong guerrillas, feb 1965. A meeting occurred which resulted in a quick decision to launch air strikes on DRV staging areas in the north Vietnamese panhandle. The incident resulted in a decisive shift in the administration's focus of emphasis from the south to the north. The key to the solution of the war, from washington's perspective, was now in Hanoi rather than Saigon.

yen bay uprising

1. an uprising of Vietnamese soldiers in the French colonial army on feb 10 1930 in collaboration with civilian supporters who were members of the vietnamese nationalist party. In French Indochina. A French victory. The aim of the revolt was to inspire a wider uprising among the general populace in an attempt to overthrow the colonial regime and establish independence. The main leaders of the Vietnamese nationalist party were arrested, tried and put to death, effectively ending the military threat of what was previously the leading Vietnamese nationalist revolutionary organization. French Indochina: Tonkin north, annam central, and cochinchina south, + Cambodia. Laos was added later. Basically a grouping of French colonial territories in southeast asia.

agroville program

1. because of growing instability and Vietcong insurgency in rural areas, president ngo dinh diem launched the agroville program in 1959. Its chief purpose was to protect Vietnamese peasants from Vietcong terrorism by relocating them to secure areas controlled by the army of the republic of vienam (ARVN). The government of south Vietnam built several new communities as part of the agroville program, but financial incentives for peasants were inadequate and they had no desire to leave ancestral homelands. In many cases ARVN had to forcibly remove peasants to the new agroville communities, and the program inspired bitter resentment against the diem regime. The program was abandoned in 1961.

mansfield report

1. in 1962, senator Mansfield pronounces American aid to south Vietnam wasted. Following a trip to Vietnam at jfk's request, senate majority leader mike Mansfield becomes the first US official to refuse to make an optimistic comment on the progress of the war. Originally a supporter of south Vietnamese president diem, he changed his opinion of the situation after his visit. He claimed that the 2 billion the united states had poured into Vietnam during the previous seven years had accomplished nothing. He placed blame squarely on the diem regime for its failure to share power and win support from the south Vietnamese people. He suggests that the americans, despite being motivated by a sincere desire to stop the spread of communism, had simply taken the place formerly occupied by the French colonial power in the minds of many Vietnamese. Mansfield's change of opinion surprised and irritated kennedy.

law 10/59

1. may 1959—diem passed this law, establishing military tribunals to search out communists in south Vietnam, whom he derisively referred to as Vietcong. These tribunals were unconcerned with justice, and the law was brutal in its application. Military tribunals could impose a death sentence on anyone belonging to the viet minh, lao dong, or any other communist organization. It made it legal to hold someone in jail if they were a suspected communist without bringing formal charges.

marshall plan

1. officially the European recovery program, an American initiative to aid western Europe, in which the US gave over 12 billion in economic support to help rebuild western European economies after the end of world war ii. The plan was in operation for four years beginning april 1948. The goals of the US were to rebuild war-devastated regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, make Europe prosperous once more, and prevent the spread of communism. Political stability in that region was seen as the key to blunting the advances of communism in that region.

open door notes

1. the 1899 open door notes provided that each great power should maintain free access to a treaty port or to any other vested interest within its sphere, only the Chinese government should collect taxes on trade, and no great power having a sphere should be granted exemptions from paying harbor dues or railroad charges. Rooted in the desire of US businesses to trade with Chinese markets, though it also tapped the deep-seated sympathies of those who opposed imperialism, with the policy pledging to protect china's sovereignity and territorial integrity from partition. In practice it had little legal standing, and was mainly used to mediate competing interests of the colonial powers without much meaningful imput from the Chinese, creating lingering resentment and causing it to later be seen as a symbol of national humiliation by Chinese historians. A US policy dispatched to the major European powers.

rectification of errors campaign

1. the Geneva accords allowed the leadership of the democratic republic of Vietnam to return to Hanoi and assert control of all territory north of the 17th parallel. The new government immediately set out to eliminate those elements of the population that threatened its power. Tens of thousands of 'landlords', some with only tiny holdings, were denounced to 'security committees' by envious neigbors and arrested. Hasty 'trials' resulted in between 10 and 15 thousands executions and the imprisonment of thousands more. In 1956, the party, faced with widespread rural unrest, ended the campaign, recognized that things had gotten out of control, and began a campaign for the rectification of errors, during which landlords that had been wrongly imprisoned were released. North Vietnam executed about 50,000 people total. The original land reform was ruthless.

can lao party

1. the personalist labor revolutionary party; a Vietnamese political party formed in the early 1950s by the president of republic of Vietnam ngo dinh diem and his brother as well as the adviser of the regime, ngo dinh diem. Basing on mass-organizations and secret networks as effective instrument, the can lao party played a considerable role in creating a political groundwork for diem's power and helped him to control over all political activities in south Vietnam. the party was supposed to play a key role as a powerful anticommunist tool in diem's regime. Personalism was the foundation of the can lao party. Personalism is a system of thought that maintains the primacy of the human mind or divine person on the basis that reality has meaning only through the conscious mind.

cao dai

1. the popular name for a religious sect, a group of about 1.5 million south Vietnamese. Was organized as a formal religion in 1926. A monotheistic religion officially established in the city of tay ninh in southern Vietnam. Literally means the highest lord/highest power and is the supreme diety, believed by caodaists to have created the universe. Draws from many religions. A cao dai army was established in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Indochina. After the war, the cao dai was an effective force in national politics; it first supported, then opposed, ngo dinh diem. In 1955-56 diem disbanded the cao dai army and forced the sect's pope into exile. After the communist take over in 1975, cao dai was reportedly repressed by the government. ??

minh mang

1. the second emperor of the nguyen dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from feb 14, 1820 until his death on January 20 1841. He was the fourth son of emperor gia long, whose eldest son, prince canh, had died in 1801. He was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam and his rigid Confucian orthodoxy. He was also known for his anti-western policies, especially his persecution of Christian missionaries.

october 1955 national referendum

1. this determined the future form of government for the state of Vietnam, the nation that was to become the republic of Vietnam/south Vietnam. it was contested by prime minister ngo dinh diem, who proposed a republic, and former emperor bao dai. Though published counts showed diem winning the election with 98.2% of the vote, the referendum was widely marred by electoral fraud. He was credited with more votes than people were on the electoral roll. The referendum was the last phase in the power struggle between diem and bao dao, who at the time was the head of state. Using the referendum as justification, diem proclaimed the republic of Vietnam with himself as its first president. He also became prime minister, defense minister, and supreme commander of the armed forces. The new regime was recognized immediately by france, the US, great Britain, Australia, new Zealand, Italy, japan, Thailand, and south korea.

to huu

1. vietnam's most famous revolutionary poet. Vietnamese poet and politician who was hailed as north Vietnam's poet laureate and inspired generations of fellow communist party members with his popular propagandist verse. An early convert to communist, he was arrested in 1939 for his political activitiesbut escaped from prison in 1942 and joined the viet minh. To huu was already known as a gifted lyricist when Vietnam was split in 1954 and he was appointed deputy culture minister in north Vietnam, in charge of ensuring that artists stayed in line with party beliefs. He was quickly named to the central committee of the Vietnamese communist aprty, and in the ensuring years he penned many verses exhorting people to rise up and embrace violence for the communist cause. Often called the poet laureate of the communists' victories over the French and the americans in Vietnam; went on to high posts in the country's postwar government; died in Hanoi in 2002. He was one of a group of Vietnamese poets who write about little else than the Vietnam war, urging peple to fight, uphold socialism and defeat the united states.

phan chu trinh

1. was a famous early 20th century Vietnamese nationalist. He sought to end france's colonial occupation of Vietnam. He opposed both violence and turning to other countries for support, and instead believed in attaining Vietnamese liberation by educating the population and by appealing to French democratic principles. Died in 1926. He was a Confucian scholar in the early 20th century who actively participated in patriotic activities. He had lived in france for 14 years, from 1911 to 1925. This prompted him to support the constitutional ideology like phan boi choi. However, these two prominent Vietnamese patriots held different hypotheses, though they shared the same purpose of national salvation. While pohan boi chai advocated the reliance on foreign assistance and violence to regain the national independence and overthrow the feudal monarchy, phan chu trinh was strongly opposed to these ideas. He held that this objective chould be achieves only on the foundation of popular rights and people's high intellectual standards in france. He held only on the foundation of popular rights and people's high intellectual standards as in france. He led the Duy Tan (national reform) movement, strongly advocating reforms and reliance on france to achieve social progress through economic, political, cultural and social reforms in colonial Vietnam. If phan boi chau supported the establishment of an independent nation first, phan chu trinh thought of building an autonomous country. This constituted the most striking difference in their constitutional ideologies. Phan chu trinh gave prominence to the necessity of a constitution, considering it a legal tool to abolish the absolute monarchy. To him, "if a country is ruled by the ideas of a person or a royal court, its population is but a herd of sheep that are left in abundance and happiness or hunger and sorror depending on the shepherd's generosity or malignity. If it is ruled on the basis of popular rights, the country creates its constitution and laws and sets up different agencies to take care of the common affairs for everyone."

scavenger diplomacy

1. where the US would step in to bully the Chinese for the same concessions that the british just extracted out of the Chinese. "the policy was maintained by following along back of british and French demands and, in a kind of scavenger diplomacy, demanding from china trade rights equal to those extracted by the Europeans."

battle of saigon

1955; a month-long battle between the army of the republic of vietnam (south vietnam) and the private army of the binh xuyen organized crime syndicate. at the time, the BX was licensed with controlling the national police by emperor bao dai, and prime minister ngo dinh diem issued an ultimatum for them to surrender and come under state control. the VNA had largely crushed the BX within a week. they were defeated and their army disbanded.