Week 9

Indochina War during WWII by David Marr

Questions to consider

• —How did Vietnamese view of Japan change from the early 20th century to 1945?

  —Who were the Viet Minh and what was their level of influence in the 1940s compared to other groups?

  —How did Japanese occupation change Vietnam? [administration, society, economics (ANH)]

  —How was Vietnam divided in terms of political allegiances during this period? (pro-Japan, vichy, Free France/Allied) What about geographic differences? (KIRA)

week 10

Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization by Brocheux & Hemery

Ho Chi Minh Declaration of Independence Speech, September 2, 1945

—All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free. The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: “All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights.”Those are undeniable truths.

—Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice. In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every democratic liberty. They have enforced inhuman laws; they have set up three distinct political regimes in the North, the Center and the South of Vietnam in order to wreck our national unity and prevent our people from being united. They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly slain our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in rivers of blood.

—They have fettered public opinion; they have practiced obscurantism against our people. To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol. In the field of economics, they have fleeced us to the backbone, impoverished our people, and devastated our land.They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials. They have monopolized the issuing of bank-notes and the export trade.

Ho Chi Minh Declaration of Independence Speech, September 2, 1945

—All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free. The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: “All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights.”Those are undeniable truths.

—Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice. In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every democratic liberty. They have enforced inhuman laws; they have set up three distinct political regimes in the North, the Center and the South of Vietnam in order to wreck our national unity and prevent our people from being united. They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly slain our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in rivers of blood.

—They have fettered public opinion; they have practiced obscurantism against our people. To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol. In the field of economics, they have fleeced us to the backbone, impoverished our people, and devastated our land.They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials. They have monopolized the issuing of bank-notes and the export trade.

Ho Chi Minh Declaration of Independence Speech, September 2, 1945

—All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free. The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: “All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights.”Those are undeniable truths.

—Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice. In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every democratic liberty. They have enforced inhuman laws; they have set up three distinct political regimes in the North, the Center and the South of Vietnam in order to wreck our national unity and prevent our people from being united. They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly slain our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in rivers of blood.

—They have fettered public opinion; they have practiced obscurantism against our people. To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol. In the field of economics, they have fleeced us to the backbone, impoverished our people, and devastated our land.They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials. They have monopolized the issuing of bank-notes and the export trade.

Week 12/13

Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong

For Paper #2 (due december 4 in class)

On a separate paper attached to the back of your essay,

1. Write your essay question

2. Make a list of at least 3 ‘common mistakes’ based off my comments from essay #1  (reference pdf on ‘writing a Good history paper”

example of my own 'checklist' of what not to do in a paper

• Do not write in the passive voice.
• Do not forget to write a clear topic sentence for each section.
• Do not use more than two to three commons in one sentence.
• Do not use words that you are not certain of the definition.

character analysis activity

Front of card:

—Choose a character to examine.

—List at least three adjectives, emotions, ideas, phrases to describe this character.

—Back of card:

INTEPRETATION: What does this character represent? Find one event that demonstrates this. Write down the page number.

—How does the character respond to and change after this event and over the course of the book?

—Explore the characters’ relationships.

—What historical dimensions (social, political, economic, cultural) does this demonstrate?

Front of card:

Ideological fervor, self-centered, spiteful

Back of card:

INTEPRETATION: The emptiness of Communist ideology in practice

P. 215 conversation with Yen Thanh the Bohemian about the ‘invisible dance’ of ideology

How does the character respond to and change after this event and over the course of the book?

Explore the characters’ relationships.

What historical dimensions (social, political, economic, cultural) does this demonstrate?

example: uncle chinh

Week 14

Mark Lawrence- Tet Offensive & US involvement

Announcements

Final Review Session (& Potluck!)

• Tuesday, December 9 11AM-12:30PM
• Dwinelle 3401
• **Post questions and answers BEFORE session on Discussion board on Bcourses
• **Potluck google doc
• Virtual Office Hours through 'Conference' Option on Bcourses Sunday 5PM 12/14 5-5:30PM Group; 5:30-6 Individual 5 minute slots

Media Representation of Battle for Hue & Saigon

June 8, 1972

Costs of war

Nha Ca, Mourning headband for hue