FRENCH DISCUSSION

I. FRANCE & VIETNAM:

1. Summarise the domestic & international historical background leading to
the French invasion and colonisation of Vietnam.
- From the middle of the 16th century, Capitalism was formed in Europe.
In order to seek resources and profits, European colonial powers (đế quốc
thực dân), particularly Britain and France, started expanding their
territories, deploying military forces to invade African and Asian
countries to turn them into colonies.
- In the mid-18th century, after colonial conflicts (xung đột thuộc địa) with
Britain, and after the French bourgeois revolution (cách mạng tư sản),
Napoleon III began seeking ways to increase influence in Southeast Asia,
believing that France would only be a secondary power if it did not
expand its influence there. So the decision to invade Vietnam was made
by Napoleon III in July 1857.
- On the other hand, the French also felt they had a duty to civilise the
world. So from the 17th century, French missionaries operated in
Vietnam. And in the 19th century, Vietnamese kings implemented the
closed-door policy, prioritised agriculture, advocated for Confucianism
along traditional lines, and did not heed the reform advice of some
officials. Those kings expressed concern, oppression, and banning
Christianity because they felt threatened by the influence of the French.
- At that time, in 1858, the French-Spanish coalition opened fire in
Vietnam, on the Son Tra Peninsula in Da Nang province, claiming to
avenge the suppression of Christians, marking the beginning of an
invasion war.
- But we know that they use religion as a tool to invade colonies because
they also use similar methods in other countries.
- After Treaty of Huế (Hòa ước Giáp Thân) were signed in 1884, marked
the beginning of French colonial control over Vietnam.

+ In short:
- There were several reasons for the French invasion. First, there were
incidents where some French missionaries were expelled and even killed.
Second, as France was competing against other European powers for
economic and military superiority, they wanted to secure more strategic
 geographic positions to promote their international trade and capitalism.
Finally, the Vietnamese leadership could not decide whether it was best
for the country to remain strictly Confucianist and isolated or to begin
modernising. These all led to Napoleon III's order for his navy to invade
VietNam in July 1857.
- Because the Vietnamese lacked the weapons and technology to
effectively resist the new western invaders, its leaders had little choice
but to sign peace treaties with France in 1862. This treaty gave control of
southern VietNam to France, which was then renamed Cochinchina.
However, it would take another 21 years before the French were able to
finally conquer northern Viet Nam. After doing so in 1883, they renamed
that region Tonkin and combined with Cochinchina and central Viet Nam
(renamed Annam), Viet Nam officially became a French colony, known
as Indochina.

● Reference:
Viet Nam -- The Lessons of Colonialism : Asian-Nation :: Asian American
History, Demographics, & Issues.
Vietnam - French Colonization, Indochina, Unification | Britannica
Chiến tranh thế giới thứ nhất – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
Đế quốc thực dân Pháp – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
French conquest of Vietnam - Wikipedia.

2. What did French Colonists do & to Vietnamese people? How did the
actions affect VN society & people? Were there any accidentally good
things that French Colonists did in Vietnam?
+ French Colonists period:
- During their colonisation of Vietnam, French colonists implemented
various policies and actions aimed at exploiting resources, establishing
control, and spreading French culture and influence.
a. Economic exploitations:
- The French imposed heavy taxes on the Vietnamese population exploited
natural resources and labour for their own benefit.
- Vietnamese labourers were often coerced into working on French-owned
plantations, mines, and infrastructure projects under harsh conditions.
- They built transportation infrastructure to serve both commercial and
military purposes
b. Commercial:
- Vietnam had to be the exclusive market for France, and was subjected to
import-export taxes. Products made in Vietnam had to be exported to
France, and Vietnam had to import surplus goods or expired products
from France for consumption or repurchase at high prices.
- France monopolised rice, salt, and alcohol in Vietnam. Vietnamese were
forced to buy alcohol according to the population, even infants and old
people, even regardless of their food availability. Vietnamese people
typically consumed alcohol with an alcohol content of about 20 degrees,
while France sold a 40-degree type with added chemicals to reduce
production costs.
c. Education & Cultural:
- Implemented foolish policies, eliminating Confucianism, which
inherently had patriotic sentiments, resisting foreign invasion, and
promoting political awareness.
- Very few schools across the country.
- They shifted Vietnamese thinking, teaching French language, culture and
history, assimilating, training henchmen, prohibiting the teaching of
Vietnamese history.
- Promoted social vices such as opium smoking, gambling, alcohol.
d. Social:
- Mobilising and coercing Vietnamese youth to fight for France in World
War I and II in Europe. Then many Vietnamese people died or could not
come back home after that.
- The French implemented policies that favoured the Vietnamese elite who
collaborated with them, leading to increased social inequality and
resentment among the general population.
- They ruthlessly suppressed any resistance or uprising against their rule,
leading to widespread suffering and death among the Vietnamese people/

+ Consequences:
- After over 80 years of colonial rule, Vietnam faced the consequences of
severe famine, illiteracy, and the ongoing threat of invasion. The quality
of intellectualism during the French colonial period was even lower than
that of the pre-colonial era. Leadership skills were not effectively
transmitted. Leaders lacked sufficient legacy, failed to preserve the past,
and cultural heritage was lost and plundered. The lack of leadership
 hindered the country's development efforts. The negative consequences of
French colonisation continue to deeply affect and persist in Vietnam
today.

+ Conclusion:
- In my opinion, there weren't any accidentally good things that French
Colonists did in Vietnam. The infrastructure and architecture often
credited to them were, in fact, built with Vietnamese labour & funded by
Vietnamese resources. Furthermore, these constructions were intended to
benefit the French, not the Vietnamese people. Even if there were
accidentally good things, they hardly make up for the extensive suffering
and damage inflicted by France in Vietnam.
● Reference:
“Bản án chế độ thực dân Pháp” - 2
“French invasion of Vietnam was just a civilizing process” - a distortion
of history - National Defence Journal
Thời kỳ Pháp thuộc

3. Briefly present the 1954 Geneva Conference background, signatories, and

provisions. What country(ies) decided to divide Vietnam at the 17th
parallel?
+ Background:
- The Geneva Conference of 1954 was an international meeting in
Switzerland involving the Representatives of Cambodia, the People’s
Republic of China, France, Kingdom Of Laos, the United Kingdom, the
United States, the Soviet Union, the Viet Minh (i.e., the North
Vietnamese), and the State of Vietnam (i.e., the South Vietnamese). The
powers involved attempted to negotiate a settlement to end the conflict in
Indochina and reunify Vietnam. The conference also dealt with the
problem of divided Korea.
- The agreement led to the end of French military presence on the
Indochina peninsula and officially ended French colonial rule in
Indochina.
● Reference:
Geneva Conference of 1954 | Wilson Center Digital Archive.
Hiệp định Genève 1954 – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
+ Provisions: (issued on July, 21 1954)
- a "provisional military demarcation line" (đường phân giới quân sự tạm
thời) running approximately along the 17th Parallel.
- a 3-mile wide (4.8 km) demilitarised (khu phi quân sự) zone on each side
of the demarcation line
- French Union forces regroup to the South of the line and Viet Minh to the
North.
- Free movement of the population between the zone for 300 days.
- Neither zone to join any military alliance or seek military reinforcement.
- Establishment of the International Control Commission (Ủy ban kiểm
soát quốc tế), comprising (bao gồm) Canada, Poland, and India as chair,
to monitor the ceasefire.
- Free general elections by secret ballot shall be held in July 1956, two
years after the ceasefire, under the supervision of the International
Supervisory Commission (Ủy ban giám sát quốc tế), which was recorded
only in the unsigned Final Declaration of the Conference.

- The agreement was signed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam,

France, the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and the United
Kingdom. The State of Vietnam rejected the agreement, while the United
States stated that it "took note" of the ceasefire agreements and declared
that it would "refrain from the threat or use of force to disturb them.
● Reference:
1954 Geneva Conference - Wikipedia

+ 17 Parallel (Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone/ DMZ):

+ USA & SOVIET UNION
- At first it was a French adviser Jean Chauvel suggested for the partition at
the 16th or 17th parallel, after the secret meeting of his boss Mendès
France with Zhou Enlai at the French embassy in Switzerland.
- On 23 June, Mendès France secretly met with Zhou Enlai at the French
embassy in Switzerland. Zhou outlined the Chinese position that an
immediate ceasefire was required, the three nations should be treated
separately, and the two governments that existed in Vietnam would be
recognized.
- Mendès France returned to Paris. The following day he met with his main
advisers on Indochina. General Paul Ély outlined the deteriorating
 military position in Vietnam, and Jean Chauvel suggested that the
situation on the ground called for partition at the 16th or 17th parallel.
- From 3 to 5 July, Zhou Enlai met with Ho Chi Minh and other senior
Democratic Republic of Vietnam leaders in Liuzhou, Guangxi. Ho
pressed hard for the partition line to be at the 16th parallel while Zhou
noted that Route 9, the only land route from Laos to the East Sea (or
South China Sea) ran closer to the 17th parallel.
- By the afternoon of 20 July, the remaining outstanding issues were
resolved as the parties agreed that the partition line should be at the 17th
parallel and that the elections for reunification should be in July 1956,
two years after the ceasefire.

+ In short:
- The People’s Republic of China, which was founded five years earlier,
now wanted to have its voice heard on the international arena. It would
use the Geneva Conference as an occasion to gain recognition from the
US and the West, they wanted to take this opportunity and tried to
compromise with the US and France as much as it could. In fact, it was
China which initiated a meeting with France on 23 June 1954 to discuss
the division of Vietnam into halves, China advised Vietnam to accept the
17th parallel as the dividing line instead of the 14th or 16th parallels. It
suggested that a general election should be held in two years in a unified
Vietnam while the DRV itself asked for a six-month waiting period.
● Reference:
HIỆP ĐỊNH GENEVE VÀ NHỮNG ÂM MƯU CHÍNH TRỊ (BẢN FULL)
| CHIẾN TRANH VIỆT NAM #23
The Geneva Conference: Lessons in terms of national interests
1954 Geneva Conference - Wikipedia

4. Which countries supported Vietnam during the struggle

against France?
- In 1950, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam began to receive military
aid from the Soviet Union, China and other Socialist countries such as
North Korea, Yugoslavia, Eastern European countries, which also
established diplomatic relations.
+ Why did China decide to provide for VN?
a. Geopolitical positions:
- Throughout the 1950s and most of the 1960s, Mao considered the United
States the primary threat to China’s security and revolution. Mao’s
support for Ho Chi Minh started with the security concern. In the late
1960s and early 1970s, with the deteriorating relations between China
and the Soviet Union, especially after the Sino-Soviet border conflict in
March 1969, Mao further clarified that the Soviet Union was the primary
threat to China's national security. Then he began to adjust his policies to
America and encouraged the North Vietnamese to conclude a peace
settlement.
b. International Obligation:
- The sense of an international responsibility to help brotherly comrades
and promote anti-imperialist revolution was another crucial factor in
Beijing’s Indochina policy. “In believing that China had a special role to
play in the reshaping of a future revolutionary order in the world”.

“In addition, there was an international division of labour between the two
major Communist powers, the Soviet Union and China. In the late 1940s and
early 1950s, Stalin paid attention to supporting the Communist parties in
Eastern Europe, while Mao was expected to encourage the Communist
movements in Southeast Asia. Thus in the early 1950s, the Soviet role in the
Vietnamese struggle was minimal. There's no evidence that the Soviets had
advisers in Vietnam or gave the Vietnamese materials. On the contrary, the
Chinese starting in 1950 sent political and military advisers, weapons, and
supplies to the Vietnamese to help them with their war against the French.”
- Cùng thể chế chính trị.
● Reference:
Chiến tranh Đông Dương – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
China in the Vietnam War - Wikipedia.
China Contributed Substantially to Vietnam War Victory, Claims Scholar
| Wilson Center.

5. After all, do you hate French People because of what they

did during their colonisation in Vietnam?
- I truly feel very saddened when learning about Vietnam's history during
the resistance against France. But I understand that in every war, civilians
are always the victims.
II. HOA LO PRISON:
1. Make the general introduction: the construction and the historical
background that led to the construction of the prison, the structure of the
prison, the function of the jail in different periods to these days.
+ Historical background:
- Hỏa Lò Prison (Fiery Furnace/
Hell’s hole/ stove) was constructed
in 1896 by the French colonists as a
central prison for both the Central
and the Northern part of Vietnam.
The purpose is to capture and
torture those against the French
colonial government such as
Vietnamese patriots, revolutionaries, and political prisoners. Many
famous Vietnamese revolutionary leaders and even five General
Secretaries of the Communist Party were detained here namely Do Muoi,
Le Duan, Nguyen Van Cu, etc.
- The name originated from the street name phố Hỏa Lò, due to the
concentration of stores selling wood stoves and coal-fire stoves along the
street in pre-colonial times. The French called the prison Maison Centrale
( which means Hanoi prison) / 'Central House', which is still the
designation of prisons for dangerous or long sentence detainees in France.
- Hoa Lo prison was still active after 1973 then the government decided to
relocate the detention area of the prison to the outskirts of Hanoi which
now is the Detention centre No.1 of Hanoi Police.
- Nowadays, a part of the prison remains as a historical relic to memorise
the heroic Vietnamese soldiers.
+ Construction:
- During the French colonial period, the
entire Hoa Lo prison was divided into 4 main
zones: A, B, C, and D. but now
- Respectively, zone A and B are for
prisoners under investigation, less important
prisoners or those who violate the prison
disciplines.
- Zone C is for French or foreign prisoners while zone D is for prisoners
under the death penalty.
- Primarily, Hoa Lo prison was intended to hold 450 prisoners but the
real number is much higher eventually with 615 and 2000 detainees
in 1913 and 1953 respectively. It was about 25 to 30 prisoners who shared
a small, dark and cramped chamber.
- Beginning early in 1967, a new area of the prison was opened for
incoming American POWs. It was dubbed “Little Vegas,” and its
individual buildings and areas were named after Las Vegas strip
landmarks, such as “Golden Nugget,” “Thunderbird,” “Stardust,”
“Riviera,” “Heartbreak Hotel” and the “Desert Inn.”

+ Architecture:
- In the past, the overall area of Hoa Lo prison was up to 12.000 m2
but now it is only about 2.500 m2 preserved.
- The solidity of Hoa Lo prison is reflected in the
architecture design, the walls, and the cells.
- The biggest prison in Indochina and 1 of the three
most brutal prisons in Vietnam.
- The approved design for Hoa Lo Prison in 1896
included various facilities such as a guardhouse,
hospital, commissary, detention houses, workshop,
convict houses, and punishment cells. Hoa Lo
prison is almost unbreakable with 4-metre-high and
0.5-meter-thick stone walls reinforced with electric wires and pieces of
broken glass on top. The complex is constructed with high-quality
materials to avoid jailbreak.
- Although they are different in terms of area and functions, those
chambers have identical features: tile roofs, lacquered floors coloured in
grey. All of them are suffocating, lack light and are unsanitary.
- The security is at its max when all of the building materials and
equipment are directly imported from France. There are also watchtowers
in each corner of the prison.

*) Artefacts:
- Being notorious for various brutal stories of torturing and killing people
in a struggling period of Vietnam, the big collections of artefacts and
 killing tools exhibiting at Hoa Lo prison are the best representatives
of crimes against humanity. Prisoners contracted diseases such as
beriberi, typhoid, dysentery, malaria, etc., or were unable to cope with
their illnesses, most of them died before their prison terms expired.
a. The guillotine (Máy chém):
- This killing tool was considered by the French “more humane” than other
execution methods used in the Middle Ages (hanging and cutting off
different parts of the body, using horses to tear the body apart, etc).
- The most famous and cruel one is the Medieval guillotine. There are 3
parts of the machine which are a wooden surface, a cutting steel frame
and a big, and sharp crossed blade. During the execution of a prisoner, the
executioner shall press the button and pull the rope so that the blade
sharply drops down from height. The falling force of the guillotine blade
is equivalent to 60kg. After completion of the execution, the head
prisoner shall fall into the sheet metal tank, and the body shall be placed
in a rattan basket.
- Usually, after executing capital punishment of a prisoner, the colonial
authorities often put the prisoner’s head in a muzzle and brought it to a
crowded area to display to the public.. The guillotine made Hoa Lo prison
1 of the 10 most notorious prisons in the world.
b. The Dungeon/ Cachot (Ngục tối):
- The scariest place of Hoa Lo prison – the Cachot
is applied for those who violate the prison disciplines.
They were isolated and shackled all day. rooms were
dark, narrow and stuffy and lacking oxygen. They’ve to
eat, sleep and urinate in the same place. Those
detainees are given food with mould and even maggots.
Many of them died of infection, insanitation along with
lack of light and oxygen.
c. The iron shackle (Còng sắt):
- The shackle is to keep the prisoners immovable. They are fettered to the
floor most of the time and beaten by the
guards.
- The leg shackle consists of 2 main
components: the iron upper part and the
wooden lower one. To escape from the
chamber, jailbreakers often used
 lard-soaked rags (giẻ tẩm mỡ lợn) and burned coal to loosen the shackles.
To avoid detection by supervisors, after burning, the holes were covered
by putting lamp soot mixed with oil in it.
● Reference:
Exploring the “Hell on Earth” – Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi | Lux Travel
DMC's Blog
Hỏa Lò Prison - Wikipedia
Giới thiệu nhà tù Hỏa Lò
The POW Story.
Imprisoned Regulations Political Prison - Hoa Lo Prison relic

1. How were Vietnamese political prisoners treated in Hoa Lo prison?

- The prisoners must do hard labour such as: repairing houses or roads,
building dikes, cleaning toilets... They had to do hard work because
results affected their rations, if they couldn’t finish the work, they got no
food.
- Male political prisoners were imprisoned with the harsh regime by the
French colonists, whose purposes were to repress the minds of the
Vietnamese patriots.
- The French colonialists used many different types of punishments and
suppression against Vietnamese patriotic and revolutionary fighters:
being kept in dungeons (Cachot), legs shackling all night, hard labour,..
- The jailers in connivance (thông đồng) with contractors (nhà thầu) cut
down the food rations of prisoners and used the bad quality of food:
mould - rice, spoiled, not nutritious… Every year, they were provided two
uniforms and one blanket for the winter.
- Having showers once a week, but hundreds of people only had a faucet.
Each time, the supervisor only opened the door for 15 minutes.
- The prisoners' rice is steamed rice mixed with husk (trấu), paddy (thóc)
and grit (sạn). The main food was dried fish for a long time, including
maggots (giòi), tough buffalo meat, and old water spinach. And they were
treated almost like animals.
- Public toilet was completely open-air. When one person goes to the toilet,
everyone else can see.
- Clothes distributed to prisoners were often too short compared to the
body sizes, with poor sewing quality that the sewing thread became loose
even before prisoners wearing them. In addition to clothes, each prisoner
 was provided with one thin blanket to use in winter without warm clothes
and bed nets.
- For fear that prisoners used bowls,
chopsticks, spoons as weapons, guards
did not let them use those things and
forced them to use wooden troughs, with
corrugated iron pots to contain rice and
food (prisoners called them “lập lá”).
“Prisoners also made use of occasions when they were released from the cells
to go to work or do custodial work in the prison or when they were permitted to
go to the yard, they often secretly picked straight eagle branches or unused
wood basket rings to create chopsticks used in their meal. With creativity and
craftsmanship, the prisoners picked up coconut shells thrown away by soldiers
to create bowls and spoons used as tools in meals.”
- Walls of the cells are divided into 2 different colours, black with tar (hắc
ín) on the bottom half, and white lime on the top half. This is a barbaric
confinement trick of the French colonialists, making prisoners feel
suffocated, difficult to breathe and, taking advantage of heat radiation of
those two colours to make the winter very cold and the summer extremely
hot.
- In addition to such a strict diet and confinement, each prisoner was also
subjected to a heavy forced labour regime. After 1920, the prison guards
also embezzled money to hire sanitation workers, they forced prisoners to
clean the septic tank. Prisoners must work hard and clean thoroughly.
Those who did not clean will be beaten đánh đập and not given rice to
eat. Some prisoners died at the forced labour place.
- Prisoners could be tortured. They could be shackled, could suffer from
illnesses due to lack of light, insufficient air, extreme heat or cold, poor
sanitation , and inadequate food hygiene. They could be executed by
guillotine. And French colonialists put their head in a basket and carried
it around in crowded areas to weaken the will to fight off the Vietnamese
people.
● Reference:
Imprisoned Regulations Political Prison - Hoa Lo Prison relic
Nhà tù Hoả Lò và những bản án tàn ác khiến bạn sởn tóc gáy | Hoa Lo
Prison - A hell in earth
 2. What was the difference between how the French treated Vietnamese
political prisoners and Vietnam treated American POWs? Prisoners of war.

● Reference:
Treatment of American Prisoners of War In Southeast Asia 1961-1973
Inside The Hanoi Hilton, North Vietnam's Torture Chamber For
American POWs.

3. Do you believe in all the information presented at Hoa Lo prison? Give

reasons to support your answer?
- I believe 60% of the information presented at the Hoa Lo Prison.

III. VIETNAM & USA:

1. When, why, and how long did the US get involved in the Vietnam War?
Why was The US defeated in Vietnam?
+ When:
- According to official events, US intervention in Vietnam began in 1964,
when American expeditionary groups first landed in Da Nang. However,
in reality, the seeds of this environment were planted a long time ago, as
early as 1948 when the Indochina War was taking place and lasted until
1975, when the Vietnam War ended with the failure of the United States
and the failure of the Republic of Vietnam government.

“After the 1954 Geneva Conference, Vietnam gained independence from France but was
divided into two parts: North Vietnam, and South Vietnam which assumed financial and
military support from the U.S. South Vietnam was very important to the U.S. in Asia with it
being perceived as a western democratic state. And according to the Geneva Agreement,
Vietnam would schedule to hold nationwide elections in 1956. However, under the influence
of the United States, from 1956 to 1958, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam proposed that
the National Vietnam government conduct unified elections for the country, but this was
rejected. In 1955, with the assistance of the United States, Ngo Dinh Diem rigged the
referendum in South Vietnam, allowing him to depose Bao Dai, ascend to the position of Head
of State of the State of Vietnam, and later become the President of the Republic of Vietnam
government. At that time, the United States had achieved its objectives in Vietnam. They
believed that if they provided enough support to the new government, the Soviet Union and
China, or communism, would not be able to expand further in Southeast Asia.”

+ Why:
- The Fear of Communism
 “Due to Cold War tensions with Communist countries such as China and the Soviet Union.
The prevalent threat of Communism drove President Truman and his advisers to intervene in
Vietnam. And from about 1950 (actually 1947), the U.S. started to supply France in the
Indochina War.”

+ How long:
- The US got involved in the Vietnam War in the period 1948 – 1975.

+ Why was The US defeated in Vietnam?

- international pressure & lack of support from the American public
- the overconfidence of the United States
- the skilled leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the
challenging terrain of Vietnam, the determination of the Vietnamese
people

“In the post-war era, Americans struggled to absorb the lessons of military intervention.
General Maxwell Taylor, one of the principal architects of the war, noted: “First, we didn't
know ourselves. We thought that we were going into another Korean War, but this was a
different country. Secondly, we didn't know our South Vietnamese allies ... And we knew less
about North Vietnam. Who was Ho Chi Minh? Nobody really knew. So, until we know the
enemy and know our allies and know ourselves, we'd better keep out of this kind of dirty
business. It's very dangerous.”

● Reference:
United States in the Vietnam War - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
Lịch sử Việt Nam – Wikipedia tiếng Việt

2. What/ who was Viet Cong?

- The Viet Cong were South Vietnamese supporters of the communist
National Liberation Front in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War
(known in Vietnam as the American War). They were allied with North
Vietnam and the troops of Ho Chi Minh, who sought to conquer the south
and create a unified, communist state of Vietnam.
- The phrase "Viet Cong" denotes only southerners who supported the
communist cause — but in many cases, they were integrated with fighters
from the regular North Vietnamese army, the People's Army of Vietnam
(PAVN). The name Viet Cong comes from the phrase "cong san Viet
Nam," meaning "Vietnamese communist." The term is rather derogatory,
 however, so perhaps a better translation would be "Vietnamese
communist."

● Reference:
Who Were the Viet Cong and How Did They Affect the War?

3. What countries supported Vietnam during the struggle against the US?
- Despite not being able to match the United States in terms of quantity,
Vietnam received significant material support (about 7 billion USD) from
the Soviet Union, China, and other Socialist countries like Lao (Pathet
Lao), Campuchia (Khmer Rouge) and North Korea.

● Reference:
Vietnam War - Wikipedia

4. After the event of “the fall of Saigon”, to which countries did Vietnamese
boating people and refugees go? Who left VN then, and Why did they
leave Vietnam?
- After the end of the Vietnam War, there were two major waves of
migration from Vietnam.
- The first one was to the United States and Western countries. Over
125,000 Vietnamese people arrived in the United States in late spring
1975 due to fears of reprisal from the new government, partly under the
wrong propaganda. Additionally, about 20,000 people went to Europe and
other Asian countries such as Cambodia and Thailand, etc.
- The second migration wave that began in 1977 lasted until the mid-1980s,
primarily involving ethnic Chinese people due to fears of border
conflicts, economic difficulties in Vietnam, and external information.

● Reference:
Fall of Saigon - Wikipedia
Operation Frequent Wind - Wikipedia

5. How is the relationship between Vietnam and the US nowadays? Do you

hate Americans for what they did to your country and people? Why?
- Nowadays, Vietnam and the United States have become Comprehensive
Partners. The U.S. has actively supported Vietnam in overcoming the
consequences of the war, enhancing the capacity of maritime law
 enforcement forces, and supporting Vietnam's participation in
international peacekeeping forces. Vietnam, the U.S., and other countries
are actively cooperating to maintain maritime freedom and enforce the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 in the
South China Sea.
- I truly feel very saddened but I can differentiate between the actions of
the U.S. government and individual Americans. And at that time,
Americans also helped Vietnam by pressuring the government by
protesting crowds or the media, etc.

● Reference:
Vietnam War - Wikipedia

IV. VIETNAM & CHINA:

1. Present The Chinese domination of Vietnam (time and crimes).
- The Chinese domination of Vietnam occurred over a span of more than
1,000 years, primarily during the periods of Han domination (111 BCE –
938 CE) and Ming occupation (1407–1427).
- During these periods, China implemented its political control over
Vietnam, leading to oppression, exploitation, and cultural assimilation.
- They exploited natural, human and material resources with strict policies
in Vietnam. They massacred Vietnamese people. Besides, they
implemented assimilation policy, destroyed the accomplishments and
evidence of Vietnamese history, eliminated cultural and traditional
practices of ethnic Vietnamese people. And forced Vietnamese people to
follow Chinese rites and customs.

● Reference:
Vietnam under Chinese rule - Wikipedia
2. Make the introduction of the following people, emphasise their
achievements: Tran Hung Dao/Quang Trung/Ly Thuong Kiet/Ngo Quyen?
- These are 4 of the 14 most typical heroes in Vietnamese history
a. Ngo Quyen:
- A revered figure, who had a pivotal victory over the Chinese Southern
Han forces in the Battle of Bach Dang River in 938. By ingeniously
trapping the enemy fleet with iron-tipped stakes hidden beneath the
 water's surface, Ngo Quyen’s decisive triumph marked the end of a
millennium of Chinese domination in Vietnam. His leadership and
strategic brilliance paved the way for Vietnam's independence and
inspired future generations of Vietnamese patriots.
b. Lý Thường Kiệt:
- He was a Vietnamese general and admiral. He served as an official
through the reign of 3 kings under the Ly dynasty and was a general
during the Song, Tống–Lý War. He helped invade Champa (1069), raid
the three Song dynasty provinces of Yongzhou, Qinzhou, Lianzhou
(1075-1076), (Ung Châu, Khâm Châu, Liên Châu) and defeat the Song
invasion of Vietnam.
c. Trần Hưng Đạo:
- An eminent Vietnamese military strategist and leader, rose to prominence
for his remarkable victories against the Mongol invaders during the 13th
century.
d. Quang Trung/ Nguyen Hue:
- A prominent military politician in Vietnamese history. He and his two
brothers were the leader of the Tay Son uprising, ending the Trinh -
Nguyen War, overthrowing the Hau Le Dynasty, ending the situation of
distinguishing Dang Trong - Dang Ngoai throughout 2 centuries. He also
defeated Thailand invasion from the South, and China from the North. He
himself has been fighting since 18, and for 20 years, there have been
dozens of big battles, and hasn’t lost a battle.

● Reference:

3. Why did China repeatedly invade Vietnam?

- First, we have a very important strategic location/ geopolitical location
which has been the gate to Southeast Asia. You can see it if you look at
the map. If any country wants to enter Southeast Asia, it would have to
enter Vietnam first, and from China, if they want to go to the South they
must enter Vietnam first, then they could go to Lao, Cambodia.
- 2nd, VN has been rich in resources, while China has been hungry for
resources. It always had the biggest population in the world for thousands
of years, so it has been hungry for resources for feeding their population,
so they want to take sth from VN.
- 3rd is related to the first one, we have a long coast line. Any country
could control VN then they could control the whole East Sea of VN. The
East Sea is a very important sea territory and the Pacific Ocean has been
critical for sea transportation. So if any country could control VN it could
control the whole sea area, control the world's transportation. It's not only
China but also America, France, Japan, and the Soviet Union (Liên Xô)
that want to have influence over Vietnam.

4. When did Mongolia invade Vietnam, and why was it defeated?

- Mongol invaded Vietnam during the 13th century, to expand the Mongol
Empire's territory, but they were defeated due to Vietnamese guerrilla
tactics, strategic defence ("empty gardens, empty houses"), logistical
challenges, and bad climate and disease.

● Reference:
Chiến tranh Nguyên Mông – Đại Việt lần 1 – Wikipedia tiếng Việt

5. What was the latest official war between Vietnam and China (border war
1979)? What were the reasons for the war?
- The Border War (Sino -Vietnamese War) was a short but intense conflict
that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam.
- The war stemmed from prolonged tensions between the two countries.
+ Specifically:
- China disagreed with the approach to conducting the war with the United
States in South Vietnam. After its victory, Vietnam sought direct
negotiations with the United States, bypassing the need for any
intermediary country.
- In 1974, China sent soldiers to occupy the Pattle Island (administered by
the Republic of Vietnam) with the tacit /ˈtæs.ɪt/ approval of the United
States.
- In 1975, China did not compromise on the Pattle Island issue. Vietnam
rejected China's proposal to join the anti-Soviet alliance. China began to
describe Vietnam as "ungrateful" and "arrogant."
- China then significantly decreased aid to Vietnam, and by 1978, it was
completely cut off.

● Reference:
Chiến tranh biên giới Việt–Trung 1979 – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
6. How is the relationship between Vietnam and China nowadays?
- The relationship between both countries should be described as “ close
enough but not to see as friends and far enough but not to see as enemies.
It makes me think about parallel straight lines. The relationship between
Vietnam and China has two parallel straight lines and never meet each
other at one point even though they are very close.

● Reference:
What do you think of the relationship between China and Vietnam? -
Quora