Students

Please note: This title has recently been acquired by Taylor & Francis. Due to rights reasons, any multimedia resources will no longer be available.

Learning Objectives

After reading these chapters, you should be able to:

  1. What were the various agricultural innovations that China introduced to the Vietnamese during the initial period of Chinese occupation?
  2. How did the Chinese mandarin system of governance initially help to create division amongst the Vietnamese but ultimately lead to a national desire for independence?
  3. What were the military tactics employed by Le Loi in 1428 in an effort to cause the Chinese to withdraw from Vietnam?
  4. What were the major reasons behind France’s persistent determination to gain the wealth of Vietnam?
  5. How did the arguments of French socialists and humanitarians differ from those made by French bankers and manufacturers regarding the French Indochina colonies?
  6. What were the policies implemented by Paul Doumer to attempt to turn the French Indochina colonies from liabilities to profitable possessions?
  7. What were the ways in which the French attempted to eradicate the national identity of the Vietnamese people during the latter part of the nineteenth century?
  8. What were the ways in which colonial education served as one of the focal points in the conflict between Vietnamese nationalism and French imperialism?
  9. How was Ho Chi Minh’s national resistance movement different from that of Phan Boi Chau’s? What were the reasons for Ho Chi Minh’s hope that American leaders would help to support the democratic principle of self-determinism in Vietnam?
  10. What was the impact of Japan’s quest for military domination in East Asia during the time of World War II?
  1. How and why was postwar economic stability in the United States vital to the country’s aspirations of establishing a Pax Americana?
  2. What was the difference between the two approaches to avoiding a postwar depression in the United States, namely the creation of an internal balance between supply and demand versus the acquisition of foreign markets?
  3. What were the disparities between the United States’ public posture of neutrality with regard to France’s decision to try to re-conquer Vietnam and the actions of American policymakers?
  4. How did U.S. concerns about the possibility of an Asian crusade against European rule in the Far East lead to the development of a trusteeship plan which was strongly supported by President Roosevelt?
  5. How did the French define the “tenpin theory” and then use it to argue against the notion of allowing an independent Vietnam to exist?
  6. Why did American leaders insist that China be included as one of the Big Four police in the establishment of President Roosevelt’s vision of an international security system?
  7. Why did Ho Chi Minh decide to permit 15,000 French soldiers to land in Vietnam in 1946 as replacements for Chinese forces in Tonkin?
  8. What was the difference between the economic needs of the United States and those of the European countries in terms of their standings in the international economic system following World War II?
  9. How and why did the United States justify its involvement in the Korean War even though 30,000 American servicemen were killed during the war?
  10. What was the difference between U.S. and French objectives in the Far East? And how were each country’s views on the Bao Dai regime different?
  1. What were the most significant events that led up to and surrounded the battle between the French and the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu?
  2. What was the difference between British, French and U.S. views on the peace objectives for the Indochina phase of the Geneva Conference?
  3. What were the specific policies implemented by Diem’s dictatorship that led to the revolution in South Vietnam, which began in 1956?
  4. What were the underlying reasons for the summer of 1960 U.S. shift in the emphasis of its military training program from conventional warfare to counterinsurgency?
  1. What were the reasons behind the metamorphosis that had occurred in the Global Domino Theory by the time President Kennedy took office in January of 1961?
  2. What were the major factors that led up to the second Indochina War?
  3. What were the various issues and occurrences that resulted in the significant growth of the Vietcong during the early 1960s?
  4. Was the United States justified in its often-changing stance with regard to the plot to topple the Diem regime? Explain.
  1. What were the reasons behind the rapid increase in political disorder in South Vietnam during 1964 and early 1965?
  2. What were the major arguments posed by Washington’s leaders regarding the Gulf of Tonkin Affair?
  3. What is the ethicality of President Johnson’s rhetoric of restraint regarding North Vietnam?
  4. Was the United States justified in its decision to bomb North Vietnam?
  1. What were the background factors that led up to the dispatch of American ground troops in Vietnam?
  2. How did America’s initial military strategy in Vietnam reflect the varying viewpoints of Washington’s leaders?
  3. What were the underlying reasons for the intensity of the antiwar movement in the United States?
  4. What were the impacts of the Tet Offensive on the Vietcong, North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and American military?
  1. What were the underlying factors that influenced President Nixon’s determination to institute his Madman theory?
  2. How did the Nixon administration attempt to implement the Vietnamization policy, inherited from the Johnson administration?
  3. What were the successes and failures of the Paris Peace Treaty?
  4. What were the most significant factors that led to the fall of Saigon?
  1. What were some of the many far-reaching consequences of the Second Indochina War?
  2. How did communism fail to produce positive economic or political results in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam during the years following the war?
  3. What were the reasons that led to Vietnam’s drastic shift towards a more capitalistic society?
  4. How did the United States approach the issue of reconciliation with Vietnam during the decades following the war?

Weblinks

All links provided below were active on website launch. However, due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, links do occasionally become inactive. If you find a link that has become inactive, please try using a search engine to locate the website in question.

  • Language Tip of the Week
    June Casagrande, author of Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies. This site offers a useful language, usage and style tips on a weekly basis.
  • Dave's ESL Café
    Professor Dave Sperling This site offers a wide range of resources for students and teachers of English as a second language, including language learning resources, job postings, and discussion forums.