Introduction to East and Southeast Asia. Second World War. The most noticeable group was Vietminh (Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh:

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2 Introduction In Vietnam, political movements against colonizer emerged significantly before the Second World War. The most noticeable group was Vietminh (Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh: League for Independence of Vietnam) led by communist party. At the early 1945, there was a revolt against the Japanese imperialism which led to the August Revolution. After the Japanese was defeated, the ally British troops occupied the south and Chinese troops occupied the north at the 16 th parallel waiting for the French to reinstate its colony. However, the French return was not that easy and successful because of resistance. While French reoccupied the south and exercised its direct control, Ho Chi Minh government in Hanoi resisted the French return until there was an Franco-Vietnamese agreement allowing the North to be an independent state in the French Union. The agreement did not ensure the security and stability, and the conflict was still on the stage. In December 1946, the French shelled the city of Haiphong and forcibly reentered the capital Hanoi. In 1949, likewise, the French took the Rice War to cut off the rice supports to Vietminh. This action provoked the conflict between the French and the Vietminh which later turned out to be the war, known as the First Indochina War. From 1947 until the Dien Bien Phu battle, the French mastered the skies, but were unable to stop the flow of supplies reaching the Vietnamese guerilla. The French expeditionary corps occupied Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and set up a group of fortresses equipped with many state-of-the-art weapons to prevent the Viet Minh from gaining control of Northern Laos and the middle of lower Mekong River Valley. Despite supports from the United States, the French was defeated severely in the Dien Bien Phu battle. The day after the battle, the International Peace Conference began in Geneva and brought the war to an end on July 20, This led to the end of the First Indochina War ( ). Following the fall of Diem Bien Phu battle, the 1954 Geneva Accords came into existence facilitating the withdrawal of French military from Indochina and provided The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 2

3 independence for Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam; but preserved the division of Vietnam: the North and the South at 17 th parallel. However, the side effects of the Cold War and the involvement of United States in the conflict turned it into the full-scale war, the Vietnam War or Second Indochina War. After 15 years of bloody and tragic fighting, North Vietnam triumphed and Saigon fell into the communist control in April Regarding Vietnam War, the major studies focused mostly on U.S. involvement and international causes. However, this essay will investigate deeply the domestic causes contributed to the victory of North Vietnam over the South and the fall of Saigon rather than external factors. The domestic factors are: 1) authoritarian South Vietnam government was gravely weak that it could not control the situation in the country; 2) anti-government movement received strong supports from peasants; 3) South Vietnamese military was immoral and weakly trained; 4) north Vietnamese military was wellexperienced and committed and used the suitable geo-military strategies. These major factors will be studied in details along with proofs and evidences in the following parts of the essay to discover how VC and North Vietnamese troops won the battle leading to the fall of Saigon. Cold War Effect After the World War II came to an end, there was another war which lasted nearly five decades ( ). The war, known as Cold War or East-West conflict, was the ideological rival and arm race between two superpowers: the United States and Soviet Union. It was the economic competition, military tension, and political conflict between Western bloc led by the United States and Eastern bloc led by Soviet Union due to different ideology. The two superpowers found danger within one another, so they started to build up much stronger military forces and more advanced weapons, as well as provided aids, equipment and weaponry to client countries to fight in other battles around the world for their sack. Being afraid of communism spread over, U.S. adopted Containment Policy which meant to isolate and surround Soviet The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 3

4 Union by preventing non-communist states from communist aggressors. This Containment Policy was applied on Korea and Vietnam causing the division of the two countries. In the prospect of stopping the expanded communism alliances in the world, U.S. applied the Domino Theory initiated by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower. This theory led U.S. to involve in the battles of the two countries. Since these superpowers sought to unite Korea approaching their own protection, the civil war broke out in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. Likewise, Vietnam experienced the division and later the tragic war, Vietnam War. Two Vietnam: North and South After the Geneva Conference in 1954, Vietnam was temporary divided into two zones at the 17 th parallel. In the North, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) was established in Hanoi under presidency of Ho Chi Minh, and the old emperor Bao Dai was chosen to rule the South. In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem became the prime minister of Bao Dai and later became the head of state after a referendum which ended the power of emperor Bao Dai. After division, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North organized the structure of the state with its own currency and constitution. The country was ruled by the Labour Party (Dang Lao Dong). With the loss of relations with the South, North Vietnam government started to build its own economy depending on industrial infrastructures left from the colony and mineral resources, but it was far from successful. In addition, North Vietnam was regarded by the U.S. as the aggressive communist government and its role in the Vietnam War was obviously prominent. During the war years, North Vietnamese government sent many underground fighters to the South through Ho Chi Minh Trail along Cambodian and Laos border line to assist Viet Cong. As a result, it had to fight directly with the U.S. troops at the peak of the war ( ) and suffered for U.S. bombardment. The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 4

5 In the South, Diem refused to held the election scheduled in 1956 by Geneva Accord, for he knew that he would lose to the strong popularity of Ho Chi Minh. Ngo was considered to be the anti-communist leader who was determined not to unite Vietnam. The refusal to held the election revoked anger among Viet Minh veterans who waited in the South for unification since the independence. The Communist Party, which was mainly formed by Viet Minh veterans, gained benefits from this dissatisfaction. On the other hand, there were many movements in the villages opposing Diem government policies and authoritarian styles (McWilliams, & Piotrowski, 2001). Firstly, there was a protest, especially led by the former Viet Minh soldiers. However, this protect was unsuccessful since these protestors was arrested. Secondly, Diem failed the promise to give the rural people, peasants, in the South a land reform, so they ran a program of forceful resistance which was mainly formed or led by Viet Minh veterans. Unfortunately, they was captured and placed in camps. Continuously, revolutionary movement still existed again and again in order to fight against Diem s government, and it was increasingly violent in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The emergence of another communist group which was known as NLF (National Liberation Front) or called by its enemy Viet Cong (Viet Nam Cong San) troubled Diem government even more. Viet Cong was established in 1960 and settled in South Vietnam. The creation of this political group was for the purpose of fighting against the Saigon regime backed by the U.S. This group was powerful and became larger; hence, Diem s popularity declined from time to time even in the cities. During Diem regime, there was also a religious forceful conflict. Various Buddhist organizations were resorted, and when they resisted, Nhu used force against them. Then there was a protest which several monks burned themselves in the public. This tragic event was broadcasted around the world by mass media, so the opposition to Diem grew stronger in both The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 5

6 national and international stage. Accordingly, U.S. concluded that Diem had become so brutal especially the attack on the Buddhists, and his popularity was so weak both in the countryside and in the cities. Supported by Viet Minh and North Vietnam in term of weaponry, NLF force became increasingly stronger and furthered their attacks on Diem s government. Unrest continued in the South until Diem and his brother Nhu were overthrown and killed in a military coup on 1 November, After Diem assassin, an election supported by the U.S. was conducted to prove the public opinion that the U.S. government fought for democracy. However, the government ruled by Nguyen Van Thieu and Ly Kao Ky was also an ineffective one and the uprising became even more severe. The Vietnam War: U.S. and escalation of the war By 1965, there were only 23,300 U.S. soldiers and military advisors in South Vietnam (Gifford, 2005). Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was reported that US naval ship, the destroyer Maddox, was attacked by North Vietnamese; US congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that allowed the president to take all necessary means to repel attacks and prevent further aggression. First, president Johnson commanded on air strikes, so called Operation Rolling Thunder, on the North. After air strike operation, US deployed its combat troops directly to take up battle in South Vietnam. The number of US military troops increased gradually throughout the year, and the scale of the war was also escalated. The weary war continued throughout 1966 and At this point it was no longer the Vietnamese war as it had already become the direct confrontation between North Vietnamese troops and those of the U.S.. At the end of January 1968, North Vietnamese troops launched out an surprising offensive throughout South Vietnam; it was on the Tet, the Lunar New Year holiday. In response, U.S. employed more severe attacks on North Vietnam; The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 6

7 and it was the peaking year of the war. However, it was a major psychological and political victory for North Vietnam. Richard Nixon, the successor of Johnson, introduced a new strategy called Vietnamization from 1969 to 1973 aiming to disengage gradually from South Vietnam, but it was a failure. Following the unsuccessful peace talk in 1965 and 1969, a new secret negotiation was renewed since 1972 in Paris. On January 27, 1973 an agreement between Washington and Hanoi was reached, and here come the exit of the United States from the Vietnam War. Despite disengagement of the US, South Vietnamese troops were in the stage of fighting on its own. Finally, North Vietnamese troops defeated the South Vietnamese troops and captured Saigon in April, Analysis: Vietnamization of studies over the fall of Saigon As mentioned above, North Vietnam defeated the Saigon government and reunified the country in April, But how could North Vietnam grant victory? and what factors contributed to the fall of Saigon? Vietnam War has long been studied as part of American history rather than Vietnamese history itself, so the analysis and studies in many works are found America-centric. Regarding the fall of Saigon, many factors have been emphasized exclusively on the American role and external context rather than the internals. At this point, this essay will be devoted to the analysis of domestic or internal causes which led VC and North Vietnamese troops towards the victory with regardless of the importance of external factors. The Vietnamization of study on the victory of North Vietnamese troops is indisputably a new challenge and noteworthy. The earliest important factor that shall be noticed is the weakness of Saigon government itself. A prominent leader of the South was Ngo Dinh Diem. Becoming the president after referendum in 1955, Diem immediately launched out his anti-communism campaign and ruled The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 7

8 with authoritarian leadership. Basically, Diem government not only failed to conduct land reforms as promised, but also gave privileges to rich landlords and Catholic group. This failure provoked the anger of poor peasants, as well as Viet Minh veterans, so the demonstrations erupted. To restrict people from communist groups, he employed a policy of relocating people into the protective hamlet communities. This Strategic Hamlets failed and consequently caused the enmity among people and the popularity of Diem declined sharply. The revolt evolved into violence when NLF, later known as Viet Cong, was created to fight against his government. Besides repression on commoners, Diem was also known as a leader who employed religious repression. Diem was a Catholic among Buddhist groups and his policy harmed the Buddhist sects; this religious tension broke the ground for revolts. The event that the Buddhist monks burned themselves in the public squares and the brutality of South Vietnamese soldiers were broadcasted by mass media around the world shocked the public opinion in the United States. One of the major factors leading to the disengagement of U.S. from the war was anti-vietnam War campaign in the United States. At this turning point, question might be raised why that campaign broke out in U.S.. The fact that severity of the situation in South Vietnam under Diem and brutality of his troops was broadcasted shall be articulated provoking U.S. public opinion. Therefore, the external factors were just the evolution of internal ones. One more factor is that Diem was reluctant to the important of peasants roles in preventing communism and ignored them. Consequently, he lost the strong hold in rural areas. The later government under Nguyen Van Thieu was not a better one, and the situation was already out of control. In this regards, assumption can be made that it was the domestic factors rather than external ones that led to revolts against Saigon government and later the failure of Saigon, and it was because of the inability of Diem s government itself that led to the shortfall of supports from people for his government and even for later government. The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 8

9 Another factor contributing to fall of Saigon was that North Vietnamese troops were supported strongly by people. The more the U.S. fought and the more South Vietnamese government put the pressure on their enemy, the stronger NLF or VC became. When the U.S. involved directly into the war, the sense of nationalism among Vietnamese became even stronger than ever the Vietnamese history indicates that there have always been the unity against foreign invaders (Miller & Tuong, 2009); for example, the revolt against Chinese, French, Japanese and later the American. VC and North Vietnamese troops usually employ popular warfare which means they sought supports from peasantry. Goure, in his memorandum conducted in 1966, suggested that the communists had always relied heavily on peasant cooperation for manpower, materials, and intelligence; and the introduction of North Vietnamese Army combat forces only increased the need for local support. In some cases, peasants helped hide Viet Cong when the U.S. troops were seeking for them, and other peasants even enlisted themselves in VC. This made the ARVN and U.S troops found it difficult to find and attack VC; and the war became more and more weary. This can also be considered as a cause of victory of VC and North Vietnamese troops. The most prominent factor was the inability and ineffectiveness of ARVN itself. Although equipped with modern weaponry supported by the U.S., they were still unable to fight and defeated its enemy because they were less-committed, weakly-trained, and immoral. Some peasants joined VC because of misbehavior of ARVN and mistreatment by local officials and police rather than being forced to join by VC (Goure et al., 1966). Unlike VC or North Vietnamese troops who fought for survival, ARVN troops were not strongly committed and they were forced to fight; as a result, they are easily defeated. During the years of Vietnamization, U.S. military supported flew into the South in a vast amounts in order to strengthen ARVN to fight against communist troops. Yet, ARVN was still in a low level no matter how well they The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 9

10 were equipped because of corruption and indiscipline (Edkins & Nick, 2009). After the disengagement of U.S. from the war, the situation of ARVN in the battle was even worse than ever. No matter how long the U.S. support ARVN or U.S. continued to fight the battle, the defeat can still be seen as the future since ARVN was not a good partner for U.S.. Misbehavior, corruption, inability and indiscipline within ARVN were all the factors that VC and North Vietnamese troops could take advantages for their victory and those factors were responsible for the fall of Saigon. One last but not least cause that contributed to the victory of North Vietnam was VC and North Vietnamese force itself. Unlike ARVN or U.S., VC and North Vietnamese (Viet Minh) were well-experienced in the guerilla warfare which suits the geography of Vietnam the best. In the First Indochina War, they had employed the right geo-military strategies and successfully defeated the French. Besides, VC and North Vietnamese troops were courageous and strongly committed since they fought for the unification and liberation of their country from American imperialism (Goure et al., 1966). With supports from peasants, communist troops found it easy to recruit more fighters. Furthermore, North Vietnamese women served in military as Youth Shock Brigades to protect the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and this made the battle even more difficult and tough for U.S. troops, who dared not to fight against women. Although VC and North Vietnamese troops tended to be immoral at the very end of the war, they were well-conducted, disciplined and well-organized since the first place. Many peasant enlisted themselves in VC due to its policies (Goure et al., 1966). More importantly, VC and North Vietnamese troops were exactly persistent and known as the strongest fighters in the region. All the characteristics of VC and North Vietnamese troops were the active ingredients for their victory. Without these qualifications, they would not be able to defeat their enemies. The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 10

11 The orthodox interpretation of the fall of Saigon was the disengagement of U.S. from the war. Many studies attributed the causes of disengagement solely to the internal factors economic cost, economic depression or public opinion of the United Sates and the fact that the U.S. attempted to avoid direct confrontation with USSR and China during the Cold War. However, one-side view can be far from complete. Question should be asked whether what caused economic depression and reaction of public opinion in the U.S.. This question can be settle by investigating the real situation of the war. Unlike other battles, U.S. encountered a tough time defeating VC and North Vietnamese troops because ARVN was ineffective and corrupted, while VC and North Vietnamese were obviously strong with suitable geo-military strategies. The U.S. military strategies and weaponries were not quite suitable with mountainous area of Vietnam which was rather suitable for guerilla warfare. This situation prolonged the war, and consequently the expenditures and the death toll of U.S. troops increased sharply. These factors provoked the economic depression and reaction of public opinion. Additionally, the fact that U.S. were afraid of direct confrontation with USSR or China like what happened in the Korean War cannot be articulated. In case of Korean War, in fact, Moscow, Beijing and Pyong Yang had agreed on a military pact for mutual assistant if the war with the U.S. broke out. In the pact, China and USSR agreed to deployed their forces directly to help North Korea in the battle. As indicated in history, however, USSR did not send its troops to North Korea when the war broke out in 1950 because USSR, as a superpower, attempted to avoid direct confrontation with U.S. only China did send its military to North Korea. More importantly, Sino-Soviet relation spilt since 1959 because of ideology rival. Therefore, it was not a possible case that both major countries would send its force collectively to fight the battle in Vietnam. The most important factor is the resistance of Vietnamese in general. Ho Chi Minh would never accept and attempted to restrict China intervention at any cost, for he knew that sovereignty of Vietnam would be at The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 11

12 risk if he did so. Consequently, Ho Chi Minh appealed to Soviet Union, whose physical boundary does not link with Vietnam, because it was not the direct threat to Vietnam. In brief, direct confrontation between USSR and U.S. or between China and U.S. could not be a possible outcome and shall not be taken into account. Conclusion The orthodox interpretation of the Vietnam War focused only on American involvement, for it was regarded mostly as part of American history. However, the Vietnamization of studies on Vietnam War and North Vietnamese victory is absolutely indispensible for deep understanding of the causes of victory and the fall of Saigon. Through discussion and analysis on victory of North Vietnam in the war and the fall of Saigon, conclusion can be made that there were not only America-centric causes or external causes exclusively, but also internal causes and factors which contributed to the victory of North Vietnam and the fall of Saigon. The four major factors which shall be taken into accounts are: weakness of South Vietnamese Government, revolts of people against government, inability and ineffectiveness of ARVN, and strong VC and North Vietnamese troops. In this regard, the internal factors contributing to the fall of Saigon shall be more important in comparison to external factors. For further research, domestic social factors of Vietnam should be consulted for the benefits of a complete interpretation. The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 12

13 Bibliography 1. Gifford, C. (2005). How Did it Happen? The Vietnam War. Sydney: Franklin Watts. 2. McWilliams, W. C., & Piotrowski, H. (2001). The world since 1945: A history of international relations (5th ed.). The United States of America: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 3. Miller, E., & Tuong, V. (2009). The Vietnam War as a Vietnamese War: Agency and Society in the Study of the Second Indochina War. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 4 (4), L. Goure et al., Some Findings of the Viet Cong Motivation and Morale Study: June December 1965 (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 1966), Ooi, K. G. (Ed.). (2004). Southeast Asia: A historical encyclopedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor Part II. The United States of America: ABC-CLIO. The Fall of Saigon: Internal causes 13

Ch 29-1 The War Develops

Ch 29-1 The War Develops The Main Idea Concern about the spread of communism led the United States to become increasingly violent in Vietnam. Content Statement/Learning Goal Analyze how the Cold war and