How "excellent" were relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people?
Upvote:9
The question assumes that the Vietnamese people are a singular entity. The process of liberation seems to indicate that this was not the case. However, as Vietnamese society was clearly polarised in this period between a small proportion of the population who supported the RVN and a larger proportion of the population who supported abolishing the RVN and major change to Vietnamese economic and social life, we can consider relations between two groups of the Vietnamese population based on their political alignments and the US forces in Vietnam.
Relationships between US forces and segments of the Vietnamese population could be positive, I am thinking in particular of the urban population produced as a result of the war, the Catholic "comprador" elite, the ethnic Chinese merchant communities, and non-Viet tribal groups in areas of significant US presence.
However, the general relationship between US forces and major segments of the Vietnamese population were hostile. The United States was supplying the significant force supporting first a Catholic dictatorship, and then a series of comprador elite dictatorships. The United States was also responsible for supplying these dictators arms and garnering ancillary support from dependent or neo-colonial allies of the United States. This hostility extended to mass political demonstrations in urban areas aimed at the anti-Buddhist nature of the RVN. It extended to the maintenance of criminal networks who resisted government control. It extended to local revolutionary communes. It extended to support for the Vietnamese Workers Party lead coordination of revolutionary change, logistic support of armed struggle, and direct support of armed struggle. Such a level of "hostility" always needs to be considered in the relationship between US Forces and the Vietnamese population.
This would not normally produce hostility, except that the system the United States supported was fundamentally objectionable to the population, and a significant body of the population developed and politicised the objection. The United States forces supported catholic and rapacious capitalist elites who represented domination, imperial rule and grossly unjust land wage and tax allocation in the villages. The alternative politically represented (at least until 1975), a buddhist compatible moderate movement drawn largely from the population itself who implemented (again until 1975) self-governance, national sentiment and a land justice.
On top of the United States forces representing a reprehensible politics, their practice of occupation developed resentment; as US force often directed itself on the civillian population. In contrast, the violence of the VWP / NFL / PLAF / PAVN / PRG constellation was managed in a way that developed legitimacy for this movement and its local supporters.
There was then an excellence of a kind in the relationship between American soldiers and the majority of the Vietnamese people: an excellence of badness.
Sources:
- RAND reports on Village politics from the 1960s
- 1960s era criticisms of the impossibility of Malay tactics in Vietnam
- Any basic history of the complex relationship between the VWP and Revolution in the South
- Even Fire on the Lake, as ridiculous as some of its cultural assumptions are, is good on this
- Also the recent spate of papers on VWP strategy post 1954
- Wilfred Burchett's (1964) My visit to the liberated zones of South Vietnam is worthwhile in this regard, you just need to scrape the gold leaf off
- Any decent treatment of the cults or Buddhist urban resistance would pay off here too
More post
- 📝 When Lenin met Mussolini, what was Mussolini's impression of Lenin?
- 📝 Were there any pilots that declined to carry out the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
- 📝 Why didn't the Germanic tribes harry the Roman troops to distraction when Caesar built the bridges across the Rhine?
- 📝 Did the Chief of Soviet General Staff really say this?
- 📝 Why do French houses have exterior window shutters?
- 📝 How did William the Conqueror consolidate his military victory?
- 📝 Was Hitler ever a member of the Reichstag?
- 📝 Was Hitler hostile to Anglo-Saxons before he became hostile to Jews?
- 📝 In what contexts did male friends kiss in Europe in the 1700s?
- 📝 Is the following claim concerning the loss of classical Latin literature substantiated?
- 📝 According to game theory would Germany's post 1939 expansionism have provided the optimal economic benefits?
- 📝 When were Liu Hui's mathematical works first translated into English?
- 📝 Did Russia help India arm itself with nuclear weapons?
- 📝 What universities existed in Dutch East Indies, and how available were they to the native population?
- 📝 Why was the Kamchatka Regiment sent?
- 📝 Were there women who were against giving women the right to vote?
- 📝 What events led to the Aztecs and Mayans adopting cocoa beans as a currency?
- 📝 English monarchs on the battlefield
- 📝 Were officers allowed to resign during the American Civil War?
- 📝 Why do minor political parties in the US receive so few votes?
- 📝 When and how did steel supplant iron for artillery?
- 📝 Why did the United States not invade North Vietnam?
- 📝 Noble hierarchy in the early middle ages
- 📝 What was Poland's involvement in the Vietnam War?
- 📝 How did Native Americans refer to themselves in the 19th century?
- 📝 How did England react to the arrival of the Black Death?
- 📝 How do historians deal with inconsistencies?
- 📝 How common was training with swords and other weapons at Newton's time in England?
- 📝 Would colonial Maryland have been tolerant to all religions?
- 📝 Why is the battle of Hampton Roads known as the Monitor vs the Merrimack?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How "excellent" were relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people?
- 📝 How were interracial relationships between African-Americans and Latinos treated in Southern states before the Loving decision?
- 📝 Did Spain and the Republic of China (Kuomintang) have diplomatic relations between 1931 and 1939? Were they friendly or unfriendly?
- 📝 What were the relations between Romania and Bulgaria before WWI?
- 📝 How were precise hand drawn illustrations copied between the 16th and 20th century in Europe?
- 📝 How detailed were American Civil War medical records of the types of diseases that various soldiers had?
- 📝 How many RAF and USAAF/USAF airfields were built in the UK between the mid-1930s and 1960?
- 📝 In Shanghai before World War II what were relations like between the Europeans living there and the local Chinese?
- 📝 In the "Christmas truce" of 1914 were there any football (soccer) matches between British and German troops?
- 📝 How were the cities of Milan and Bruges spared by the Black Death?
- 📝 How to explain the apparent discrepancy in the use of papyrus vs. clay tablets between Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia?
- 📝 How heavily were the British taxing their American colonies?
- 📝 How true is the statement "Soviet troops got into Berlin riding American trucks, walking in American boots and using American trains"?
- 📝 How many lives were estimated to have been saved by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs?
- 📝 How and why was the boundary between West and East Berlin decided to be where it was?
- 📝 How was the modern geographic boundary between Europe and Asia decided?
- 📝 How long did it take for a diplomat to travel between Berlin and Vienna in the 1770's?
- 📝 How expensive were castles? And how were the costs distributed?
- 📝 How compare the rights and conditions of the American slaves to those of Russian serfs?
- 📝 Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?
- 📝 How common was marriage between nobles and peasants in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 How accurate and detailed were geographical maps created and updated by the Romans?
- 📝 How were servants to the Kaiser of Imperial Germany treated and where may I find more information on them?
- 📝 How was security on the Silk Road between China and the West maintained?
- 📝 How were the British and French armies invited into Belgium in 1914?
- 📝 How did people say “I have to go to the bathroom” before the bathroom and pipes were common?
- 📝 How many pens were used by MacArthur to end the final chapter of World War II and where are they now?
- 📝 How many firearms were owned by civilian population between 1836 and 1912 in USA?
- 📝 How many acres per person were needed for the early American settlers vs. the native Americans?
- 📝 How were the Morisco refugees from Europe received in North Africa, given that they were foreigners and Christian?