The Fall of Saigon, Essay Example

Traditionally, nationalism is defined as love for one’s own country. In the case of the agrarian Vietnamese, nationalism meant that they were responsible for their nation’s welfare and their love for their country meant defending it against foreigners. Therefore, during World War II and the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese felt that they owed it to their great nation to protect it. The history of the Vietnamese as having nationalist pride dated back to the beginning of their involvement in World War II when they formed a guerilla army to resist the French (Hall, 2009). This was a turning point in history because the Vietnamese recognized that they would have to increase their military prowess in order to continue to defend their state. As a consequence of the pride they felt for their nation and their ability to band together as a military force, they were able to win the battle at Dien Bien Phu against the French in 1954.

The concept of a “revolution of rising expectations” describes a situation in which rising expectations create unstable political situations (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2008). During the period of time leading up to the Vietminh establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, this area had been experiencing improvement in industrial development, education, and healthcare. Therefore, they were able to rise past the prior government and create one that they believed to be satisfactory to them. Meanwhile the Saigon regime of South Vietnam failed because the areas were not as well developed and it was therefore substantially more difficult to resist against the People’s Army of Vietnam (Butler, 1985). Therefore, it is apparent that nationalism is upheld more substantially in areas that have greater quality of life. These people are more likely to support their country and do what is necessary to support the existing government.

The “revolution of rising expectations” is unavoidable in politically unstable countries and recent events have mirrored the social revolution that has contributed to the development of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the downfall of the Saigon regime. In particular, the news has been particularly concerned with the North Korean government under the leadership of Kim Jong-un after the death of Kim Jong-il. While the people had an opportunity to protest against government atrocities and promote social change after this death, no one was willing to due to the trust they placed in the government. This is a true example of nationalism because North Koreans treat their leaders like gods and live to serve them and honor their country. It is likely that North Koreans would act similarly to the agrarian Vietnamese if their country is attacked.

To be able to analyze the history in an expansive sense with the understanding that part of Southeast Asia has become known as French Indochina a half century ago is a greater analysis of the interactions that had occurred between the French and the Indochina natives. It is likely that the French exerted some extent of influence on the native people, and it is possible that French nationalism helped instill in the Vietnamese a sense of their own nationalism. By observing the zeal with which the French intended to take over Vietnamese lands, the Vietnamese mirrored this and rebelled successfully. However, many details of this history is not known and it would prove useful to conduct archival research in both France and Vietnam in order to elucidate the details.

References

Butler, David (1985). The Fall of Saigon. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Hall, Simon. (2009). Scholarly Battles over the Vietnam War. Historical Journal, 52: 813–29.

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. (2008). Revolution of Rising Expectations. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3045302276.html

Logevall, Fredrik (2001). The Origins of the Vietnam War. Harlow: Longman.