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| President of the Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu during a meeting with US President Richard Nixon at Midway Island, June 8, 1969 |
The US did not 'invade' and 'take land' from Vietnam, a historical researcher from Hanoi told a BBC News Vietnamese symposium on May 6, 2021 looking back at history.
Commenting on the nature of the war that lasted over two decades in the last century, causing millions of deaths, casualties, and millions of families divided and separated in Vietnam, historian Le Van Sinh, former lecturer at Hanoi National University, said:
"There are people in Vietnam who say it's a war against American aggression, I don't think it's completely wrong, but it's also not entirely true.
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"Actually, the Americans did not invade Vietnam's land, but the Americans interfered in the internal affairs of the Vietnamese.
"They wanted to build a dyke to prevent the communist wave from spreading around, so they set up the government, protected and helped the Ngo Dinh Diem government and since then it had a civil war and just had an ideological proxy war."
The above comment of a historical researcher from Vietnam National University, Hanoi is said to be an opinion that is different from the official historical view that has been included in the official teaching textbooks in the education system in Vietnam. Vietnam from high school to graduate school, from April 30, 1975 to present.
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| Americans protest against the Vietnam War |
Accordingly, orthodox researchers of the history of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the history of the Vietnam War at the end of the 20th century in the country have long believed that the Americans invaded Vietnam, and that the war was won by either side. The conduct was to 'push out the invading US imperialists and overthrow the puppet army and the puppet power to sell the country' in this country.
Just saying foreign intervention is not correct
From the University of Maine, USA, Professor of History Ngo Vinh Long said that it is not correct to say that the Vietnam War was only because of foreign intervention:
"The Vietnam War especially it started because of foreign intervention, for example in 1945, if the US did not help the French, it is unlikely that there would have been a 9-year resistance war. Then in the South too, After the Geneva Conference, the US also intervened.
“In the beginning, foreign intervention was very important, but foreign intervention helped make the Vietnam war another internal war.
"So, it is not correct to say that the Vietnam War was only because of foreign interference, because at some point the problem of brotherhood and sisterhood is caused by the Vietnamese people.
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| US Presidential Advisor Henry Kissinger shakes hands with Chief Negotiator of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Xuan Thuy at the Paris Peace Talks |
"The Vietnamese have to find a way to stop the war early for harmony and reconciliation, and Vietnam has had many opportunities to reconcile and reconcile, but did not come to that for many reasons that I do not know. table here.
"But the issue of military victory always leaves consequences, the consequences are very great, even when we compare, when making history, we should compare with the case of other countries, not Just look at your case.
"For example, the American Civil War was only 4 years old, but since then more than 100 years have passed, but the victors see history differently than the losers, so Southerners are still angry today. Disappointed with the orthodox analysis, I temporarily use this word, but orthodoxy here does not mean the orthodoxy of the government, but the orthodox line of American history.
"The civil war in the US only lasted four years, but the war in Vietnam lasted for 40 years, so the consequences are very large, so the lesson is that if there is a war, what should be done while it is still alive? are at war, looking for ways to reconcile, reconcile..."
'Three factors cannot be denied'"The Vietnamese had to find a way to stop the war early in order to reconcile and reconcile, but Vietnam had many opportunities to reconcile, but failed to do so. go to that for a variety of reasons that I won't discuss here.
"But the issue of military victory always leaves consequences, the consequences are very great, even when we compare, when making history, we should compare with the case of other countries, not Just look at your case.
"For example, the American Civil War was only 4 years old, but since then more than 100 years have passed, but the victors see history differently than the losers, so Southerners are still angry today. Disappointed with the orthodox analysis, I temporarily use this word, but orthodoxy here does not mean the orthodoxy of the government, but the orthodox line of American history.
"The civil war in the US only lasted four years, but the war in Vietnam lasted for 40 years, so the consequences are very large, so the lesson is that if there is a war, what should be done while it is still alive? are at war, looking for ways to reconcile, reconcile..."
'Three causal factors cannot be denied'
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| DRV President Ho Chi Minh attended a party marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing with Chinese leader Mao Zedong and Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev |
From London, historical researcher, Dr. Le Manh Hung, author of the book series 'Looking back on Vietnamese history' commented to the BBC:
"I disagree with Mr. Ngo Vinh Long on the origin of the Vietnam War. Actually, the Vietnam War has its roots before the 1945 coup d'etat.
"Before that, there were struggles between the two factions, the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth, Comrade Hoi, and the Vietnam Nationalist Party until later. I myself interviewed former communists, as well as the nation, During the war against the French, they also fought against each other.
"So, when World War II ended, there was a power race to gain the right to rule Vietnam after Japan surrendered. A book on Vietnam 1945 by an American scholar says that when the war broke out, there were many cases, such as the Viet Nam Kuomintang and the Dai Viet Kuomintang that might actually have had a chance to seize power before the Viet Minh took power, but they hesitated. hesitated and planned, so it was not successful and let the Viet Minh take the upper hand.
"When the Viet Minh rose, the war began and the intervention of France or the US was only dependent, only increasing the dispute between the country - plus the two sides.
"Besides, foreign intervention and participation in this war is not solely on the Vietnamese side, the Vietnamese people, whether they like it or not, are caught up in the struggle between the two capitalist factions. and communists in the world, so if the Viet Minh wins, or the national side wins, it still has wars.
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| A woman in Hue buys flowers at a market on April 14, 1968, 10 weeks after the Tet Offensive in central and southern Vietnam. |
"Let's take a look at neighboring countries, such as Indonesia, when the Sukarno faction came to power before the Indonesian Communist Party emerged, there was still a war, but the intervention of the US and Australian sides... The Netherlands, ended the war in Indonesia in just a few years.
"As for the long Vietnam War, because part of it was a civil war, part of it was foreign intervention, and part of it was in the overall war of ideological struggles of the cold war and the Cold War. it only ended in 1991. So, if we want to have a fair view, we can't deny those three factors but just say that the foreign factor led to it."