Vietnam 1945: Text
In the text David Marr argues that 1945 is the most important year in the modern history of Vietnam. (Marr, pg. 1) It is thought throughout the history of Vietnam that the Communist party was the primary driving force for Independence. Marr attempts to dispute these hypotheses, not by devaluing the impact of the Communist in Vietnam, but by focusing on other outside contributors. Marr describes the year of 1945, and years prior as an “awaking” of the Vietnamese people. The political transformations of 1945 took place in all the provincial towns and most rural districts of Vietnam. (Marr, pg. 2)
Marr does not undermine the importance of the Communist party in Vietnam. He does stress the importance of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) and the Viet Minh. Although these organizations were essential to the movement, Marr argues that many Vietnamese did not even understand what the Viet Minh stood for. (Marr pg. 2) He contests that the Viet Minh did rally the people of Vietnam, but that these people were not brought together under a shared belief in Communism – and for that matter no individual group was really in control. (Marr pg.6) Marr saw the situation about people of diverse backgrounds and intentions contesting for hegemony. (Marr pg.6)
Applying his knowledge of Vietnam and numerous other accounts Marr describes the year of 1945 in great detail, including the years leading up to Independence. Marr begins by laying out the ground work in earlier years in how the Vietnamese people were treated by the French Imperialist.
Marr begins the text at the point when the French are still technically in control of Vietnam, but it is evident that the Japanese are the ones who are really in control upon their arrival in 1941. (Marr pg.13) Japanese control of the region was out of necessity as a result of the American embargo set on Japan. (Marr pg. 26) Japan offered to remove its troops from southern Indochina in return for the United States rescinding the freeze on Japan, but the United States refused. (Marr pg.27) after the refusal of the freeze Japan began to exhaust Indochina of its resources creating contempt amongst its inhabitants. (Marr pg. 30)
Marr describes these actions by the Japanese and the years of abuse bestowed upon them by the French as the underlying factor for the resolve of the Vietnamese people. He argues that it was not this great Communist revolution that created Independence, but it was the people of Vietnam tired of being oppressed rising up and defeating two Imperial powers.
Marr sees the ICP and the Viet Minh as the main contributors to organizing and providing a commonality for the people of Vietnam to fight under. He argues that in 1945 with the French weak and the Japanese losing their power, the Vietnamese people saw a power vacuum and an opportunity for Independence. Marr contests that it was the Communist party jumping at the right opportunity that gained them fame, not the party that caused the fall of the French and Japanese.
After the Vietnamese gain Independence Marr still points out the various factors that still stand in the way of a completely independent Vietnam. He describes how the Viet Minh and the Communist rise to power, but that there is still this unsettled anxiety amongst the people of Vietnam. It is not until many years later that Vietnam gains true independence and is united under one party.
Vietnam 1945: context
The debate that David Marr writes about in his book 1945 is that the Communist party in Vietnam did play a major rule in gaining Independence, but they were not the underlying factor. The argument that Marr brings forth is that no one was in control. (Marr pg.6) If one were to read about Vietnam history today that majority of text would attribute Vietnamese independence to the Communist party. This is however not the case. It was the people themselves of Vietnam that rose up to defeat the Imperialist forces.
The people of Vietnam did not understand what the Viet Minh stood for, they were inundated with political slogans, flags, salutes, and even stamps to try to promote the Viet Minh. (Marr pg. 2) The people of Vietnam did not see this as an opportunity to join the Communist party; they saw it as a chance to kick some Imperialist ass.
After the Japanese seized power on March 9, 1945 the French nationals became subjected to increasing amount of physical and verbal abuse from the Vietnamese. (Marr pg. 65) The Vietnamese people at first did not know what to expect from the Japanese, perhaps as liberators or continuing the Imperialistic domination. (Marr pg. 90)
During the Japanese take-over the underground Communist Party in Hanoi was aware of the events, but did not act. (Marr pg. 152) This was the point when the Communist party started to see opportunities in some former prisoners under French rule being freed and possible recruits for their cause. The greatest event in the Viet Minh early days was the return of Ho Chi Minh. (Marr pg. 164) Ho began propaganda campaigns to recruit individuals into the party. His propaganda supports Marr’s dispute in that Ho, made sure propaganda made no mention of Socialism or the Communist Party. (Marr pg. 173.)
The argument that Marr is trying to convey is that it was not the fact that the Viet Minh and the ICP were Communist that brought them to power, it was that they were the most organized, supported and successful group at the time of revolution. Marr would dispute that if any other organization be it democratic, utilitarian, or communist the people of Vietnam would have joined it in a common resolve to end the Imperialist oppression and free their land. Marr even points out in the text how the Viet Minh themselves where not all communist. Hundreds of thousands of people in the VML (Viet Minh League), which was “more than communist,” allegedly incorporating nationalists, high mandarins, and native soldiers in the colonial army. (Marr pg. 228)
Vietnam 1945: Subtext
David G. Marr, Vietnam 1945. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995
David Marr is an expert on Vietnamese history and has written extensively on Vietnam and Asia. Marr wrote the book after his 1990 experience in Ho Chi Minh City and other various trips around Vietnam. His experience with the people of Vietnam, their history and the stories he heard during his visits inspired him to write his own history of the country. In his countless hours of research into its past Marr saw that the communist party did have a great impact on the revolution, but that they were not the underlying factor. Marr set out in this book to give more credit to the everyday Vietnamese people who overcame oppression and won independence.
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2 comments:
Subtext comment:
Is this the same book as the actual text? The writer should try to find more sources on the state of Vietnam in 1945 and the factors that lead to the Vietnamese overthrowing the French. It is clear that the communist party wants to take credit for overthrowing imperialism, but that is not the only reason. The conditions of the era were so complex that one reason can never suffice for explaining what happened. You may want to talk about the role of nationalism in the rise of Vietnamese independence. The communists disregarded the class struggle in the early 1940's. They attempted to overthrow the French by presenting them as an enemy that must be purged. Without a class struggle, this movement can best be labeled as nationalism.
Context Comment:
The writer may want to get away from focusing on what Marr trying to portray about this era. His point is definitely valid, but many other sources can go into the context portion. Marr should be regulated to the text portion of the paper. The writer should try to incorporate Marr's ideas with other writers to form a description of Vietnam in 1945.
This topic is key in describing the how Vietnam rose to power in 1945. The communist party will take the credit for this movement, but they are just one player in a complex system. It is convenient to label them as the heroes of this rise to power, but it is more complex than that.
There are many movements that happened in this era that are free from the command of communism. Agrarian movements in the country are prevalent. The people are striving to rid themselves of French rule and create an independent Vietnam. So many ideologies were present and a educated youth class tried to find a system that would allow Vietnam to be independent.
Text Comment:
The first paragraph is very good at laying out what David Marr is trying to convey in his text. He is trying to dispel the majority opinion of what happened in 1945.
The writer may want to go into more depth the role of the Japanese on how the Vietnamese came into power. The war was instrumental in weakening the French grip on Indochina. Also, the writer may want to talk about the Nationalism view in the early 1940's. The shift of the communist party was to rid the country of outside rule and to do this they needed to ditch the class struggle idea for the time being.
As Marr points out even after the French are expelled from Vietnam, the people are still confused at what the government will be and this shows that the communists had not really gelled the people together. The people of Vietnam wanted to be independent and they were drawn to whatever ideology would accomplish that fact. This caused a lot of people to follow blindly without truly understanding the ideology.
Subtext:
I must say that I agree with KB that having a subtext being the very book that your reading just doesn't sound right. Perhaps you were not clear on the instructions and thought that it was supposed to be a brief summary of the author? I would definitely attempt to contact Dr. Sasges this coming week before it is too late and find out if their are any books that you can possible read introductions or a few chapters to provide further subtexts. The subtexts will provide your readings different articles to enhance the credibility of your arguments or possibly take a completely opposite and radical view, but regardless I would try to find something.
Text:
First off, I would recommend dividing these writings into 3 separate postings like the professor asked for, because it uses less scrolling. Also, I would recommend a space in between paragraphs because it makes the section more reader friendly.
I feel that it was a very good intro and it is very well written section, but it almost seems a little to general in my opinion. I imagine that their is countless information on the years during this book and 1945, but maybe a little more detailed examples would make your statements more clear. Possibly be more clear on the demise of the French and the role of Japan. Also, explain the roles of the ICP and Viet Minh. Describe briefly who they were and be more clear on their roles during this book. I also think the conclusion could be a little stronger, why was their anxiety among the people?
All in all it was a well written section, it just seems like its a little to general and if someone was reading it that didn't know much about the importance of 1945 and situations in Vietnam they might walk away with many questions. A little more attention to detail and explanations of Marr's Ideas and whats going on in 1945 would not hurt.
Context:
It is in my personal opinion that the context should be the BEEF of the paper, in the sense that it should contain all the happenings and details of Vietnam in 1945. I feel that their is so much more content that could have been added to this section and that it shows some redundancies toward the text section. It would most likely be best to use the main criticisms and main points of how the year 1945 was just so significant. I would not focus on the text to support your context. Arguments by Marr should appear within the text, and the context should focus more on the "story" of what happened.
Also, you mention prisoners under French rule being recruited by the Communist party, maybe you would make a brief statement of how this Communist force came about by reading over my section.
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