Ho Chi Minh was the greatest leader of the Vietnamese freedom struggle and the Chairman of the democratic Republic of Vietnam. He united the nationalist groups and formed the Indo-Chinese Communist party. After becoming the President of North Vietnam, he introduced many socialist policies. He formed a people's army called Vietminh to fight against foreign powers and led the communists and the struggle for freedom for 40 years. Later he organised his people for heroic struggle against American troops.

Phan's most influential

book is 'The History of the Loss of Vietnam'.  This book focusses on two connected themes

(a) The loss of sovereignty

(b) The severing of ties with China - ties that bound the elites of the two countries within a shared culture.

(a) High population level

(b) Low agricultural productivity

(c) Extensive indebtness of peasants.

(i) While teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text and criticised what was stated.  When a Vietnamese girl was refused a seat with font row of the class and expelled from school a major protest erupted in the Saigon Natives Girls School in 1926.

(ii) Elsewhere students fought against the colonial government's efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for white-collar jobs.

(iii) Students formed political parties like party of young Annan and published nationalist journals such as the Annamese Student. Thus schools became an important place for political and cultural battles.

(a) From 1965 to 1972, the US-Vietnam War continued and caused losses to both US and Vietnam. The Vietnamese people suffered human and property losses, yet they never stopped their struggle for freedom. Here it is important to mention the role played by the porters in getting freedom and unity of Vietnam. The porters set out without fear on the Ho Chi Minh Trail which was a great expansive network of roads and footpaths. The heroic porters carried as much as 25 kg to 70 kg of weight on their backs or bicycles. They did not fear that they might fall over in the deep valleys. They bravely walked on the narrow, dangerous roads that marked the treacherous routes. They also did not feel afraid of being shot down by aircraft guns. They put all their fears aside and walked on to maintain the supply line. This fact showed that the porters were heroic and patriotic.
(b) The Vietnamese women played an important role in the US-Vietnam War. They were both warriors and workers. As warriors and soldiers, the Vietnamese women constructed six air strips, they neutralised thousands of bombs and went on to shoot down fifteen planes. There were 1.5 million Vietnamese women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces and professional teams. The women workers were also engaged as porters, nurses and construction workers.

The following were the features of the Vietnam War.
(a) It was also called the first television war as it was shown on the the daily news programmes.
(b) This war disillusioned many about the US involvement. Within US, people praised the efforts of Vietnamese in defending their country.
(c) The Vietnam War became the greatest threat to peace, national self-determination, and international cooperation.
(d) It led to a worldwide condemnation.
(e) It forced the US government to negotiate an end of the war.

The French wanted to dismantle the traditional educational system of Vietnam and establish western culture. The school textbooks glorified the French and justified their rule over Vietnam in the following ways.
(a) The Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward , capable only of manual work. They were away from intellectuals thus could work only in fields.
(b) Textbooks portrayed Vietnamese as incapable of ruling themselves and that only the French rule could ensure peace in Vietnam.
(c) The textbooks further stated that the Vietnamese were not at all creative but were rather skilled copyists.
(d) Students were taught that it was the French rule that brought out the Vietnamese peasants from the fear of pirates.
(e) Students were taught French and forced to adopt the western lifestyle like short hair.

The major problems before the French in the colonial education in Vietnam were:
(a) The French were in a dilemma about how far the Vietnamese would be educated. The French required an educated labour force to carry out their day-to-day activities. But at the same time they feared that educated Vietnamese might take away their jobs.
(b) Secondly, the French feared that once educated, the Vietnamese may begin to question colonial domination.
(c) Thirdly, the Vietnamese elite were influenced by Chinese culture. To consolidate their power, the French had to counter the Chinese influence which seemed very difficult.
To solve these problems the French took the following steps.
(a) Schools like Tonkin Free School were opened to spread western-style education.
(b) They began to erase the traditional educational institution system and popularised the subjects like science

Effect of the War on Vietnam:
(i) US entry into the war proved costly to the Vietnamese as well as to Americans. The phase of struggle with the US was brutal.
(ii) From 1965-1972, many (over 403100) US personnel served in Vietnam out of which 7484 were women. Many died in battle and a large number of people were wounded.
(iii) Thousands of US troops arrived equipped with heavy weapons and tanks backed by most powerful bombers of the time-B52s. The widespread attacks and use of chemical weapons-Napalm, Agent Orange and Phosphorous bombs destroyed many villages and decimated jungles. Civilians died in large numbers.
Effect of the US involvement on life within the US:
(i) Most of the people were critical of the government's policy of war. When the youths were drafted (forced recruitment) for the war, the anger grew.
(ii) Compulsory service in the armed forces could be waived only for university graduates. The meant many of those sent to fight did not belong to the privileged elite, but were minorities and children of working class families which created a lot of resentment.
(iii) US media played a major role in both supporting and criticising the war. Hollywood made films in support of the war. (Example: John Wayne's Green Berets 1968). The film was taken as a war propaganda film, responsible for motivating many young men to die in the war. Other films were more critical. (Example: John Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now 1979 reflected the moral confusion that the war cause in the US).