Aadishesh/ncerts · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 1 900
20,000 North Vietnamese troops came south each month on this trail.
The trail had support bases and hospitals along the way. In some parts
supplies were transported in trucks, but mostly they were carried by
porters, who were mainly women. These porters carried about 25kilos on their backs, or about 70 kilos on their bicycles.
Most of the trail was outside Vietnam in neighbouring Laos
and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam. TheUS regularly bombed this trail trying to disrupt supplies, but efforts
to destroy this important supply line by intensive bombing failed
because they were rebuilt very quickly.
Fig. 15 – Rebuilding damaged roads.
Roads damaged by bombs were quickly rebuilt.Fig.14 – The Ho Chi Minh trail.Notice how the trail moved through Laos andCambodia.
NORTH
VIETNAM
Khesanh
Hue
Danang
Quangngai
QuinhonDakto
Pheiku
Banmethuot
Tayninh
SaigonLAOS
THAILAND
CAMBODIA
SOUTH
VIETNAM
South China SeaTonle SapMekongMekongHo
ChiMinhTrailIndia and the Contemporary World
48
Fig.16 – On the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Letters of Mr Do Sam
Do Sam was a colonel in the North Vietnamese artillery regiment. He was part of the Tet Offensive started in 1968, to
unify North and South Vietnam and win the battle against US. These are extracts from his letters written to his wife fromthe scene of battle. They show how, in the nationalist imagination, personal love mingles with love for the country and thedesire for freedom. Sacrifice appears necessary for happiness.
Letter dated 6/1968
‘You ask me what “you miss most when you think of me?” I miss the environment of our wedding ... I miss the small cozyroom with lots of memories. I miss …
‘Right after our wedding I had to again leave to fight in order to protect the coastal areas of our country. What a short
time we had before I had to station permanently in the South. The more I think, the more I feel for you; therefore Iwould have to be more determined to protect the country in order to bring happiness for millions of couples like us …
‘Last night the car kept heading south. This morning I am writing to you sitting on a stone, surrounded by the sound of
streams and the rustle of trees, as if they were celebrating our happiness. Looking forward to the day when we can returnvictoriously. Then we could live in greater happiness, couldn’t we? Wish you good health and miss me always …’
Letter dated 6/1968
‘Though you are always in my mind I have to focus on my work to contribute to the victory of the ongoing struggle ofour nation …
‘I have promised myself that only when the South is liberated and peace and happiness return to the people, only then
could I be free to focus on building our own happiness, only then I could be satisfied with our family life …’
- Hung, Dang Vuong,
(Letters Written during the War in Vietnam), publication of Hoi nha
van (Writers’ Association), 2005. Translation by Nguen Quoc Anh.SourceSource C
Những lá thư thời chiến Việt Nam49
The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China7 The Nation and Its Heroes
Another way of looking at social movements is to see how they
affect different groups in society. Let us see how the roles of womenwere specified in the anti-imperialist movement in Vietnam, and
what that tells us about nationalist ideology.
7.1 Women as Rebels
Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality than in China,
particularly among the lower classes, but they had only limitedfreedom to determine their future and played no role in public life.
As the nationalist movement grew, the status of women came to be
questioned and a new image of womanhood emerged. Writers andpolitical thinkers began idealising women who rebelled against socialnorms. In the 1930s, a famous novel by Nhat Linh caused a scandalbecause it showed a woman leaving a forced marriage and marryingsomeone of her choice, someone who was involved in nationalistpolitics. This rebellion against social conventions marked the arrival
of the new woman in Vietnamese society.
7.2 Heroes of Past Times
Rebel women of the past were similarly celebrated. In 1913, the
nationalist Phan Boi Chau wrote a play based on the lives of theTrung sisters who had fought against Chinese domination in39-43
CE. In this play he depicted these sisters as patriots fighting to
save the Vietnamese nation from the Chinese. The actual reasons forthe revolt are a matter of debate among scholars, but after Phan’splay the Trung sisters came to be idealised and glorified. They weredepicted in paintings, plays and novels as representing the indomitablewill and the intense patriotism of the Vietnamese. We are told thatthey gathered a force of over 30,000, resisted the Chinese for two
years, and when ultimately defeated, they committed suicide, instead
of surrendering to the enemy.
Other women rebels of the past were part of the popular nationalist
lore. One of the most venerated was Trieu Au who lived in thethird century
CE. Orphaned in childhood, she lived with her brother.
On growing up she left home, went into the jungles, organised alarge army and resisted Chinese rule. Finally, when her army was
Fig. 17 – Image of Trieu Au worshipped as a
sacred figure.Rebels who resisted Chinese rule continue to becelebrated.India and the Contemporary World
50crushed, she drowned herself. She became a sacred figure, not just a
martyr who fought for the honour of the country. Nationalistspopularised her image to inspire people to action.
7.3 Women as Warriors
In the 1960s, photographs in magazines and journals showed womenas brave fighters. There were pictures of women militia shooting
down planes. They were portrayed as young, brave and dedicated.
Stories were written to show how happy they felt when they joinedthe army and could carry a rifle. Some stories spoke of their incredible
bravery in single-handedly killing the enemy – Nguyen Thi Xuan,
for instance, was reputed to have shot down a jet with justtwenty bullets.
Women were represented not only as warriors but also as workers:
they were shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other.Whether young or old, women began to be depicted as selflessly
working and fighting to save the country. As casualties in the war
increased in the 1960s, women were urged to join the struggle inlarger numbers.
Many women responded and joined the resistance movement. They
helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground roomsand tunnels and fighting the enemy. Along the Ho Chi Minh trail
young volunteers kept open 2,195 km of strategic roads and guarded
2,500 key points. They built six airstrips, neutralised tens of thousandsof bombs, transported tens of thousands of kilograms of cargo,
weapons and food and shot down fifteen planes. Between 1965
and 1975, of the 17,000 youth who worked on the trail, 70 to 80per cent were women. One military historian argues that there were
1.5 million women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces
and professional teams.
7.4 Women in Times of Peace
By the 1970s, as peace talks began to get under way and the end ofthe war seemed near, women were no longer represented as warriors.Now the image of women as workers begins to predominate. They
are shown working in agricultural cooperatives, factories and
production units, rather than as fighters.
Fig. 18 – With a gun in one hand.
Stories about women showed them eager to
join the army. A common description was:‘A rosy-cheeked woman, here I am fightingside by side with you men. The prison ismy school, the sword is my child, the gunis my husband.’
Fig. 19 – Vietnamese women doctorsnursing the wounded.51
The Nationalist Movement in Indo-ChinaThe prolongation of the war created strong reactions even within
the US. It was clear that the US had failed to achieve its objectives:
the Vietnamese resistance had not been crushed; the support of the

20,000 North Vietnamese troops came south each month on this trail.

The trail had support bases and hospitals along the way. In some parts

supplies were transported in trucks, but mostly they were carried by

porters, who were mainly women. These porters carried about 25kilos on their backs, or about 70 kilos on their bicycles.

Most of the trail was outside Vietnam in neighbouring Laos

and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam. TheUS regularly bombed this trail trying to disrupt supplies, but efforts

to destroy this important supply line by intensive bombing failed

because they were rebuilt very quickly.

Fig. 15 – Rebuilding damaged roads.

Roads damaged by bombs were quickly rebuilt.Fig.14 – The Ho Chi Minh trail.Notice how the trail moved through Laos andCambodia.

NORTH

VIETNAM

Khesanh

Hue

Danang

Quangngai

QuinhonDakto

Pheiku

Banmethuot

Tayninh

SaigonLAOS

THAILAND

CAMBODIA

SOUTH

VIETNAM

South China SeaTonle SapMekongMekongHo

ChiMinhTrailIndia and the Contemporary World

48

Fig.16 – On the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Letters of Mr Do Sam

Do Sam was a colonel in the North Vietnamese artillery regiment. He was part of the Tet Offensive started in 1968, to

unify North and South Vietnam and win the battle against US. These are extracts from his letters written to his wife fromthe scene of battle. They show how, in the nationalist imagination, personal love mingles with love for the country and thedesire for freedom. Sacrifice appears necessary for happiness.

Letter dated 6/1968

‘You ask me what “you miss most when you think of me?” I miss the environment of our wedding ... I miss the small cozyroom with lots of memories. I miss …

‘Right after our wedding I had to again leave to fight in order to protect the coastal areas of our country. What a short

time we had before I had to station permanently in the South. The more I think, the more I feel for you; therefore Iwould have to be more determined to protect the country in order to bring happiness for millions of couples like us …

‘Last night the car kept heading south. This morning I am writing to you sitting on a stone, surrounded by the sound of

streams and the rustle of trees, as if they were celebrating our happiness. Looking forward to the day when we can returnvictoriously. Then we could live in greater happiness, couldn’t we? Wish you good health and miss me always …’

Letter dated 6/1968

‘Though you are always in my mind I have to focus on my work to contribute to the victory of the ongoing struggle ofour nation …

‘I have promised myself that only when the South is liberated and peace and happiness return to the people, only then

could I be free to focus on building our own happiness, only then I could be satisfied with our family life …’

- Hung, Dang Vuong,

(Letters Written during the War in Vietnam), publication of Hoi nha

van (Writers’ Association), 2005. Translation by Nguen Quoc Anh.SourceSource C

Những lá thư thời chiến Việt Nam49

The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China7 The Nation and Its Heroes

Another way of looking at social movements is to see how they

affect different groups in society. Let us see how the roles of womenwere specified in the anti-imperialist movement in Vietnam, and

what that tells us about nationalist ideology.

7.1 Women as Rebels

Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality than in China,

particularly among the lower classes, but they had only limitedfreedom to determine their future and played no role in public life.

As the nationalist movement grew, the status of women came to be

questioned and a new image of womanhood emerged. Writers andpolitical thinkers began idealising women who rebelled against socialnorms. In the 1930s, a famous novel by Nhat Linh caused a scandalbecause it showed a woman leaving a forced marriage and marryingsomeone of her choice, someone who was involved in nationalistpolitics. This rebellion against social conventions marked the arrival

of the new woman in Vietnamese society.

7.2 Heroes of Past Times

Rebel women of the past were similarly celebrated. In 1913, the

nationalist Phan Boi Chau wrote a play based on the lives of theTrung sisters who had fought against Chinese domination in39-43

CE. In this play he depicted these sisters as patriots fighting to

save the Vietnamese nation from the Chinese. The actual reasons forthe revolt are a matter of debate among scholars, but after Phan’splay the Trung sisters came to be idealised and glorified. They weredepicted in paintings, plays and novels as representing the indomitablewill and the intense patriotism of the Vietnamese. We are told thatthey gathered a force of over 30,000, resisted the Chinese for two

years, and when ultimately defeated, they committed suicide, instead

of surrendering to the enemy.

Other women rebels of the past were part of the popular nationalist

lore. One of the most venerated was Trieu Au who lived in thethird century

CE. Orphaned in childhood, she lived with her brother.

On growing up she left home, went into the jungles, organised alarge army and resisted Chinese rule. Finally, when her army was

Fig. 17 – Image of Trieu Au worshipped as a

sacred figure.Rebels who resisted Chinese rule continue to becelebrated.India and the Contemporary World

50crushed, she drowned herself. She became a sacred figure, not just a

martyr who fought for the honour of the country. Nationalistspopularised her image to inspire people to action.

7.3 Women as Warriors

In the 1960s, photographs in magazines and journals showed womenas brave fighters. There were pictures of women militia shooting

down planes. They were portrayed as young, brave and dedicated.

Stories were written to show how happy they felt when they joinedthe army and could carry a rifle. Some stories spoke of their incredible

bravery in single-handedly killing the enemy – Nguyen Thi Xuan,

for instance, was reputed to have shot down a jet with justtwenty bullets.

Women were represented not only as warriors but also as workers:

they were shown with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other.Whether young or old, women began to be depicted as selflessly

working and fighting to save the country. As casualties in the war

increased in the 1960s, women were urged to join the struggle inlarger numbers.

Many women responded and joined the resistance movement. They

helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground roomsand tunnels and fighting the enemy. Along the Ho Chi Minh trail

young volunteers kept open 2,195 km of strategic roads and guarded

2,500 key points. They built six airstrips, neutralised tens of thousandsof bombs, transported tens of thousands of kilograms of cargo,

weapons and food and shot down fifteen planes. Between 1965

and 1975, of the 17,000 youth who worked on the trail, 70 to 80per cent were women. One military historian argues that there were

1.5 million women in the regular army, the militia, the local forces

and professional teams.

7.4 Women in Times of Peace

By the 1970s, as peace talks began to get under way and the end ofthe war seemed near, women were no longer represented as warriors.Now the image of women as workers begins to predominate. They

are shown working in agricultural cooperatives, factories and

production units, rather than as fighters.

Fig. 18 – With a gun in one hand.

Stories about women showed them eager to

join the army. A common description was:‘A rosy-cheeked woman, here I am fightingside by side with you men. The prison ismy school, the sword is my child, the gunis my husband.’

Fig. 19 – Vietnamese women doctorsnursing the wounded.51

The Nationalist Movement in Indo-ChinaThe prolongation of the war created strong reactions even within

the US. It was clear that the US had failed to achieve its objectives:

the Vietnamese resistance had not been crushed; the support of the