The Vietnamese had suffered so much in the hands of the Japanese and the French. In 1941, they formed a military and political movement called Viet Minh, meaning League for Independence of Vietnam. This movement did its best to challenge the Japanese and defeat the French. The struggles eventually led to the freedom of the Vietnam nation; it was led by Ho Chi Minh. Minh was a source of inspiration to the people of Vietnam since he led them to their freedom; he was seen as a national hero. Despite the controversy over whether he was a communist or a nationalist, he always stated that it was it communism that aided his leadership, but patriotism aided his nationalism. Even after many years since his death, he still was a hero to the Republic of Vietnam.
Ho’s speech is a revolutionary one and a clear picture of what Vietnam went through under the Japanese and the French. He says that although the country ceased being a French colony in 1940, it immediately became possession of Japan (Minh, 1945). He sees independence as payment for the ‘services’ his country rendered during WWII. He intended to be sarcastic because they did not offer services; he meant the kind of misuse that existed at the time of conflict.
First, Vietnam was ruled by puppet states even more disappointing it was transformed into a vassal state that provided cheap labour to the Japanese (Llewellyn, Thompson & Southey, 2012). Owing to the fact that the Japanese had invaded the country, then it also means that they took advantage of the land and other resources they could amass from Vietnam. In addition, they imposed an unjustifiable tax upon the people of Vietnam despite the fact that they had taken all their resources, and they did not have a source of income or food, which led to abject poverty amongst the Vietnamese population. Therefore, these factors are what Ho refers to as ‘services’ offered during the conflict.
Ho believes that the country’s independence is consistent with the principles of self-determination and equality. He mentions Tehran and San Francisco as allies who would not disagree with his sentiments. He also points out some occasions in which these principles have been asserted. He says, “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Minh, 1945). He also adds that in 1791, the Declaration of the French Revolution regarding the Rights of Man and the citizens states that “All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights” (Minh, 1945). He believes that all humans are equal and should be acquitted with the right to be free, yet the French had outrightly abused the standards of equality, liberty, and fraternity.
The French committed some crimes against the Vietnamese people as mentioned in Ho’s speech but some were more severe than others. In my opinion, it is far much better to oppress people in other ways but not those that will cost the lives of people and especially those of women and children. Ho says that they have built more prisons than schools. He also says that they have mercilessly slain the country’s patriots and drowned their upspring in rivers of blood (Minh, 1945). This just shows that there was no justice during the time that the French occupied Vietnam.
Also, he states that “They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our people, especially our peasantry, to a state of extreme poverty” (Minh, 1945). It goes without saying that the people’s livelihood depended on the resources like rice fields and mines from which they depended upon. The French robbed them of these resources and at the same time imposed unjustifiable taxes on them. These are quite severe crimes that led to great poverty and eventually to the lives of many people. These crimes gave the people strength to fight back and regain their independence; hence, these severe crimes justified Vietnamese independence.
References
Llewellyn, J., Thompson, S., & Southey, J. (2012). Japanese occupation of Vietnam. Conflict in
Vietnam. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/japanese
occupation-of-vietnam/
Minh, H. (1945). Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Historymatters.gmu.edu. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5139/
