Notes for Communist Paper
What is the definition of self-determination?
Self-determination is the principal of national sovereignty and the goal was to free Vietnam from colonial rule. It is self-government and government by the politics of its own people people who would five similarly with each other have the same language national symbols religion
What is the contradiction in Wilson’s point V about self-determination? (Why is it unfair and thus seemingly not genuine?)
.5 means adjustment of colonial claims which would be decolonization and national self-determination. Wilson is saying that colonies taken from the defeated Central Powers should be handed over to the control of whatever country the population of those countries prefer. But the population didn’t want to be colonies at all they wanted to be independent. Wilson didn’t have any ability for them to make this decision. Point 5 would require nations of an imperialistic nature to reject all colonial claims and work in conjunction with the interest of the colonial populations which is unrealistic.
How might people feel about the potential of Democratic Capitalism if they were from a colonized land?
Democratic capitalism wasn’t an option given to people in a colonized land because they are colonized. It means that somebody else runs the government even if they are not living there. You can’t have democracy if you can vote these people away and bring in your own leaders that’s not democracy. And is not capitalism if foreign owners own all the businesses and local people don’t own anything that’s not capitalism.
2. Discussing the specific example of Ho Chi Minh’s efforts to obtain self-determination for the Vietnamese people. Textbook page 595. Ho Chi Minh organized the VA needs communist in the 1920s. The strongest commonly communist nationalist alliance was formed in China in most colonial societies communist parties of the 1930s failed to gain support among the majority of the population. But she Minh spent his entire life fighting to establish an independent Vietnam he struggled militarily and diplomatically against other countries who wanted to control Vietnam during World War II he helped fight against the invading Japanese when the French regained control and denied those movement for an independent Vietnam he led the resistance against the French role for eight years when the plan for free elections to establish a unified Vietnam was rejected by the US backed South Vietnamese government the sect can Indochina war began in 1959 and lasted beyond his death in 1969. History might have been different if would’ve wrote Wilson had not ignored ho she min because Vietnam might not have turned to communism ho she Min became a communist leader because he connected Lenin’s ideas about the struggle of the oppressed peoples with the struggle of the VA needs
3. Lenin’s revolutionary strategy for places outside the Western world. Textbook page 595. In 1920 Lenin adopted a new revolutionary strategy aimed at societies outside the Western world he spread the word of Karl Marx through the Communist international or common turned a worldwide organization of communist parties formed in 1919 to advanced world revolution. Agents were trained in Moscow and then return to their own countries to for Marxist parties by the end of the 1920s practically every colonial society and Asia had a communist party. They struggled against Western imperialism.
4. Lenin’s words and message in connection with the words and message of Ho Chi Minh as proof to the United States and other Western democratic-capitalist nations that Soviet communism is aggressive and expansive. Textbook page 538 (intro paragraph: From Czars to Communists) and 539 (Turning Point portion). Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained control and quickly overthrew the provisional governments under Lenin and the Bolsheviks became a party dedicated to violent revolution Lenin believed that only violent revolution could destroy the capitalist system Lenin maintained that Soviets that our soldiers workers and peasants were ready-made instruments of power he believed that they should work towards gaining control of these groups and use them to overthrow provisional governments
**Note: I know you have not necessarily studied to Cold War. Still, it is true that the military and political conflicts that most impact the world after WWII (nuclear arms, Vietnam War, Korean War, etc.) are part of the social-political-economic-military competition between the USSR and the United States. Thus, we can see the seeds of additional future conflict planted in the Treaty of Versailles.
Includes specifics on and connects logically:
31. Discusses Point V of W. Wilson’s 14 points (text and maps) about self determination.
.5 says a free open-minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interest of the population concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined. It means that the people in the colonies should decide what country would be in charge of them
31a. Definition versus practice of self-determination. The definition is the talk, the practice (Wilson’s point 5) is the walk.
The definition is people should decide who’s in charge but the practice says that somebody else has to be in charge of them they In charge of themselves and the people in the countries wanted to be in charge of themselves so the student work for them it would require nations that have imperialistic natures to reject all colonial claims and work in conjunction with the interest of their colonial populations.
31b. How might the unequal application of self-determination impact the allure of democratic-capitalism for colonized people?
There are advocates of colonial independents who descended upon the Paris peace talks but they discovered that the pledge was too good to be true that the British and the French refused to enforce the rule further colonies and despite that a direct appeal to Pres. Wilson they ignored the wishes of the Vietnamese and let the French taken over
32. Discusses specific example of Ho Chi Minh’s efforts to gain self-determination for the people of Vietnam.
On behalf of the people living within the French Empire in Indochina they lobbied Western leaders for greater rights he hope to talk to the American president will grow Wilson about self-determination the principle of national sovereignty and free Vietnam from its colonial rule that they discovered the pledge was too good to be true and that the mighty powers of France Britain and the United States didn’t want self-rule they wanted to have colonies
32a Who owns Vietnam pre WWI? France
32b. What do the Vietnamese want at the T of V? Independence
32c. What do they get? They became a colony of France
32d. What is Minh’s response? In the following years the Vietnamese were disillusioned by Western democratic processes and they pursued a new and more radical solution to Imperial rule in Vietnam they were impressed by the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the ability of the Bolsheviks to rally support among Soviet masses so in the 1920s while still in France Ho Chi Minh joined the Communist Party with the adopted name Ho Chi Minh his real name is Nyguyen That Thanh. He decided to unite and train them and lead them to a revolution and communism. By 1941 Ho Chi Minh was preparing for the independence movement but it wouldn’t be against the French after all World War II was under way and the Japanese were allies with Germany and Italy against Britain and France. He started the Viet Minh a military week committed to the fight for be it needs sulfur role Vietnam was aided by the Soviet Union and the US during the war years it waged a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese occupation. When Japan surrendered to the Allied powers and released its control of Indochina Ho Chi Minh became confident he would gain control of the country. Allied leaders over rolled Ho Chi Minh agreeing that postwar Vietnam would be split into and his forces did not contain get control over either the North or the South France wanted to reclaim its comp colony and they fought the Franco Vietnamese war in 1946.
33. Discusses Lenin’s revolutionary strategy for places outside the Western world.
In 1920 Lenin adopted a new strategy he wanted to spread the work of Karl Marx through the Communist international or common turned a worldwide organization of communist parties formed in 1919 to advance communism
34. Discusses how the words and message of Lenin and Minh are “proof” to democratic-capitalist nations that Soviet communism is aggressive and expansive. Lenin Ho Chi Minh from Vietnam got their countries to adopt communism and have the workers fight for independence against capitalism
35. Concludes the section logically and mentions eventual long term issues between Democratic Capitalism and Communism during the Cold War. Communism would sound pretty good after such a violent revolution against a major world Empire coming is him promised redistribution of land to peasants economic equality plenty of food social services and self-determination