Book contents
- The Cambridge History of The Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of The Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of The Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume I
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I Empires, Nations, and Revolutions
- 1 Memory, Tradition, and the History of “Vietnam”
- 2 The Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution
- 3 Hồ Chí Minh and the Rise of the Vietnamese Communist Party
- 4 Indochina during World War II
- 5 The August Revolution of 1945
- Part II The French Indochina War
- Part III The Two Vietnams
- Index
3 - Hồ Chí Minh and the Rise of the Vietnamese Communist Party
from Part I - Empires, Nations, and Revolutions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2025
- The Cambridge History of The Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of The Vietnam War
- The Cambridge History of The Vietnam War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume I
- General Introduction
- Introduction
- Part I Empires, Nations, and Revolutions
- 1 Memory, Tradition, and the History of “Vietnam”
- 2 The Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution
- 3 Hồ Chí Minh and the Rise of the Vietnamese Communist Party
- 4 Indochina during World War II
- 5 The August Revolution of 1945
- Part II The French Indochina War
- Part III The Two Vietnams
- Index
Summary
When, how, and why did the Vietnam War begin? Although its end is dated with great precision to April 30, 1975, there is no agreement as to when it began. The Vietnam War was an enormously complex conflict and even though any comprehensive reckoning of its causes must include the role of the United States, it did not begin as an “American War.” This volume presents the scholarship that has flourished since the 1990s to situate the war and its origins within longer chronologies and wider interpretative perspectives. The Vietnam War was a war for national liberation and an episode of major importance in the Global Cold War. Yet it was also a civil war, and civil warfare was a defining feature of the conflict from the outset. Understanding the Vietnamese and Indochinese origins of the Vietnam War is a critical first step toward reckoning with the history of this violent, costly, and multilayered war.
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- The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War , pp. 66 - 83Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024