Play War Thunder now with mPlay War Thunder now with my link, and get a massive, free bonus pack including vehicles, boosters and more: playwt.link/armchairhistorianwt Sign up for Armchair History TV today! armchairhistory.tv/ Promo code: ARMCHAIRHISTORY for 50% OFF Merchandise available at store.armchairhistory.tv/ Check out the new Armchair History TV Mobile App too! apps.apple.com/us/app/armchair-history-tv/id1514643375 play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.uscreen.armchairhistorytv Discord: discord.gg/thearmchairhistorian Twitter: twitter.com/ArmchairHist
My family escaped Cambodia thanks to Vietnam invading Cambodia. My mothers family was imprisoned in a concentration camp and the invasion allowed my family to escape the camp and flee to Thailand on foot. It is really nice to be able to see a portion of my families history in your videos. Great work!
There was a good film that covered those camps under Pol Pot. Think its called Fields of Blood or something similar. Also read he hated the Vietnamese and enthically cleaned Vietnamese living in Cambodia and attacking Vietnam itself until Vietnam had enough and invaded
I'm currently studying to become a teacher in Vietnam, uni of education in HCMC. The curriculum require us to have some hours of voluntarily work and among them I chose to work at a agent orange home for some weekends where they house children birthed from agent orange infected parents. It was a very unpopular work because it was honestly haunting due to their look or behaviour.
One of my friends who I met online is currently an officer in the Vietnamese military. From what he told me currently The Vietnamese people and military currently don’t see the US as an ally but definitely not an enemy. They prefer not to align themselves with anyone because they want autonomy and not fight on another countries behalf. Basically traditional isolationism
The irony of Vietnam’s invasion toppling the Khmer Rouge, while the US pushed for the latter to keep it’s diplomatic recognition, is very noticeable. And then the US normalized relations with Vietnam eventually anyway, making the war even more pointless.
The "most interesting" part, for me, would be the US revoking the recognition of "Republic of China", and turning into "People's Republic of China" instead.
@@gustafromanov7860 The point is to stand against Soviet interests during the Cold War. Anything to achieve that goal is allowed - which leads to some very interesting moves in 60s and 70s
I recently did a report on the history of Vietnam and man I respect Vietnamese people their history is filled with war and fight for freedom whether it be against the Chinese, Europeans, US, for centuries they've fought and that's something I respect
@aviation cat Pretty dumb, even in the ancient time, the Khmer couldn't stand a chance against Dai Viet, the Cambodian is much larger but the Dai Viet have technology from the Chinese such as muskets and cannons.
Last month I travelled through Vietnam for three weeks. The most common physical reminder of the war I saw were various memorial sites all over the country. The only actual battle damage I saw was a 1000 year old temple building that was almost completely blown up by a bomb, there was just a small portion of wall next to a large crater. In a war museum I went to I felt there was a bit of pro north/ Viet Cong bias but it had a lot of praise for Americans who protested US involvement and it was a very educational museum. It's really interesting to see how the country overcame the very difficult period to how it is today. I really enjoyed Vietnam, it's definitely worth travelling to.
"In a war museum I went to I felt there was a bit of pro north/ Viet Cong bias" WTF did you expect????? The winner write history, unlike the the loser (Americans) who fooled themselves to believe the South regime ever had any merit/support going for them. It's like going to Russia and expecting pro-US sentiment, sound really self-centered.
Alot of ptsd was discovered among alot of soliders of the Vietnam war, the horrors they seen the horror they endure there was truly nothing like it, at least it further ptsd research but life altering injury still affect victims to this day
My Granftaher was a Ranger officer and served in Vietnam for years. The most amazing man. He recently had lung problems and he said it had something to do with agent organe during the war. Still alive
Similar. My great uncle who was the namesake of my dad went missing on a mission up the Mekong in Laos in 1970. Served in the Navy and to this day all of his info is classified even though my family makes an appeal for the release of his records every year. It's a powerful trauma for our family and especially my Dad and Grandpa.
As a Vietnamese, i have never really understood why Sweden was so kind to us in spite of our political ideology and such. However, their help was very much appreciated and fondly remembered even to this day. Thank you Sweden for being there for us when nobody else did.
As a Vietnamese, I just want to say that: 1. We hate when the word "civil wars" is used to talk about our wars. Every country has their groups of government's opponents but we never considered any of our wars a civil war. 2. The relation between Vietnam and Cambodia has been extremely tight and the Cambodian government (and ppl) has many times thanked Vietnam for helping them. So why on earth after so many years people are still using the word "invade"/ 'invasion"? The Cambodian government doesn't even deem Vietnam's interference as "invasion". (5:40 - 7:10) 3. The "civilian mistreatment" at 4:14 sounds quite negative but those sent to re-education camps were parts of the Republic of Vietnam and prevented the Vietnamese communists from reunifying the country, so sending them to re-education camps was understandable. I read somewhere that the new Vietnamese government back then did not want to put these people on trials for war crimes because the punishment would have been more severe, so re-education camp was actually a more generous act. If the fact that they were put under hard labor or suffering from diseases is considered "mistreated", then I'm sorry but life for the Vietnamese people back then was not by far better to be honest. 4. Vietnam never received the appropriate compensation after wars, but the consequence of agent orange has been the most devastating till today, even when we managed to revive the economy. When I was a kid we were taught about it a lot and I remember telling myself that it was pure cruelty of anyone who did this to our people. 5. You can hardly see the consequences of wars if you go to Vietnam right now. Some of my foreign friends asked me how Vietnam was after the wars, I told them that we just wanted to move on and live peacefully because we have been fighting a lot of wars with perhaps some of the most powerful armies in the world. We would not forget what happened though, we forgave and are seeking peace that's all. 6. I like the last line at 16:55, it's quite true.
Since the beginning of the Second World War, there have been 6 million deaths in the former French Indochina. Famine in Vietnam in the 1940s, Japanese exactions, Indochina War, Vietnam War, Civil War in Cambodia, Civil War in Laos, Khmer Rouge Genocide, War between China and Vietnam, Vietnam against the Khmer Rouge, the AIDS in the 1990s and massive deforestation in Southeast Asia. What a terrible nightmare was the second half of the twentieth century!
Yeah I was gonna say the wikipedia list of japanese war crimes has its own subcategory about what went down in Vietnam after they refused to help Japan
One of the countries and peoples I respect the most, Vietnam and its people are simply incredible, you can learn so much from them, humble, resilient and hard working.
I have an uncle, the son of my grandfather's brother. He was born with defections because of Agent Orange. I've only seen him few times, but every time I did I was filled with pain and disheart. War is really atrocious thing, and the horrors of it still echo till these days. Unfortunately he died few days ago. So yeah, never ever I want anyone to experience a war, and looking at the world right now it seems like some poeple just forgot how awful it is...
yeah and this guy mentioned Agent Orange briefly like nothing serious happened. instead he quickly shifts to Northern concentration camp. Body disfiguration versus hard laboring (which we the Northerners civilians also had to suffer, not just prisoners from the war). FUCKING Hypocrisy from the west as usual
True. Many our people were imfected with Agent Orange and dioxin due to the VN-US war. And now they and their children are disable, have difficulty in working. The war is so terrible.😔
Yeah, the thing is... Putin has never fought in a war, he doesn't know what it's like. A leader that has seen the horrors of war would be less willing to start one themselves.
Interesting video. It would be cool if you go more in depth into the third indochina war (so Vietnam against Cambodia/China and the Laothian insurgency. Maybe even the insurgency in Thailand). It is a really interesting war that has not been talked about much. In this video you shortly talked about it, but it would be cool if you would make a video focusing only on the third indochina war (such as military history and international reactions. If I am correct the US supported China/Cambodia while the USSR supported Vietnam).
The U.S supported republican and monarchist groups while China supported the KR. It remains a very contentious part of Cold War history amongst historians.
@@conserva-chan2735 I was unfamiliar with the fact that the USA supported different groups during the third indochina war. Personally, I am more familiar with the second Indochina war (Vietnam War or American war if you are from Vietnam) however I have come across the third indochina war and read a little bit about the war. It kinda makes sense that the US did not directly supported the KR, however they had closer relations with China around the time of the third Indochina war. Compared to the Soviets they had more relations with the Vietnamese.
@@lars4357 basically, what happened after Vietnam invaded was the Monarchists, Republicans, and KR all formed a fragile coalition to fight them called the CGDK that agreed to resume the Cambodian civil war after Vietnam was kicked out (like what happened in Afghanistan when the Soviets left). However, the groups were largely independent of each other and went their own ways, only refusing to directly fight each other in favor of fighting Vietnam. The Monarchists and Republians received Western military and economic support via Thailand, while China supported returning the KR to power and launched a failed invasion of Vietnam in response to Vidtnam overthrowing Pol Pot while the USSR and Eastern Bloc armed and equipped Vietnam and supported it in all forms during the occupation. China after the invasion fought a border war with Vietnam for the duration of the 80s in an attempt to keep Vietnam's attention away from Cambodia, which failed. Eventually, Vietnam's occupation and Soviet-backed puppet regime in Cambodia came to an end alongside the Cold War as the USSR and Eastern Bloc collapsed, which resulted in a ceasefire and coalition government being launched in the early 90s after a tiny period of UN rule. Basically, the monarchists, Republicans, and pro-Vietnam communists all formed a coalition government led by Vietnam and China friendly Hun Sen, who agreed to destroy the KR and extensively publicize and research its atrocities, which it did until Cambodia had rapprochement with China in the mid-2010s. Since the 90s, Cambodia has been dominated by Sen's regime who is friendly with China and Vietnam and serves as a common ground for both to keep each of them from fighting each other again. This doesn't even mention Laos' genocidal war against the Hmong or Vietnam's against the Montagnards.
@championszz I was saying that the CGDK planned to kick out Vietnam and were totally destroyed trying to do so, not that they did. And the U.S supported the CGDK and the Monarchists/Republicans in the coalition but not the Khmer Rouge, much like how the U.S supported the Mujahideen and Shah Massoud's faction but not the proto-Taliban supported by the Saudis and Pakistan during the Soviet-Afghan War. Furthermore, Hun Sen didn't rise to power until the early 90s after the PRK was replaced by a non-communist authoritarian regime set up after the UN mandate in Cambodia. Hun Sen was not in charge of the PRK despite being PM in the late 80s(that would be Heng Samrin, who ruled the PRK from 81-89). The whole reason Hun Sen rose to power at all was in order to end the Vietnamese PRK regime so Vietnam's sanctions would end alongside all the war in Southeast Asia, which did happen.
@@conserva-chan2735 you mad because we accomplished something that you couldn’t huh boy? We overthrow a bunch of genocidal trash government and install a new one that does not immediately fall after we left. You bunch a pathetic
My grandfather fought in Vietnam in the US Army. He suffers from ptsd, but I'm not sure the full extent of how bad it is. Hr also suffers from illness due to having to handle agent orange during the war. He also has to deal with leg and back pain constantly from being wounded in combat. He never talked bad about the Vietnamese people though when he mentioned it. He doesn't hold a grudge against their people and has respect for them.
I met a Vietnam veteran once at a job he offered us a beer we asked about his experience and he said they would cut Vietnamese ears off to make necklaces and decapitate dead Vietcong to scare them he was reliving the moment while he told us it was crazy
He shouldn't have a "grudge" against people who protected their own homeland and families..... The Americans invaded a pretty peaceful country (yes the Viet people have been warriors for centuries but if they were left alone they'd leave you alone (
@@richardcostello360 he never wanted to have a grudge with them since its not like he chose to fight the war. he was a racial minority in the south in the sixties who just finished high school. Out of him and his three brothers, only one got to go to college. Three were drafted into the military.
One thing to add is what the US did during the Invasion of Cambodia. I'm pretty the US supported the Khmer Rogue because of its hate of Vietnam. This included trade embargoes on Vietnam and blocking financial assistance through the World Bank
Yeah, and before the normalisation between the US and Viet Nam can begin, we Vietnamese even have to pay the old debt of the Sai Gon regime. Not exactly a nice taste, but it works out in the end, and we were able to access the "frozen" fund of the said regime.
There is so much that the English-speaking population doesn't know about the war. The period of fighting between 1971 and 1975 is almost exclusively conducted by South Vietnamese forces on the ground. These battles dwarf the battles at Hue, Ia Drang, and Khe Sanh. Search of 1972 Easter Offensive. It's an opportunity for more videos!
sir, "là một nhóm các chiến dịch do Quân Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam (QGP) và Quân đội Nhân dân Việt Nam (QĐNDVN), chống lại quân đội Hoa Kỳ và Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa (QLVNCH)".
Hell, most Americans don't even know that there was a war in Vietnam before 1964, that the American withdrawal and Fall of Saigon are two different things, or that the Cambodian Genocide and Third Indochina War even happened.
It's because South Vietnamese soldiers are largely forgotten. Just look at U.S. American coverage of the Korean War, it's portrayed as "America Vs. Korea" and they always show White U.S. American soldiers fighting Communist Koreans, but South Korea is completely left out of the war. But in South Korean media the South Koreans are depicted as having done the bulk of the fighting with U.S. American aid.
@@conserva-chan2735 it's because the anti-war protestors never really cared about peace, they just didn't want their own money and resources to be spend on the safety of others. Just imagine how horrible South Koreans would suffer under the Kim Dynasty if the U.S. had an anti-Korean War lobby as powerful.
Many veterans ended up with various types of cancer from the defoliating agents used, especially Agent Orange. The Veterans Administration denied most of their claims for health care until about fifteen years ago, long after most of the veterans with cancer, including my best friend's dad, had died.
I don't understand....you guys used some poisonous gas in the war and it ended up affecting your own soldiers, strange. PS: I am neither from the USA nor Vietnam, so I know little about the subject.
@@qurratulainzehra8760 the u.s dropped a shitload of defoliant, basically herbicide dust to get rid of enemy cover i.e the leaves on trees etc. Not to mentiom destroying crops and food sources.
@@qurratulainzehra8760 the agent orange has the property of damaging DNA sequence on living organism, it's also why it was effective at keeping plants from growing and is affecting vietnam soil that was exposed to it. It mostly affected vietnamese people. The offsprings of those born from agent orange were often born deformed with some health complications. The deformities can vary such as disfigured face, a missing or an extra limb. It also affected some offspring of US soldiers. Those affected by it will have their generations carry the deformities in their genes.
I remember some Vietnam veterans coming to my HS to talk about the war and some of them who had seen a lot of combat where real banged up man...one of them couldn’t fully explain himself cause he would come to tears every time he tried to explain things in detail it was sad and he would shake uncontrollably...also remember one of them talking about a defensive line they had to set up he was on the machine gun of a vehicle and his friend asked if he could take his position because he really wanted it, he allowed it then when the battle ensued the vehicle was hit by an rpg and destroyed along with his friend and he couldn’t forgive himself for it
I'm glad some people are speaking about the plight of those American soldiers who were there not by their own choice. Soldiers aren't the ones to be blamed, it's the politicians n the generals n the intelligentsia. People usually recognize victims of one side talking about a war like this. PS: I am neither an American nor Vietnamese.
@@qurratulainzehra8760 i mean, the reason people focus on the vietnamese victims more in history videos is simply because they outnumbered the american victims by a colossal margin, the country itself also suffered from the damage after the war
I love how you update your office background graphics to represent each conflict you cover. Know it's a small detail but I think every real military history nerd appreciates these
It's a really cool place to visit. Vietnamese people are fun and friendly. Their food is awesome and the beer is really cheap. The roads are a bit of a nightmare, but it's a tremendous place to go to. There's nothing quite like talking to people without a gun in your hand.
99% of Vietnamese population want to get out of the Commie sh*thole whenever they can though. Many have even risked their lives doing just that, as evidenced by the 39 dead Vietnamese migrants found in UK container truck recently. Ask yourself why then do research.
@@DoctorYoda2viet here, I live in Canada. Sometimes felt lonely so I talk to ppl in discord english learning server. Met a viet guy who wanted to know more about canada so I went for a jug and stream the neighbourhood at night. An american guy joined and said "why are you risking your life, it's dangerous" then I reminded him I'm in Canada, not US and he was like "ah, true". But I want to become digital nomad and live in vietnam, I don't like inflation in Canada.
It seems ironic that France was most vocal about the US involvement in Vietnam when they were fairly invested in crushing the independence forces while Indochina was still thier colony. I would suspect they were opposed to it for the fact that it was such a political debacle that political convalescence was the only answer for French politics, and also a way to make peace with a nation who'd formerly handed over thousands of French PoW's as a result of the wars conclusion.
That's the thing: The Indochina War was unpopular in France but the instability of the 4th Republic meant that no one could really stop it. And so the war continued almost autonomously until disaster struck.
Vietnam was a French colony pre ww 2 for a looong time and had been fighting a war there just like us would start s few decades later. No matter how much men or resources they threw at the Vietnamese nothing worked Frenc pulled out in 1945 after decades of fighting. This is why they advised the US not to go in they just hot their asses kicked by them.
That's short memories and short sightedness that run through all governments. They talk to justify their own actions, and then sing another tone when it no longer in their interest. This is the same when China invaded vietnam, then when the French did, then the Japanese did, them the French again, then the Americans. And it's no different when vietnam invaded Cambodia, until China invaded vietnam again... it never ends, because talk is cheap, the only truth is that everyone or every government are self serving at heart.
France is the biggest hypocrite, they got booted out of VN when the jap came to occupied indo-china then came back to reclaim colonization of VN after WW2.
Whenever the topic of the Vietnam war comes up I just start hearing "IT AIN'T ME IT AIN'T MEE I AIN'T NO FORTUNATE SON!" This is what came to my mind when I saw this video, but always love watching these videos! Great work!
Ive been watching all of your videos for the last 3 years ive loved them all from battles for carthrage to dday perspectives from diffirent countries Thank you, Armchair historian.
The broadest video based on many perspectives I've ever seen. Good job Armchair Historian! The Swedish activities were largely ignored by other writers and video makers.
Indeed. A vid about soviet misadventures across Asia and Africa would be awesome especially given the parallels we see now with Russian foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East with Wagner.
@@blackmantis3130 there's definitely similarities dude. They even bungled a "Special Military Operation" after all that intervention and observation like Russia today is.
Another impact in America was the poor treatment of veterans when they came back . My grandpa told me that he was called a “baby killer” until after 9/11
In relation to this conflict, the Secret Laos war is also one that stemmed from the Vietnam War too. A suggestion as a possible follow up on this one. Good video keep up the great work.
Wow, fantastic video and quite accurate with what happened in Vietnam in the past and nowadays. Left the war behind, we, the Vietnamese people, are working for the future, building and developing, keeping a neutral role. Looking forward to seeing people hear about Vietnam as a beautiful, friendly, and peaceful country but not the war.
The Vietnamese: - held their own against the French - held their own against the US - held their own against Cambodia - held their own against China If that's not impressive, I don't know what is
A history event that you guys maybe don't know: USA forced Vietnam had to paid hundreds millions of dollars(200-300 millions or something) which Republic of Vietnam didn't paid it, and Vietnam just paid enough in 2018-2019 Meanwhile USA didn't paid even a cent for Vietnam after the war
@@richardcostello360 The reason given was that the puppet power set up by the US in the South had agreements on borrowing and equipping. Therefore, the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at that time took over the government of the South should be obliged to pay.
@@DucNguyen-yq9vj typical American entitlement in action 😆 Maybe if they didn't conscript their army they might have actually won the right to demand money.......I find it hilarious that the losers demand money from a government of a defunct nation...... just because Vietnam was unified doesn't mean they can put the debt on the unified nation
@@richardcostello360 Because it is Murica we are talking about. Always preaching about freedom, human rights and democracy yet they are the most aggressive country in the world.
Japan gave a lot of home goods to south Vietnam in towards the 70s. Taiwan gave a lot of agricultural and humanitarian support as well in the late 60s.
I'm Vietnamese, our heroes have fought for my country like Le Loi beat Minh dynasty, Tran Hung Dao beat Mongol Empire 2 times, Quang Trung beat Qing dynasty, Vo Nguyen Giap general beat France, United States and China,... I won't never forget them. Like Ho Chi Minh said:" We must remember the merits of national heroes because they represent a heroic nation." Thank you Arrmchair Historian make video about my country
Ho Chi Minh was Commie China's puppet to conquer Vietnam, and he was successful in his mission, just like Commie China's puppet Kim Il Sung for North Korea. Ho even brought Commie China's flag from its Fujian Province (current red flag with central yellow star) to replace the national flag of Vietnam (yellow flag with 3 red stripes) of 2000 years. What's so great about that? Why do you think 99% of Vietnamese population wants to get out of the Commie sh*thole?
This is one of the best videos you have ever made. You have managed to cover a topic that is, to say the least, vast and multifaceted in such a neat way, focusing the information on a few key aspects and that made an extraordinarily complex topic incredibly simple to digest and understand. Just WOW. Keep up the excellent work 🙏
My father fought in the war of resistance against the Americans, after that he retired as a officer and come to Canada. Since he encounter a lot of ARVN sympathizer and former ARVN POWs, often some of those encounter are passive aggressive or hostile during conversation whenever both side open up about the past, in one case was my father ended up arguing with some former ARVN officer and ended up owning him. My father knows atrocity happens both on ARVN side and Revolutionary side, since my grandparents was killed and torture by the ARVN in 1974 and 1975. The reform of our country since most of our agricultural production ended up when back to repay the Chinese and the soviets, we didn’t have enough and so the rationing system implemented and every month a person would receive 1 liter of rice a day or 20kg of rice every month follow by some other foods and such, dairy product are prioritized for the sick and children.
As a Vietnamese once said when questioned about different sizes of war memorials in Hanoi: We fought USA for 10 years, France for 100 years and China for 1,000 years.
I don't agree about the harsh labor camps. At the time most of the Vietnamese population suffer famine and disease from the bad weather in 1974 and 1975 making crops unusable so it's no different in the camps. Moreover only high-ranking officers are kept for over a year, the rest are usually released after less than 6 months, later serving in the PAVN since Vietnam still needs a desperate amount of manpower for the third Indochina war.
My Grandfather was drafted during the final years of the vietnam war because he was an immigrant in America and could only obtain his citizenship if he served in the war but after the war ended he got what he wanted but came back home a broken man after the war ended he eventually couldn’t stand living in America in which he moved to mexico for a few years but later came back to America during the late 70s and reconnected with himself by going to college and meeting my grandmother
Hey, I don't understand this thing ... how are American soldiers victims in all of this? weren't they the ones who committed all the war crimes in Vietnam? I'm just asking.
@@qurratulainzehra8760 War mainly has victims... imagine it like child abuse... the kid of and abused child is more likely to get abused themselves... chain of suffering
I'm hoping you'll be able to cover the Laotian civilwar as it was a major part of the Vietnam war. Especially what the Hmong Guerillas contributed to, such as them saving downed pilots in Laos.
Economic wise, Vietnam is one of the leading countries in Asia-Pacific region now. Although they are friendly with the Chinese, they were able to encourage investors from the West. Looking at them now, it seems that war happened a long time ago.
"Friendly" is a strong word. They're very much suspicious of their neighbor to the north. They've been cozying up to the US, their largest trade partner, for a while now.
The Vietnam War also had a pretty big impact on the US military beyond just the elimination of conscription. In particular, the Air Force’s relatively mediocre performance resulted in a whole set of reforms to training and doctrine which have been credited as one of the main reasons why the USAF was so successful at suppressing air defenses in the Gulf War.
It would be nice expose the American Imperialism and hypocrisy in that war too. Sure both sides did atrocities but the Americans would be likely surprised how their occupation forces was on par with the Germans on their genocide on the Herero and Nama a few years later in 1907.
I love the fact that you finally talk about the reeducation camps! It's extremely well known in the Overseas Vietnamese community, but these were harsh labour camps where thousands of people starved to death. Some camps were so packed that you had to sleep sitting upright. Higher ranking ARVN officers could be stuck in those camps for around 8 years.
Yea, my grandpa was an artillery manager. He was in there for around 8 years. He told us a story once about how the prisoners were so accustomed to eating just rice once as a “celebration” they were given a morsel of meat, and the entire camp had horrific diarrhea.
My father once got into a argument with an former ARVN soldier who was in the re-education camp and since the man talking about how bad communism was and how it was horrible. So my father asked the man did they beat him, so the man reply with a simple no. After that bit the man complain how there was the lack of food in the camp, so my father told him everyone was starving and not just him and in the camp a lot of the ARVN pow didn’t get beat or abuse in some way. (Edits) since my father used visit those re-education camps, to inspect and interview ARVN POWs.
One thing a lot of people forget when talking about the treatment of POWs and people after a major, defensive war is that most people would be starving due to the destruction of their lands and food supply.
My uncles are also former ARVN and were in those camps. Other than the little food and conditions are less desirable, it wasn't exactly like a death camp. Once you are deemed good you are let out.
It's always funny to see the Americans complain about muh PTSD when it's clearly them who still had it easier. But it makes sense, the US civilization was in her prime and having to leave the comfort and privileged life back to the jungle truly shocked them, while with the Vietnamese it's centuries of struggle and a little more would not phase them a bit.
As a Vietnamese! I’m proud that my country have been defeated so many world power: China,Mongol,France and then the United State! Thank you Armchair historian for covering our history
The Vietnamese Commies defeat Vietnamese people and make Vietnam to be the poorest country in Southeast Asia, surpassed by neighboring countries in GDP per capita, while they continue robbing their lands and homes of Vietnamese citizens, dating back from Ho Chi Minh's deadly land-reform 1953-1956 that killed nearly 1 million North Vietnamese citizens to rob their lands and homes. Search "cuop dat dan" right here on YT to see the truth. What's so proud about that?
I served in combat with the 9th Infantry Division in 1968-69. Anyone who thinks we could have won in Vietnam should read about the Korean War. NEVER fight a war in a nation which borders China. The Pentagon Papers gave US military leaders the information they needed to understand that we could never win in Vietnam but they chose to ignore that research. I think that Kennedy sent advisors there because of the large number of Catholics in the south and LBJ felt that America would appear weak if we didn't at least fight to a standoff, like the cease fire in Korea which is still in effect. It was a disaster and I have mixed feelings about my involvement. Thanks for laying the facts out and letting people decide for themselves.
I think you need to analyze Nixon's and Kissinger's roles in Bangladesh genocide by Pakistani army which led to about 3 million innocent civilian deaths and mass refugees coming into India which led to Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. USA has successfully managed to forget it but the current generation needs to know about it.
Damn. This video does a good job of highlighting just how damaging Agent Orange was to Vietnam's ecology. That's a pretty messed up decision, deciding that the enemy is evil enough that you can damage the ground on which they live for generations to come. As an American it makes me ashamed.
My grandfather came over about a month ago. His father or my great grandfather was in the Vietnam War. edit: my great grandfather served in the Royal Thai Army, my grandfather was conscripted into the Royal Thai Airforce
3:20 Modern war leaves a lot of left overs in the ground. In Poland to this day stuff from WW II is dig out, not that often but still if you dig in place you never dug before you have to look out for spicy rusty "treasures".
The level of detail in your videos is impressive! Look at the pencil at 11:29 - it says "The Armchair Historian", "Swiss Made" and has the armchair logo at the right end.
As a Vietnamese, my point of view about Vietnam War is: 1. Vietnamese wanted independence against French, who invaded and colonized Vietnam for decades. 2. Vietnamese seeked for helps, no one but Soviet agreed to help Vietnam against colonism. 3. The US afraided that with Soviet's helps, Vietnam would become communist (which is bad by their opinion). 4. So the US took what French created: The South Vietnam gov, and kept stoping Vietnam from gaining it independence. And now they call it "Civil War", what a joke to me.
Yes, technically it's a Civil War between Soviet/China backed North and the 'puppet' South, which is backed by the US. So 'they' are correct! The US only has 'strategic' military intervention from 1970 onward, if I remember correctly.
The joke is on you since the VC is trying to sell their cars in the US. Don't forget, US still had nukes. I'm sure they could have taken out the VC, China, and Russia in one day, but where's the fun in that... that's like beating up a baby and bragging about it...
the us have aid the french since 1947, they also provide military advisor By the time French forces surrendered to the Viet Minh in mid-1954, the us had invested almost $3 billion
My grandfather was an ARVN colonel, captured at some point and sent to a re-education camp. He was one of the few to die. Knowing what I know today, especially as a second generation immigrant, I feel nothing for him. Almost like he deserved it, but I can't make that call. But I do feel nothing.
Great video as always Griffin , and it would be even better with some minor details: 1/ Vietnam didn't have a Civil War in the XX century , as different from American Civil War , the State of Vietnam and later Republic of Vietnam was created and controlled by foreign powers , not the majority of the people of Vietnam , and even the war was fought with large foreign forces and foreign commanders. 2/ The re-education campaign as exaggerated as it seem , was the combination of labor and education institutions , and it was humane at its best , among ROV officials , only those dedicated or long service would be required , those worked under force of circumstances would not . The condition of the camps was at their best as possible , and most of the ROVs got out after 1-2 years , others with longer time was either hardline military commanders or loyal men to the ROV , extremists anti-communism , they too will eventually be released and go abroad to Western countries and remain dedicate anti-communist anti-Vietnam Socialist Republic . The property of the campers wasn't confiscated , of course, if it was just houses and non-agricultural lands , personal vehicles and jewelry etc , the main objectives are the means of productions , factories , machinery , farmland , ... as they are confiscated or bought by the government at a reasonable price then transferred to collectivization , some really rare cases when the owners are patriotic capitalists , they will become the head of the collectivization. 3/ Vietnam and Cambodia had no problem , Pol Pot faction within the Khmer movements was the problem , as they were more radical , extremist Maoism and Nationalism combined . Strange as it seem , the communism in Khmer Rouge Cambodia and Vietnam is different , and by the time of Nixon Ping-Pong policies , it starting to break the remaining cohesion between the two , before collapsed in the year 1979 with the Khmer Rouge massacre Vietnam civilian on Vietnam soil and China invasion of Vietnam . The war in Cambodia could have ended much sooner if not thanks to both China and NATO aid to the remainant of Pol Pot on the border of Thailand , and although it was a bitter time when the world turned its back on Vietnam , the Cambodian live , so it was worth it .
" The property of the campers wasn't confiscated , of course, if it was just houses and non-agricultural lands , personal vehicles and jewelry etc , the main objectives are the means of productions , factories , machinery , farmland , ... as they are confiscated or bought by the government at a reasonable price then transferred to collectivization" yea sure mate, all of the houses and lands in the center of sai gon city are totally "bought back" for a reasonable price and not taken away from the citizen at all
My dad was in the "re-education camp" aka prison for 10 years. You commies robbed my childhood. We never asked for your "liberation". Now you're applying market economy just like what the South Vietnam had done before 1975. So what was the point of your fighting?
@@johnconstantine6834 well.... my all of my uncles are former ARVN personel. Their lands were not taken at all. Our original family house was still owned by them when they are gone and no one bother to take it. Other than the less than desirable condition in the camp wasnt as bad as the ones in Cambodia or North Korea. My uncles and doing fine nowadays.
In my opinion , the idea that the government would buy back all Saigoners' properties for no particular reason is quite absurd. As the center of Saigon is already occupied by a vast population and stream of immigrants, take away their houses and we would end up having even worse homelessness and disorder in the city . Still , there are properties with special circumstances , like slums and real estate of the runaway people , which would be dealt with properly measure later on
Vietnam and Cambodia wars are probably the scariest wars of all time. Between the chemicals, the underground jungle warfare and the haunting screaming the CIA thought was funny.
@@TheDigitalApple right but why not? The Vietnamese brand of communism was more a ethos of self liberation. 80% of Vietnam couldn’t read around 1950. The Viet cong knew they had to decouple themselves from western influence to actually progress forward into becoming their own nation.
One more thing... imagine two brothers being forced to go to war via a draft and during that war one brother is killed and the other comes back minus a brother and also sees that they lost the war yet it did nothing to their country...... did they really need to be drafted? Did the brother really need to die? Man I have no interest in going and fighting a war unless those people are attempting to come over here and take over the country.
I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about the Indochina Refugees crisis during the mid 70s to the early 90s as being a direct consequence of the new communist governments in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Over 3 million people fled and close to 250,000 people died out at sea. The lucky ones died from natural causes such as starvation while the unlucky few were raped and killed by pirates. Thousands of boats filled with refugees were also turned away and prevented from landing on the shores of neighboring countries. I'm also surprised at how you didn't mention anything about the indigenous minorities who fought against the North Vietnamese and what happened to them and their communities after the war.
I remember when I was buying a sling for my M16A4 to go to Iraq. I had taken the advice of the "gear guy" in my platoon about which one to buy. The sling was good, and I looked at the tag "Made in Vietnam". How ironic!
for the armchair historian, could you discuss the history of the confrontation between Malaysia and the Soeharto and Soekarno regimes next time, it's quite interesting because both of them changed Indonesia from east to west during the cold war
I was hoping to see some Hmong and Laos Special Guerrilla Unit and how they were impacted, but thanks nonetheless for shoeing us lesser known details globally
I'm from Russian, and I watched this video with translator (, cause I'm not good in Enghlish), but I liked your channel. Interesting, maybe you could made a video about october 1993 in Russia? :)
I am Hmong-American, and I agree the many horrors of the war have affected my family. As my father has told me, my grandparents, and great grandparents were persecuted for their assistance during the (secret) Vietnam war. They had to escape the Laotian, and Vietnamese soldiers, and cross the Mekong River to escape their wraith. Of course, I am happy that my family got out alive, I do still feel bad, and wish that many other Hmong (or South Vietnamese) people escaped alive, with minimal casualties.
@@quiduong3287 The reason my family left Laos was because… or at least what I remember from what I was told… My grandparents were soldiers in the Secret War, backed by the CIA against the Pathet Lao and Vietcong armies to stop and shut down the Ho Chi Minh trail. After the war, they were persecuted. Leaving, or hiding was their only choice
as South Vietnamse i feel bad for your family and also feel jealous of you... My grandfather planned to escape but he couldn't, he still has old mom and kids so he can't take risk. I grew up in communist education but i still have conscious cause of all stories my grandfather told me.
@@justan4016good, don't be a dick and against this country and everything will be fine or the next time it wouldn't be communist doing the job but I a member of neo nazj party will do the job that these commies doesn't have gut to do with your traitor kind
The impact imo: the Viet people so traumatized by war and violence by foreign power, we are willing to give up our own power to, and ingrain ourselves to, the government in exchange for "Independence", "Freedom", "Happiness"
Czech appreciator here. Thanks to USSR influence over the history I can't appreciate people like Armchaire Historian, Oversimplified or Indie from The Great War enough. In school we just went from 19th century to modern history in the span of few lessons. With "somewhat" bias school programs, I went through, for history lessons, it's miracle that I can just go here and these people will educate me further and better than school. I tip my hat to all of you.
I find it interesting that the Hmong people were not meationed in the video. They massively migrated to the US due to their assistance in the Vietnam War. Would he a good video
The Vietnam war also caused the founding of ASEAN to some extent. Since the commies won the war Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore are afraid of the "domino effect" and consequences. They believe it'll boost Communist insurgency in their territory, which is kinda true to some extent in Thailand, The Philippines and Malaysia. While Indonesia on the other hand, has done horrible massacre their Communist party (Partai Komunis Indonesia/PKI) after failed coup in 1965. It was the third largest communist party in the world and the US especially the CIA were pretty happy about it. The USA even helps in the cleansing and massacre.
@@dd5083 What he was referring to then were not the boat people. I was talking about the people who fled Vietnam by boat after the war. They weren't just war brides, but families leaving the country for fear of persecution. Some of these were families whose husbands were already in re education camps
Baby steps buddy, baby steps. After 50+ years, Vietnamese voices are finally heard and studied, which has been an improvement already. I would like to hear more about the US embargo on Viet Nam, the whole crapfest between US, PRC and USSR, the whole debacle of 3rd Indochina War, and the like. Still, baby steps are already better than no steps at all.
It isnt a civil war. The US government went to war and blamed the north for invading the south. Vietnam could be reunified in 1954 if the US didn't jump in
I think Vietnam is the good guy and we kinda were bad, Vietnam fought the Japanese occupation, wanted independence from french America invaded and picked the loosing side of a civil war, Vietnam overthrow pol pot not America they held out against China and when communism wasn’t working they reformed America should have stayed out of the war entirely
hey man just wanted to say that this video is fucking gorgious, its so beautiful and its so visually interesting so not only would i have watched it bc your naration is amazing but also just looking at it is amazing, your stuff has really become the highest quality history on youtube rivaled only by simplified history, good job on this one and all your other videos
Those who are Buddhist Monks, Music Artists, politicians, doctors, teachers, and wearing glasses were forced into the fields but mostly killed which are called "The Killing Field".
