Fans celebrate the victory of the U23 Vietnam team (Image: Zing.vn)
I immersed myself in the spirit of thousands of people celebrating the U23 football team. Together, we sang Quốc ca and shouted out loud: "Việt Nam Vô Địch, Việt Nam Vô Địch." National pride has connected and expanded us into unity. However, when looking closely at the impact of nationalism in Vietnamese history, the brilliant red of triumph slowly turning to the dark red of the sorrow of millions of people who live in war, famine and genocide.
In the 19th century, when the French took over Vietnam, the French used nationalism to consider themselves superior races to legalize colonization. Jules Ferry (1832-1893) was prime minister of the French Third Republic; he spoke in front of the French Congress to persuade the expansion of Indochina countries’ colonization as follows: "The superior races have a right because they have a duty. They have the duty to civilize the inferior races." [1]. When the French in the 19th century thought they were superior races, it led to moral consequences for ignoring Vietnamese people’s suffering. The evidence is the brutal policies such as "workers died off or became incapacitated after accidents, beatings, or attempted escapes." when working for French colonialism [2]. Also, it was the premise of other moral disasters, especially the Vietnamese famine of 1945. France and Japan abused and overexploited into agriculture for the purposes of war. When bad harvests combined with the export of rice to Japan led to a massive famine that is reputed to have taken between 400,000 and 2,000,000 lives in the Red River Delta during the winter of 1944-45. [3]
A woman is washing the bones of starving victims, photo by Vo An Ninh. source, Colorized by myheritage.com.
People who died of starvation at Giap Bat camp in 1950 were re-buried and brought to Hop Thien cemetery, Hanoi. Photo by Vo An Ninh. source. Colorized by myheritage.com
During the famine of 1945, the Vietnamese were victims of nationalism, but we were also responsible for various suffering throughout history. For example, the Vietnamese spent nearly eight centuries conquering the territory of Champa. The climax and also the end of the Champa was in 1835, to quell the uprising of Ja Thak Wa, King Minh Mang burned down all the Cham villages along the coast; killing the Cham people who participated in the rebellion of Ja Thak Wa; damaging the Cham ancestors' cemetery; dug the tomb of King Champa and burned Po Rome temple in Phan Rang area. According to historical records of the Cham people: "Kinh people freely behead innocent Cham people, as much as possible" [4]
Nationalism also caused moral disasters among ordinary Vietnamese people in the south of Vietnam before 1975. We have two different versions of Vietnam from two separate political institutions. And when one political institution triumphs, the rest had to leave their homeland. After the victory of the Vietnam Communists Party, many people died during the refugee journey. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea. [5]
Vietnamese refugees crowd the deck of the freighter Hai Hong as the vessel rides at anchor off Port Klang, Malaysia, November 22, 1978. Source. Colorized by myheritage.com
This dark side of nationalism is repeated in countless other events in Vietnam and worldwide, from the Holocaust to the atomic bombing in Japan. We can see that nationalism can bring about positives in national unity, but it is also essential to realize its fragile boundaries.
Reference
● [2] Page 43, Colonialism Experienced: Vietnamese Writings on Colonialism by Truong Buu Lan.
● [3] Charles Hirschman et al. "Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate" Source.
● [4] Page 155, Kingdom of Champa - History of the last 33 years by Po Dharma.
● [5] Nghia M. Vo, The Vietnamese Boat People (2006), 1954 and 1975-1992, McFarland.