Choosing topic for Indochina.. (1 Viewer)

[Jayphen]

I get to choose a topic to write an essay and do a speech on for this subject. Which am I best off doing (read: which is the easiest/most interesting out of the following?)

• the significance of the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu; the significance of the Geneva Peace Agreement for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos; the significance of the consequences of the failure to hold free elections in Vietnam in 1956
• sources, nature and development of the conflict in Vietnam from 1960
• the concepts of ‘containment’ and the ‘domino theory’ as applied to Vietnam and their impact on US policy making
• the nature of political, social, economic and military policies within South and North Vietnam and their consequences
• the nature and consequences of ‘infiltration’ from North into South Vietnam
• the nature and impact of growing US intervention in Indochina for both the US, the peoples of Indochina and the immediate region
• the commitment of US and Australian ground troops and the social, economic, political and military impact of their involvement for Indochina
• tactics and strategies adopted by the North Vietnamese army and the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the South Vietnamese and US responses to these
• the nature, impact and significance of anti-war movements
• regional and global impact of the spread of the war from Vietnam to Cambodia
• reasons for US withdrawal and the eventual defeat of the South Vietnamese forces
• the aims, nature and impact of Pol Pot’s regime over Democratic Kampuchea and the reasons for the invasion by Vietnam
• the economic, environmental and political repercussions of twenty years of war for Vietnam and Cambodia

 

[braindrainedAsh]

The stuff in the first dot point (e.g. Dien Bien Phu) is probably not as important as some of the later stuff.

Which parts about Indochina do you find most interesting?

It would probably be easy to do something on tactics used by both sides during the conflict... or on the American politics side and the different policies that different presidents had towards the conflict. Or maybe on Cambodia?

Ultimately you need to decide which bits you find most interesting.

 

[paper cup]

I get to choose a topic to write an essay and do a speech on for this subject. Which am I best off doing (read: which is the easiest/most interesting out of the following?)

• the significance of the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu; the significance of the Geneva Peace Agreement for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos; the significance of the consequences of the failure to hold free elections in Vietnam in 1956
• sources, nature and development of the conflict in Vietnam from 1960
• the concepts of ‘containment’ and the ‘domino theory’ as applied to Vietnam and their impact on US policy making
• the nature of political, social, economic and military policies within South and North Vietnam and their consequences
• the nature and consequences of ‘infiltration’ from North into South Vietnam
• the nature and impact of growing US intervention in Indochina for both the US, the peoples of Indochina and the immediate region
• the commitment of US and Australian ground troops and the social, economic, political and military impact of their involvement for Indochina
• tactics and strategies adopted by the North Vietnamese army and the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the South Vietnamese and US responses to these
• the nature, impact and significance of anti-war movements
• regional and global impact of the spread of the war from Vietnam to Cambodia
• reasons for US withdrawal and the eventual defeat of the South Vietnamese forces
• the aims, nature and impact of Pol Pot’s regime over Democratic Kampuchea and the reasons for the invasion by Vietnam
• the economic, environmental and political repercussions of twenty years of war for Vietnam and Cambodia

what Ash said...
we're only three weeks into the topic so I don't really know....I reckon the background causes of the conflict are pretty interesting and provide material for a really indepth discussion that will get you marks.

 

[Jayphen]

thanks guys. the thing is, we haven't actually started studying it.. I've read about 1/4 of the text book we have, but it's really not enough to give me an idea of what I would like to choose. our class is running way behind schedule from what I can tell..

 

[jawjayo]

id go for the containment and domino theory question. The US governments various perceptions of and implementations of Kennan's theories pretty much dictated US involvement in the war.

 

[craz]

I have to disagree Ash. I actually did my HSC based on Dien Bien Phu as it sorta started the outbreak and then followed it with policies and later wars etc. but my teacher thought Dien Bien Phu was important...so our exam was based around it as it turned out that wasn't such a bad idea after all! I did fine.

 

[HayleeKate]

The nature of political, social, economic and military policies within South and North Vietnam and their consequences
is pretty broad, you'd never be short of material, but in this could make it harder if youve got tight limits on time. Personally, I'd find this most interesting, but thats got no bearing on yourself.
reasons for US withdrawal and the eventual defeat of the South Vietnamese forces
would likely be quite useful to be extra familiar with.

 

[Jayphen]

I ended up doing the overthrow of Diem. relatively easy, I just finished writing the speech. it's just under 7 minutes.