SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis is restricted to a study of political persuasion on the part of the Vietnamese Communists, It is further limited to a period of some ten years, from the political debut of the Viet Minh (1944-45) until their victory at Dien Bien Phu and triumphal return to Hanoi, towards the end of 1954. The aim of the research is to evaluate the elements essential to the success of Communist persuasion in North Viet Nam. To achieve this, it is necessary briefly to review the perennial struggle of the Vietnamese nation, which Communist agit-prop successfully exploited. Another background chapter describes the socio-political context of the early 1940's when the Viet Minh prepared their public appearance. Then, political persuasion is studied through Communist documents and publications, especially the numerous addresses and messages of Ho Chi Minh. These are related to the principal campaigns organised by the Communists in order to attract, inspire, and motivate the Vietnamese people to co-operate with them: the National Salvation organisations and the theme of Independence and Freedom; the Alliance policy and the theme of National Unity; the consolidation of national power amidst conflicts and the theme of coneiliation for future advance; the nation-wide war and the theme of certain victory; and the complex programme of national resistance and nation-building with the theme of "Peace and Democracy". The final chapter attempts to identify the principal elements which made possible the Viet Minh's success in persuading and mobilising the people to implement their political plans which finally led to the establishment of a socialist-communist regime. This study contributes a more comprehensive presentation of the Vietnamese literature of Communist persuasion than was previously available. It offers a tentative analysis of the method and techniques successfully applied by the Vietnamese Communists to the preparation, dissemination, and exploitation of the persuasive message in the achievement of their political aims. It is suggested that further researches and similar analysis concerning the post-Geneva period (from 1955-56 to 1973), which coincides with the American involvment in Viet Nam, will produce rewarding results and provide a highly interesting comparative study.