Sponsored
A Displaced Nation - (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia Un) by Phi-Van Nguyen
About this item
Highlights
- In A Displaced Nation, Phi-Van Nguyen argues that the displacement of eight hundred thousand mostly Roman Catholic evacuees from North Vietnam in 1954 had a profound impact on the war opposing Saigon on both Hanoi and on the evacuees themselves.
- About the Author: Phi-Van Nguyen is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Saint-Boniface.
- 306 Pages
- History, Military
- Series Name: Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia Un
Description
About the Book
"In A Displaced Nation, the author shows how civilian refugees were variously considered to be political tools and political liabilities by both Vietnamese state forces and by the surrounding states, and that this political manipulation had a significant impact on international policy and politics."--Book Synopsis
In A Displaced Nation, Phi-Van Nguyen argues that the displacement of eight hundred thousand mostly Roman Catholic evacuees from North Vietnam in 1954 had a profound impact on the war opposing Saigon on both Hanoi and on the evacuees themselves. Assisting with the transportation, emergency relief, and resettlement of the evacuees allowed diverse organizations and the United States to support Saigon. This transnational mobilization also convinced the evacuees the "free world" would never let Vietnam remain divided.
Many people see the Vietnam wars spanning from 1945 to 1989 as separate conflicts. But Nguyen demonstrates that the evacuees experienced a continuous civil war. A Displaced Nation shows the evacuees felt so validated by transnational support that they thought they could use this external help to return one day to the north. This belief was not constant nor were the strategies to achieve it the same for all, but through their political activism and action the evacuees showed they were willing to seize any opportunity to oppose Hanoi during the subsequent decades, even once established overseas.
About the Author
Phi-Van Nguyen is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Saint-Boniface.