We take a panoramic view of a misunderstood nation, beginning with the Neolithic Age, through Chinese 
domination on and off for 1,000 years. We focus on the European and American encroachments, 1800’s to 1973. Particular attention is given to the first and second Indochina Wars, highlighting the eviction first of the French, then the Americans. We come to understand the Maoist-Ho Chi Minh version of peasant-oriented Communism, its accent on People’s War and the misunderstood ideal of Revolutionary Nationalism.
- Week 1: Vietnamese history: the Neolithic Age to the 19th century
- Week 2: Colonial Masters: France and Japan, from the French attack on Tourane to the eviction of the Japanese in 1945
- Week 3: Revolutionary War: Ho Chi Minh, Mao Tse Tung and guerrilla warfare
- Week 4: First Indochina War: traces the defeat of the French, 1946-1954
- Week 5: Geneva to the Fall of Diem: 1954 Geneva Accords to the assassination of Diem, 1963
- Week 6: The air mobility concept: the American war as a helicopter war
- Week 7: The Second Indochina War: From the Gulf of Tonkin to the 1968 Tet Offensive
- Week 8: Unification: Post-Tet to the fall of Saigon, 1975
“Clear presentation of class”
Facilitator: Mark Albertson
Mark Albertson is the historical research editor for Army Aviation magazine in Monroe, Connecticut, and is the historian for the Army Aviation Association of America. He has authored six books, including On History: A Treatise. Mark lectures widely on a variety of issues on history, current events and politics.