Vietnam

The above quote from Some Reflections on Ending the War written after the signing of the Paris Agreement in January 1973, fulfils itself finally not only in North Vietnam but also in South Vietnam on 30 April, 1975. The tank driven by the troops of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NFLSV) which crashed through the gates of the Independence Palace on 30 April not only symbolized the triumph of more than a century of struggle for independence and self-determination for the Vietnamese people but, more specifically, it brought to an indisputable end thirty years of war in Indochina. It is not expected that the bitterness and the hatred that have seethed within the hearts of a people who have lived under the two r?gimes of such differing ideologies and who have been pitched against one another for so long will cease immediately with the end of the war. But what really matters now is that the guns are silent, the destruction stopped. It is extremely difficult for outsiders and particularly for non-Vietnamese to try to gauge the mood of this nation now. It is even more difficult for outsiders to forecast the pattern of future development. What can only be done within the limits of this short paper is to trace some of the major events which have taken place in the country in 1975 and to provide some analysis of the trends of this new society in the making. It has to be stressed that given the paucity of all types of news reports obtainable since the liberation of the country, the analysis cannot help but be rather superficial. Much has to be fathomed from the official news releases and the reports of the few journalists who are still left in the country. (The author is especially grateful for the permission to use the daily Summary of the World Broadcasts monitored by the BBC through the courtesy of the BBC Southeast Asia Office in Singapore. The material made available to me greatly eased and facilitated my research for the present paper.) However it can be expected that whatever material about this country, which has so recently been in the throes of a political revolution and is beginning to embark on the road of reconstruction and reconciliation, is of the most general in nature. Little or no reliable statistical information can be obtained. If this background paper on Vietnam appears to lack hard economic data and other statistical indicators it is hoped that the lacunae can be overlooked. An attempt is none the less made to give the readers a fairly clear picture of the polit ical, social and economic changes which have taken place in the country, presently

Political science · Cambodian History and Society