History Seminar

This seminar will explore the modern history of Vietnam in an attempt to understand the rise of Communism in that country, and the failure of France and then the U.S. to understand its implications. Our analysis will attempt to answer these important and puzzling questions: Why were French military forces so ignomineously defeated after their eight year attempt at recolonization following World War II? Why did the U.S. fight the longest war in its history in a place so far away? Why was the U.S. unsuccessful in its most divisive experience since the Civil War? Were there any positive results from the experience