Colonization in VIetnam and Guam
VIETNAMDuring the early 17th century, Jesuit missionaries from Portugal and Italy began arriving in Vietnam to spread Catholicism. To help proselytize, they developed a Romanized script with diacritical marks for the Vietnamese language (chữ quốc ngữ), which slowly replaced the Vietnamese usage of sinographic script. Colonization of Vietnam by the French began in earnest in the mid-19th century. In 1858, the French military invaded southern Vietnam (renamed Cochinchina), and over the course of forty years, they expanded their colonial control over central Vietnam (Annam), northern Vietnam (Tonkin), and Cambodia (Camboge). In 1887, the French officially established the Indochinese Union, to which Laos was then added in 1893.
During French colonial rule, Vietnamese people’s labor was exploited to extract the country’s natural resources and build France’s wealth. The era of French colonization resulted in the adoption of Western styles of education, religion, and governance, particularly in southern Vietnam. Those who resisted French occupation were exiled, imprisoned, or executed. During World War II, French occupation was briefly interruped when Japan invaded Indochina. It was during this period that Hồ Chí Minh returned to Vietnam to lead the Việt Minh independence movement. The US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) actually supported the Việt Minh during the 1940s in their efforts to curtail Japan’s imperial control. Japan’s defeat in 1945 resulted in a power vacuum in Vietnam called the August Revolution. On September 2, 1945, Hồ Chí Minh declared Vietnam’s independence, citing the US’s own Declaration of Independence from 1776: “All men are created equal. They are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable Rights; among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” However, France reinvaded Vietnam in 1946, initiating the First Indochina War which ravaged the country until the Việt Minh’s victory at the 1954 Battle of Điện Biên Phủ. Two months after France’s decisive defeat, the world powers met in Geneva to address the conflict in Indochina. The Geneva Conference resulted in the creation of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos as well as a divided Vietnam. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North was governed by governed by Hồ Chí Minh and the Vietnamese communists, while the Republic of Vietnam in the South was governed by the Vietnamese republicans. Vietnam would remain divided through the Second Indochina War: a civil war between competing visions of an independent Vietnam that was exacerbated by US imperial intervention in the country, as part of their global Cold War struggle against communism. Vietnam was reunified under communist rule following the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. |
GUAMIn 1565– forty-four years after the CHamoru’s contact with Magellan– Spain officially claimed Guam as part of its empire. However, colonization of Guam and the other Mariana Islands did not begin until 1668 with the arrival of Jesuit missionaries intent on spreading the Christian gospel. That same year, Chief Quipuha (also spelled Kepuha) of Hagåtña converted to Catholicism and allowed the Jesuits to build a church on his land, creating a base of operation for Spain.
During this time, Guam became an important stopping point on the galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico which introduced crops from both Asia and the Americas to the island, as well as the Spanish language and other cultural practices. CHamoru resistance to the Spanish colonizers came to a head in 1670 when the Spanish-Chamorro Wars began. Major Spanish reprisal followed after the 1672 killings of several missionaries, including Diego Luis San Vitores, by CHamoru resisters. The wars resulted in the destruction of several villages and the deaths of many CHamorus. Once rebellion was mostly suppressed in Guam, Spain turned to further conquest of the other Mariana Islands which ended with the conquest of Gani. The wars ended in 1699 after some 1,900 CHamorus from Gani were forcibly relocated to Guam. As Spanish colonies in the Americas gained their independence, Guam’s economic support transferred from Mexico to the Philippines. With the Manila Galleon trade ending, the island became an important stop for merchant vessels, including whalers. In 1898, the Spanish-American War led to the US capture of the Philippines and Guam, triggering the first era of American occupation. Governance of the island was transferred to the US Navy which was stationed in the harbor near Hagåtña. At the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations put the Northern Mariana Islanders under Japanese administration. On December 8, 1941– a day after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor–– Japan invaded Guam, beginning an era of occupation that lasted until the US retook the island on July 21, 1944. Today, Guam celebrates this date as Liberation Day, though some critique the event as the start of the United States’ “re-occupation” of Guam. Following World War II, military buildup in Guam began in earnest. In August 1945, Admiral Chester Nimitz requested fifty-five percent of the land for U.S. naval operations, and in 1946 the Land Acquisition Act authorized the Navy Department to acquire private land with minimal—and sometimes no—compensation to CHamoru residents. By 1947, an estimated 1,350 CHamoru families had lost their homes. Following the Organic Act of 1950, CHamorus were granted U.S. citizenship but denied key constitutional rights, such as the right to Congressional representation or the right to vote for president. During the Cold War in Asia, including the Vietnam War, the US military bases in Guam played pivotal roles, putting Guam and its people directly on the front lines of the US military offensive. Today, the US military continues to occupy roughly a third of the Guam’s territory.
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