I just wrote:

> However Mao Zedong established the Communist Party of China in 1921, and
> although small at the time, ultimately became the dominant political force
in
> China with his "Long March" across China during the last few years of WWII
> (1943-1945).

I thought that I would mention before anyone else did that this statement is
a total screwup. Mao's "Long March" was 1934-1935 across Senshai Province.
The Communists finally came to power in 1949, displacing the Nationalists to
Taiwan in 1949.

Everything else I wrote seems to be basically correct.



>  In the end, the Nationalists lost China to the Communists and retreated to
> Taiwan in the late 1940's. The US re-engaged itself in the region, assuming
> the role of the French imperialists in 1954 in Vietnam, after their
stunning
> defeat at Dien Bien Phu. While the French had profound economic interests
in
> Vietnam, we were there only to stop the Communist advance in the region.
> However, of great note, a very young Ho Ching Min pleaded with the US prior
> to its 1954 decision to help the Vietnamese nationalists expel the French
> from Vietnam and become allies in protecting the nations of the region. We
> rejected that plea.

However, I notice that I also misspelled Ho Chi Min's name. I should learn to
slow down.

In looking around after posting that previous message, I looked up a bit more
history on the general subject, particularly about Ho Chi Min to make sure
that I hadn't screwed that up too. I found two interesting web pages. The
first has a relatively standard history of Ho at:

     http://www.encyclopedia.com/articlesnew/05942.html

but the second outlines an inflammatory book written by a well-known
conservative, Alan Trustman:

     http://www.kimsoft.com/1997/uncleho.htm

Surprisingly, it's the second URL that may be a great deal closer to the
truth. It's certainly more congruent with my understanding of Ho's motives
and actions. Nationalism was the movement of the day during the first half of
20th Century in east Asia, and the Viet Nam war was the last vestiges of
throwing the "foreign devils" out the region.

Wirt Atmar

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