Government cannot fight a war without the approval and support of the people

Image at the DMZ of the current Vietnamese flag chosen by Melissa Campbell as special to her from the trip.

Melissa writes:

Government cannot fight a war without the approval and support of the people

While we were at the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in Central Vietnam, Martin told us how during the war the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese each had a flagpole on their side of the border. Each side continued to replace their flagpole with one that was larger than the opposing sides’. This continued to occur throughout the war until the North Vietnamese claimed victory and demolished the South Vietnamese’s flag. Martin also spoke about how the government placed speakers at the DMZ which played propaganda. A similar tale accompanies these speakers as the governments of both sides continued to replace the speakers with larger and more modern models in an effort to drown out the propaganda from the other side. As a result, the sound from the speakers was able to travel up to 10 kilometres. For me, this highlighted the government’s inability to fight the war by themselves or to force their people to fight a war that they didn’t believe in. I see the flagpole as a symbol of both the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese’s efforts to appear more impressive than the other side which is a small act intended to heighten the people’s belief in their government which might lead to more people enlisting in the army and fighting with renewed strength. The speakers similarly are an attempt to convince the people of the government’s belief in the war and what they were fighting for. I feel it shows both the North and South Vietnamese governments’ vulnerability and the fact that they needed the consent of their people to continue the war and therefore had to win the propaganda “battle” to convince their people that their view of the struggle is the one that matters. It shows how the government cannot fight a war without the approval and support of the people. This can tell us more about the mindset of the Vietnamese people during the war and how ultimately it was the North Vietnamese government that was more successful in motivating their supporters.