“Ideas of national unity in early nineteenth century Europe were closely allied to the ideology of Liberalism.” Analyse the statement.

OR

“US entry into the Vietnam war from 1965 to 1972 marked a new phase that proved costly to the Vietnamese as well as the Americans.” Analyse the statement.

The term ‘liberalism’ comes from the Latin root liber which meant to be free.

1. In the political sense, liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law. It emphasised on the end of aristocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution and representative government through parliament and the inviolability of private property, drawing its basic foundation from the French Revolution.

2. From the very beginning, universal suffrage i.e. voting rights were granted only to the property-owning men, excluding men without property and all women. However, throughout the nineteenth century and early twenties, many movements were organised demanding equal political rights.

3. In the economic sense, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital. People often attempted to go beyond the state restrictions such as the formation of a customs union by Prussia in 1834 which abolished tariff barriers and no. of currencies from 30 to 2. The creation of railway networks further stimulated national unification and the wave of economic nationalism in all contributed towards strengthening wider national sentiments.

NOTE – The issues faced in the political and economic realms became the major issues that strengthened the nationalist sentiments and movements against the state in different parts of Europe.

Or

The U.S involvement in Vietnam War had a harsh impact on both U.S as well as Vietnam.

1. Lakhs of U.S services personnel served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1972. Inspire of the heavy weapons and tanks and the presence of the most powerful bombers – B52s, this phase proved to be brutal. The wide spread attack and use of chemical weapons – Napalm, Agent Orange, and phosphorous bombs – destroyed many villages and decimated jungles.

2. Thousands of people died in the battle and lakhs and lakhs of people were left wounded. In addition, innocent civilians died in large no.

3. In the U.S., many were critical of the government for getting involved in the war. The inclusion of the youth from minorities and working middle classes and waiver of this military service for university graduates further spread a feeling of intense anger amongst the Americans.

NOTE – Vietnam after gaining independence from the French was divided into North (Ho Chi Minh and communists) and South (Bao Dai). As Bao Dai’s regime was undertook by a coup led by Ngo Dinh Diem, the National Liberation Front (NLF) along with the North fought for the unification of the country. This unification alliance was the biggest fear of the United States. Since the U.S was worried about communists gaining power in Vietnam, they sent in their troops and arms and joined the war.