American Reacts Why did Sweden Support the Vietcong?

Original Video: • Why did Sweden Support...
Discord: / discord
Watch stuff and learn and chill hi whatsup ⚔️👋🧐
Hi everyone! I'm an American from the Northeast (New England). I want to create a watering hole for people who want to discuss, learn and teach about history through KZbin videos which you guys recommend to me through the comment section or over on Discord. Let's be respectful but, just as importantly, not be afraid to question any and everything about historical records in order to give us the most accurate representation of the history of our species and of our planet!
Having a diverse perspective is crucial to what I want to achieve here so please don't hold back! I want to learn about all I can! Keep recommending and PLEAESE join my Discord :) ( / discord )
Patreon: / mcjibbin
#sweden
#vietnam
#historymatters
#vietcong
#american
#mcJibbin
#history
#americanReacts
#reaction
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

[@SteamboatW]

The speech by Olof Palme. 23 December 1972. English translation. “One should call things by their correct names. What is happening in Vietnam is a form of torture. What you do is torment people, torment a nation to humiliate it, force it to submit to dictatorial language. And that is why the bombings are an atrocity. And of this we have many examples of in modern history. And they are generally connected with one name: Guernica, Oradour, Babi Yar, Katyń, Lidice, Sharpeville, Treblinka. There, violence has triumphed. But the afterworlds judgement has fallen hard over they who bore responsibility. Now another name is added to the row: Hanoi, Christmas 1972.”

[@petervenkman69]

The US direct action in Vietnam is difficult to justify. Many of the US's allies were uncomfortable with it.

[@DaxRaider]

it isnt difficult is impossible

[@petervenkman69]

@@DaxRaider From my personal perspective I would agree with you, but governments appear to be able to justify almost anything, and a shockingly large portion of the population will go along with it.

[@junupbox4911]

iirc they justified the invasion because of the gulf of tonkin incident which people now debate on whether or not it actually happened since the US was on a heavy “no commies” mood back then and wanted to prevent the south from falling

[@thatindiandude4602]

​@@petervenkman69I know this comment was some time ago, but excellent point. And once horrors of Agent Orange and My lai massacre came to light, that would make it more uncomfortable

[@alcin53]

Difficult to justify? The United States is literally a terrorist state. The amount of times the US as unjustifiably invaded other countries on no basis at all is horrifying. Not even to mention how many coups and undemocratic tyranical infulence the US state has partaken in, in Africa and south america. Just a handful of examples are, Cambodia, Bolivia, Ethiopea, Congo, Angola, Argentina, Indonesia, Guatemala and so on. These were all poltical coups that the US took part in again democratically elected leaders. Just imagine how you would you feel if a forgein country assassinated or replaced you democratically elected president. That is exactly that the US as done time and time again.

[@GrimmaStadguard]

Well the problem is that the US intervention was pretty dirrect...USA was literally bombing people with napalm and US army killed alot of civilians and overall they were acting in many ways like an animals which can be in soma ways sidelined with the SS ones. Soviet Union on the other hand just did send mostly WW2 outdated equipment

[@Jonsson474]

The Soviet Union actually sent pilots to fight in Vietnamese airspace so it’s not completely true.

[@newuk26]

My personal opinion is that it was fine for the US to support the south. But that support shouldn’t have involved troops being deployed Interestingly I remember reading once that Vietnam is one reason why so many French have a problem with America. The US told them that they had to end colonial rule in the country, and then tried to install a colonial government of their own

[@user-dm7ql4sh3z]

Sweden was socialist at the time and they knew the entirety of the North Vietnamese movements were grassroot movements by the people, which is why the South was losing so fucking fast with the military actually joining the people. The South never had the support of the people which is why it needed American boots on the ground. Why Korea for example was different, because unlike Vietnam, the nationalists and communists were the ones fighting each other instead of joining into a coalition like in Vietnam.

[@jj6051]

@@user-dm7ql4sh3z Sweden was not socialist at the time, the biggest party, the party of Olof Palme was democratic socialists. There is a big difference between these terms and I think it would be beneficial to your comment to point that out.

[@user-dm7ql4sh3z]

I think you meant social-democrats, the way they went on the ballot but it was really a coalition consisting of socdems and socialists. It is due to the socialists that the party still holds the adjective 'worker's party'. But yeah, the party is mostly socdem due to it's trade unionist stance. Communists split from the party because they wanted abolition of capitalism through revolution against the capitalist class, whilst socdems and socialists decided that the path forward is controlling the capitalists through unions and electoral system. @@jj6051

[@alfredkwaak]

@@jj6051 Socialism is a broad term, democratic socialism is a word americans use because propaganda the word socialist is almost a synonymous to communist or state-capitalist/socialist supporter. In europe socialists was on every government with very different flavours. so separating the words doesn't make sense in other parts of the world than U.S.

[@nocturne7371]

An ex of this: I studied at Uni in Sweden in the 90s and between the Uni and the living area of many students there are a shortcut walk/cycle path through the forest that were called the Ho Chi Min Pathway. During the Vietnam war was A LOT of the students were fiercely pro the Viet Cong. So much that the name of the path lived on in th 90s, and it might still be called that to this day.

[@TheHeavensWillRise]

Let me guess, you studied at Umeå University? I studied there around 2014 and the path between the university and Ålidhem was still called that by some people, but it was mostly seen as a fun anecdote.

[@nocturne7371]

@@TheHeavensWillRise YesI studied in Umeå. Nice to know that the name is still in use even as an anecdote.

[@brachiator1]

To oversimplify: after WW2 European nations tried to re-establish their colonial empires. So Britain tried to regain India and its colonies in Africa. France sought to control Algeria and Vietnam. The US attitude was that these countries could fight for freedom as long as they didn't choose communism. The North Vietnamese defeated France, and the US got sucked into trying to do what France could not do. But the US was so focused on defeating communism that they disregarded the fact that Vietnam had fought China for centuries and had no desire to be controlled by either China or Russia. And even though the South Vietnamese army fought well, the South Vietnamese government was unstable and corrupt. As a result of this confusion Sweden and some other countries refused to support US efforts in Vietnam.

[@keithmoore5224]

britain tried to regain india when after independence 1949 and regain africa get your facts right britain told the usa that they would not support them vietnam sort it’s own problems also a lot of british people were against the usa intervention in viatnam aiso look at viatnam now it’s not perfect but peaceful all those dead for for what how many times has the usa intervened and for what the vietcong was vietnams army the south government was corupt not a nice government

[@ducngo3077]

"American politicians not giving a s- about what the Vietnamese wanted" is not a confusion

[@rman269]

If you're curious about French Indochina following WW2 there's some good videos on youtube, after the Japanese were defeated it was occupied by Britain, the agreement was that Britain would provide security and oversea the capture and disarmament of Japanese's forces in the area until France's armed forces were ready to be put back in control, it's an interesting time if you want to look into it a bit, Britain had some clashes with the Vietminh who'd later become the Vietcong.

[@perkia164]

One of the reasons the critic against USA when it comes to Vietnam was that "we" expect more from the US then from, f/x the Sovietunion. What Palme (and in that, Sweden) did was take it up a level. A prime-minister offically condemming the war, walking in a demonstration with the north-vietnames ambassador aginst the USA and its war in Vietnam. Now there were demonstration all over the world not the least in USA. In the US some of the demonstartors "welcomed" the soldiers that were coming back with spitting in there face, calling them "child murdereer". That was the overall "feeling" of the war. An unjust war.

[@kjelledbom1728]

The suport sweden was doing was teaching the nva medic skills

[@PityMeofDurham]

There were 3000 Soviets, 170 000 Chinese and 530 000 American soldiers over there. There was also two sides fighting in Cambodia and Laos. South- and North Korea, Republic of China, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand all sent troops too.

[@TALK-is1qd]

That's fake, there was no Soviet or Chinese troops in the Vietnam war, Ho Chi Minh declined the offers, especially China because he didn't trust them at that time, which turned out to be true when China invaded Vietnam in 1979

[@PityMeofDurham]

@@TALK-is1qd First off, idk how you mistook Ho Chi Minh City for Hanoi, the the capital of North Vietnam. There were Soviet troops in Vietnam, albeit not many at all, so the the Russians main contribution was equipment, weapons and munitions. China also sent these aids. China on the other hand did send hundreds of thousands to Vietnam, and I’m not talking about ‘79 here.

[@QuanNguyen-dx6ht]

Cám ơn anh em Sweden đã giúp đỡ chúng tôi. Cả đời tôi sẽ biết ơn các bạn

[@SerbijaSupreme]

You're welcome my Vietnamese friend, glad we helped the right side 🇸🇪❤️🇻🇳

[@peteroeberg414]

Even Robert McNamara did admit that the Vietnam war was just "humbug". Look up on the so called "Gulf of Tonkin incident", and then U will know that it was a setup from the US Government (that they have been attacked by the Vietnamese) The Americans did in fact "inherited" this stupid war from the french, who already had started war (back then) in the 40s - 50s, in the so called First Indochina War.

[@bowallin6111]

Everybody loves the underdog usa against a tiny country it Asia

[@garypiont6114]

Very true. Perception is a wild dog.

[@skogstjuven]

is only me or you have uploaded this video before? right. I'm sure of it at the same time uploaded Sweden ww2 stuff? you did the same whit Sam O'Nella Diogenes Reaction 5 Apr. 2021. don't get me wrong is fine by me. I just got this feeling that I have seen it before. or I'm crazy?

[@alexandersvarfvar473]

I also remember him reacting to this before but i can't find the original reaction video.

[@kjelledbom1728]

I am not an expert about the Vietnam war, i was reading alot of it in the papers at the time. I believe that the point from sweden was that Us should be better than this. Making it short

[@monkeycat48]

Speaking of Sweden using doctors, Spain did the same thing. Now knowing Spain at that time, they were extremely anti-Communist well not surprisingly at all. They thought about going to Vietnam, but instead of going there to fight like you know they did during the second world war with the blue division that was sent to the eastern front not the western front. In the Vietnam war, they pretty much sent medical staff to south Vietnam to assist the wounded from American south Vietnamese soldiers, and the rest of the civilians in Vietnam. They did a hell of a job there. Oddly enough, the civilian populace, never forgot what the Spanish did for them in fact, favored them over any other Ally, that was in south Vietnam fighting the war. But what I find interesting is that Sweden well, believe it or not that’s a pretty good strategic way to go using medical staff and doctors to train and supply the North Vietnamese and Vietcong insurgents. Makes perfect sense I mean it’s a lot better than fighting in killing. It was a pretty good video to watch.

[@chrismackett9044]

You should watch Ken Burns’ ten part TV series on Vietnam. Compelling viewing.

[@garypiont6114]

Burns is a born & raised commie.

[@bendover1028]

Sweden are independent thinkers and may have been against the US attacking a country that choose to be communist by a majority election, no the Japanese didn't kick anyone out. The US committed many war crimes in Vietnam. The US is doing bad by invading the Vietnamese, for the reason to change their govt by force of arms. They supported the North because they won the election, Russia and China didn't send troops, why are you fixed on supporting the south, they lost the election. My father was there, the US troops were , in his opinion, disgusting, untrained, undisciplined thugs with guns and planes and tanks and they killed anyone who didn't speak "American". He was a professional soldier and hard many run ins with US troops and his own leaders as they would turn their backs on war crimes constantly. The one up ide to the US presence in Vietnam was the Aussies and Kiwis used them a bait for ambushes.

[@PeoplecallmeLucifer]

2:35 That is the problem. Japanese occupied Vietnam and a communist guerilla called Viet Min formed and was actually in very good relations with the USA After the WW2 the French wanted to re-establish controll but that lead to French-Indochian war ... and after that Vietnam was divided. and the south was basically a puppet state... which shocked the vietnamese because they were in bad relations with other communsit countryes due to their allance with USA...so a communist guerrilla called Viet Kong formed there ... inset american provocation at the bay of Tonkin and you have the Vietnam war which hit the Vietnamese even harder because they saw USA as their allies for a long time

[@55garren]

I think at for USA it was most business as usual. The want their arms industry go well so they offer their people 😮

[@johnnyanderson2-roblox185]

The Soviets and Chinese sent aid and advisors strictly, whilst the U.S and many other nations sent actual combat troops and conducted some *cough* sketchy operations that *cough* possibly took place in the neighboring countries. While the Soviets and Chinese were supplying the North Vietnamese with the means to do whatever they did, they were not directly responsible for it as Soviet troops weren't on the ground with the North Vietnamese, but the same cannot be said for the U.S and allies, who were directly responsible and accountable for some messed up shit. And then it all proved to be in vain as they ultimately lost the conflict anyway, needlessly killing tens of thousands of U.S and allied soldiers in a fight not their own for a country many didn't want to fight for in a war that was never declared.

[@zahrans]

Unfortunately the days of Sweden, or Finland, or Australia or even the UK having a foreign policy independent from Washington have long passed.

[@Vollification]

Fun thing, we had a lot of FNL supporting leftist and communist groups in Sweden in the way back when but the majority was fundraising under banners such as "Medical bags for Vietnam" and "School books for Vietnam". But one group (KFMLr (Communist League/Association Marxist Leninist revolutionaries) ) raised funds under the banner "En luftvärnskanon åt Nord Vietnam" (An anti air gun for North Vietnam). It wasn't all pacifism.

[@tmq0311....]

As a Vietnamese, North Vietnam fight in long time, so the South will be corrupted by itself, then the world will support North Vietnam Sweden is an example of North Vietnam's success in gaining international supports

[@kjelledbom1728]

The russians though was dumping weapons and had loads of people teaching them military tactics. that is real suport.

[@martinburke362]

Most of europe did, even your closest allie the UK, didn't directly support you because you stiffed them during the suez crisis

[@user-dm7ql4sh3z]

Because they were based.

[@WHORTH-TheUglyDucklingOfFORTH]

Pretty much the same reason we support Ukraine today.... no free regn for big bullies. But Ukraine being a democracy we send weapons as aide there, there was no military support for Vietcong.

[@DaxRaider]

some of the crimes of usa in vietnam u can compare to nazi germany in ww2 ... its was horrible

[@garypiont6114]

Not really. Check the facts.

[@FXGreggan.]

One should also remember this was in the peace & love era, war's bad etc... and the public image of GI's raping and air force napalming was not in its favor.. don't get me wrong - I'm all for fighting communism.

[@RESTITVTOR_TOTIVS_HISPANIAE]

So you are up for the killing of a million people because they are communists?

[@philsurtees]

Sweden was a Third World Country, so why does this surprise anyone?

[@antonryelund7344]

WHAT???

[@antonryelund7344]

this is so wrong on many levels

[@glorifiedcouch648]

E X C U S E M E W H A T

[@seb7271]

Through the 60s and 70s Sweden went from having the 5th highest to 2nd highest GDP per capita in the entire world. Furthermore, they held a constant ranking of 11th highest gdp in the entire world. What an insane and uneducated take...

[@victorcapel2755]

This is correct. The term first/second/thirld world is not (as many belives) any indication of wealth, rather an indication of political and military alignement. First world is the west/NATO. Second world the East/Cominter/Warsaw pact and third world is non aligned (Sweden, Finland along with a lot of other nations, rich and poor).