Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh Comparison
G
Ella Dierberger
4/18/11
Global History Acc
Mary Foran
How Were Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh Different in Their Fight for Independence? Mohandas Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh both fought against foreign rule in their country; Gandhi against the British rule in India and Ho Chi Minh against the French reign in Vietnam. However, Gandhi fought peacefully and religiously, with fasts and boycotts to gain India’s independence, while Ho Chi Minh was a Communist ruler who believed violence and a good military would force France out of Vietnam. The two men were both successful in driving the foreign rulers out of their country, even though their tactics were extremely different.
Gandhi grew up as a mediocre student, with an overly religious mother, an arranged marriage at thirteen, and a deceased father. When he left his wife and son to train to become a lawyer in London, he made a vow to be strictly vegetarian, which was a big step that led him in his peaceful religious life. In England, he learned about legal cases in which one fought not with violence, but with logical arguments pleading their rights. When he returned to India, Gandhi was an improved person, and was ready to fight for injustice in South Africa, where he fought for the rights of colored people. When he fought with India to stop a Registration Act in 1906, he devised a “truth-force,”(p 172) which was a new type of nonviolent resistance in which a large group of people all break a law which they feel is unjust, and then let the opponent beat them, so the opponent (or law enforcers) feel guilty. In 1914, when he returned to India from South Africa, he started an economic sit-down strike against the British government. In 1919, he was forced to call off the act and plan a smaller one because it caused too much violence. After the Amritsar massacre, in which 379 civilians were killed by a British general (p.173), Gandhi started a new campaign, which boycotted all British goods and services, while Gandhi
Ella Dierberger
4/18/11
Global History Acc
Mary Foran
How Were Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh Different in Their Fight for Independence? Mohandas Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh both fought against foreign rule in their country; Gandhi against the British rule in India and Ho Chi Minh against the French reign in Vietnam. However, Gandhi fought peacefully and religiously, with fasts and boycotts to gain India’s independence, while Ho Chi Minh was a Communist ruler who believed violence and a good military would force France out of Vietnam. The two men were both successful in driving the foreign rulers out of their country, even though their tactics were extremely different.
Gandhi grew up as a mediocre student, with an overly religious mother, an arranged marriage at thirteen, and a deceased father. When he left his wife and son to train to become a lawyer in London, he made a vow to be strictly vegetarian, which was a big step that led him in his peaceful religious life. In England, he learned about legal cases in which one fought not with violence, but with logical arguments pleading their rights. When he returned to India, Gandhi was an improved person, and was ready to fight for injustice in South Africa, where he fought for the rights of colored people. When he fought with India to stop a Registration Act in 1906, he devised a “truth-force,”(p 172) which was a new type of nonviolent resistance in which a large group of people all break a law which they feel is unjust, and then let the opponent beat them, so the opponent (or law enforcers) feel guilty. In 1914, when he returned to India from South Africa, he started an economic sit-down strike against the British government. In 1919, he was forced to call off the act and plan a smaller one because it caused too much violence. After the Amritsar massacre, in which 379 civilians were killed by a British general (p.173), Gandhi started a new campaign, which boycotted all British goods and services, while Gandhi