Vietnam’s long and bloody road to independence began with a speech

September 1, 2015 

Troy Lennon History editor The Daily Telegraph

A young Vietminh fighter is captured by a Vietnamese paratrooper fighting on the side of the French in 1954.

While the world was celebrating the end of hostilities with Japan in 1945, awaiting news of the official surrender, in Hanoi people gathered to celebrate their own momentous event. As the masses flooded into Ba Dinh Square, a thin, bearded man mounted a podium and began speaking.

“All men are created equal; they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

With those words, Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh made a declaration of independence from France. It was September 2, 70 years ago today. The declaration ended with the ominous pledge that the “entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilise all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty”.

FIGHT JUST BEGINNING

Independence was not a fait accompli. The Vietnamese had struggled for more than a century against their French overlords and the fight would continue for three more decades, first against the French, then against a coalition led by the US.

The French gained their first foothold in Vietnam in the 18th century, sending missionaries, traders and diplomats. France’s military support for the Nguyen dynasty during a rebellion resulted in alliance between Vietnam and France. When the Vietnamese began dismissing French advisers and executing Christians and missionaries in the 1830s, the French threatened retaliation. Yet it was not until 1857 that they committed forces to subdue and then colonise Vietnam.

The locals rebelled in 1883, but by 1887 France effectively ruled the region known as French Indo-China. French people were installed in positions of power and extracted wealth from the country, while the indigenous people formed a subclass of low-paid workers and tenant farmers. It was a breeding ground for dissent.

BOY WITH A DESTINY

In 1890, a boy named Nguyen Sinh Cung was born to a poor country official and scholar who had resigned in protest against French domination. After finishing high school, Nguyen Sinh Cung became a cook on a French ship, eventually staying in France, working at various jobs while furthering his education, primarily in Marxism. He joined the French communist party, adopting the name Nguyen Ai Quoc (Nguyen the Patriot).

In 1923 he went to Moscow and in 1924 travelled to Canton, linking up with exiled Vietnamese, establishing the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association. When Chiang Kai-shek expelled communists from China in 1927, Nguyen returned to Moscow. From outside Vietnam he organised the formation of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930.

A PAWN OF WAR

In 1940 the Japanese signed an agreement with Vichy France allowing them to occupy Indo-China. In 1941, Nguyen Ai Quoc adopted the name Ho Chi Minh (He who enlightens) and returned to Vietnam. He tried to gain Chinese support but Chiang Kai-shek had him arrested. Ho spent 18 months in prison before friends had him released.

In 1945, in the final stages of World War II, the Japanese turned on the French in Indo-China, imprisoning or executing French officials. Collaborating with US forces, Ho conducted guerilla operations against the Japanese. By August 19, his forces had entered Hanoi and on September 2, he declared Vietnam’s independence.

But the French did not intend to let their colony go. In October, French general Jacques Leclerc landed in Saigon to take back the country.

A COUNTRY DIVIDED

Ho tried to use the French to drive out the Chinese in the north, hoping to make a treaty with France recognising Vietnamese independence. China withdrew, but France only allowed Vietnam a limited independence. Ho negotiated a better deal but in 1946, when a French cruiser opened fire on Haiphong, it led to war. The French fought on until 1954 when defeat at Dien Bien Phu resulted in negotiations for French withdrawal, the partition of Vietnam into north and south and the US stepping in as the south’s protectors, which led to the Vietnam War.

LONG ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

1945: Vietnam declares independence

1946: The first Indo-China War breaks out between France and Ho Chi Minh’s Vietminh

1954: French forces suffer a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu

1955: Geneva accords agree to a partition of Vietnam into the communist north and a US-supported south

1959: North Vietnamese guerillas begin waging a war against the US-backed regime in South Vietnam

1964: US passes the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, approving strikes against the North Vietnamese.

1973: US withdraw from Vietnam

1975: North Vietnam captures Saigon ending the war