Vietnam History from 1900-1954

"A painful experience awaited many young Vietnamese, usually of wealthy origin, who studied in Paris. Having enjoyed the freedom and comradship of the Latin Quarter, they would return to Vietnam to have their newspapers and books confiscated by the colonial police, who regarded them as potential subversives. They rarely found jobs that equaled their education, and they could never match the wages of the French. One such returned student, convicted during the 1930's for nationalist agitation, told the judge at his trial that French injustice "turned me into a revolutionary."(Karnow,115)

France collapsed in 1940, leaving her overseas possessions virtually without
leadership. In Indochina, as vital merchandise was brought into China by the
French Yunnan railroad, it was the moment the Japanese chose to demand con-
trol of the Tonkin border from French Governor General Catroux that Catroux's
calls to the United States were in vain as President Roosevelt had made up his
mind that France, having "milked Vietnam for one hundred years, should never
be allowed to come back." Thus, a defenseless Catroux had to abide the Jap-
anese ultimatum. For this he was dismissed and replaced by Admiral Decoux. (Chapius,135)

The Ho-Sainteny Agreement seemed to promise a peaceful, if not amicable,
short-term settlement to the explosive postwar situation in Viet Nam. Though, even while Ho Chi Minh was in Paris negotiating the final details of this agreement, authorities of the French were at the scene attempting to set up Cochinchina as an independent state. This state would be seperate from the rest of Viet Nam and place it under French protection.
The man behind this provocative move was Admiral Thierry d'Argenlieu, "the
most brilliant mind of the twelfth century," whose appointment as French High
Commissioner of Indochina has been called "France's major postwar blunder
in Southeast Asia." A quickly-gathered assembly proclaimed the autonomous
republic of Cochinchina on June 1, 1946. No Viet Minh government, not even
Ho's, could long survive if it recognized such a state of affairs as permanent. (Joes,20)

On the other side, the French had little enough reason to have confidence in
the Viet Minh. In December 1944 Giap's forces had attacked two remote French
outposts. In August of the following year, after the signing of the Ho-Sainteny
agreement, Viet Minh forces at Bac Ninh destroyed a French convoy on an
authorized mission. (Joes, 20)

In 1954 the Final declaration, dated July 21, 1954, of the Geneva Conference was focused upon the problem of restoring peace within Indochina. All who took part in this decleration were representatives of Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, France, Laos, the People's Republic of China, the State of Viet-Nam, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Chapius, Oscar. The last Emperors of Bietnam From Tu Doc To Bao Dai. Greenwood Press: London,2000

Joes, J. Anthony. The War for South Viet Nam, 1954-1975. Praeger:Westport, CT., 1990

Karnow, Stanley. A History The First Complete Account of Vietnam at War. The Viking Press:New York,1983