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Nguyen Ngoc Bich

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Vietnamese resistance against French colonists (1911–1966)


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Nguyễn Ngọc Bích
As a student at École polytechnique, 1931
Born18 May 1911
Bến Tre, Cochinchina
Died4 December 1966(1966-12-04) (aged 55)
Thủ Đức, South Vietnam
CitizenshipSouth Vietnam
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Engineer
  • Resistance fighter
  • Medical doctor
  • Politician
Years active1935–1966
Known forResistance war, politics
TitleDoctor (medical)
Parents
Signature

Nguyễn Ngọc Bích (1911–1966) was a French-educated engineer, a Vietnamese "resistance hero" against the French colonists and "one of the most popular local heroes", a French-educated medical doctor, an intellectual and politician, who proposed an alternative viewpoint to avoid the high-casualty, high-cost war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

Nguyen-Ngoc-Bich street in the city of Cần Thơ, Vietnam, was named after him to honor and commemorate his sabotaging bridges and heroism during the First Indochina War.

Upon graduating from the École polytechnique (engineering military school under the French Ministry of Armed Forces) and then from the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (civil engineering) in France in 1935, Bich returned to Vietnam to work for the French colonial government. After World War II, in 1945, he joined the Viet Minh, became a senior commander in the Vietnamese resistance movement, and insisted on fighting for Vietnam's independence, not for communism.

Suspecting of being betrayed by the Communist faction of the Viet Minh and apprehended by the French forces, he was saved from execution by a campaign for amnesty by his École polytechnique classmates based in Vietnam, mostly high-level officers of the French army, and was subsequently exiled to France, where he founded with friends and managed the Vietnamese publishing house Minh Tan (in Paris), which published many important works for the Vietnamese literature. In parallel, he studied medicine and became a medical doctor. He was highly regarded in Vietnamese politics, and was suggested by the French in 1954 as an alternative to Ngo Dinh Diem as the sixth prime minister of the State of Vietnam under the former Emperor Bảo Đại as Head of State, who selected Ngo Dinh Diem as prime minister. While Bich 's candidature for the 1961 presidential election in opposition to Diem was, however, declared invalid by the Saigon authorities at the last moment for "technical reasons", he was "regarded by many as a possible successor to President Ngo Dinh Diem".

First Indochina War

The broader historic events of World War II and the First Indochina War---specifically, the short interwar period between end of the former and the beginning of the later—led to the context in which Nguyen Ngoc Bich fought the French colonists until he was captured. The activities directly or indirectly affected Bich 's life by four historic individuals are summarized. French General de Gaulle, by his desire to reconquer Indochina as a French colony, was a main force that led to the First Indochina War, in which Bich fought. Ho Chi Minh (Ho), founder and leader of the Viet Minh, called for the general uprising---against the French colonists and the Japanese occupiers---to which Bich responded. US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ardent anticolonialism could have prevented the two Indochina wars, and changed the course of history. US President Harry Truman was a reason that the First Indochina War is now called the "French-American" War in Vietnamese literature, and through his support for the French war effort supplied napalm bombs, which Bich mentioned in his 1962 paper. The US funded more than 30% of the war cost in 1952 under US President Eisenhower, and "nearly 80%" in 1954 under Truman.

Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh declaring Vietnam independence 1945 September 2.
Ho Chi Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp giving a farewell party to the US Army intelligence Deer Team (OSS), 1945.

For thirty years, from 1912 when Ho Chi Minh first visited Boston and New York City until about 1948–1949, Ho held out his hope that the US would provide military support for his anticolonialist resistance against the French. Since that visit to the US in his early twenties, Ho---like Bich, a Francophile anticolonialist, who was both a communist and a nationalist ---developed a "lifelong admiration for Americans".

Seizing on the opportunity of the Japanese entering Tonkin in 1940 September to begin occupy Indochina (with French agreement) to rid Vietnam of French colonial yoke, Ho (who was in Liuzhou, China) returned to the China-Vietnam border and began a "training program for cadres". Then on 1941 February 8, Ho crossed the border to enter Vietnam for the first time after 30 years away (from 1911 to 1941), and sheltered in cave Cốc Bó near the Pác Bó hamlet, in the Cao Bằng province, less than a mile from the Chinese border. There Ho convened a plenum in 1941 May, and founded the Viet Minh, an anticolonialist organization that Bich joined in 1945.

On 1941 September 8, two months after the total integration of Indochina into the Japanese military system, Ho (still known as Nguyen Ai Quoc at that time) in his call to arm to the people of Tonkin, announced the formation of the Viet Minh to "fight the French and Japanese fascism until the total liberation of Vietnam." On 1941 October 25, the Viet Minh published its first manifesto: "Unification of all social strata, of all revolutionary organizations, of all ethnic minorities. Alliance with all other oppressed peoples of Indochina. Collaboration with all French anti-fascist groups. One goal: the destruction of colonialism and imperialist fascism".

Gen. Chang Fa-kwei (2nd from right), US Kwangsi Command Headquarters, 1945 June 7

In 1942 August, Ho (named "Nguyen Ai Quoc" at that time) crossed the border into China with the intention of attracting the interest of the Allies in Chungking (now Chongqing) for the Vietnamese resistance movement, arrested by the Chinese on 1942 August 28 for being "French spy", but the real reason was Ho's political activities, viewed as "Communistic", instead of "nationalistic", by the Chinese (Chiang Kai-shek) and the Allies at Chungking (now Chongqing). Ho was detained for thirteen months, starting at the Tienpao prison, moving through eighteen different prisons, and ending up at Liuchow (now Liuzhou), from where he was released on 1943 September 10, after changing his name from Nguyen Ai Quoc to Ho Chi Minh. At that time, the name "Nguyen Ai Quoc" was very popular, while hardly any one heard of the new name "Ho Chi Minh".

Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in 1944 September, after obtaining the authorization from the Chinese authority, Zhang Fakui, who was under "severe pressure from the Japanese Ichigo offensive" to obtain intelligence in Indochina---and after submitting the "Outline of the Plan for the Activities of Entering Vietnam". All three protagonists---the French Vichy colonialists, the Japanese occupiers, and the Viet Minh---were deceived by US war plan, and expected a US invasion of Indochina. Such expectation was the main reason that, in 1945 February–March, during an "unusually cold month of February," Ho once again crossed back into China, and walked from the Pác Bó hamlet to Kunming to meet(and to "make friends with") American OSS and OWI (Office of War Information) officers to exchange intelligence. Ho's report to the OSS mentioned the Japanese coup de force on the evening of 1945 March 9.

Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault on 1945 July 23, four months after he met Ho Chi Minh on 1945 March 29.

In Kunming, Ho requested OSS Lt. Charles Fenn to arrange for a meeting with Gen. Claire Chennault, commander of the Flying Tigers. In the meeting that occurred on 1945 March 29, Ho requested a portrait of Chennault, who signed across the bottom "Yours sincerely, Claire L. Chennault". Ho displayed the portrait of Chennault, along with those of Lenin and Mao, in his lodging at Tân Trào as "tangible evidence to convince skeptical Vietnamese nationalists that he had American support". As additional evidence, Ho also possessed six brand-new US Colt.45 pistols in original wrappings that he requested and got from Charles Fenn. This "seemingly insignificant quantity" of arms,together with "Chennault's autographed photograph" as evidence, convinced other factions of the primacy of the Viet Minh. Ho's American-backing ruse worked.

In Cochin China (the south), where Bich lived and worked, (Trần Văn Giàu in Vietnamese), a Viet Minh leader and "Ho Chi Minh's trusted friend", on 1945 August 22 used Ho's ruse of "American backing for the Viet Minh", to convince other pro-Japanese nationalist groups (Phuc Quoc, Đại Việt, United National Front) and religious sects (Cao Đài, Hòa Hảo) that they would be outlawed by the invading Allies, and thus should accept the leadership of the Viet Minh, which had strong support of "the Allies with arms, equipment and training".

Souphanouvong, Ho Chi Minh, Bảo Đại, 1945 September 4

Fearing a US invasion with the French colonialists helping, the Japanese initiated operation Bright Moon (Meigo sakusen), leading to a coup de force on 1945 March 9 to neutralize the French forces and to remove the French colonial administration in Indochina (and thus the status of Bich 's job in the French colonial government). The resulting power vacuum following this coup de force changed the political situation, and provided a favorable setting for the Viet Minh takeover of the government. In 1945 April, Ho walked a perilous journey from Pác Bó to Tân Trào, the Viet Minh headquarters in the Liberated Area. There, on 1945 August 16, Ho called for a general uprising to throw out the Japanese occupiers that ultimately led to the August Revolution.

Ho Chi Minh, Leclerc, Sainteny, 1946 March 18.

Even though being a son of a Cao Đài pope, Bich joined the Viet Minh in 1945, instead of the Cao Đài force.

After the August Revolution in 1945, the French began to negotiate their return to Tonkin with both the Viet Minh and the Chinese army coming to disarm the defeated Japanese north of the 16th parallel. Ho Chi Minh was weary of the Chinese, who might stay in Vietnam permanently, signed the March 6 Accords with Jean Sainteny to agree to let the French army under General Leclerc to enter Tonkin. "With French troops arriving in Hanoi on March 18 , Leclerc quickly established cordial relations with Ho Chi Minh."

CBS reporter David Schoenbrun interviewed Ho Chi Minh on 1946 September 11, the same day that a telegram was dispatched from the High Commissioner d'Argenlieu to the French Indochina Committee on the arrest of Bich on 1946 August 25.

Resistance

Cai Rang bridge, Cần Thơ, 2024. Nguyen Ngoc Bich sabotaged this bridge during the First Indochina War.

After graduating in 1935 from the École nationale des ponts et chaussées, a civil engineering school, Nguyen Ngoc Bich returned home to work as a civil engineer for the colonial government at the Sóc Trăng Irrigation Department until the Japanese coup d'état in Viet Nam (1945 September 3). Bich then joined the Resistance in the Soc-Trang base area and was appointed Deputy Commander of the Military Zone 9 (vi), established on 1945 December 10, and included the provinces of Cần Thơ, Sóc Trăng, Rạch Giá, together with six other provinces. Bich sabotaged many bridges that were notoriously difficult to destroy such as Cai-Rang Bridge in Cần Thơ—where a street was named to honor his feats —Nhu-Gia Bridge in Sóc Trăng, etc., blocking the advance of French forces directed by General Valluy and General Nyo, who were under the general command of General Philippe Leclerc, commander of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (Corps expéditionnaire français en Extrême-Orient, CEFEO).

Vietnamese refugees boarding the US Navy ship LST 516 during Operation Passage to Freedom, October 1954. The cloth banner hung above the ship number 516 reads: "Your Passage to Freedom" with a Vietnamese translation below.

Joseph A. Buttinger was an ardent advocate for refugees of persecution, and a "renowned authority on Vietnam and the American war" in that country. In 1940, he helped founded the International Rescue Committee, "a nonprofit organization aiding refugees of political, religious and racial persecution", and while "working with refugees in Vietnam in the 1950s, he became immersed in the history, culture, and politics of that nation". His scholarship was in high demand during the Vietnam War. The New York Times described his his two-volume Vietnam-history book, Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, as "a monumental work" that "marks a strategic breakthrough in the serious study of Vietnamese politics in America" and as "the most thorough, informative and, over all, the most impressive book on Vietnam yet published in America". Joseph Buttinger wrote in


That Nguyen Ngoc Bich was being hunted by the French colonists was described in Joseph Buttinger's book:

Miss Hammer cites the case of an emissary sent by Nguyen Ngoc Bich. The French took down his name when he came to their headquarters to negotiate a cease-fire, and "it was soon public knowledge that the French had put a price on his head as well as on that of his commander, Nguyen Ngoc Bich " (ibid., p. 158). ---Joseph Buttinger (1967), Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, Vol.1, p. 641.

Publications

Notes


  • (↑ N.atr) Alliance transposition: A surprising alliance transposition happened, with rightist resistance fighters turned to the Japanese (just like the French turned to the British), whereas the leftist resistance fighters turned to China and America (just like the French turned to the USSR)

  • (↑ N.awc) American War casualties: The Second Indochina War or the Vietnam War, known as the "American War" in Vietnamese literature, led to a "staggering number of deaths, especially among Vietnamese (between three and four million Vietnamese lost their lives), and the utter destruction of much of the country of Vietnam and large portions of Laos and Cambodia."

  • (↑ N.p4a) Atlantic Charter, Point 4: "Fourth; they will endeavor, with due respect to their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all states, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity;"

  • (↑ N.bdq) Bảo Đại quote: In the foreword by Devillers for Tønnesson's 2010 book Vietnam 1946.

  • (↑ N.bs) Betrayal suspicion: On the betrayal suspicion, Chester Cooper wrote in 1970: "Whether the Viet Minh had actually betrayed him to French agents is not known for certain, but Bich always suspected that this was how he had been discovered", whereas the assertion that Bich "was betrayed by his Communist colleagues to the French" was written in the short biography that accompanied Bich's 1962 article, in Honey, P. J., ed. (March 1962), "Special Issue on Vietnam", The China Quarterly, 9, retrieved 18 Feb 2023. Volume 9. See the Note on The China Quarterly.

  • (↑ N.bb) Bich biography: See primary sources and extensive quotations from secondary sources (history books and articles) in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.

  • (↑ N.bi1, N.bi2) Bich 's injury: A photo showing the injury mark on the forefront of Bich as a result of this "intensive and unpleasant interrogation" can be found in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.

  • (↑ N.bjvm) Bich joined Viet Minh: See the quotation from a French doctoral thesis in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.

  • (↑ N.nnbs) Bich street: A street in Cần Thơ is named Nguyen Ngoc Bich to commemorate him blowing up the Cai-Rang Bridge in this city to stop the French troops advance in 1945–46. The short biography in Vietnamese, together with an English translation, in this street-naming plan is provided in the document Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography,

  • (↑ N.bvm) Bich Viet Minh: That Bich joined the Viet Minh in 1945 was mentioned in a French PhD dissertation with page image provided in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.

  • (↑ N.cd) Cao Đài: "Appealing largely to the uneducated and essentially superstitious masses, the Cao Đài mushroomed in size to over five hundred thousand by 1930, giving the French authorities cause for concern. A schism took place in 1933 when Pham Cong Tac, one of the original founders, organized a secret sect known as Pham Mon to exploit political objectives. With the death of Pope Le Van Trung in 1936, Tac seized control of the temple at Tây Ninh and proclaimed himself 'interim Pope.' From this point on the Cao Đài split into several distinct sects but retained in all of them a rigid rightist political philosophy, conservative in nature and vehemently anticommunist and promonarchical."
At first, the French colonialists tolerated the Cao Đài, prefering religious sects over Communists, allowing it to be practiced in Cochinchina (south Vietnam), but not in Annam (central Vietnam) and Tonkin (north Vietnam). "In 1940–41, the French altitude changed in Cochinchina loo, since it was realized that the new religion had turned into a pro-Japanese force. Citing messages from above, Caodaist priests predicted the certain victory of the Axis."
In the Spring of 1941, the Caodaistes found themselves in serious difficulty with the French administration, and sought help and protection from the Japanese, who were not in a position to provide. As a result, the Caodaistes were crushed by the French, with Cao Đài leaders sent into exile. By December 1941, the "famed" Kempeitai, the Japanese political police modeled after the Gestapo, came to Indochina, and provided help and protection to the Caodaistes and other nationalist factions. (In Devillers (1952), "Kempeitai" was translated into French as "Gendarmerie" and "police politique", whereas in Patti (1980), "kempeitai" was translated as "security police".)
After the Japanese coup de force on 1945 March 9, being pro-Japanese, the Cao Đài sect along with other pro-Japanese groups in the United National Front (Mặt Trận Quốc Gia Thống Nhứt), established on 1945 August 14, were convinced by Tran Van Giau, a Viet Minh leader in Cochinchina---and later "a prominent Vietnamese historian who organized the 1945 revolution in Saigon and the whole of Cochinchina (Nam Ky)"---that they all would be "outlawed" by the invading Allied, agreed to an alliance under the leadership of the Viet Minh.
After the Japanese officially surrendered on 1945 September 2, the same day that Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam Independence, General Leclerc (on 1945 October 5) and the French 5th Régiment d'Infanterie Colonial (RIC, Colonial Infantry Regiment, on 1945 October 3) were brought back to Cochinchina with the help of the British. The advance units of British troops, the 20th Indian Division, and of the French 5th RIC were flown into Saigon on 1945 September 12.
"The contentious character of the nationalist movement in the south facilitated Leclerc's 'pacification campaign' at the end of 1945 and the beginning of 1946. He took on the armies of the Hòa Hảo, the Cao Đài, and the Viet Minh one after the other. At first, he seemed to score a resounding military success. Many Caodaists rallied to the French. By March, Leclerc estimated that his troops controlled, not just the cities, but also 80 percent of the villages. Politically, however, France had confronted and alienated much of the population, and when the Viet Minh reorganized its forces and started to cooperate more systematically with the religious sects, guerrilla activity resurfaced in most of the areas the French thought they had pacified."
On 1946 April 10, Nguyen Binh, the equivalent of Võ Nguyên Giáp in the south, formed the Unified National Front (Mặt Trận Quốc Gia Liên Hiệp, "Front National Unifié"), composed of the Cao Đài and the same former pro-Japanese groups that were in the United National Front, established less than one year before on 1945 August 14, as mentioned above.
The side switching of these groups prompted Ho Chi Minh to describe the pro-Japanese politicians as "weathercocks who were pro-French yesterday, pro-Jap today, and pro someone else tomorrow."

  • (↑ N.clc) Chester Cooper: A summary of an obituary for Chester L. Cooper is in the document Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.

  • (↑ N.dcc) Cooper, PhD: Chester L. Cooper undertook his doctoral study in urban land economics, and after an interruption due to World War II, received his PhD in 1960.

  • (↑ N.chac) Churchill, Atlantic Charter: "Both Churchill and many members of his Cabinet were alarmed by the third point of the Charter, which mentions the rights of all peoples to choose their own government. Churchill was concerned that this clause acknowledged the right of colonial subjects to agitate for decolonization, including those in Great Britain's empire." Churchill wanted to "bind the United States closer to Great Britain", warned his cabinet on 1941 August 11 "that it would be "imprudent" to raise unnecessary difficulties. The Cabinet followed Churchill's recommendation and approved the Charter."

  • (↑ N.cf45) Cold February 1945: It has never been that cold. The temperature went down to four degrees Celsius at noon in Hanoi on 1945 February 13, Tết, new year day, Lunar year Ất-Dậu ("13-2-1945, Tết Nguyên Đán Ất-Dậu. Chưa bao giờ rét như thế này. Tại Hà Nội, buổi trưa, hàn thử biểu xuống tới 4 độ").

  • (↑ N.dar) D'Argenlieu recalled: D'Argenlieu was recalled back to France because of the intense dislike that he caused among the Vietnamese and among the Socialists and Communists in France, who gave him the nickname "The Bloody Monk," who was "widely believed to have sparked the war with his aggressive actions in 1946, in clear violation of the March 6 Accords and without informing Paris, the autonomous 'Republic of Cochin China' in the name of France." Such recognition went against the stipulation of a referendum for the unification of the three regions ("Kỳ", i.e., Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin) in the March 6 Accords. D'Argenlieu was also known as the "abomination of Vietnam," whom Bảo Đại was averse to have any dealings with.

  • (↑ N.cdg1, N.cdg2) De Gaulle: The permanent undersecretary at the British Foreign Office knew only that de Gaulle had a 'head like a pineapple and hips like a woman's', whereas the counselor at the US embassy in Paris and most of de Gaulle compatriots never heard of him. By August 1946, de Gaulle had resigned from the presidency of the French Provisional Government on 1946 January 20.

  • (↑ N.dgd) De Gaulle's dream: In 1940–41, in exchange for retaining control over Indochina and Thailand, both the French and the Thai agreed to let the Japanese Navy, Air Force, and Army use, for their military conquest, the harbors, air fields, and terrain in Indochina and Thailand. Meanwhile, in exile in London, De Gaulle later wrote in his war memoirs: "À moi-même, menant une bien petite barque sur l'océan de la guerre, L'Indochine apparaissait alors comme un grand navire désemparé que je ne pourrais secourir avant d'avoir longuement réuni les moyens du sauvetage. Le voyant s'éloigner dans la brume, je me jurais à moi-même de le ramener un jour." Ch. de Gaulle, Mémoires de guerre, Tome I, L'appel. 1940–42. p. 137.

  • (↑ N.dii) Devillers incorrect info: Devillers (1952) received incorrect information that Ho was in "Tsin Tsi" (Jingxi, Guangxi, China) as he wrote: "En mai 1941, il réussit à convoquer à Tsin Tsi dans le Kwang Si, à 100 km environ au Nord de Cao Bằng, un 'Congrès' (In May 1941, he succeeded in calling for a plenum at Jingxi in the Guangxi province, about 100 km north of the Cao Bằng province)."

  • (↑ N.fhh) Fenn helped Ho: OSS Lt. Charles Fenn helped "make Ho Chi Minh the undisputed leader of the Viet Minh in 1945".

  • (↑ N.fa1, N.fa2) Francophile anticolonialists: "French teachings and models over Confucian ones. Some of these teachings were, to say the least, unhelpful to the colonial enterprise. Voltaire's condemnation of tyranny, Rousseau's embrace of popular sovereignty, and Victor Hugo's advocacy of liberty and defense of workers' uprisings turned some Vietnamese into that curious creature found also elsewhere in the empire: the Francophile anticolonialist."

  • (↑ N.fwc) French-war cost: PBS US Involvement in Vietnam Video time 0:11 to 0:32: "In 1952, General Dwight Eisenhower was elected President, in part because he promised to take a tougher stance on communism. That year, American taxpayers were footing more than 30% of the bill for the French war in Vietnam (also called the "French-American" war). Within two years, that number would rise to nearly 80%." To be more precise, the "U.S. aid to the French military effort mounted from $130 million in 1950 to $800 million in 1953." The "United States became France's largest patron, ultimately funding 78 percent of the French war effort in Indochina,"reported historian L.H.T. Nguyen based on the Vietnamese document "Tong ket cuoc khang chien chong thuc dan Phap", Hanoi: Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 1996.

  • (↑ N.ehb) Hammer (1954): Ellen Hammer's 1954 book The Struggle for Indochina was "A superb study of the French effort to hold on to Indochina."

  • (↑ N.ejh) (Ellen J.) Hammer received her PhD from Columbia University, where she specialized in international relations, with a dissertation on public law and government. A summary of an obituary for Ellen J. Hammer is in the document Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.

  • (↑ N.hcm1) HCM quote1: From 1945 August 26 to 1980, when Patti published his book.

  • (↑ N.hos) HCM and OSS: For the relationship between the OSS and Ho Chi Minh during World War II, see the article OSS Deer Team and the book The OSS and Ho Chi Minh.

  • (↑ N.haa) Ho admires Americans: As cited in Logevall (2012), Note 22, p. 721: "Former New York Times Saigon correspondent A. J. Langguth, in his fine history of the American war, refers to Ho Chi Minh's 'lifelong admiration for Americans.' "

  • (↑ N.hac) Ho and Atlantic Charter: In his letter to the US Chairman of Foreign Affairs Association, Ho referred to the Atlantic Charter several times, twice on Page 1 alone: (1) " As a signatory power of the Atlantic and San-Francisco Charters, the United States of America have to be well informed on the real state of affairs", (2) "These principles of international justice and equality of status have been clearly expressed and solemnly proclaimed in point 3 and 4 of the Atlantic Charter and subsequently reiterated in the San Francisco Charter".

  • (↑ N.hcn) Ho, communist or nationalist? "For many decades there would be a heated debate among diplomats, politicians and political scientists in every corner of the world as to whether Ho Chi Minh was a communist or a nationalist. The answer is that he was both."

  • (↑ N.hgp) Ho gave pistols: That Ho gave the new pistols to his rivals, but not to his own people, testified to his political acumen in rallying his rivals to accept him as the top leader.

  • (↑ N.htp) Ho in Tienpao prison: Tienpao in the Wade–Giles transliteration is Tianbao in pinyin. See the analysis in Notes on Vietnam History.

  • (↑ N.hvn) Ho in Vietnam 1944: A French report at that time stated: "more than 200 political refugees had passed from China to Tonkin, most of them armed with pistols and daggers (poiguards), and that among them was a certain 'Nguyen Hai Quoc', who had crossed the border under the name of 'Ho Chi Minh'. Nguyen Hai Quoc, a man 'around sixty years old', was 'the probable leader' of the Viet Minh: 'Under Nguyen Hai Quoc's leadership, the new elements coming from Kwangsi have undertaken to reawaken the movement and bring back to their former activities the implacables who had taken refuge in the mountains.' "

  • (↑ N.hir) Ho's insight for revolution: Ho was convinced that with the Japanese occupation of Indochina and "with international events moving fast and Decoux's government isolated from metropolitan France, the potential for revolution in Vietnam was much enhanced."

  • (↑ N.hmo) Ho met OSS: Ho's "mission was probably to obtain information on the development of the war, try to gain Allied recognition for his league and perhaps also secure the Viet Minh a role in a forthcoming invasion". At the same time, Hoang Quoc Viet carried out a similar mission in Kwangsi (now Guangxi) with the Chinese Gen. Chang Fa-kwei, who told him that "I hope we shall soon meet again in Hanoi". See also the PBS interview with Hoang Quoc Viet in 1981.

  • (↑ N.dlb) Lancaster book: Donald Lancaster's 1961 book The Emancipation of French Indochina was "The best single book on the history of all Indochina to about 1955".

  • (↑ N.laa) Leclerc accepted assignment: Devillers (1952) wrote that Leclerc accepted his assignment on 1945 May 22 to command two French divisions placed under the general command of American forces in the Pacific ("Dès lors, c'est à obtenir la participation française à cet assaut que Paris voue ses efforts. Le 26 mai, le Gouvernement français offre à Washington de mettre à la disposition du Commandement américain dans le Pacifique un Corps d'Armée à deux divisions. Le general Leclerc, chef de la prestigieuse 2ème Division Blindée, le vainqueur de Koufra, de Paris, de Strasbourg et de Berchtesgaden, le plus connu et le plus populaire des chefs militaires français, a accepté le 22 mai d'en prendre le commandement.").

  • (↑ N.m6a1, N.m6a2, N.m6a3) March 6 Accords: Point 1 of the March 6 Accords stipulated that the French government recorgnized the Republic of Vietnam as a "Free state" within the French Union, and regarding Cochinchina, a referendum would be organized to unify the three regions of Vietnam, and the French government would ratify the decisions of the voting population ("Le Gouvernement français reconnait la République du Viêt-Nam comme un État libre ayant son government, son parlement, son armée et ses finances, faisant partie de la Fédération Indochinoise et de l'Union Française. En ce qui concerne la réunion des trois 'Ky', le gouvernement Français s'engage à entériner les décisions prises par la population consultée par référendum").

  • (↑ N.ng1, N.ng2) Napalm girl: A photo of the scars on the back and arm of Phan Thị Kim Phúc, the "napalm girl", is given in Stockton (2022).

  • (↑ N.bq1, N.bq2) NNB quotations: See more detailed quotations in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography

  • (↑ N.naq) Nguyen Ai Quoc: Hoang Quoc Viet recounted in his 1981 interview with the PBS: "I was sent to the southern part of the country at one point to discuss things with our comrades there. The discussion was very heated and it was very difficult to iron things out. Then I happened to mention the name Ho Chi Minh. These people in the south asked me who Ho Chi Minh was. I told them that he was Nguyen Ai Quoc. They all stood up and clapped and said that as I was a representative sent by Ho Chi Minh then there was no need for any further discussion. This was because at that time there was a feud going on between the so called "Old Viet Minhs" and "New Viet Minhs". But when they heard from me that Ho Chi Minh was indeed Nguyen Ai Quoc, they were all overjoyed, saying that if Nguyen Ai Quoc had returned home to lead the movement then everything would be solved, that there should be unity and solidarity."

  • (↑ N.vnh, N.vnh2) Notes on Vietnam history: See quotations in Notes on Vietnam history.

  • (↑ N.pvar) Power vacuum to August Revolution: "In August and September 1945, the white-bearded Ho Chi Minh emerged as the winner of the Indochina game.... He expected an Allied invasion and prepared himself for assisting the invading forces. Instead he got a power vacuum and a sudden Japanese surrender. This provided him with an occasion more favorable for bloodless revolution than he could ever have imagined. He then proclaimed the republic that would later defeat both France and the United States."

  • (↑ N.psq1, N.psq2, N.psq3) Primary sources, quotations: See primary sources, extensive notes and quotations in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography and Notes on Vietnam History.

  • (↑ N.tcc) Taberd Cochin China: Jean-Louis Taberd was likely among the first to explain the meaning of "Cochin China" in his 1837 scientific article; see quotation in Notes on Vietnam History.

  • (↑ N.tac) "They" in Atlantic Charter: "They" here means FDR and Churchill and their respective governments.

  • (↑ N.uii) US invasion of Indochina: The US was the only country among the Allies (British and Chinese) that could invade Indochina; see Chap. 4, Colliding Plans, in Tønnesson (1991).

  • (↑ N.uwp) US war plan: "... to confuse the Japanese, possibly the French as well, concerning US intentions. Perhaps Roosevelt meant the plan seriously at first, and then changed it into a deceptive operation when he realized that it could not be carried out... Indochina came to play a similar role in Roosevelt's war against Japan as Norway occupied in Churchill's war against Germany. For a long time, Churchill toyed with the idea of a Norwegian landing as a way of securing the transport route to Russia and bringing Sweden into the war. Then, when his generals and admirals adamantly refused to carry out the project, Norway instead became the focus of elaborate deception and diversion plans, aiming at inducing Hitler to keep as many troops as possible in an irrelevant theatre."

  • (↑ N.vmm) Viet Minh manifesto: "Union de toutes les couches sociales, de toutes les organisations révolutionnaires, de toutes les minorités ethniques. Alliance avec tous les autres peuples opprimés de l'Indochine. Collaboration avec tous les élements antifascistes français. Un but: la destruction du colonialisme et de l'impérialisme fascistes."

  • (↑ N.wtk) Walking to Kunming: It takes about two weeks to walk from Pác Bó to Kunming using likely the same road (among several others) undertaken by the invading Mongols in the thirteen century.

  • (↑ N.ytp1, N.ytp2) Year of the Pig: In his interview in the 1968 documentary In the Year of the Pig, at the Youtube video time 13:56, Paul Mus recounted: "Ho Chi Minh said , 'I have no army.' That's not true now . 'I have no army.' 1945. 'I have no finance. I have no diplomacy. I have no public instruction. I have just hatred and I will not disarm it until you give me confidence in you.' Now this is the thing on which I would insist because it's still alive in his memory, as in mine. For every time Ho Chi Minh has trusted us, we betrayed him."

References

Patti 1980 Brocheux 2007 Devillers 1952 Doan-Them 1965 Tonnesson 2007, Tram-Huong 2003, Buttinger 1967a, Marr 1984, Marr 1995, Ho 1945 Britannica--> Marr 2013

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