Pham Van D ong, confirm ed: “Yes, it w as” There were no other possibilities... 22 Dinh Xuan Lamcu n n in g sch em es o f French Im perialism and th eir lackeys, our P arty fin a lly
Trang 1THE FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY AND T H E F R E N C H P E O P L E DURING THE RESISTANCE OF TH E VIETNAM ESE P E O P L E AGAINST THE FRENCH COLONISTS W HICH LED TO THE
VICTORY OF DIEN B IEN PH U
It is p o ssib le to confirm th a t from the
outbreak o f World War II to th e sp rin g of
1944 w hen th e resista n ce a g a in st Fascism
in France w as com ing to an encl in a
con text th a t ev erv connection betw een
France and V ietn am w as n early d isru p ted ,
the French C o m m u n ist Party did not know
a n y th in g about th e d ev elo p m en t of the
R evolution in V ietn am From the su m m er
of 1940 to th e victory of th e A ugust
R evolution in 1945, th e Indochinese
C om m un ist P a rty w a s com p letely
sep arated from th e o u tsid e world and all
co n n ectio n s w ith th e French C om m un ist
Party w ere cu t off E t tin e Fajon a m em ber
of th e th e French C om m un ist Party
P olitbureau stated : “I d id not th in k the
steering com m ittee (of the French
C om m unist Party) knew a nything about
Indochina" (1, p 61) EỈ1C M ignot, a
sta n d in g m em ber of the Colonial
C om m ittee o f th e French C om m unist
Party from A u g u st in 1945 also adm itted:
‘7/1 1945 a n d Ĩ946, we had very little
inform ation o f V ietnam We knew the
A ugust R evolution through some pieces o f
news in the newspapers These pieces o f
inform ation were not sufficient for
u n derstan din g the situation happening in
Indochina” (1, p 62). R aym ond Barbe, a
sta n d in g m em b er of th e Colonial
C om m ittee from th e su m m er of 1945
added: “A s fa r as I know, u n til the uprising
° Professor, Department of History, College of Social
Sciences & Humanities, VNU.
D in h X u a n L a m (,)
which led the Viet M in h to pow er in
A u g u st a n d Septem ber in 1945, the French
C om m u nist P arty h a d not ha d any inform ation for eva lu a tin g the situation o f the w ar in Indochina Only after a few days when newspapers announced th a t the Viet
M inh was in power, I w as told by Vietnam ese com rades in France that Ho Chi M inh usas N guyen A i Quoc, who h ad been w ell-know n to the leaders o f the French C o m m u n ist Party A s soon as the news was confirm ed, it was im m ediately sent to the leadership o f the French
C om m unist P a r ty " (1 p 70).
M ea n w h ile, th e d e sig n o f th e French
I m p e r ia lists to reoccu py colonial co u n tries (in clu d in g In dochina) had rev ea led q u ite early E ven w h en W orld W ar II had not
en d ed and F ran ce had been in vad ed by the
G erm an s, th e p ro v isio n a l republican
g o v ern m en t o f F ran ce (the R esista n c e
g o v ern m en t) in A lg er led by C om m ander
D e G a u lle ca lled for a m e e tin g in
B ra zz a v ille (th e Congo) to d isc u ss colonial
is s u e s (from J a n u a r y r ' to Feb ru ary 8th in 1944) At th e m eetin g , th e idea of lib e r a tin g co lo n ia l n a tio n s w a s ignored
R en e P lev en , r e p r e se n ta tiv e o f th e French
p rovision al g o v ern m en t, an n oun ced fran k ly th a t “u n d er French Im p erialism ,
th ere w ere n a tio n a l is s u e s to be liberated
an d th ere w ere no racial d iscr im in a tio n s to
g e t rid o f ( ); th e o v e r s e a s n a tio n s knew
n o th in g o f n a tio n a l in d ep en d en c e except
th e n a tio n a l in d ep en d en ce of F ran ce.” (1,
19
Trang 22 0 Dinh Xuan Lam
P.73-74) By A u g u st 1944 w h en P aris w a s
liberated, th e G o v ern m en t of the
résista n ts, w hich had ju st w on a victory for
th e nation, issu ed an order to e sta b lish an
arm y led by C om m ander Leclerc and th is
army was assigned with the mission to
m ove tow ards th e Far E a st to fig h t a g a in st
the la st a llies o f H itler - th e J a p a n ese
F ascists A fter F rance had b een liberated ,
the De G au lle g o v ern m en t issu ed
O rdinance on th e fu ture o f Indochina
(March 24th in 1945) T h is d ocu m en t is, in
essen ce, th e resto ra tio n o f th e colonial
regim e in Indochina In th a t h istorical
context, m any French c o m m u n ists could
avoid b ein g id eologically in flu en ced T he
th in g th a t n eed s to be confirm ed
im m ed ia tely is th a t b efore th en the
relation sh ip b etw een F rench co m m u n ists
and the R evolution o f V ietn a m had been
close and had gone th rou gh th e m ill in
m any h istorical periods Red A ssista n ce,
th e stru g g le co m m issio n for r e le a sin g
political p rison ers carried out m any fierce
fights a g a in st brutal terro rist action s by
French Im p eria lists at th e b eg in n in g of th e
1930s Then in 1936 and 1937» th e French
P e o p le s Front w ith co m m u n ists w orking
as a ctiv ists stood sid e by sid e w ith
R evolutionary fig h ters an d th e V ietn a m ese
people to figh t for b asic dem ocratic
in terests.
B ecau se th e rela tio n sh ip b etw een th e
In dochinese C o m m u n ist P arty and th e
French C om m un ist P a rty w a s d isru p ted
for a long tim e an d p artly b eca u se the
political situ a tio n of F rance and th e world
after th e liberation of F ran ce (France had
ju st won th e victory over facism and th ere
w as an in n er sp lit am o n g th e political
allian ce of forces o f th e four victorious
superpow ers) d eterm in e d th e policy o f th e
French C om m un ist P a rty on colonial
cou n tries in gen eral and on Indochina in
p articu la r, th a t is, com bining the
p ro g ressiv e forces in th e m other country
w ith th o se in th e co lon ies to fig h t for new
d em ocratic righ ts T h is policy sh o w s th a t
th e ta r g e ts o f th e French C om m u n ists by
th a t tim e w ere lik e th o se o f th e D em ocratic Front period, th ey w ere u n a b le to realise
th e fact th a t th ere had been m any ch an ges
in th e p olitical life o f th e peoples in th e colon ial an d d ep en d en t n ation s Ejien
F a ro n g ’s sp eech at th e C ongress of the
F ren ch C o m m u n ist P arty h eld in Ju n e,
1947 ca n be q uoted to illu str a te th e idea at
th a t tim e: uIn the general situation o f the
w orld a t the moment, the French Union is still the best organization for the
im plem entation o f the aspiration o f the colonial peoples w ith the assistance o f the French w orking class a n d the French people ( ) Please stay w ith us in the French U nion!'
In th a t sp ecific h istorical con text, the
F rench C o m m u n ist P arty could not have
th e rig h t policy on colonial countries
H ow ever, th e r e w ere quick ch a n g es after
S ep tem b e r 2nd, 1945 T hrough electric waves» th e D ecla ra tio n of In depend en ce
w a s tr a n sm itte d to every corner of the
ea rth O n b e h a lf o f th e provisional
g o v ern m en t o f th e D em ocratic R epublic of
V ietn a m an d th e V ietn a m e se people,
P r e sid e n t Ho Chi M inh so lem n ly declared
“V ietnam w ent aw ay from French
Im p eria lists' relationship a n d abolished the privileges o f France in Vietnam ’ (5, p 21) A t th e sa m e tim e, P r e sid en t Ho Chi
M inh also an n o u n ced in cisiv ely in the
w orld uV ietnam has the right to enjoy independence a n d freedom , arid in fact has
is an independent a n d free country The entire Vietnam ese people have determ ined
to devote all their spirit and forces, their lives a n d w ealth to holding fa st to that freedom a n d independence” (5, p 22).
V N U , Jo u rn a l o f Science S o t, Sci.t Human N J E , 2(H)4
Trang 3R ight a fter th at, th ere w ere c h a n g e s in
th e words o f th e French C o m m u n ists’
papers T h e p olitb u reau o f th e French
C om m un ist Party ad v a n ced an
a n n o u n ce m en t on S ep tem b er 2 0 th and th en
organized a m eetin g on J a n u a r y 12th
O b viously, a t th e end of th e la s t th ree
m on ths in 1945, th e F rench C o m m u n ist
P arty w a s a w a re of th eir b a ck w a r d n ess in
u p d a tin g in form ation B u t it w a s not u n til
spring 1946 th a t th e lin k s b e tw e e n th e two
parties w ere estab lish ed On N ovem ber 15th,
1945, th e C en tral C o m m ittee o f th e
In d o ch in ese C om m un ist P arty issu e d th e
D irective on n ation -w id e r e sista n c e, in
w hich it p red icted th a t after th e g en era l
election in October» 1945, th e French
C o m m u n ist P arty w ould be th e stro n g e st
force in th e French P a rlia m en t On M arch
9,ht 1946 a s soon as th e P relim in a ry
A g reem en t had b een sig n ed by V ietn am
and France, th e C entral C o m m ittee of
In d o ch in ese C o m m u n ist P arty decided to
esta b lish co n ta cts w ith th e F rench
C o m m u n ist P arty in order to carry o u t
concerted a ctio n s T h en , on A pril 4 th, 1946,
th e N a tio n a l A ssem b ly d eleg a tio n o f th e
D em ocratic R epublic o f V ietn a m led by Mr
Pham Van Dong arrived in France and
th er e w a s a m eetin g b e tw e e n th e
V ie tn a m e se d eleg a tio n an d Mr M uarice
T horez Mr J a cq u es D uclos an d Mr A ndre
M arty on M ay 7‘h, at th e h ea d office of th e
French C o m m u n ist P arty At th a t tim e,
th e ste e r in g co m m ittee o f th e F rench
C o m m u n ist P arty w a s a cc u r a te ly and
su ffic ien tly inform ed o f th e situ a tio n in
V ietn am B ec a u se o f lack o f in fo rm a tio n
before th a t tim e, m isu n d e r sta n d in g w a s
ca u sed by som e th in g s su ch a s th e
a n n o u n ce m en t of th e In d o ch in ese
C o m m u n ist P arty th a t “it dissolved its e lf’
in N ovem b er, 1945 th e n ew s w a s clarified
T he “co n fid en ce” and “m u tu a l a g r e e m e n t”
of two p a rties w ere s e t up Later, w hen answ ering in terview ers about the restoration of th e rela tion sh ip b etw een the two p a rties of le a d in g th e N ation al
A ssem b ly d eleg a tio n to France in April,
1946, th e d elegation leader, Mr Pham Van
D ong, confirm ed: “Yes, it w as” There were
no other possibilities We had close contact We m ade great efforts to inform the French C om m unist Party o f the situation, the French C om m unist Party became a big party but it could not understand everything1' (1, p 71).
R igh t after th a t, th e L /H u m a n ite\ a
n ew sp ap er of F rench C om m un ist Party, considered th e P relim in ary A greem en t as
th e m a n ifesta tio n o f “a rea listic p o lic y ’ of the French govern m en t A fter th a t there
w as a num ber of a rticles carried in the
n ew sp ap er d em a n d in g th e French
g overn m en t to exp el reactio n a ries and
im p eria list-m in d ed so ld iers from the
ex p ed ition ary arm y and sen d to V ietnam dem ocratic-m inded o n es to figh t a g a in st
th e policies of colonial m onopoly
ca p ita lists T he French C om m u n ist Party actively fo u g h t a g a in s t th e sch em e for sep a ra tin g S ou th V ietn a m from V ietnam and raised its voice to ex p o se T hierrry cT
A rgen lieu “ H igh C o m m ission er of France
in th e Pacific region and M ax A ndre’* th e
d eleg a tio n lea d er a t th e conference who
w a s r e p re se n ta tiv e of corporations and Indochina B ank du rin g th e F on tain eb leau conference.
As for u s, w e put no hope in French
C olonialism A lth ou gh our govern m en t sign ed th e P relim in a r y A g reem en t w ith rep resen ta tiv e of th e French govern m en t
to set up fo u n d a tio n s for an official
a g reem en t, th e sta n d in g co m m ittee of the cen tral party issu ed th e D irectiv e entitled:
“T he cu rren t situ a tio n and our policy” (March 3rd , 1946) A fter a n a ly zin g th e
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Trang 422 Dinh Xuan Lam
cu n n in g sch em es o f French Im perialism
and th eir lackeys, our P arty fin a lly
confirmed: % iI f the French keep the self-
accordance w ith the declaration on M arch
24th , 1945, we will carry oat our fig ht
against them and we will carry out a long
term resistance against them, using
guerilla warfare We w ill stop fig h tin g i f
they recognise the independence o f
Indochina," (6, p 44) T o geth er w ith
m aking clear th e prim ary p rin ciples o f th e
n egotiation b etw een V ietn am and France,
w hich are in d ep en d en ce and cooperation
on the b a sis of eq u a lity , F rance had to
adm it our peop le’s rig h ts to in d ep en d en ce
and self-control, w e recognised th e righ t to
sta tio n tem porary o f th e French arm y in
V ietnam T he D irective em p h a sized th a t
‘T h e m ost im p ortan t th in g is th a t w h en
n eg o tia tin g w ith F rance, w e not only
continued p reparation, b u t a lso w ere
determ ined th a t w e did not allow th e
negotiation w ith th em to w ear down th e
figh tin g sp irit of our peop le” (6, p 46)
T hree days after th e a g reem en t had been
signed; th e sta n d in g co m m ittee of th e
central party also issu e d a D irective
entitled: "Reconcile to advance (M arch 9th,
1946) in order to m ake clear th e reason
w hy w e needed to be a friend of France,
criticizing th e erroneous ten d en cie s w hich
m ight occur in officials, party m em bers
and people, w a tch in g o u t in case th e
French C olonists w ould break th eir
prom ise, and ta k e a d v a n ta g e of d ộ ten te
and a ctively prepared for th e resista n c e
th roughout th e country.
A few days after th e P relim in ary
A greem en t had b een signed» th e
reaction aries in F rance and Indochina
broke th eir prom ise, r estiv e ly tryin g th eir
u tm ost to u n d erm in e th e n eg o tia tio n ,
in ten tio n a lly c u ttin g o ff ev ery dộtente.
T h ese a c tio n s forced our people in the
w hole cou n try to sta n d up to fig h t a gain st
th e en e m ie s On D ecem ber 19l\ 1946,
P resid en t Ho Chi M inh issu e d an Appeal
to the whole country to carry out the
war of resistance against the French:
“We w a n t peace a n d we m ake concessions
B ut the more concessions we make, the nearer French Colonialists come to us because they are determ ined to invade our country again.
everything than lose the country and be slaves” (6, p 86).
A t th a t tim e, th ere w ere many
n o ticea b le e v e n ts in France In January,
1947, V in cen t A uriol, a m em ber of the
S o cia list P arty w on th e election and
b ecam e P r e sid e n t of France, th e cab in et of
P au l R am ad ier w a s s e t up and there were five m in iste r s w h o w ere m em bers of the French C o m m u n ist P arty in th e new
go vern m en t T he French C om m un ist Party still k ep t on fig h tin g for a peacefu l solution
to th e Vietnam issue and dem anded the
g o v ern m en t of R am adier to n eg o tia te w ith
th e g o v ern m en t o f Ho C hi M inh In sp ite of the fact th a t th e French C om m u n ist Party
w a s a b ig party in F rance a t th a t tim e, it
w as n ot stro n g en ou gh to gear th e political direction for France.
H o w ever, under th e p ressu re of the stru g g le o f th e French people and the French C o m m u n ists and w ith th e fierce
co u n ter-a tta ck s o f th e V ie tn a m ese army and peop le, th e French C olon ists had to
ch a n g e th e ir sch em e In M arch, 1947,
E m ile B o laert w a s ap p oin ted to be
C o m m issio n er in Indochina On the surface, h is “m issio n ” w a s for p eace but in esse n ce h is p resen ce w a s to fin ish the war
by a m ilita ry a tta ck to crush our regim e and th e n p layed th e “Bao Dai card” in order to esta b lish a p u p p et governm ent
17V(/ Journal o f Science S(>( Sc I Human N ltSE, 2iH>4
Trang 5w hich w a s th e lackey o f th em To cope
w ith a n ew sch em e of th e en em y , on J u ly
15th 1947, the sta n d in g co m m itte e of the
central party issu ed the D irective: "What
d id Bo-la say? " A n d "What do we have to
do? " to show clearly: Ẽ\Every force o f our
nation is encouraged to figh t against the
French Colonist ss scheme - "use the
Vietnamese to fig h t aga in st the
V ietnam ese' a n d prepare to fig h t against
the enem y's great attacks in the coming
months: "m ilitary victory helps political
success" (6, P 144‘145) The Directive
confidently concluded: "We are not lonely
Only w hen we unite closely, the whole
people carry out the w ar o f resistance for a
long tim e, an d we have the right policies,
we will certainly w in Then, it is not the
enemies such as B0‘La who can pose
conditions upon us, but it is the unity and
fierce struggle o f our nation a n d o f the
French people that, will force French
reactionary colonists to surrender ‘ (6, p
144-145).
To im p lem en t th e D irectiv e of the
central party dated O ctober 15, 1947 (to
sm ash the w inter attack o f the French
enemy), (6, P 1 4 6 -1 6 1 ), ou r arm y and
people in all b a ttle fie ld s n ation -w id e
cooperated clo sely w ith th e arm y and
people in V iet Bac to figh t w ith fortitude
and w in a glorious victory, w h ich fostered
th e confidence o f th e arm y and people
th ro u g h o u t th e w h ole cou n try to achieve
th e final victory in th e lon g r e sista n c e war
o f V ietn am
A t th a t tim e, in France, th e fig h t of the
a llia n ce forces a g a in st th e p olitical policies
o f th e French C om m u n ist P a rty becam e
more acu te P rim e M in ister R am adier
decided th a t five m in isters w ho w ere
co m m u n ist party m em b ers h ad to resign
from th e g o vern m en t In th a t situ a tio n ,
a lth o u g h the French C o m m u n ist Party
m ade a grea t effort to figh t for a peaceful solu tion , obviously th e b alan ce of power did not allow th e French C om m un ist Party
to create e s s e n tia l ch a n g es H ow ever, the
F rench C om m u n ist Party m ade th e right
d ecision w hich w a s dyn am ic and flexible:
no lim itation; th a t w as, th e Vietnam issue
w a s not lim ited to th e scope of two cam ps
in th e world From 1947 to 1954, the French C om m un ist P arty a ttem p ted to lay bare to th e French people th a t th e w ar in Indochina in creased F ran ce’s dependence
on A m erica and w a s th rea ten in g the
in d ep en d en ce o f France; and at th e sam e tim e th e Party m ade th e French people
u n d ersta n d th a t th e figh t for peace in
V ietn am w a s clo sely related to the protection for F ran ce’s in d ep en d en ce from
A m erican Im p erialism T he n ew sp ap ers of
th e French C om m u n ist Party such as
L 'H um a nité' and France Nouvelle carried
m any articles w hich d em anded French
C olo n ia lists to put an end to th e w ar in
V ietn am , to n e g o tia te im m ed ia tely with
th e g o v ern m en t of Ho Chi M inh and to
m ake clear th e in te r e sts o f V ietnam and France A t th e P a rlia m en t m eeting,
d e le g a te s w ho w ere m em bers of the French
C om m un ist P arty ra ised th eir voice to con d em n th e fig h tin g factions At the
m eetin g on J a n u a ry 2 5 th, 1950, th e fem ale com rade J e a n n e tte V erm ersch angrily con d em n ed th e fig h tin g factions: 44You forget th a t the Vietnamese people are living
in their own country They are not invaders, but you yourselves are It was not the Vietnamese people who dropped bombs in M arseille, it was you yourselves who dropped bombs in Hai Phong Do I feel indignant?Yes, it is me who feel
in d ig n a n t I a m indign ant when I th in k o f
m illions o f children being hungry and living in poverty, when I th in k o f millions
o f proletarians who are being exploited by
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Trang 624 Dinh Xuan Lam
you ; Yes, I a m in d ig n a n t because m ost o f
the m em bers o f our P arlia m ent are
im perialists ” (1, p 2 2 0 -2 2 1 ) French
social o r g a n iz a tio n s (su ch a s G en eral
C onfederation o f Labour, W om en U nion,
and Youth Union) carried out various
form s o f fig h tin g su c h a s co llectin g
s ig n a tu r e s to d em a n d for p ea ce in V ietn a m
in order to h a n d o v er th em to m em b ers o f
city co u n cils, m em b ers o f P a rlia m en t,
m in isters, govern ors ; m e e tin g s and
d em o n str a tio n s w ere h eld in th e w hole
country; o r g a n isin g m e e tin g s u n d e r th e
n a m e “We are for V i e t n a m French
m oth ers d em a n d ed th e F ren ch g o v ern m en t
to retu rn to th em th eir ch ild r en w h e n th ey
are alive, not w h en th e y are in coffins;
th ey w ore m o u rn in g for th e ir children;
o rg a n izin g b allot-b ox to d em a n d p eace for
V ietn a m , etc.
A lso a t th a t tim e, from 1949 to 1953,
th ere w ere m a n y c h a n g e s w h ich w ere not
favorab le for th e im p e r ia lists in th e world
a s w ell a s in V ietn a m T h e C h in ese
lib eration arm y m oved to th e so u th to get
clo se to th e n o rth ern border o f V ietn a m In
1950, th e w ar in K orea broke o u t and th ree
yea rs la te r th e A m erican Im p e r ia lists and
th eir h en c h m en had to w ith d rew in to the
S o u th In V ie tn a m , th e r e s is ta n c e w ar
a g a in st th e F ren ch d e v elo p e d in to a new
sta g e , th e border p ro v in ce s in th e north
from Cao B a n g to L a n g S on w ere all
liberated T h e A m erica n I m p e r ia lis ts took
a d v a n ta g e o f F ra n ce’s m iser a b le situ a tio n
in V ietn a m to in ter fe re in In d o ch in a T he
sh adow o f A m erica w a s co v erin g th e
in d ep en d en ce o f F ran ce H en ri N avarre
adm itted: "The m ost dangerous th in g o f
A m erican a ids was its political purpose
A m erican aids have interfered more deeply
in our work, a n d the consequence is that we
will lose Indochina even though their aid
m ay help us w in the w ar in th is region” (4).
In th a t s itu a tio n , for th e sak e of
in te r n a tio n a lism an d o f th e national
in te r e sts of F ran ce, th e F rench C om m unist
P arty sp ed up th e s tr u g g le to end the
in v a sio n w ar in V ie tn a m T he dem and
they raised at that time was stronger; they
could not rem a in a t prop agan da level,
ra th er th ey h a d to carry o u t m ore active str u g g les In r e sp o n se to th e a p p eal by the French C o m m u n ist P a rty , th e French
G en era l C o n fed era tio n o f L abour launched
d em o n str a tio n s a t th e p orts w h ere there
w ere sh ip s load ed w ith w ea p o n s and
eq u ip m en t to In d o ch in a From M arseille,
T oulon, Le H a rv e to D u n k erq u e, A ngler ,
ev er y w h e re th e r e w ere d em o n stra tio n s of
th e w ork ers a g a in s t lo a d in g com m odities
on sh ip s to V ie tn a m in s p ite of the
su p p re ssio n , p u n ish m e n t, and ev en arrest
an d im p r iso n m e n t o f reactionary
g o v ern m en t T he s tr u g g le s o f th e port
w ork ers a s w e ll a s o th er stru g g les
th ro u g h o u t F ra n ce w ere a lw a y s connected
w ith th e d em a n d for p eace, for the
w ith d ra w a l o f th e F ren ch exp ed ition ary arm y from V ietn a m , an d for negotiation
w ith th e g o v e r n m e n t o f Ho Chi M inh
R e p r e se n ta tiv e of th e fierce struggle
m o v em en ts o f th e F ren ch people and
w ork ers a t th a t tim e w ere Mr Raym ond
D ien w ho la y on th e r a ilw a y to prevent
tr a in s from ca rry in g w e a p o n s to V ietnam (F eb ru ary 2 4 th, 1949) an d th e cam p aign to
d em an d r e le a s in g H en ri M artin , a m em ber
of th e F ren ch C o m m u n ist P arty w ho used
to be p r e se n t at th e b a ttle field of
In dochina W hen co m in g back to France,
h e d en o u n ced th e crim es o f th e French
in v a d ers in V ietn a m D u r in g th ree years (1950*1953), th e c o m m u n ists, th e w orking cla ss, th e w o m en u n ion and th e youth
u n io n o f F ran ce carried o u t various str u g g le a c tiv itie s T h e y m ad e th e case of
H a n g rim a xta n b ecom e th e fu se resou n d in g
V N U Jo u rn a l o f Science, Soi’., S ci Human., N 'J E 2004
Trang 7th e Vietnam issue am o n g th e p eop le of
F rance and c o n stitu ted th e s tr o n g e st force
in ev ery p lace in th e c o u n try sid e and c itie s
of F ran ce to str u g g le for p eace in
Indochina T h e good fe e lin g and co n scien ce
of th e F rench peop le, in c lu d in g m any
in te lle c tu a ls w ho w ere a n ti-co m m u n ists,
w ere a w ok en in th e fig h t a g a in s t th e dirty-
w ar w hich th e F rench C o lo n ia lists w ere
carryin g o u t in In dochina F in a lly , facin g
th e fierce str u g g le m o v e m en ts of th e
people, th e F rench P r e sid e n t had to give
order to r e le a se H enri M artin T he
ƯH um anité" jo y fu lly con firm ed th a t it w as
a noble victory o f u n ity and of th e
a ctiv itie s to p rotect freedom an d p eace for
V ietnam
At th is tim e, in th e b a ttlefie ld o f
Indochina, th e F rench e x p ed itio n a ry arm y
fell into m ore and m ore m iserab le
situ a tio n T h e V ie tn a m e s e p eop le and
arm y coop erated c lo se ly w ith th e a rm ies of
Laos and C am bodia to sp eed up en cou n ter-
a tta ck s in all b a ttle fie ld s, lib era ted m any
area s, ca u sed m ore d a m a g e to th e F rench
arm y, an d d isin te g r a te d th e p u p p et arm y
F rance w a s on th e b rin k of a d isa ster
F rance could n ot carry o u t th e w a r alone
It w as o b v io u s th a t a n y o n e w h o w a s th e
lea d er o f F ran ce a t th a t tim e w ould h a v e
to ad m it th e fa ct (1, p 2 9 1 -2 9 2 ) On A pril
2 7 th, 1953 w h en P a u l R ey n a u d h a d ju st
com e back from In d och in a, h e reported
b itterly to P r e sid e n t V in c e n t Auriol: “7
th in k i f we continue bleeding in the w ar in
Indochina, we com m it a crim e against
France” (2).
On M ay 7th, 1954, th e e n tir e w in ter-
sp rin g w ar (1 9 5 3 -1 9 6 4 ), w ith th e peak
w h ich w a s D ien B ie n P h u ca m p a ig n , en d ed
su cce ssfu lly O n ly on e d ay a fter D ien B ien
P hu cam p aign h a d en d ed , th e Indochina
issue w a s m en tio n ed at th e G en ev e
conference A t t h a t tim e , th e w a rlik e
g o v ern m en t o f J o ep h L an iel w as
o v erth ro w n by th e p a rlia m en t of France and th e n ew g o v ern m en t of M en d e France
h eld pow er w ith th e ap proval of
co m m u n ist p a r lia m e n ta r ia n s Soon after
th a t, F rench c o m m u n ists tried th eir b est
to ex p a n d th e fron t a g a in s t th e w ar in
In dochina T h eir a c tiv itie s w ere not only
p o sitiv ely resp o n d ed by F rench people and relig io u s o r g a n iz a tio n s b u t a lso created str en g th to ch a n g e th e a ttitu d e s o f the people w ho w ere by n a tu r e a n ti-c o m m u n ist such a s A lb ert S a rra u t, E douard D alad ier,
E douard H erriot, an d ev en th e French
P rim e M in iste r M en d es M an y m ee tin g s
w ith ten th o u sa n d s o f p eop le to d em an d for
p eace in V ietn a m w ere h eld d u rin g the conference T h e F rench C o m m u n ist Party criticised tim e ly th e d esig n to occupy more land in th e so u th of V ietn am : “to cease fire
is the prerequisite for a long-term peace
a n d there cannot be long-term peace
w ithout political solutions I f the French governm ent thoug ht th a t they could cease fire a n d carry ou t negotiation together with encouraging the policies o f build in g the bases for A m erica's invasion around Democratic R epublic o f Vietnam , it Ivas a great m ista ke” (1, p 303) The French
C o m m u n ist P a rty w a s d eterm in ed to object to th e d e sig n o f th e F rench
C o lo n ia lists in th e S o u th o f V ietn a m T he
d esig n w a s th a t V ie tn a m w a s sep a ra ted
an d la titu d e N o 17 w a s co n sid ered as a str a te g y frontier.
T he r e su lt w a s th a t on J u ly 2 0 th, 1954
th e G en ev a A g re em en t on In dochina w as sig n ed an d it w a s o b v io u s th a t th e French
c o m m u n ists m ad e a g re a t co n trib u tio n to
th a t su c cess For th e F ren ch co m m u n ists,
th e victory in D ie n B ie n P h u an d th e P a ris con feren ce w ere co n sid ered a s th e sh ared
su c c e ss o f both th e F ren ch and th e
V ie tn a m e se peop le A t th e m e etin g on J u ly
V N U , Jo u rn a l o f Science Soc Sc/ Human N ụ ỉE , 2004
Trang 8‘2 6 Dinh Xuan Lam
22nđ, 1954 in P a rist J a cq u es D u slos
explained: “T his victory is not the result of
the good w ant o f some people, but it is the
result o f peoples activities which isolated
the reactionary governm ent o f Am erica in
France , an d it m ade capitalists expose
differences in their interests in contrast
w ith the interests o f the capitalists directly
related to America" (1, p 310).
For th e French co m m u n ists, peace
restored in V ietn am and Indochina in 1954
w as th e great victory of peace in th e world
To u n d erstan d the sta tu r e and sign ificance
of th is re sista n ce w ar o f th e French people
under th e lea d ersh ip of th e French
C om m unist Party, it is p ossible to quote
th e gen eral ju d g m en t o f a French h istorian
as follows:
"In V ietnam, although the fig hting
against the colonists had existed before
World War II there have never been any
wars which lasted so long a tim e from 1944
to 1954 It can be concluded that the struggle against the w ar in Indochina was first initiated by the French com m unists,
then it became the peoples first long-
Colonialsm ’ (1, p 394).
W ith its ow n a ctive and great
a ctiv ities, th e F rench C om m un ist Party rad ically im p le m en te d a th e sis on the coalition b e tw een th e n ation al liberation
m o vem en ts in colon ial co u n tries and th e revolu tion ary party in th e m other country
In th e sp irit of th is m ean in g, a thorough
in v estig a tio n into th e a ctiv ities o f the French C o m m u n ist P arty and th e French
co m m u n ists w ho stood sid e by sid e w ith the V ie tn a m e se people in the n in e-year resista n ce w ar (1946*1954) w ill contribute
to co n so lid a tin g and str en g th en in g the
m utual u n d e rsta n d in g and fosterin g the friendly rela tio n s b etw een th e tw o parties and th e people of th e tw o countries.
R EFE R EN C ES
1 Alain Ruscio dẫn trong: ikNhừng người Cộng sản Pháp và cuộc chiến tranh Đông Dương 1944-1954", NXB L’Harmattan, Paris, 1985.
2 Alain Ruscio dẫn trong: “L?Historiographie Franciasc et Dien Bien Phu: un demi siecle de recherches et de controverses ' (Sử liệu học Pháp và Điện Biên Phủ: một nửa th ế kỷ nghiên cửu và tranh luận)
3 Báo N h à n Đạo, các số ra ngày 17 và 18/9 ngày 15/10/1944.
4 Navarre (H), Đòng Dương hấp hôì, NXB Pion, Paris, 1956, tr 28.
5 Tuyên ngôn độc lặp, Văn kiện về kháng chiến chống thực dàn Pháp, tập ỉ (1945*1954), NXB
Sự thật* Hà Nội, 1986.
6 Văn kiện Đảng về kháng chiến chống thực dân Pháp, tập ỉ (1945*1950), NXB Sự thật, Hà Nội, 1986.
Y N U Journal o f S iiem e Sot S( ! Hitman N ,JE 2004