Ho Chi Minh by William J. Duiker

Author:William J. Duiker
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Hyperion
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Even after signing the September 14 agreement, to the exasperation of his hosts Ho Chi Minh still seemed reluctant to return to Vietnam (in an extended biographical essay on Ho, David Halberstam noted that the French attitude toward Ho’s visit could be marked by the steady shrinking of his protocolary red carpet). According to Sainteny, Ho had refused the plane that the French agreed to put at his disposal, citing reasons of health, and expressed a preference to go by ship. Sainteny was reluctant to approve the request, but Ho appealed directly to the Ministry of Marine and was assigned passage on the French cruiser Dumont d’Urville, which was then docked in the port of Toulon preparing to sail to Indochina. On September 16, Sainteny accompanied Ho Chi Minh on the train to Toulon. At Montélimar, Ho descended briefly from the train to address a number of Vietnamese students gathered at the station, explaining why he signed the modus vivendi and asking them to work hard at their studies. He did the same at Marseilles, where a few shouts of “traitor” (Viet gian) were heard in the audience. On the eighteenth, the train arrived at Toulon, and he boarded the Dumont d’Urville. (The Vietnamese delegation had departed on the warship Pasteur from Marseilles four days previously.)51

To make room for President Ho Chi Minh on his vessel, Captain Gerbaud had been instructed to remove the cargo and the passengers who had previously boarded the ship. In their place came Ho, his aidesde-camp, and four Vietnamese students who were returning independently to Indochina after completing their studies in France. On the morning of September 19, flying the red flag with the gold star of the government of Vietnam, the ship weighed anchor and sailed into the Mediterranean Sea. Ho Chi Minh had informed the Vietnamese government of the modus vivendi by telegraph before leaving Paris, sending a copy by airmail as well. From the ship he cabled Hanoi to explain the terms of the accord to the population and to order preparations to carry it out; he also asked for word on current conditions in Indochina. On his first day aboard ship, he sent a short message to Marius Moutet, thanking him for his assistance and asking for his cooperation in carrying out the agreement. A few days later he received a brief telegram from Prime Minister Georges Bidault. In his reply, Ho thanked Bidault for his courtesy, but remarked that the modus vivendi had not been received favorably by the Vietnamese people. The reaction, he noted, was human: “I will do my best and will succeed if French friends in Cochin China loyally apply democratic liberties, cessation of hostilities, liberation of prisoners, and avoid unfriendly words and acts. I count on your active assistance to carry through the work in the interests of both our countries.”52

On September 22, the ship arrived at Port Said, the northern entrance into the Suez Canal. From there Ho sent a letter to a Frenchwoman who had recently written a brief appeal to him not to allow war to break out between the two countries.

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