Unforgettable Days by Vo Nguyen Giap

Unforgettable Days by Vo Nguyen Giap

Author:Vo Nguyen Giap
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Foreign Languages Publishing House
Published: 1974-12-31T16:00:00+00:00


VIII

On March 11, in a letter sent to our fellow country-men in Nam Bo, Uncle Ho told them about the recognition by the French government of our country as a free and sovereign State. He wrote: 'This is thanks to the heroic struggle of the people all over the country, especially our compatriots in Nam Bo and southern Trung Bo and of all our fighters during the last six months.' He pointed out that the negotiations 'will create political conditions which we should know how to exploit in order to achieve our goal – a completely independent Viet Nam.'

Later, at the Second Congress of the Party in 1951, in his political report, he referred to the March 6 Agreement and remarked that our compatriots and Party members in Nam Bo had considered that that policy had been correct.

Indeed, for our compatriots in Nam Bo and southern Trung Bo the Agreement brought them new faith. Those who were fighting against the aggressors saw clearly that they had won a great victory when the French government was forced to recognize Viet Nam as a free State. Our compatriots were still more delighted at the fact that the Chiang Kai-shek troops would have to pull out. Some people said: 'By a mere signature Uncle Ho has managed to drive nearly 200,000 Chiang Kai-shek troops out of our country.' The Agreement created a new opportunity for our compatriots in their long struggle.

It was the enemy who was puzzled, bewildered, in face of the newly-signed Agreement. The former administrators and their puppets were at a loss. They were angry at every word, every sentence in the Agreement. They put many questions: Why do they call the Hanoi authorities the 'Vietnamese government'? Why does the French government officially recognize the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam as a free State? Why is the French government pledging to accept the result of a referendum about the unification of the three Ky? – For them Nam Bo was simply a French colony.

In a session of the Consultative Council on March 12, Cédile, the French Commissioner in Cochinchina explained: 'The March 6 Agreement is only a local agreement between the Hanoi authorities and the French Commissioner in Bac Bo. If a Vietnamese government is referred to, it is by mere courtesy, and does not imply recognition of a single government for the three Annamese countries. Before long Cochinchina will have its separate government, parliament, army and finances… all the rights enjoyed by the other countries in the Federation.'

Those words of Cédile reflected d’Argenlieu’s attitude and scheme. On March 8, when Valluy came, in the name of General Leclerc, to inform him of the newly signed March 6 Agreement, d’Argenlieu said at once: 'I am amazed, really amazed, General. France has such a fine expeditionary corps yet its commanders would rather negotiate than fight.'

Thus the opposition of the reactionary elements in Saigon to the spirit and letter of the Agreement was advocated and encouraged by the highest representative of France in Indochina.



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