After the defeat of Japan in 1945, France, the old colonial
power, tried to reclaim its colonies in Indochina - i.e. Vietnam,
Cambodia, and Laos. But France faced opposition, which it had
been able to beat down before the war, from a nationalist political
party.
This party, the Vietnamese Communist Party, had been founded
in Paris in 1930 by Ho Chi Minh (1890 1969 - the name is
a nom-de-guerre), a man from a poor family who had nevertheless
been able to acquire an education in Paris. Ho expanded his political
base in 1941 when he founded a broader nationalist coalition,
the Viet Minh (Vietnamese League for Independence) . The Viet
Minh fought a guerilla war against both the Japanese and the Vichy
French forces - making the Viet Minh an ally of the United States
at that time. Looking for recognition from the United States and other Western
countries, Ho and his colleagues proclaimed the Democratic Republic
of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. Instead of supporting the Republic,
the West recognized French claims. The first Indo-China War was
fought with the French from 1946 to 1954 and resulted in the division
of Vietnam in South and North Vietnam. By the mid 1960s, France,
weakened also by its colonial war in Algeria, was no longer a
force in the region and the United States, already a supporter
of South Vietnam, became the chief backer of the southern Republic
of Vietnam. The situation was not stable, and eventually resulted
in the Second Indo-China War, known in the US as the "Vietnam
War".
The following document is an object lesson in the use of Enlightenment
ideals, and 19th century nationalism, by colonized peoples.
"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights; among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness."
This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence
of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense,
this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth,
all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.
The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on
the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: "All men are
born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and
have equal rights."
Those are undeniable truths.
Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists,
abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have
violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellowcitizens.
They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice.
In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every
democratic liberty.
They have enforced inhuman laws; they have set up three distinct
political regimes in the North, the Center, and the South of Vietnam
in order to wreck our national unity and prevent our people from
being united.
They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly
slain our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in rivers
of blood.
They have fettered public opinion; they have practised obscurantism
against our people.
To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol.
In the field of economics, they have fleeced us to the backbone,
impoverished our people, and devastated our land.
They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests,
and our raw materials. They have monopolized the issuing of banknotes
and the export trade.
They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our
people, especially our peasantry, to a state of extreme poverty.
They have hampered the prospering of our national bourgeoisie;
they have mercilessly exploited our workers.
In the autumn of 1940, when the Japanese Fascists violated Indochina's
territory to establish new bases in their fight against the Allies,
the French imperialists went down on their bended knees and handed
over our country to them.
T
hus, from that date, our people were subjected to the double
yoke of the French and the Japanese. Their sufferings and miseries
increased. The result was that from the end of last year to the
beginning of this year, from Quang Tri province to the North of
Vietnam, more than two million of our fellow citizens died from
starvation. On March 9, the French troops were disarmed by the
Japanese. The French colonialists either fled or surrendered showing
that not only were they incapable of "protecting" us,
but that, in the span of five years, they had twice sold our country
to the Japanese.
On several occasions before March 9, the Vietminh League urged
the French to ally themselves with it against the Japanese. Instead
of agreeing to this proposal, the French colonialists so intensified
their terrorist activities against the Vietminh members that before
fleeing they massacred a great number of our political prisoners
detained at Yen Bay and Caobang.
Notwithstanding all this, our fellowcitizens have always
manifested toward the French a tolerant and humane attitude. Even
after the Japanese putsch of March 1945, the Vietminh League helped
many Frenchmen to cross the frontier, rescued some of them from
Japanese jails, and protected French lives and property.
From the autumn of 1940, our country had in fact ceased to be
a French colony and had become a Japanese possession.
After the Japanese had surrendered to the Allies, our whole people
rose to regain our national sovereignty and to found the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam.
The truth is that we have wrested our independence from the Japanese
and not from the French.
The French have fled, the Japanese have capitulated, Emperor Bao
Dai has abdicated. Our people have broken the chains which for
nearly a century have fettered them and have won independence
for the Fatherland. Our people at the same time have overthrown
the monarchic regime that has reigned supreme for dozens of centuries.
In its place has been established the present Democratic Republic.
For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government,
representing the whole Vietnamese people, declare that from now
on we break off all relations of a colonial character with France;
we repeal all the international obligation that France has so
far subscribed to on behalf of Vietnam and we abolish all the
special rights the French have unlawfully acquired in our Fatherland.
The whole Vietnamese people, animated by a common purpose, are
determined to fight to the bitter end against any attempt by the
French colonialists to reconquer their country.
We are convinced that the Allied nations, which at Tehran and
San Francisco have acknowledged the principles of self-determination
and equality of nations, will not refuse to acknowledge the independence
of Vietnam.
A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more
than eight years, a people who have fought side by side with the
Allies against the Fascists during these last years, such a people
must be free and independent.
For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world
that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country-and
in fact is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined
to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice
their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence
and liberty.
Source:
Ho Chi Minh, "Declaration of Independence of the Democratic
Republic of Viemam, " Selected Writings (Hanoi: Foreign
Languages Publishing House, 1977), pp. 5356.
This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted
texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World
history.
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(c)Paul Halsall Aug 1997
