After the victory of the August Revolution of 1945, President Hồ Chí Minh publicly announced the formation of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam (DRV) at Ba Đình Square, Hà Nội on September 2, 1945.
Soon after his declaration, France returned to restore its authority in Viet Nam, beginning with southern Viet Nam, aka Cochinchina on September 23, 1945.
However, U.S. aid could not avert the French's successive defeats in Viet Nam during eight years ofthe First Indochina War. Such situation led to the appointment of General Henri Navarre as commander of the French Expeditionary Corps in Indochina in May 1953. From November 1953, Navarre ordered the construction of fortress at Điện Biên Phủ in the belief that 1t would ensure a đecIsive victory for the French on the whole Indochina battlefield.
The battle of Điện Biên Phủ took place from March 13 to May 7, 1954, ending with a debacle of the French troops. Discussions on Indochina began In Geneva one day later (May 8, 1954), featuring the presence ofnine delegates, namely the Soviet Umion, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China, the DRV, the State of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia. The DRV delegation was led by Deputy Prine Minister acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Van Dong. The conference was co- chaired by the Soviet Foreign Minister Vvwacheslav M. Molotov and his British counterpart Anthony Eden.
After 75 days of negotlations, with 31 plenary and private meetings, the Geneva Accords on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Indochina were signed on July 20, 1954 (In fact, the documents were signed at 2:45 AM oFJuly 21, but thetr last articles said they were done 1n Geneva at “24 hours” on July 20, 1954 in order that the French Prime Minister could fulfill his promise to the French Parliament and cit1zens to address the Indochina issue within a month).
The Geneva Accords consisted of three apreements on the cessation of hostilities in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia; the annex to the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilitles in Viet Nam with reference maps of the provIsional assembly areas, provisional military demarcation line and demilitarized zone; the Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference on the Problem of Restoring Peace in Indochina (The United States did not signed the final declaration but issued a unilateral declaration instead) and diplomatic notes between the DRV's Deputy Prime Mimister Phạm Văn Đông and the French Premier PIerre Mendès-France.
Below are paragraphs excerpted from some main documents of the Geneva Accords.
The Agreement on the Cessafion of Hosfilities in Viet Nam consisted of six chapters and 47 articles. Here are some of its Important provisions.
“Article 14:
(c) Each party undertakes to refrain from any reprisals or discrimination against persons or organizations on account of their activitles during the hostilites and to guarantee their democratic liberties.
“Article 16: With effect from the date of entry into force of the present Agreement, the introduction Into Viet Nam of any troop reinforcements and additional military personnel is prohibited.
“Arficle 17:
(a) With effect from the date of entry into force of the present Agreement, the introduction Into Viet Nam of any reinforcemenfs 1n the form of all types of arms, munitions and other war material, such as combat alrcrafft, naval craft, pieces of ordnance, Jet engines and Jet weapons and armoured vehicles, is prohibited.
“Arficle 18: With effect from the date of entry into force ofthe present Agreement, the establishment of new military bases 1S prohibited throughout Viet Nam territory.
“Arficle 19: With effect from the date of enfry into force of the present Agreement, no military base under the control of a foreign State may be established in the re-grouping zone of either party; the two partiles shall ensure that the zones assigned to them do not
adhere to any military alliance and are not used for the resumption of hostilitles or to further an agoressive policy.”
The Final Declarafion of the Geneva Conference on the Problem of Restoring Peace in Indochina consisted of 13 provisions, Including some applied exclusively to Viet Nam. For example:
“6. The Conference recognIzes that the essential purpose ofthe agreement relating to Viet Nam is to settle miÏitary questlons with a view to ending hostilities and that the military demarcation line is provisional and should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary...
“7. The Conference declares that, so far as Viet Nam is concerned, the settlement of political problems, effected on the basis of respect for the principles of independence, unity and territorial integrity, shall permit the Vietnamese people to enjoy the fundamental freedoms, guaranteed by democratic Institutions established as a result of free general elections by secret ballot.
“9. The competent representative authorities of the Northern and Southern zones of Viet Nam, as well as the authorities of Laos and Cambodia, must not permit any individual or collective reprisals against persons who have collaborated in any way with one of the partles during the war, or against members of such persons’ families.
“12. In their relations with Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam, each member of the Geneva Conference undertakes to respect the sovereignty, the independence, the unity and the territorial Integrity of the above-mentioned sfates, and to refrain from any interference 1n theIr internal affairs.”
The American declaration at the Geneva Conference was made as follows:
“The Government of the United States...declares with regard to the aforesaid agreements and paragraphs that (i) will refrann from the threat or of force to disturb them, in accordance with Article 2 (4) of the Charter of United Natlons dealing with the obligation of members to refrain in their International relations from the threat or of force; and (1) 1t would view any renewal of the aggression in violation of the aforesaid agreements with grave concern and as seriously threatening International peace and security.”
However, Important provisions in the Accords, especially those for the free general elections, which were aimed to “perrnit the Vietnamese people to enjoy the fundamerral freedoms, guaranteed by democratic institulions established as a result of free general elections by secret ballot...”, did not take effect as expected. The U.S. government prolonged foreign agsression against Viet Nam and the territorial separation in the country. Therefore, the Vietnamese people were forced to øo to a long war in 21 years to regain their national independence.
