He concluded his remarks with a brief pledge: “I, Ho Chi Minh, have fought alongside my compatriots all my life for the independence of our Fatherland, I would rather die than betray my country.”
The sincerity and emotion in his voice carried the day, and the ceremony ended with applause and cries of “Long live President Ho Chi Minh.” But many Vietnamese, not least within the ranks of the Party, were skeptical of the agreement and would have preferred to face the issue directly. Two days later, the Standing Committee issued a directive titled “Conciliate to Advance” in an effort to allay distrust among Party cadres, while warning of the need for vigilance and preparation. “The fatherland,” it concluded, “is facing a difficult time, but the revolutionary boat is gliding forward through the reefs. The agreement with France is to gain time, to preserve our force, and to maintain our position so as to advance quickly toward complete independence.”27
On the evening of March 6, Vo Nguyen Giap returned to Haiphong to meet with General Leclerc and discuss the implementation of the preliminary agreement with regard to the military situation. Despite the agreement, armed clashes between French and Vietnamese units had taken place in several areas, and both sides kept their guard up. Ho Chi Minh remained in Hanoi, where he met with a delegation of civilian and military officials at City Hall. He also wrote a public letter to compatriots in the south, informing them of the cease-fire but asking them to maintain their preparations and their discipline. Nguyen Luong Bang, Ho’s old colleague from his days in China and Hong Kong, was directed to undertake the task of reestablishing a base area near Thai Nguyen, while Hoang Van Hoan was sent to Thanh Hoa for the same purpose.
In Paris, press reports on the Ho-Sainteny agreement were generally optimistic. On March 9, Minister of Overseas Territories Marius Moutet submitted the accord to the Council of Ministers, where it was given tentative approval, and Foreign Minister Georges Bidault praised it as a potential model for application in other colonial areas under French administration. Still, the drumbeat of criticism from nationalists inside Vietnam continued. Some non-Communist leaders called on the government to seek support from China or the United States. Supreme Counselor Bao Dai offered to go to Chongqing to make a personal appeal to the Chiang Kai-shek regime. After some discussion, Ho Chi Minh agreed.
On March 18, 1200 French troops, transported in about 200 military vehicles—many of them American—crossed the Paul Doumer Bridge and then marched through Hanoi to the rejoicing of French residents in the city. Chinese occupation forces had been straggling out of town toward the border during the previous few days. According to a French source, one Vietnamese observer, on seeing the modern weapons and disciplined carriage of Leclerc’s troops, remarked despondently, “We’re lost, they’re too strong.”28 But Leclerc was not so confident, expressing his fear that in case of a breakdown in the agreement, one division would not be sufficient to pacify the area. Many of the local French colons, however, were jubilant, arguing that the Vietnamese made poor soldiers.
That afternoon, Leclerc, Sainteny, Pignon, and other senior French officials went to the Northern Palace to meet Ho Chi Minh and members of his cabinet. Ho and Leclerc exchanged toasts to Franco-Vietnamese friendship, but the tension was as thick in the palace as it was on the streets of the city, where the presence of carousing French troops aroused among Vietnamese residents bitter memories of the past. The same evening, Ho Chi Minh invited U.S. Army Major Frank White, the new OSS representative in Hanoi, to attend a banquet in Leclerc’s honor at the palace. When Ho met White for the first time earlier that day, he had pumped him for Washington’s views on the situation in Indochina. Noting with some evident regret that the Soviet Union was too busy reconstructing its own war-damaged economy to provide much assistance to the fledgling Vietnamese government, Ho expressed the hope that the United States would provide “money and machines” to help the new country enter the path of national development. But even while making his pitch for a U.S. role in the future Vietnam, Ho expressed some skepticism that Washington would be willing to do much for this country, which was small and far away from North America.
After the conversation, Major White had returned to his residence, but suddenly received the invitation from Ho Chi Minh to attend the welcome dinner for French representatives just arrived in Hanoi. To his surprise, White was seated next to President Ho at the banquet that evening, which apparently irritated many of the others at the table, who were considerably senior in rank to the American army officer. When White remarked in some discomfort that the seating arrangement had displeased many of the guests, Ho remarked plaintively, “But who else would I have to talk to?” According to White’s recollection, the atmosphere at the banquet was “glacial,” with the French having little to say and the Chinese guests, headed by General Lu Han, “getting wildly drunk.”29
Ho Chi Minh had been correct in lamenting to his American visitor that the United States was unlikely to intervene on behalf of the Vietnamese struggle for national independence, for the White House appeared to ignore the rapidly evolving situation in Indochina. In late February Ho had sent a telegram to President Truman appealing for U.S. support for Vietnamese independence, in keeping with the principles of the U.N. Charter, There had been no reply. When news of the Sino-French agreement arrived in Washington, Secretary of State James Byrnes told a French diplomat that the agreement “completes the reversion of all Indochina to French control.” Now increasingly mesmerized by the rising danger of world communism (Winston Churchill had just given his famous “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri), the United States was not prepared to take action to support Hanoi’s appeal for recognition of the DRV as a “free state” within the French Union.30
During the next few days, things did not improve. On March 22, a joint military parade took place near the Citadel of Hanoi in a gesture that was designed to provide a measure of warmth to the Franco-Vietnamese relationship, but most of the crowd limited themselves to applauding their own troops. Much of the mechanized equipment used by the French was of U.S. manufacture, and British Spitfires left smoke trails in the sky above. The next day, Leclerc left Hanoi, turning command over to his subordinate, General Jean-Etienne Valluy. Although no outright clashes took place, resentment ran high when the French occupied a number of official buildings, leading to a general strike, after which the French withdrew,31
In communications with Jean Sainteny, High Commissioner d’Argenlieu indicated that he wanted to hold an official meeting with Ho Chi Minh. Sainteny contacted Ho, who immediately agreed in the hope of arranging for formal negotations to ratify the preliminary agreement as soon as possible. On the morning of March 24, Ho Chi Minh, wearing a broad-brimmed hat as protection against the sun, accompanied Hoang Minh Giam and his new foreign minister, the non-Communist novelist Nguyen Tuong Tam, to Gia Lam Airport, where they were met by Sainteny and entered a Catalina flying boat. The seaplane alighted in Ha Long Bay, a scenic area of limestone formations along the coast east of Haiphong. They then boarded the French warship Emile Bertin and were greeted by d’Argenlieu and other French representatives.
After an exchange of toasts, Ho Chi Minh was invited to review the French fleet, which steamed slowly past Admiral d’Argenlieu’s flagship. Later, in the admiral’s cabin, the two sides exchanged views on when and where to hold further talks to implement the March 6 agreement. Ho wanted to hold them as soon as possible, but d’Argenlieu replied that a preparatory conference was needed to familiarize French representatives with the key issues, and suggested the mountain resort of Dalat as an appropriate site for formal talks later in the year. Ho agreed to hold preparatory talks in Dalat, but he feared that if the formal negotiations were to be held there, the high commissioner would try to control them, so he proposed France as the venue; in France, Ho would be able to bypass d’Argenlieu and use his own position as head of state to influence French public opinion, which had been in an unusually volatile state since the end of World War II. To the admiral�
�s discomfiture, both Leclerc and Sainteny agreed with Ho Chi Minh, on the grounds that a conference in France would remove Ho Chi Minh from militants within his own government and the influence of the Chinese. Eventually, d’Argenlieu gave in.
For Ho Chi Minh, the talks at Ha Long Bay had been a useful exercise. Although he was not able to gain French acceptance of his recommendation for an immediate resumption of peace negotiations, he had been able to take them out of the reach of the staunch colonialist Thierry d’Argenlieu. In the process, he had shown himself capable of standing up to the autocratic admiral. On the flight back to Hanoi, Ho commented to d’Argenlieu’s subordinate, General Raoul Salan, who had participated in the meeting, “If the admiral thinks I was cowed by the might of his fleet, he is wrong. Your dreadnoughts will never be able to sail up our rivers.”32
The preparatory talks at Dalat, which convened in mid-April 1946, did not go well. The Vietnamese delegates, Vo Nguyen Giap and Nguyen Tuong Tam, could not persuade d’Argenlieu to discuss the situation in Cochin China, where armed clashes continued despite the ceasefire. Serious disagreements also arose on the future arrangements for a free state. The Vietnamese envisaged their position in the French Union as one of an essentially sovereign state, but the French insisted that because the French Union was a federation, each free state must delegate much of its sovereignty to federal organisms and a high commissioner appointed in Paris. Faced with an impasse, the delegates decided to put off a decision on the future role of Vietnam in the French Union until the formal ralks, which were now scheduled to convene in late May in France. On May 13, Giap returned to Hanoi disappointed. Ho Chi Minh tried to put a good face on the situation, claiming that both sides now understood each other better and had reached agreement on some key issues. He expressed the hope that the remaining differences, which he described as not irreconcilable, could be ironed out in France.
Five days later, d’Argenlieu made a short visit to Hanoi to discuss the peace talks. He asked his hosts to postpone the departure for Paris of the Vietnamese delegation, on the grounds that a national election campaign was under way in France, but Ho Chi Minh insisted on keeping the date as scheduled. More ominously, the high commissioner used the visit to forewarn the Vietnamese government of the imminent founding of a new autonomous state of Cochin China, an event that would undermine the Ho-Sainteny understanding reached in March.
On May 30, 1946, 50,000 people braved a torrential rainstorm to make their way to the campus of the University of Hanoi to attend a farewell rally for the Vietnamese delegates for the peace talks. Led by Pham Van Dong, the delegation arrived with Ho Chi Minh and General Raoul Salan, both of whom would join the group on its flight to Europe. Ho was not an official member of the delegation, but would attend the talks as an “honored guest” of France. In brief remarks to the crowd, he declared that his only aim was to serve the interests of his fatherland and the happiness of the Vietnamese people. He called on them to obey the government in his absence, and to treat foreigners with tolerance and respect.
When the delegation assembled at the Northern Palace early the following morning, they were all dressed in formal suits except for Ho Chi Minh, who wore his everyday khaki suit along with black leather shoes. On arrival at Gia Lam Airport, they boarded two military Dakota airplanes and took off in cloudy weather on their long journey.33
Following instructions from Paris, the planes were delayed on several occasions to make certain that the French elections were over before the delegation’s arrival. After a brief stopover in Burma, because of bad weather, they arrived in Calcutta on June 1, where they were greeted by the French consul and a representative of the British government. They were then taken to the famous Great Eastern Hotel, and remained there for two days of sightseeing. On the fourth they landed in Agra and visited the Taj Mahal, then went on to Karachi, Iraq, and finally Cairo, on the seventh, for a three-day visit. Before leaving Egypt, they were informed that the French government had just recognized the Autonomous Republic of Cochin China, which High Commissioner d’Argenlieu had recently created in Saigon. Ho feigned surprise at the news, and urged General Salan not to make Cochin China “a new Alsace-Lorraine.” If so, it could lead to a hundred years war.34
Meanwhile, a government crisis had erupted in France. In the parliamentary elections held on June 2, the conservative parties had won a striking victory, leading to the resignation of the government of Socialist Prime Minister Gouin. This, of course, posed potential difficulties for the upcoming negotiations, since a more conservative government in Paris would be less likely to accept the conciliatory verdict reached during the Ho-Sainteny negotiations in March. Of more immediate importance, it complicated the arrival plans for the DRV delegation. With negotiations on the formation of a new cabinet still in progress in Paris, there would be no French government to provide a formal reception to the visitors. So when the planes carrying the delegation left Cairo on the eleventh, they made a stopover in Algeria and were then rerouted to the French beach resort of Biarritz, on the Bay of Biscay, where they finally landed the next day. There they were met by local authorities and taken to hotels in the city. Ho Chi Minh was registered at the luxurious Carlton Hotel, just off the beach, while the remainder of the party stayed at a less prestigious hotel nearby.35
During the next few days, several members of the Vietnamese delegation continued on to Paris, but by mutual agreement Ho Chi Minh remained in Biarritz until a new government under Prime Minister Georges Bidault, head of the conservative Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP), could take office. Bidault delegated Jean Sainteny to fly to Biarritz to remain with Ho until the formal installation of the new government had taken place in Paris. During the next several days, Sainteny did his best to keep the president happy and occupied.
It was not always easy. According to Sainteny’s account, Ho Chi Minh was uneasy about the situation in Paris, and even more about conditions in Indochina, where d’Argenlieu was patently doing everything in his power to undercut the preliminary arrangements reached in March; Ho even threatened to return to Hanoi. But Sainteny assured him that the French National Assembly would not formally ratify the new Autonomous Republic of Cochin China until obtaining the results of the referendum called for by the Ho-Sainteny agreement.
Under Sainteny’s patient persuasion, Ho Chi Minh began to relax, and for the next several days submitted with good humor to Sainteny’s tireless efforts to provide him with distractions. On several occasions, the two went to the nearby resort of Hendaye, where Sainteny’s sister owned a villa, and Ho spent many enjoyable hours playing with Sainteny’s nephews on the beach. They attended a bullfight across the border in Spain, and they visited the Catholic sanctuary at Lourdes. They went to the small fishing village of Biristou, where the two had lunch at a local restaurant. Afterward, Ho signed the visitor’s book with the brief dedication, “Seas and oceans do not separate brothers who love each other.” One day they embarked before dawn on a fishing trawler at St.-Jean-de-Luz. Although Sainteny remarked later that the day seemed long, Ho Chi Minh appeared to enjoy himself, catching several tuna and holding a friendly conversation with the captain. When the captain mentioned the Basque separatist movement that was active in the region, Ho replied, “In that field I am certainly more experienced than you are, sir, and I would emphatically urge the Basques to think it over very carefully before taking the plunge!” In later years, Ho Chi Minh occasionally commented that those were among the happiest days of his life.36
Ho Chi Minh also had the time to handle matters of state. Before leaving for Paris, he received several delegations from labor unions, Vietnamese émigré groups, and the FCP journal L’Humanité. On all occasions, he played the vintage “Uncle Ho,” showing a genuine interest in everything and everyone and behaving with a simplicity of manner that was extraordinary in an individual of his stature. Yet, according to one French observer, there was always a toughness behind the amicable exterior. When he was informed by a French Socialist that the
Trotskyite Ta Thu Thau had been assassinated by Vietminh forces in Saigon, Ho shed a brief tear for the “great patriot,” but then added, “All those who do not follow the line that I have set out will be smashed.”
On June 22, with the new Bidault government under formation in Paris, Ho Chi Minh left with Jean Sainteny for Paris, in preparation for the peace talks at Fontainebleau, Flying in splendid weather over the châteaux of the Loire River valley, they arrived over Paris in mid-afternoon. Later, Sainteny recalled that as the plane descended, Ho “was deathly pale. His eyes glittered, and when he tried to speak to me, his throat was so tight that he could not utter a word.” As the plane came to a halt on the runway, he grasped Sainteny’s arm and said: “Stay close to me. There’s such a crowd.”37
Le Bourget Airport was indeed crowded, and above the main terminal rthe flags of both France and Vietnam were fluttering in the breeze. After they disembarked from the plane, Ho was greeted by Marius Moutet, minister of overseas territories in the new government, and a friend from his days in Paris following World War I. After a few perfunctory welcoming remarks, Ho was taken to the Royal Monceau Hotel on Avenue Hoche, where he was assigned a suite of rooms. The image of the longtime guerrilla leader Ho Chi Minh trying to make himself comfortable in a soft bed at the sumptuous hotel struck Sainteny as incongruous. Sainteny suspected that Ho would probably sleep on the wall-to-wall carpeting rather than on the bed.
The new Bidault government did not formally take office until June 26 and the peace talks were not scheduled to begin until early July. For the next several days, Ho Chi Minh amused himself by revisiting many of the scenes of his earlier life in Paris. He spent an afternoon in the Bois de Boulogne and even returned to his old apartment on Impasse Compoint. At his request, he and Sainteny visited the beaches in Normandy, where Allied forces had landed two years earlier. They then spent the night at Sainteny’s family estate nearby, where he rose at dawn to wander around the chicken coops and the stables, asking the resident farmer about French methods of breeding cattle.38
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