Vietnam War Notes

Ho Chi Minh's Declaration of Independence (1945)

Ho Chi Minh delivered the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam in Hanoi on September 2, 1945.
The declaration references the U.S. Declaration of Independence, stating, "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."
Ho Chi Minh broadens this to mean that all people on earth are born equal and have the right to live, be happy, and be free.
Accusations against French Imperialists:
- For over eighty years, the French abused the ideals of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, violating Vietnam and oppressing its citizens.
- Political oppression: The French deprived the Vietnamese people of every democratic liberty.
- Built more prisons than schools.
- Mercilessly killed patriots and suppressed uprisings with bloodshed.
- Economic exploitation: The French impoverished the people and devastated the land.
- Robbed Vietnam of rice fields, mines, forests, and raw materials.
- Monopolized the issuing of banknotes and export trade.
- Invented unjustifiable taxes, reducing people (especially peasants) to extreme poverty.
- Hampered the prospering of the national bourgeoisie and mercilessly exploited workers.
- Enforced inhuman laws and divided Vietnam into three distinct political regimes (North, Center, and South) to undermine national unity.

Context: As the French faced defeat in Indochina, U.S. government officials, including Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Vice-President Richard Nixon, advocated for the U.S. to replace France.
Dulles argued that U.S. intervention might be necessary to save the "free world" from the spread of Communism.
Vice-President Nixon stated that the "Vietnamese lack the ability to conduct a war by themselves or govern themselves."
Dulles' Argument:
- The imposition of the political system of Communist Russia and its Chinese Communist ally on Southeast Asia would be a grave threat to the entire free community.
- The United States should not passively accept this possibility but should meet it with united action.
- He acknowledged that this might involve serious risks but argued that these risks were less than those faced if the U.S. remained irresolute.

Robert Richards of Copley Press questioned President Eisenhower about the strategic importance of Indochina to the free world.
Eisenhower's response:
- Specific value: Indochina's production of materials that the world needs.
- Humanitarian concern: The possibility of many people living under a dictatorship inimical to the free world.
- Broader considerations: The "falling domino" principle.
  - If one domino (country) falls to communism, the surrounding countries will also fall.
  - This could lead to a disintegration with profound influences.

Context: The 1954 Geneva Accords divided Vietnam, with reunification depending on a presidential election in 1956. The United States and South Vietnam's leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, refused to hold elections due to Ho Chi Minh's expected popularity.
Diem's letter to President John F. Kennedy:
- Thanks the United States for its close friendship and cooperation with the Republic of Vietnam.
- Emphasizes the long history of the Vietnamese people in their land, marked by struggles against foreign powers to defend their independence.
- Argues that not only freedom but also national identity is at stake:
  - If they lose the war, the Vietnamese people will be "swallowed by the Communist bloc."
  - Their heritage will be blotted out by the "socialist society."
  - Vietnam will disappear from history, losing its national soul.