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Civil conflicts in Vietnam (1945–1949)
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Civil conflicts in Vietnam were series of political violence and civil war which took place soon after the end of World War II. It lasted from the August Revolution in 1945 until the declaration of the State of Vietnam in 1949, during which the communist-led Viet Minh suppressed nationalist and religious factions.
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Background
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Vietnam had been under French control as part of French Indochina since the 1880s. Although under oppression, Vietnam's struggle for independence was shaped by nationalist movements in two main strands: reformist and revolutionary, both embraced republicanism and anticommunist nationalism.[2] Nationalist groups included the Vietnamese Nationalist Party, Vietnamese Revolutionary League, Đại Việt Nationalist Party, and religious factions such as Buddhist, Cao Đài, Hòa Hảo, and Catholic communities.[3] Vietnamese communism comprised both the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), established by Nguyen Sinh Cung in 1930, and Trotskyist groups.
Fractures between nationalists and communists emerged in the late 1920s as the two groups differed in their visions for postcolonial Vietnam.[4] Revolutionary nationalists accused communists of being factional and subservient to foreign influence, while communists contended that nationalism was narrow in scope and republicanism was not radical enough.[5]: 10 Vietnamese communists envisioned their revolution as both a proletarian revolution and an integral part of world revolution, rather than solely a national movement. They believed class struggle and purges were essential to dismantle older social structures and pave the way for socialism.[6] The Vietnamese communist revolution's pursuit of centralized control fueled a protracted civil conflict, characterized by violence, ideological purges, and the suppression of competing nationalist movements.[7] The ICP was primarily responsible for starting widespread Vietnamese-on-Vietnamese violence.[8]: 515
Before 1945, the Indochinese Communist Party and nationalist parties at one point cooperated, especially under Chinese pressure during the resistance against Japan. They might share a common educational background and were sometimes related by blood or marriage. From 1924 to 1927, in southern China, diverse anti-French colonial Vietnamese groups interacted with each other, as well as with Chinese, Korean, and other groups. From 1941 to 1944 in southern China, the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (Viet Quoc) and the Vietnam Revolutionary League (Viet Cach) joined Viet Minh against the Japanese, sometimes denouncing each other to the Chinese, but did not kidnap or assassinate each other. It was the competition for membership, aid and patronage from the Chinese, rather than ideological differences, that led to increased tensions between the exiled organizations.
The ICP also cooperated with the Trotskyists in Cochinchina from 1933 to 1937.[9] But in 1945, the Viet Minh had carried out assassinations of Trotskyist leaders.
After the end of World War II, the Empire of Japan surrendered and the Allied Powers made the decision to divide Indochina in half—at the 16th parallel—to allow Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek to receive the Japanese surrender in the North, while Lord Louis Mountbatten would receive the surrender in the South.
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Conflicts
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The Viet Minh sought to consolidate power by terrorizing and purging rival Vietnamese nationalist groups and Trotskyist activists.[10][11][12][13] In 1946, the Franco-Chinese and Ho–Sainteny Agreements enabled French forces to replace the Chinese north of the 16th parallel and facilitated a coexistence between the DRV and French that strengthened the Viet Minh while undermining the nationalists.[14][15] That summer, the Viet Minh colluded with French forces to eliminate nationalists, targeted for their ardent anti-colonialism.[16][10]: 205–207 [17]: 175–177 [18]: 699–700
Nationalist Parties Front
After the Viet Minh seized Hanoi on August 19, 1945, Le Khang led a group of Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng from Hanoi to Vĩnh Yên on the Lào Cai – Hanoi railway. On August 29, 1945, thousands of Viet Minh supporters from three neighboring districts approached the VNQDĐ base in Vinh Yen and called on them to join the parade through the town. But Viet Quoc refused, they shot VNQDĐ members. VNQDĐ returned, killed and captured about 150 people.[19]
On September 18, 1945, Hoàng Văn Đức, leader of the Democratic Party of Vietnam, and representatives of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam government from Hanoi came to Vinh Yen to negotiate. The negotiations failed, Lê Khang attacked Phúc Yên but unsuccessful. Government forces launched a counter-offensive in Vinh Yen but failed to capture the town. After that, both sides ceased fire for several months. The Nationalists did not compete with the Viet Minh for influence in the countryside, except for occupying Tam Long farm in Vinh Yen. In early December 1945, the Viet Minh attacked Tam Long but were repelled.[20]
In June 1946, when the Chinese forces withdrew to Yunnan, the Viet Minh militia isolated the towns controlled by Viet Quoc. On June 18, 1946, the Viet Minh attacked Phú Thọ and Việt Trì. The Vietnamese National Revolutionary Army in Phu Tho withdrew after 4 days.
In June 1946, in Hanoi, members of the Viet Quoc met to discuss whether to acknowledge the leadership of the Viet Minh, retreat to the border, or organize a coup to overthrow the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Meanwhile, Trương Tử Anh, the leader of the Vietnam Nationalist Front was planning a coup that could begin with attacks on French soldiers to cause chaos. The French also intended to parade around Hoàn Kiếm Lake to celebrate Bastille Day (July 14, 1789), causing the security forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to worry that this event could become a target of parties opposing the Viet Minh.
On the night of July 11, the Northern Public Security force received information that the Viet Quoc force had finished printing leaflets and appeals, some of which had been sent to the provinces. Early in the morning of July 12, the Viet Quoc headquarters in Hanoi would withdraw into secrecy to carry out the final stage of a coup to overthrow the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh assigned Võ Nguyên Giáp and Tran Quoc Hoan, who later became Minister of Public Security, the task of neutralizing demonstrations organized by the Vietnam Nationalist Party and the Vietnam Revolutionary Alliance to end the propaganda activities of these parties among the people. Vo Nguyen Giap said: "We had to punish the saboteurs... But at all costs we had to avoid provocation and ensure that no major conflicts occurred". After the "Ôn Như Hầu case", the coup attempt failed. Trương Tử Anh arrested and executed,[21] Nhất Linh, Vũ Hồng Khanh, and Nguyễn Hải Thần fled to China.
Duy dân Party
On September 1, 1945, Đại Việt Duy dân Đảng members was attacked by the Viet Minh in Nga My (now part of Gia Sơn, Ninh Bình).[22] Duy dân leader Lý Đông A later moved to Hòa Bình province. Many members from other places who were persecuted also fled to Hoa Binh. In 1946, Việt Minh forces attacked Duy dân's base in Hòa Bình; Lý Đông A reportedly disappeared in the aftermath. The Duy dân party was virtually dissolved. Its surviving partisans fled to Thanh Hóa and the Phát Diệm–Bùi Chu area.[23]
Cochinchina
The Hòa Hảo's alliance with the Việt Minh was short-lived and the NUF dissolved in July 1946, while Sổ became estranged from his military leaders.[24] It was immediately evident that the Hòa Hảo's demands for religious autonomy and political sovereignty were irreconcilable with Việt Minh ambitions. Soon after, Sổ was preaching with growing zeal against the Việt Minh, whom he saw as posing an even greater threat to the religious movement than the French. The conflict with the Việt Minh devolved into a holy war. Sổ preached that every Hòa Hảo who killed ten Việt Minh would have a direct path to heaven.[25] The Communists attacked the Hòa Hảo positions between 23 March and 6 April 1947, forcing the Hòa Hảo military to retreat to Long Xuyên.[26] On 18 April 1947,[27][28] Sổ was invited to a Việt Minh stronghold in the Plain of Reeds for a conciliation meeting. He refused the Communists' demands and made for home, but he was halted while sailing through Long Xuyên on the Đốc Vàng Hạ River, most of his company was slain, and he was arrested[26] by the southern Việt Minh leader Nguyễn Bình. Sổ was killed, and to prevent the Hoahaoists from recovering his remains and erecting a martyr's shrine, the Việt Minh quartered Sổ's body and scattered his remains across the country;[29][30] his remains were never found.[31] Another sect is Caodaism also were active in political and military struggles against both French colonial forces and communist Việt Minh. Vietnamese Trotskyists were also hunted down by both the Stalinist-front Viet Minh and French Sûreté. The ICP's decision to eradicate an entire Marxist anti-colonial faction in the south shocked politically conscious Vietnamese across the country and has remained a subject of condemnation to this day.[32]
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Attentistes
After the outbreak of full-scale war between the Viet Minh and France in December 1946, there emerged nationalists who pursued the quest for a ‘Third Force’ that would be both anticommunist and anticolonialist. However, many such attempts failed at that point due to divisions among non-communist groups, prompting many activists to adopt an uneasy neutrality in the conflict, and they were labeled as attentistes.[33]: 435 Broadly speaking, the term attentisme referred to an attitude taken by a range of individuals, including traders and merchants, patriotic intellectuals and professionals, as well as leaders such as Ngô Đình Diệm and certain Đại Việt partisans. As the war internationalized in 1950, many of these figures ultimately stepped off the fence and entered the political fray.[34]
Notable attentistes included:
Result and aftermath
Vietnamese nationalist partisans were largely defeated and compelled to flee.[35] By eliminating the nationalist parties, the Viet Minh had undermined Vietnam's broader ability to resist French reconquest.[36] With negotiations having broken down, tensions between the Viet Minh and French authorities erupted into full-scale war in December 1946.[37]: 73–81 Surviving nationalist partisans and politico-religious groups rallied behind the exiled Bảo Đại to reopen negotiations with France in opposition to communist domination.[38][17]: 187–188 The State of Vietnam was established on July 2, 1949 after the Élysée Accords taking effect on 14 June, which gave it greater independence from France within the French Union.[39] In January 1950, communist China and the Soviet Union recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Two weeks later, the United States and several other Western countries recognized the State of Vietnam. The war in Indochina became internationalized and intertwined with the global Cold War.
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References
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