At the Potsdam Conference held in late July that year, the Allied Powers had decided to divide Indochina into two zones for the disarming of Japanese troops after the surrender of Japan. This disarming was to be done by the British army south of the 16th parallel, and by Chiang Kai-shek’s army north of the 16th parallel. Of course our people were not consulted on that important matter. Under American pressure, the French were left out of the operation.
Chiang’s men had not yet come when we saw some French officers with the American mission who had arrived in Hanoi by plane on the afternoon of August 22.
The French officers were taken by the Japanese to the “Metropole” Hotel where many French nationals were still staying. When our people saw French uniforms, they immediately held a protest meeting in front of the hotel. They came in greater and greater numbers. In defiance of the bayonets of Japanese sentries, they broke through the barricades. In face of the indignation of the masses, Japanese gendarmes hurriedly escorted the officers back to the former Governor-General’s palace, then the headquarters of the Japanese army.
Months earlier, when in the guerilla bases, we had heard of a statement by De Gaulle on a new status for “French Indochina.”
According to this statement, Indochina was to become a Federation of five different “States” (besides Laos and Cambodia, Viet Nam was to be divided into three countries: Tonkin, Annam and Cochinchina). Those States would enjoy so-called “internal autonomy”. The federation would have a federal government headed by a “Governor-General” representing France and having both executive and legislative powers. Through this statement, we knew that the colonialist policy of French imperialism had remained unchanged.
As soon as they heard that the Japanese Emperor was going to capitulate, the French government had become active. Many groups of French officers, administrators and intelligence men in China, Ceylon and Madagascar were ordered into Indochina and parachuted down on various places in the North, the South and the Central regions. Others landed from the sea. These people were unaware of the deep changes that had taken place here during the past few months. Many tried to get in touch with former mandarins and village notables in order to show them their papers. Most of them were caught by our men, others were captured by the Japanese.
Soon after we returned to Hanoi, we learned that right after the Japanese surrender, the French government had ordered the French expeditionary force in the Far East, which had been set up for some time, to be sent urgently to Indochina. Leclerc, a well-known general in the fight for the liberation of France, was appointed commander-in-chief. Admiral d’Argenlieu, an unfrocked priest and de Gaulle’s confidential agent, was appointed High Commissioner. Warships from what had remained of the French fleet after World War Two were heading for Indochina. From the other face of the globe, guns were pointing at the revolution.
The appearance of a mission of a dozen French officers in Hanoi was a matter of great concern for Uncle Ho and my comrades. How could they arrive here even before Chiang’s troops? What was the attitude of the Allies, especially of the Americans and the Chiang clique toward the Indochinese problem? That was what we wanted to know.
As a delegation from the people’s administration, we came to see the American mission. At the meeting, we were assured that the disarming of the Japanese north of the 16th parallel was still to be carried out by Chiang Kai-shek’s troops. We also noticed that the Americans and the French in Hanoi seemed to dislike each other. While the French were frantically trying to return to Indochina, the American officer by the name of Patty, for some reason we didn’t know, showed sympathy for the Viet Minh’s anti-Japanese struggle.
The revolutionary upsurge of the whole people from North to South had put the defeated Japanese in a quandary. Our attacks in Viet Bac and other regions forced them to reconsider their position. If they fought against the insurrection, what would be their fate after they were disarmed by the Allies? They realized that they would gain nothing if they prevented the revolution from spreading.
In Hue, on August 23, fifteen thousand people in the city and the suburbs staged a show of strength in the streets. The Insurrectionary Committee sent Bao Dai a letter demanding his abdication. The insurgent armed forces occupied public offices and hunted down the traitors. In face of the great pressure exerted by the revolution, Bao Dai declared that he was ready to leave the throne.
On August 25, the insurrection broke out in most of the provinces in Nam Bo. Eighty thousand people demonstrated in Saigon-Cholon. The imperial envoy sent by Bao Dai a few days earlier had to resign. In face of the strength of the masses, the Japanese troops, which numbered scores of thousands, had to look the other way.
Comrades Tran Huy Lieu, Nguyen Luong Bang and Cu Huy Can were sent to Hue. On August 30, the Main Gate of the imperial city was opened wide to welcome the revolutionary delegation. Bao Dai read his abdication edict and handed over his seal and sword, becoming just an ordinary citizen of a free country. Thousands and thousands of people witnessed with joy the last moments of the Nguyen dynasty.
Thus, under the leadership of the Indochinese Communist Party, which then had a membership of about five thousand, the Viet Minh Front, enjoying the support of the entire people, had won a great victory in the general insurrection sweeping the country. The August Revolution was gloriously successful. Within only ten days, the revolutionary power was established over the whole country. The eighty-year-long colonial rule and the thousand-year-old feudal system had collapsed. The yellow flag with broken stripes, a product of the short-lived Japanese rule, was cast off. It quickly slipped out of the people’s memory without leaving a trace.