DSpace at VNU: The French communist party and the French people during the resistance of the Vietnamese people against the French colonists which led to the victory of Dien Bien Phu

VNU JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, s o c SCI ■HUMAN , N;;3E 2004 THE FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY AND TH E FR EN C H PE O PL E DURING THE RESISTANCE OF THE VIETNAM ESE P E O PL E AGAINST THE FRENCH COLONISTS W HICH LED TO THE VICTORY OF DIEN BIEN PH U D in h X u a n L a m (,) It is p ossib le to confirm th at from the outbreak o f World War II to the spring of 1944 w hen the resista n ce a g a in st Fascism in France w as com ing to an encl in a context th at everv connection betw een France and V ietnam w as nearly disrupted, the French C om m un ist Party did not know an yth in g about the developm en t of the R evolution in V ietnam From the sum m er of 1940 to th e victory of th e A ugust R evolution in 1945, th e Indochinese C om m unist P arty w as com pletely separated from th e o u tsid e world and all n ection s w ith the French C om m unist Party w ere cut off Et tine Fajon a m em ber of the th e French C om m unist Party Politbureau stated: “I d id not think the which led the Viet M inh to power in A u g u st a n d Septem ber in 1945, the French C om m unist Party h ad not had any inform ation for evaluating the situation o f the w ar in Indochina Only after a few days when newspapers announced that the Viet M inh was in power, I was told by Vietnamese comrades in France that Ho Chi M inh usas N guyen A i Quoc, who had been well-know n to the leaders o f the French C om m unist Party A s soon as the news was confirm ed, it was im m ediately sent to the leadership o f the French C om m unist P a rty " (1 p 70) M ean w h ile, th e d esig n o f th e French Im p eria lists to reoccupy colonial cou n tries (in clu d in g Indochina) had revealed quite early Even w hen W orld W ar II had not en ded and France had been in vad ed by the G erm ans, th e p rovision al republican g o v ern m en t o f France (the R esistan ce g overn m en t) in A lger led by C om m ander D e G au lle called for a m eetin g in B zza v ille (the Congo) to d iscu ss colonial is s u e s (from J a n u a ry r ' to February 8th in 1944) At th e m eetin g , th e idea of lib era tin g colon ial n a tio n s w as ignored R en e P lev en , rep re se n ta tiv e o f th e French provisional g overn m en t, announced frankly th a t “u n d er French Im perialism , th ere w ere n a tio n a l is s u e s to be liberated and th ere w ere no racial d iscrim in ation s to g et rid o f ( ); th e o v ersea s n a tio n s knew n o th in g o f n a tio n a l in d ep en d en ce except th e n a tio n a l in d ep en d en ce of F ran ce.” (1, steering com m ittee (of the French C om m unist Party) knew anything about Indochina" (1, p 61) EỈ 1C M ignot, a stan d in g m em ber of the Colonial C om m ittee o f th e French C om m unist Party from A u gu st in 1945 also adm itted: ‘7/1 1945 a n d Ĩ946, we had very little inform ation o f V ietnam We knew the A ugust Revolution through some pieces o f news in the newspapers These pieces o f inform ation were not sufficient for understanding the situation happening in Indochina” (1, p 62) R aym ond Barbe, a stan d in g m em ber of the Colonial C om m ittee from th e su m m er of 1945 added: “A s fa r as I know, u n til the uprising ° Professor, Department of History, College of Social Sciences & Humanities, VNU 19 P.73-74) By A ugu st 1944 w h en Paris w as liberated, the G overnm ent of the résistan ts, w hich had ju st won a victory for the nation, issu ed an order to esta b lish an arm y led by C om m ander Leclerc and th is army was assigned with the mission to move tow ards the Far E ast to figh t a g a in st the last allies o f H itler - the J a p a n ese Fascists A fter France had been liberated, the De G aulle govern m en t issu ed Ordinance on the future o f Indochina (March 24th in 1945) T h is docum ent is, in essen ce, the restoration o f the colonial regim e in Indochina In th a t h istorical context, m any French com m u n ists could avoid being ideologically influenced The thing th a t n eed s to be confirm ed im m ed iately is th a t before then the relationship b etw een F rench com m u n ists and the R evolution o f V ietn am had been close and had gone through th e m ill in m any historical periods Red A ssistan ce, the stru ggle com m ission for relea sin g political prisoners carried out m any fierce fights a g a in st brutal terrorist actions by French Im p erialists at the b egin n in g of the 1930s Then in 1936 and 1937» th e French P eo p les Front w ith co m m u n ists w orking as activists stood sid e by sid e w ith R evolutionary figh ters and th e V ietn a m ese people to fight for basic dem ocratic in terests B ecause the relation sh ip b etw een the Indochinese C om m un ist P arty and the French C om m unist P arty w a s disrupted for a long tim e and partly b ecau se the political situ atio n of France and the world after the liberation of F rance (France had just won the victory over facism and there w as an inner sp lit am on g th e political allian ce of forces o f th e four victorious superpow ers) d eterm in ed th e policy o f the French C om m unist P arty on colonial countries in general and on Indochina in Dinh Xuan Lam particu lar, th a t is, com bining the p rogressive forces in th e m other country w ith th o se in the colonies to fig h t for new d em ocratic rights T h is policy sh ow s th at th e ta rg ets o f th e French C om m unists by th a t tim e w ere like th o se o f the D em ocratic Front period, th ey w ere un able to realise the fact th a t th ere had been m any changes in th e political life o f the peoples in the colonial and d ep en d en t nations Ejien F aron g’s sp eech at th e C ongress of the F rench C om m u n ist Party held in June, 1947 can be quoted to illu stra te the idea at th a t tim e: uIn the general situation o f the world a t the moment, the French Union is still the best organization for the im plem entation o f the aspiration o f the colonial peoples w ith the assistance o f the French w orking class an d the French people ( ) Please stay with us in the French U nion!' In th a t specific historical context, the F rench C om m u n ist P arty could not have th e rig h t policy on colonial countries H ow ever, th ere w ere quick ch an ges after S ep tem b er 2nd, 1945 Through electric waves» th e D eclaration of Independence w a s tra n sm itted to every corner of the earth On b eh a lf o f th e provisional g o v ern m en t o f th e D em ocratic Republic of V ietn am an d th e V ietn a m ese people, P resid en t Ho Chi M inh solem n ly declared “V ietnam went aw ay from French Im perialists' relationship a nd abolished the privileges o f France in Vietnam ’ (5, p 21) A t th e sa m e tim e, P resid en t Ho Chi M inh also an n oun ced in cisively in the w orld uV ietnam has the right to enjoy independence a nd freedom, arid in fact has is an independent an d free country The entire Vietnam ese people have determined to devote all their spirit and forces, their lives a n d wealth to holding fa st to that freedom a n d independence ” (5, p 22) V N U , Jo u rn al o f Science S o t, Sci.t Human N J E , 2(H)4 The French communist party and the French people during R ight after th at, th ere w ere ch a n g es in th e words o f the French C om m u n ists’ papers T he politbureau o f th e French C om m unist Party ad van ced an an n ou n cem en t on S eptem ber 20th and th en organized a m eetin g on J a n u a ry 12th O bviously, a t th e end of th e la st three m onths in 1945, th e French C om m un ist Party w as aw are of th eir b a ck w a rd n ess in u p dating inform ation B ut it w a s not u n til spring 1946 th a t the lin k s b etw een th e two parties w ere established On N ovem ber 15th, 1945, th e C entral C om m ittee o f th e Indochinese C om m unist P arty issu ed th e D irective on nation-w ide resista n ce, in w hich it predicted th at after th e gen eral election in October» 1945, th e French C om m un ist P arty would be th e stro n g est force in th e French P arliam en t On M arch 9,ht 1946 as soon as the P relim in ary A greem en t had been sign ed by V ietnam and France, the C entral C om m ittee of In dochinese C om m un ist Party decided to estab lish co n ta cts w ith th e French C om m un ist Party in order to carry out concerted action s T hen, on A pril th, 1946, the N ation al A ssem b ly d elegation o f th e D em ocratic R epublic o f V ietn am led by Mr Pham Van Dong arrived in France and th ere w as a m eetin g b etw een th e V ietn a m ese d elegation and Mr M uarice Thorez Mr J a cq u es D uclos and Mr A ndre M arty on M ay 7‘h, at th e h ead office of th e French C om m u n ist Party At th a t tim e, th e steerin g com m ittee o f th e French C om m un ist P arty w a s accu tely and su fficien tly inform ed o f th e situ a tio n in V ietnam B eca u se o f lack o f in form ation before th a t tim e, m isu n d ersta n d in g w a s cau sed by som e th in g s su ch a s th e an n o u n cem en t of th e In dochinese C om m un ist P arty th a t “it dissolved itse lf ’ in N ovem ber, 1945 th e n ew s w a s clarified T he “con fid en ce” and “m u tu al a g ree m en t” Y N U Journal o f Science, Sot., Si , Hitman., N lf3E 2004 of two p arties w ere set up Later, when answering interview ers about the restoration of the relationship betw een the two p arties of lea d in g the N ational A ssem bly d elegation to France in April, 1946, the delegation leader, Mr Pham Van Dong, confirm ed: “Yes, it was” There were no other possibilities We had close contact We made great efforts to inform the French C om m unist Party o f the situation, the French C om m unist Party became a big party but it could not understand everything1' (1, p 71) R ight after th at, the L /H u m an ite\ a new spaper of French C om m unist Party, considered the Prelim inary A greem ent as the m an ifestation o f “a realistic p o licy ’ of the French governm ent A fter th a t there w as a num ber of a rticles carried in the n ew spaper d em an d in g th e French governm ent to expel reaction aries and im p erialist-m in d ed sold iers from the expeditionary arm y and sen d to V ietnam dem ocratic-m inded on es to fight again st the policies of colonial monopoly cap italists T he French C om m unist Party actively fou gh t a g a in st the sch em e for sep aratin g South V ietn am from V ietnam and raised its voice to exp ose Thierrry cT A rgenlieu “ H igh C om m issioner of France in the Pacific region and M ax A ndre’* the delegation lead er a t the conference who w as rep resen ta tiv e of corporations and Indochina B ank during th e Fontainebleau conference As for us, w e put no hope in French C olonialism A lthough our governm ent signed th e P relim in ary A greem en t with rep resen ta tiv e of th e French governm ent to set up fou n dations for an official agreem en t, th e sta n d in g com m ittee of the central party issu ed th e D irective entitled: “T he current situ a tio n and our policy” (March 3rd , 1946) A fter a n alyzin g the 22 cunning sch em es o f French Im perialism and their lackeys, our Party fin ally confirmed: % iI f the French keep the self- governing policy on Indochina in accordance w ith the declaration on March 24th , 1945, we will carry oat our fight against them and we will carry out a long­ term resistance against them , using guerilla warfare We w ill stop fighting i f they recognise the independence o f Indochina," (6, p 44) T ogether w ith m aking clear th e prim ary principles of the negotiation b etw een V ietnam and France, which are in d ep en d en ce and cooperation on the b asis of eq u ality, France had to adm it our people’s righ ts to independence and self-control, w e recognised the right to station tem porary o f th e French arm y in V ietnam T he D irective em p h asized th a t ‘T h e m ost im portant th in g is th a t w hen negotiating w ith France, w e not only continued preparation, but also w ere determ ined th at w e did not allow the negotiation w ith them to w ear down the fighting spirit of our people” (6, p 46) Three days after th e a g reem en t had been signed; the stan d in g com m ittee of th e central party also issu ed a D irective entitled: "Reconcile to advance (March 9th, 1946) in order to m ake clear the reason w hy we needed to be a friend of France, criticizing the erroneous ten d en cies w hich m ight occur in officials, party m em bers and people, w atch in g out in case th e French C olonists w ould break th eir prom ise, and tak e a d v a n ta g e of d ộtente and actively prepared for th e resista n ce throughout th e country A few days after th e Prelim inary A greem ent had b een signed» th e reactionaries in France and Indochina broke their prom ise, restiv ely trying their u tm ost to u n derm in e th e negotiation, in ten tion ally cu ttin g o ff every dộtente Dinh Xuan Lam T h ese a ctio n s forced our people in the w hole country to sta n d up to figh t against the en em ies On D ecem ber 19l\ 1946, P resid en t Ho Chi M inh issu ed an Appeal to the whole country to carry out the war of resistance against the French: “We w ant peace a n d we make concessions But the more concessions we make, the nearer French Colonialists come to us because they are determ ined to invade our country again N o! We would rather sacrifice everything than lose the country and be slaves” (6, p 86) At th a t tim e, th ere w ere many noticeab le ev en ts in France In January, 1947, V in cen t A uriol, a m em ber of the S o cia list Party won th e election and becam e P resid en t of France, th e cabinet of Paul R am adier w as set up and there were five m in isters w ho w ere m em bers of the French C om m un ist Party in the new govern m en t T he French C om m unist Party still k ep t on figh tin g for a peaceful solution to th e Vietnam issue and dem anded the govern m en t of R am adier to n egotiate with the g overn m en t o f Ho Chi Minh In spite of the fact th at the French C om m unist Party w as a big party in France a t th a t tim e, it w as n ot stron g enough to gear th e political direction for France H ow ever, under th e p ressure of the stru ggle o f th e French people and the French C om m u n ists and w ith the fierce cou n ter-attack s o f th e V ietn a m ese army and people, th e French C olonists had to ch an ge th eir sch em e In M arch, 1947, E m ile B olaert w a s appointed to be C om m issioner in Indochina On the surface, h is “m issio n ” w as for peace but in essen ce h is p resen ce w as to fin ish the war by a m ilitary attack to crush our regim e and th en played th e “Bao Dai card” in order to esta b lish a puppet governm ent 17V(/ Journal o f Science S(>( Sc I Human NltSE, 2iH>4 The French communis! party and the French people during w hich w a s th e lackey o f th em To cope w ith a new sch em e of th e en em y, on Ju ly 15th 1947, the sta n d in g co m m ittee of the central party issu ed the Directive: "What did Bo-la say? " A n d "What we have to do? " to show clearly: Ẽ\Every force o f our nation is encouraged to fight against the French Colonist ss scheme - "use the Vietnamese to fight against the Vietnam ese' a n d prepare to fight against the enem y's great attacks in the coming months: "m ilitary victory helps political success" (6, P 144‘145) The Directive confidently concluded: "We are not lonely Only when we unite closely , the whole people carry out the war o f resistance for a long tim e , and we have the right policies , we will certainly w in Then, it is not the enemies such as B ‘La who can pose conditions upon us, but it is the unity and fierce struggle o f our nation a n d o f the French people that, will force French reactionary colonists to surrender ‘ (6, p 144-145) To im p lem en t th e D irective of the central party dated O ctober 15, 1947 (to sm ash the w inter attack o f the French enemy), (6, P 146-161), our arm y and people in all b a ttlefield s nation-w ide cooperated closely w ith th e arm y and people in V iet Bac to fight w ith fortitude and w in a glorious victory, w hich fostered th e confidence o f th e arm y and people th rou gh out th e w hole cou n try to achieve th e final victory in th e long resista n ce war o f V ietnam At th a t tim e, in France, th e fig h t of the allian ce forces a g a in st th e p olitical policies o f the French C om m unist P arty becam e more acute Prim e M in ister R am adier decided th at five m in isters w ho w ere com m u n ist party m em bers had to resign from th e govern m en t In th a t situ ation , alth ou gh the French C om m un ist Party Y N V Journal ofS i ient e StH 5(7 Human N ,JE 2004 23 m ade a great effort to fight for a peaceful solution, obviously th e balance of power did not allow th e French C om m unist Party to create essen tia l ch an ges However, the French C om m unist Party m ade the right decision w hich w as dynam ic and flexible: no lim itation; th at w as, the Vietnam issue w as not lim ited to th e scope of two cam ps in the world From 1947 to 1954, the French C om m unist Party attem pted to lay bare to the French people th at the war in Indochina in creased F rance’s dependence on Am erica and w as th reaten in g the in d ep en d en ce o f France; and at th e sam e tim e the Party m ade th e French people un derstan d th at th e fight for peace in V ietnam w as closely related to the protection for F rance’s in d ep en d en ce from A m erican Im perialism T he new spapers of the French C om m unist Party such as L 'H um anité' and France Nouvelle carried m any articles w hich dem anded French C olon ialists to put an end to th e war in V ietnam , to n eg o tia te im m ed iately with th e govern m en t of Ho Chi M inh and to m ake clear th e in tere sts o f V ietnam and France A t the P arliam en t m eeting, d eleg a tes w ho w ere m em bers of the French C om m unist Party raised th eir voice to condem n th e figh tin g factions At the m eeting on J an u ary 25th, 1950, the fem ale com rade J ea n n ette V erm ersch angrily condem ned th e figh tin g factions: 44You forget that the Vietnamese people are living in their own country They are not invaders , but you yourselves are It was not the Vietnamese people who dropped bombs in Marseille, it was you yourselves who dropped bombs in Hai Phong Do I feel indignant?Yes , it is me who feel indignant I am indignant when I think o f m illions o f children being hungry and living in poverty, when I think o f millions o f proletarians who are being exploited by 24 you; Yes, I a m in d ig n a n t because most o f the members o f our P arliam ent are im perialists ” (1, p 2 0-221) French Dinh Xuan Lam social o rg a n iza tio n s (such a s G eneral C onfederation o f Labour, W om en U nion, In th a t situ a tio n , for th e sake of in tern a tio n a lism and o f th e national in te r e sts of France, th e F rench C om m unist P arty sp ed up th e str u g g le to end the in v a sio n w ar in V ietn a m T he dem and and Youth Union) carried out various they raised at that time was stronger; they form s of fig h tin g su ch a s co llectin g sig n a tu res to dem an d for p eace in V ietn am in order to han d over th em to m em bers o f city cou n cils, m em b ers o f P arliam en t, m in isters, governors ; m eetin g s and d em on stration s w ere h eld in th e w hole country; o rg a n isin g m eetin g s u n d er the n am e “We are for V i e t n a m French m others d em an d ed th e F rench govern m en t to return to th em th eir ch ild ren w h en th ey are alive, not w hen th ey are in coffins; th ey w ore m ou rn in g for th eir children; organ izin g ballot-box to d em an d peace for V ietn am , etc could not rem a in a t propaganda level, rath er th ey had to carry o u t m ore active stru g g les In resp o n se to th e appeal by the French C o m m u n ist P arty, th e French G eneral C onfederation o f L abour launched d em o n stra tio n s a t th e ports w here there w ere sh ip s loaded w ith w eap on s and eq u ip m en t to In dochina From M arseille, Toulon, Le H arve to D u n k erq u e, Angler , ev ery w h ere th ere w ere d em o n stra tion s of th e w ork ers a g a in st load in g com m odities on sh ip s to V ietn a m in sp ite of the su p p ressio n , p u n ish m en t, and ev en arrest and im p riso n m en t of reactionary govern m en t T he str u g g le s o f th e port w orkers as w ell a s o th er stru ggles th rou gh ou t F ran ce w ere a lw a y s connected w ith th e dem an d for peace, for the w ith d w a l o f th e F rench expeditionary arm y from V ietn a m , an d for negotiation w ith th e g o v ern m en t o f Ho Chi Minh R ep resen ta tiv e of th e fierce struggle m ovem en ts o f th e F rench people and w ork ers a t th a t tim e w ere Mr Raymond D ien w ho lay on th e railw ay to prevent tra in s from carryin g w ea p o n s to V ietnam (F ebruary th, 1949) and th e cam paign to dem and r e lea sin g H enri M artin, a m ember of th e F rench C o m m u n ist P arty w ho used to be p resen t at th e b a ttle field of Indochina W hen co m in g back to France, h e d en ou nced th e crim es o f th e French in v a d ers in V ietn am D u rin g th ree years (1950*1953), th e co m m u n ists, th e working cla ss, th e w om en u n ion and th e youth u n ion o f France carried o u t various stru g g le a ctiv ities T h ey m ade th e case of H angrim axtan becom e th e fu se resounding Also a t th a t tim e, from 1949 to 1953, th ere w ere m an y ch a n g es w h ich w ere not favorable for th e im p e r ia lists in th e world a s w ell a s in V ietn a m T he C hin ese liberation arm y m oved to th e so u th to get close to th e n orth ern border o f V ietn am In 1950, th e w ar in K orea broke o u t and three years la ter th e A m erican Im p e ria lists and th eir h en ch m en had to w ith d rew in to the Sou th In V ietn a m , th e re sista n c e w ar ag a in st th e F rench d ev elo p ed in to a new sta g e, th e border p rovin ces in th e north from Cao B an g to L an g S on w ere all liberated T he A m erican Im p e ria lists took ad van tage o f F n ce’s m isera b le situ a tio n in V ietn am to in terfere in Indochina The shadow of A m erica w a s coverin g the in d ep en d en ce o f France H enri N avarre adm itted: "The m ost dangerous th in g o f Am erican aids was its political purpose Am erican aids have interfered more deeply in our work, a n d the consequence is that we will lose Indochina even though their aid m ay help us w in the w ar in th is region ” (4) V N U Jo u rn a l o f Science, Soi’., S ci Human., N 'J E 2004 The French communist party and the French people during the Vietnam issue am on g the people of France and co n stitu ted th e stro n g est force in every place in th e co u n try sid e and cities of F rance to stru g g le for peace in Indochina T h e good feelin g and scien ce of the French people, in clu d in g m any in tellectu a ls w ho w ere an ti-co m m u n ists, w ere aw oken in th e figh t a g a in st th e dirtyw ar w hich th e F rench C o lo n ia lists w ere carrying out in Indochina F in ally, facing the fierce stru g g le m o v em en ts of th e people, th e French P re sid en t had to give order to relea se H enri M artin T he ƯH umanité" joyfu lly confirm ed th a t it w as a noble victory o f u n ity and of th e activ ities to protect freedom and peace for V ietnam At th is tim e, in th e b a ttlefield o f Indochina, th e French ex p ed ition ary arm y fell into m ore and m ore m iserable situ ation T he V ietn a m ese people and arm y cooperated clo sely w ith th e a rm ies of Laos and C am bodia to sp eed up encounterattack s in all b a ttlefie ld s, lib erated m any areas, cau sed m ore d a m a g e to th e French arm y, and d isin teg ted th e p u p p et arm y France w a s on th e brink of a d isaster France could n ot carry o u t th e w ar alone It w as ob viou s th a t a n y o n e w ho w as th e leader o f France a t th a t tim e w ould h ave to adm it th e fact (1, p 1-292) On April 27th, 1953 w h en P au l R eyn au d had ju st com e back from In dochina, he reported b itterly to P resid en t V in cen t Auriol: “7 th in k i f we continue bleeding in the w ar in Indochina , we com m it a crim e against France” (2) On M ay 7th, 1954, th e en tire w intersp rin g w ar (1 -1 ), w ith th e peak w hich w as D ien B ien P h u cam p aign , en d ed su ccessfu lly O nly on e day after D ien B ien Phu cam paign had en d ed , th e Indochina issue w as m en tio n ed at th e G en eve conference A t th a t tim e, th e w arlik e V N U , Journ al o f Science Soc Sc/ Human N ụ ỉE , 2004 25 govern m en t of Joep h L aniel w as overth row n by th e p a rlia m en t of France and the new g o v ern m en t of M ende France held pow er w ith th e approval of com m u n ist p a rlia m en ta ria n s Soon after th at, French co m m u n ists tried th eir b est to exp an d th e front a g a in st th e w ar in Indochina T h eir a c tiv itie s w ere not only p o sitiv ely resp on d ed by French people and religiou s o rg a n iza tio n s b u t also created stren g th to ch a n g e th e a ttitu d e s of the people w ho w ere by n a tu re a n ti-co m m u n ist such as A lb ert S arrau t, Edouard D aladier, Edouard H erriot, and even th e French Prim e M in ister M endes M any m eetin gs w ith ten th o u sa n d s o f people to dem and for peace in V ietn am w ere h eld du rin g the conference T h e French C om m u n ist Party criticised tim ely th e d esign to occupy more land in th e so u th of V ietnam : “to cease fire is the prerequisite for a long-term peace and there cannot be long-term peace w ithout political solutions I f the French governm ent thought th a t they could cease fire a n d carry out negotiation together with encouraging the policies o f building the bases for Am erica's invasion around Democratic Republic o f Vietnam , it Ivas a great m istake ” (1, p 03) The French C om m u n ist P arty w a s d eterm in ed to object to th e d esig n o f th e French C o lo n ia lists in th e S ou th o f V ietn am The d esign w a s th a t V ietn a m w as sep arated and la titu d e N o 17 w as sid ered as a stra teg y frontier T he resu lt w a s th a t on J u ly 20th, 1954 th e G en eva A g reem en t on Indochina w as sign ed and it w a s ob viou s th a t th e French co m m u n ists m ade a g rea t trib u tion to th a t su ccess For th e F rench com m u n ists, th e victory in D ien B ien P h u and th e P aris conference w ere sid ered a s th e shared su ccess o f both th e F rench and th e V ietn a m ese people A t th e m eetin g on Ju ly Dinh Xuan Lam ‘2 22nđ, 1954 in P a rist Jacq u es D uslos explained: “This victory is not the result of the good w ant o f some people , but it is the result o f peoples activities which isolated the reactionary governm ent o f America in France , and it m ade capitalists expose differences in their interests in contrast with the interests o f the capitalists directly related to America" (1, p 310) For the French com m u n ists, peace restored in V ietnam and Indochina in 1954 w as the great victory of peace in the world To understand the sta tu re and significance of this resistan ce w ar o f th e French people under th e leadersh ip of the French C om m unist Party, it is possible to quote the general ju d gm ent o f a French historian as follows: "In Vietnam , although the fighting against the colonists had existed before World War II there have never been any wars which lasted so long a time from 1944 to 1954 It can be concluded that the struggle against the war in Indochina was first initiated by the French com m unists , then it became the peoples first long lasting resitance against French Colonialsm ’ (1, p 394) W ith its ow n active and great activities, the French C om m unist Party radically im p lem en ted a th esis on the coalition b etw een th e n ation al liberation m ovem ents in colonial cou n tries and the revolutionary party in th e m other country In the spirit of th is m eaning, a thorough in v estig a tio n into th e a ctiv ities o f the French C om m un ist Party and the French com m u n ists w ho stood sid e by side w ith the V ietn a m ese people in the nine-year resistan ce w ar (1946*1954) w ill contribute to solid atin g and stren g th en in g the m utual u n d ersta n d in g and fostering the friendly rela tio n s b etw een the two parties and the people of th e two countries R EFER EN C ES Alain Ruscio dẫn trong: ikNhừng người Cộng sản Pháp chiến tranh Đông Dương 1944-1954", NXB L’Harmattan, Paris, 1985 Alain Ruscio dẫn trong: “L?Historiographie Franciasc et Dien Bien Phu: un demisiecle de recherches et de controverses ' (Sử liệu học Pháp Điện Biên Phủ:một nửa th ế kỷ nghiên cửu tranh luận) Báo N h n Đạo , số ngày 17 18/9 ngày 15/10/1944 Navarre (H), Đòng Dương hấp hơì, NXB Pion, Paris, 1956, tr 28 Tuyên ngôn độc lặp, Văn kiện kháng chiến chống thực dàn Pháp , tập ỉ (1945*1954), NXB Sự thật* Hà Nội, 1986 Văn kiện Đảng kháng chiến chống thực dân Pháp , tập ỉ (1945*1950), NXB Sự thật, Hà Nội, 1986 Y N U Journal o f S iiem e Sot S( ! Hitman N ,JE 2004 ... our nation is encouraged to fight against the French Colonist ss scheme - "use the Vietnamese to fight against the Vietnam ese' a n d prepare to fight against the enem y's great attacks in the. .. o f the French people that, will force French reactionary colonists to surrender ‘ (6, p 144-145) To im p lem en t th e D irective of the central party dated O ctober 15, 1947 (to sm ash the. .. great efforts to inform the French C om m unist Party o f the situation, the French C om m unist Party became a big party but it could not understand everything1' (1, p 71) R ight after th at, the