The Laws and Measures
To monopolize the newly-acquired power, the Viet Minh administration systematically executed without delay their plan of extermination of opposing parties. On September 5, 1945, only three days after President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, Vo Nguyen Giap, the then Minister for the Interior, signed two administrative decrees, arbitrarily outlawing all party activities. Executing the law, the Viet Minh administration dissolved outright the Dai Viet Quoc Gia Xa Hoi Dang (Greate Vietnam Nationalist Social Party) and the Dai Viet Quoc Dan Dang (Greater Vietnam National Party). As a consequence, protests against the Viet Minh administration multiplied. In Hanoi, popular demonstrations demanded the resignation from office of President Ho Chi Minh and the return to power of ex-Emperor Bao Dai.
To cope with increasing opposition, on September 12, Vo Nguyen Giap signed another administrative decree authorizing the creation of the security service Ty Liem Phong. The organ was vested with full authority to arrest and imprison anyone that was considered a danger to the regime. Within 24 hours after that,, on September 13, Ho Chi Minh, also, by an administrative decree, created the Military Court. The creation of the two security organs evidently served Viet Minh’s urgent political purposes, to show defiance to popular protest, intimidate opponents, and suppress the anti-Viet Minh movement that was on the rise. Above all, the Viet Minh used the new security organs as a legal instrument by means of which they would definitely preserve their monopoly of power.
The Oppression
Targeted with harassment, arrest, imprisonment, and death threat were the writers of the Tu Luc Van Doan (Tu Luc Literary Group) Vu Dinh Chi, Khai Hung Tran Khanh Giu, Nguyen Tuong Bach, and Nhu Phong Le Van Tien--; members of the Han Thuyen Literary Society, the scholar Truong Tuu and the theorist of the Fourth International in Hanoi Nguyen Duc Quynh, and veteran members of the Nam Dong Thu Xa (Nam Dong Literary and Social Studies Club), Nhuong Tong Hoang Pham Tran, Hoc Nang Nguyen Van Phat, and Gian Chi Nguyen Huu Van. Among the targets were also the leaders of national parties, Nguyen Xuan Tieu alias Nguyen Ly Cao Kha and Ta Quang Hoi alias Ta Nguyen Minh of Dai Viet Quoc Xa; and Dr Nguyen Xuan Chu and the lawyer Le Toan of the Viet Nam Ai Quoc Dang (Patriots’ Party of Vietnam)
To consolidate their administration, the Viet Minh created the Viet Minh Front with satellite organizations to praise Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh and activate popular support for them, They were the national salvation associations, namely, the Phu Lao Cuu Quoc, for the seniors; Thanh Nien Cuu Quoc; for young men; Phu Nu Cuu Quoc for young women; Nhi Dong Cuu Quoc, for young teen-agers; and so on. In the large cities such as Hanoi, Haiphong, and Nam Dinh, paramilitary groups Tu Ve (Self-defense Guards) were equally created to take charge of the military and security services in the local streets and quarters. Politically, all these organizations served the Viet Minh’s propaganda purposes, to defame the Nationalist leaders and cadres, and thus attenuate their influence on the masses and dismantle their organizations. Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang was portrayed as a gang of bandits and the lackeys of the filthy Chinese Koumintang. Its headquarters on Quan Thanh Street, Hanoi, was put under tight watch. Its party members in Nam Dinh and Haiphong were followed, and their activities were forbidden.
The Nationalists, on the other side, launched campaigns of propaganda in the press to denounce the Viet Minh’s false cause and the true face of Ho Chi Minh. This agent of the Soviet Third International was unmasked to the public. The articles in the journal Viet Nam published in Hanoi by the novelist Khai Hung, Tran Khanh Giu, notably, warned the Vietnamese people and the Allies against all dupes and vile tricks of Nguyen Ai Quoc and the hidden artful schemes of the Viet Minh. The denunciations of the journal gave a dead blow on the head of the Viet Minh administration. Campaigns of anti-Viet Minh propaganda were also activated by secret distribution of pamphlets and intermittent broadcasts through loudspeakers at Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang headquarters in Hanoi, Haiphong, and Nam Dinh.
Beginning in October 1945, the Viet Minh security police applied strict measures of control on the journal Viet Nam. They stopped the distribution of the journal to the provinces and arrested the deliverers. The journal’s office was isolated from the readership. In a short time, the staff had to cease the publication. Vu Dinh Chi was assassinated. The writer Tran Khanh Giu was kept under watch. In December 1946 when the war broke out in Hanoi, he returned to his home village of Hanh Thien, Xuan Truong District, Nam Dinh Province. He was abducted and executed by a local cadre who was allegedly his old student. His body was crammed in a bamboo cage which was then released into a river.
The Viet Minh Maneuver
From September 9, 1945 onwards, the Viet Minh were militarily and politically subdued by the Chinese generals who came to Vietnam following the decision of the Allies at Potsdam in July 1945 to disarm the defeated Japanese Army and maintain order. The Koumintang troops flooded the cities and provinces in the North to the incapacity and inferiority of the Viet Minh, Revolutionary Nationalists among whom were Nguyen Hai Than, Nguyen Tuong Tam, Vu Hong Khanh, and others, who had taken refuge in China and enjoyed sympathy of Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek, returned to the country and arduously fought with the Viet Minh for power. The Viet Minh were then at a loss. Their newly-born administration was like a candle before the wind. To their disadvantage, throughout major cities and provinces, other national parties activated political opposition to apply pressure on them to win back power. Confronting the enemies from all sides, Ho Chi Minh managed to manipulate his opponents into joining him to fight for the interests of national cause.
On November 11, 1945, Ho showed his good will and declared to dissolve the Communist Party of Indochina. He nevertheless created at the same time the Hoi Nghien Cuu Chu Nghia Cac Nac (Club for the Studies of Marxism) in its place. Such an act, raised doubts about Ho Chi Minh’s truthfulness among opposing party organizations. The Viet Minh administration met with tense opposition. Facing the urgency of the moment, they hurriedly organized the general elections by means of which they would effectively count out their opponents legally. Members of the Communist Party of Indochina and pro-Communist candidates were all elected to the National Assembly. In Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh won with 98% of the votes. Non-Communists and the Nationalists were eliminated. However, subdued by pressure from the Koumintang generals and leaders of the opposing parties, on December 22, 1945, Ho Chi Minh made a step backwards. He agreed to compromise with his Nationalist opponents, giving them five cabinet posts and 70 seats in the National Assembly in exchange for their cooperation. Nguyen Hai Than (Viet Cach) was assigned Vice-president; Nguyen Tuong Tam (Dai Viet Dan Chinh), Minister for Foreign Affairs; Nghiem Ke To (Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang) Vice-minister for Foreign Affairs; Truong Dinh Tri (Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang), Minister for Health; and Vu Hong Khanh (Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang), Vice-chairman, National Affairs Council. Ex-emperor Bao Dai was nominated Supreme Advisor to the government. All of them and 70 deputies were only figureheads. The Viet Minh made all decisions
The Tricks
The fight for power aggravated the Nationalist-Communist conflict in large cities and provinces. The Viet Cach openly activated both anti-French and anti-Viet Minh sentiments. Propaganda campaigns of crime denunciation against the Viet Minh were operated among the population. The negotiations with the French of the Viet Minh were accused as an act of betrayal to the nation. The Viet Cach with Nguyen Hai Than at the head, in particular, looked for support from Koumintang General Lu Han to gain an upper hand over the Viet Minh. Ho Chi Minh, on the other side, maneuvered to outdo the Viet Cach and other opposing parties with artifices to win over the Chinese general’s favors. Ho had campaigns of Gold Week organized. He appealed to the Vietnamese people to contribute with wealth to national construction and defense. Tons of gold he amassed were offered in part to the Chinese general in exchange for his withdrawal of support for the Nationalist ally.
While courting the Chinese Koumintang with bribes, Ho Chi Minh made peace with the French invaders. Ho opened the seaport of Haiphong to the French Expeditionary Corps. He sped up negotiations with France through the mediation of the French envoy to Vietnam Jean Sainteny, working towards signing with France a modus vivendi. With it, he dealt with France on an equal footing, won from her the de facto recognition of the Viet Minh as the legitimate representative of Vietnam and gained back Viet Minh’s political supremacy over their opponents.
The Repression
Upon achieving his purposes, Ho Chi Minh made volte face, breaking relations with leaders of national parties, decimating their leadership and eradicating their organizations. Taking advantage of their power, the Viet Minh destroyed them with whatever means they had at hand. Opponents, dissidents, and uncooperative individuals were equally targeted with terror and repression. To get rid of these elements, they attributed to them with crimes of treason. These traitors were abducted, arrested, jailed or put to death.
Confrontation with violence instigated by both sides took place, In the major cities, Hanoi, Haiphong, and Nam Dinh. Exchanges of gunfire and grenades occurred in the streets in broad daylight. Most often the Viet Minh prevailed. Members at he headquarters of the Viet Cach, Dai Viet and Viet Quoc in Hanoi were attacked. The Viet Quoc headquarters near the Municipal Theater in Haiphong, and on Pho Ga Street in Nam Dinh were under strict watch. The Viet Quoc main siege on On Nhu Hau Street in Hanoi were targeted with violence. Uncontrolled fights between the Nationalists and Communists increased at the completion of the modus vivendi in Da Lat on March 6, 1946. Coupled with it was the withdrawal from North Vietnam of the Chinese Koumintang troops. Seizing the opportunity, the Viet Minh launched hefty military operations to destroy the militia and the bases of the Viet Cach, Dai Viet, and Viet Quoc. In the provinces, the guerrilla bases of Dai Viet and Viet Quoc. where the militia had been trained to fight the Fascist Japanese occupiers and French colonialists, suffered Viet Minh violent attacks. The forces of national parties could only stand on the defensive.
On May 28, 1946, a Viet Minh delegation left for Paris to negotiate for a treaty with France. Ho Chi Minh also went to Paris. The conference took place at Fontainebleau near Paris. Discussions ensued for two months but came to no conclusion. On September 13, the Pham Van Dong delegation left Paris. Ho Chi Minh stayed and sought to reach a compromise. On September 15 , at the office of the Ministry of Overseas Lands, Marius Moutet and Ho Chi Minh signed, again, a modus vivendi according to which Vietnam was recognized as a free country-- and not an independent one as expected-- within the French Union. He made his trip back to Vietnam on the French battleship Dumond D’Urville. The Viet Minh propaganda machinery drummed up the Vietnamese-French relations and Ho Chi Minh’s achievements with flowery slogans amid popular protests and indignation of national parties
Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh delegation’s diplomatic failures resulted in violent opposition of the national parties. Anti-Viet Minh sentiments increasingly rose in the population To deal with the situation, the Viet Minh decided to fight back hard, suppressing all party activities. The Nationalists demonstrated their unbending willingness and sheer non-cooperation. On October 28, 1946, 50 deputies in the Nationalist camp did not show at the National Assembly. Nguyen Hai Than, Nguyen Tuong Tam, Vu Hong Khanh, and Truong Dinh Tri voluntarily withdrew from the government. Tension mounted. Both sides prepared to exterminate each other. Nevertheless, the bloodiest fights between the Viet Minh troopers and the forces of national parties only began after the withdrawal of the Chinese Koumintang Army in September 1946.
