Chapter 1
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today” – Thich Nhat Hanh
It is hard to imagine that the present Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (“VNQDD”) is the same party that was originally conceived as a revolutionary party. The present incarnation is a world away from their original goal to:
The aim and general line of the party is to make a national revolution, to use military force to overthrow the feudal colonial system, to set up a democratic republic of Vietnam. At the same time we will help all oppressed nationalities in the work of struggling to achieve independence, in particular such neighboring countries as Laos and Cambodia.
The seeds of change followed the abortive uprising at Yen Bai and the subsequent reprisals by the French authorities. Those members that were not captured by the Surete fled into Yunnan and a previously disciplined organisation was riven by internal bickering which threatened to consign the party into irrelevance. It was here that the demoralised members of the VNQDD first encountered the remnants of Vietnamese Restoration League.
It was fortuidous for Vietnamese independence that at a time of weakness a patriot of the standing of Phan Boi Chau [1]emerged to unite the disparate nationalist groups into a single political entity. Perhaps if the Yen Bai uprising had not failed as clearly, the leadership cadre of the VNQDD would not have been as receptive to change and the history of Vietnam significantly different. In what has become known as the Gejiu pact the VNQDD absorbed the remnants of the Vietnamese Restoration League and installed Phan Boi Chau as their leader.
Their inaugural congress established several principles to restore Vietnamese independence, particularly by focusing their effort at a village level through uniting and educating the nha que[2]. As the Vietnamese peasants remained politically unaware, respected institutions such as the monarchy would be utilised as a tool to broaden their support base. The decision to create a political base within the peasantry was to prove instrumental in the later success of the VNQDD.
At the congress the then unknown Le van Nhuan[3] made a speech that changed the long term independence strategy for the VNQDD and the future of Vietnam. He urged his fellow members to recognise with the destruction of their political infrastructure in Tonkin and Annam, combined with the closure of the Chinese / Vietnamese border meant that they must consider all alternatives to attain independence. His proposal was for the VNQDD to create a political base in Cochin China and to expand north when French attention inevitably waned. Although his proposal was initially greeted with derision, after several days of robust bargaining his proposal became policy. Other organisations such as the Vietnamese – Chinese business society were created to finance their revolutionary activities.
Their success at rebuilding their support base is illustrated in the biography ‘Hanoi adieu’ by a former French army officer of his first encounter with a VNQDD supporter in 1940.
The sounds of the prisoners’ truck jarred me out of my trancelike state. It seemed to take an age for the vehicle to enter the quarry and come to a halt. Guards jumped out and began to open the back door. Suddenly someone shouted, one of the prisoners: ‘Down with Imperialism! Independence for Vietnam!’ I looked across as the men were marched to the marks I had set. They turned to face us – and my heart missed a beat. It couldn’t be. How could it be? I peered at the man and knew I had been right. It was Nguyen Nga, my friend.
Author's notes:
[1] Author of a ‘History of the Loss of Vietnam,’ founder of the Vietnamese Restoration and ‘Visit to the East’ society
[2] Peasant, traditionally used in a perjorative way.
[3] Better known in OTL as Le Duan.
It is hard to imagine that the present Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (“VNQDD”) is the same party that was originally conceived as a revolutionary party. The present incarnation is a world away from their original goal to:
The aim and general line of the party is to make a national revolution, to use military force to overthrow the feudal colonial system, to set up a democratic republic of Vietnam. At the same time we will help all oppressed nationalities in the work of struggling to achieve independence, in particular such neighboring countries as Laos and Cambodia.
The seeds of change followed the abortive uprising at Yen Bai and the subsequent reprisals by the French authorities. Those members that were not captured by the Surete fled into Yunnan and a previously disciplined organisation was riven by internal bickering which threatened to consign the party into irrelevance. It was here that the demoralised members of the VNQDD first encountered the remnants of Vietnamese Restoration League.
It was fortuidous for Vietnamese independence that at a time of weakness a patriot of the standing of Phan Boi Chau [1]emerged to unite the disparate nationalist groups into a single political entity. Perhaps if the Yen Bai uprising had not failed as clearly, the leadership cadre of the VNQDD would not have been as receptive to change and the history of Vietnam significantly different. In what has become known as the Gejiu pact the VNQDD absorbed the remnants of the Vietnamese Restoration League and installed Phan Boi Chau as their leader.
Their inaugural congress established several principles to restore Vietnamese independence, particularly by focusing their effort at a village level through uniting and educating the nha que[2]. As the Vietnamese peasants remained politically unaware, respected institutions such as the monarchy would be utilised as a tool to broaden their support base. The decision to create a political base within the peasantry was to prove instrumental in the later success of the VNQDD.
At the congress the then unknown Le van Nhuan[3] made a speech that changed the long term independence strategy for the VNQDD and the future of Vietnam. He urged his fellow members to recognise with the destruction of their political infrastructure in Tonkin and Annam, combined with the closure of the Chinese / Vietnamese border meant that they must consider all alternatives to attain independence. His proposal was for the VNQDD to create a political base in Cochin China and to expand north when French attention inevitably waned. Although his proposal was initially greeted with derision, after several days of robust bargaining his proposal became policy. Other organisations such as the Vietnamese – Chinese business society were created to finance their revolutionary activities.
Their success at rebuilding their support base is illustrated in the biography ‘Hanoi adieu’ by a former French army officer of his first encounter with a VNQDD supporter in 1940.
The sounds of the prisoners’ truck jarred me out of my trancelike state. It seemed to take an age for the vehicle to enter the quarry and come to a halt. Guards jumped out and began to open the back door. Suddenly someone shouted, one of the prisoners: ‘Down with Imperialism! Independence for Vietnam!’ I looked across as the men were marched to the marks I had set. They turned to face us – and my heart missed a beat. It couldn’t be. How could it be? I peered at the man and knew I had been right. It was Nguyen Nga, my friend.
Author's notes:
[1] Author of a ‘History of the Loss of Vietnam,’ founder of the Vietnamese Restoration and ‘Visit to the East’ society
[2] Peasant, traditionally used in a perjorative way.
[3] Better known in OTL as Le Duan.