Nguyen Ngoc Bich Explained

Nguyễn Ngọc Bích
Birth Date:18 May 1911
Birth Place:Bến Tre, Cochinchina
Death Place:Thủ Đức, South Vietnam
Citizenship:South Vietnam
Alma Mater:
Years Active:1935–1966
Known For:Resistance war, politics
Doctor (medical)
Father:Nguyễn Ngọc Tương
Mother:Bui Thi Giau
Signature:Firefox 2023-03-17 08-51-44.png

Nguyễn Ngọc Bích (1911–1966) was a French-educated engineer, a Vietnamese "resistance hero" against the French colonists:850. NOTEN.psq1 and "one of the most popular local heroes",:122 a French-educated medical doctor, an intellectual and politician, who proposed an alternative viewpoint to avoid the high-casualty, high-cost war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

Nguyen-Ngoc-Bich street in the city of Cần Thơ, Vietnam, was named after him to honor and commemorate his sabotaging bridges and heroism during the First Indochina War.

Upon graduating from the École polytechnique (engineering military school under the French Ministry of Armed Forces) and then from the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (civil engineering) in France in 1935, Bich returned to Vietnam to work for the French colonial government. After World War II, in 1945, he joined the Viet Minh, became a senior commander in the Vietnamese resistance movement, and insisted on fighting for Vietnam's independence, not for communism.

SuspectingN.bs of being betrayed by the Communist factionN.bs of the Viet Minh and apprehended by the French forces, he was saved from execution by a campaign for amnesty by his École polytechnique classmates based in Vietnam, mostly high-level officers of the French army,: 299 and was subsequently exiled to France, where he founded with friends and managed the Vietnamese publishing house Minh Tan (in Paris), which published many important works for the Vietnamese literature.N.mbl In parallel, he studied medicine and became a medical doctor. He was highly regarded in Vietnamese politics, and was suggested by the French in 1954 as an alternative to Ngo Dinh Diem as the sixth prime minister of the State of Vietnam under the former Emperor Bảo Đại as Head of State,:84 who selected Ngo Dinh Diem as prime minister. While Bich 's candidature for the 1961 presidential election in opposition to Diem was, however, declared invalid by the Saigon authorities at the last moment for "technical reasons", he was "regarded by many as a possible successor to President Ngo Dinh Diem". N.pi, N.tcq

First Indochina War

The broader historic events of World War II and the First Indochina War---specifically, the short interwar period between end of the former and the beginning of the later—led to the context in which Nguyen Ngoc Bich fought the French colonists until he was captured. The activities directly or indirectly affected Bich 's life by four historic individuals are summarized. French General de Gaulle, by his desire to reconquer Indochina as a French colony, was a main force that led to the First Indochina War, in which Bich fought. Ho Chi Minh (Ho), founder and leader of the Viet Minh, called for the general uprising---against the French colonists and the Japanese occupiers---to which Bich responded. US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ardent anticolonialism could have prevented the two Indochina wars, and changed the course of history. US President Harry Truman was a reason that the First Indochina War is now called the "French-American" War in Vietnamese literature, and through his support for the French war effort supplied napalm bombs, which Bich mentioned in his 1962 paper. The US funded more than 30% of the war cost in 1952 under US President Eisenhower, and "nearly 80%" in 1954 under Truman.N.fwc

Ho Chi Minh

For thirty years, from 1912 when Ho Chi Minh first visited Boston and New York City until about 1948–1949, Ho held out his hope that the US would provide military support for his anticolonialist resistance against the French.:xxiiSince that visit to the US in his early twenties, Ho---like Bich, a Francophile anticolonialist,N.fa2

N.psq3 who was both a communist and a nationalistN.hcn ---developed a "lifelong admiration for Americans".:55 N.haa

Seizing on the opportunity of the Japanese entering Tonkin in 1940 September:452 to begin occupy Indochina (with French agreement):452 to rid Vietnam of French colonial yoke,N.hir Ho (who was in Liuzhou, China) returned to the China-Vietnam border and began a "training program for cadres".:452 Then on 1941 February 8,:524 Ho crossed the border to enter Vietnam for the first time after 30 years away (from 1911 to 1941), and sheltered in cave Cốc Bó:73 near the Pác Bó hamlet, in the Cao Bằng province, less than a mile from the Chinese border.:34 N.dii There Ho convened a plenum in 1941 May, and founded the Viet Minh, an anticolonialist organization that Bich joined in 1945.N.bvm

On 1941 September 8, two months after the total integration of Indochina into the Japanese military system, Ho (still known as Nguyen Ai Quoc at that time) in his call to arm to the people of Tonkin, announced the formation of the Viet Minh to "fight the French and Japanese fascism until the total liberation of Vietnam.":97 On 1941 October 25, the Viet Minh published its first manifesto: "Unification of all social strata, of all revolutionary organizations, of all ethnic minorities. Alliance with all other oppressed peoples of Indochina. Collaboration with all French anti-fascist groups. One goal: the destruction of colonialism and imperialist fascism".N.vmmIn 1942 August, Ho (named "Nguyen Ai Quoc" at that time) crossed the border into China with the intention of attracting the interest of the Allies in Chungking:7 (now Chongqing) for the Vietnamese resistance movement, arrested by the Chinese on 1942 August 28 for being "French spy",:525 but the real reason was Ho's political activities, viewed as "Communistic", instead of "nationalistic", by the Chinese (Chiang Kai-shek) and the Allies at Chungking (now Chongqing).:103 N.vnh Ho was detained for thirteen months, starting at the Tienpao prison,:51 N.htp moving through eighteen different prisons,:77 N.vnh2 and ending up at Liuchow:46 (now Liuzhou), from where he was released on 1943 September 10, after changing his name from Nguyen Ai Quoc to Ho Chi Minh.:453 At that time, the name "Nguyen Ai Quoc" was very popular, while hardly any one heard of the new name "Ho Chi Minh".N.naq

Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in 1944 September, after obtaining the authorization from the Chinese authority, Zhang Fakui, who was under "severe pressure from the Japanese Ichigo offensive" to obtain intelligence in Indochina---and after submitting the "Outline of the Plan for the Activities of Entering Vietnam".:134N.hvn All three protagonists---the French Vichy colonialists, the Japanese occupiers, and the Viet Minh---were deceived by US war plan,N.uwp and expected a US invasion of Indochina.N.uii Such expectation was the main reason:209 that, in 1945 February–March, during an "unusually cold month of February,":56N.cf45Ho once again crossed back into China, and walked from the Pác Bó hamlet to Kunming to meetN.wtk(and to "make friends with":210) American OSS and OWI (Office of War Information) officers to exchange intelligence.N.hmo:238 Ho's report to the OSS mentioned the Japanese coup de force on the evening of 1945 March 9.:238

In Kunming, Ho requested OSS Lt. Charles FennN.fhh to arrange for a meeting with Gen. Claire Chennault, commander of the Flying Tigers.:58 In the meeting that occurred on 1945 March 29, Ho requested a portrait of Chennault, who signed across the bottom "Yours sincerely, Claire L. Chennault".:58 Ho displayed the portrait of Chennault, along with those of Lenin and Mao, in his lodging at Tân Trào as "tangible evidence to convince skeptical Vietnamese nationalists that he had American support".:58 As additional evidence, Ho also possessed six brand-new US Colt.45 pistols in original wrappings that he requested and got from Charles Fenn.:79 :158 This "seemingly insignificant quantity" of arms,N.hgptogether with "Chennault's autographed photograph" as evidence, convinced other factions of the primacy of the Viet Minh. Ho's American-backing ruse worked.:58

In Cochin China (the south),N.tcc where Bich lived and worked, (Trần Văn Giàu in Vietnamese), a Viet Minh leader and "Ho Chi Minh's trusted friend",:186 on 1945 August 22 used Ho's ruse of "American backing for the Viet Minh", to convince other pro-Japanese nationalist groups (Phuc Quoc, Đại Việt, United National Front:524) and religious sects (Cao Đài, Hòa Hảo) that they would be outlawed by the invading Allies, and thus should accept the leadership of the Viet Minh, which had strong support of "the Allies with arms, equipment and training".:186

Fearing a US invasion with the French colonialists helping, the Japanese initiated operation Bright Moon (Meigo sakusen), leading to a coup de force on 1945 March 9 to neutralize the French forces and to remove the French colonial administration in Indochina:65 (and thus the status of Bich 's job in the French colonial government).The resulting power vacuum:64 following this coup de force changed the political situation, and provided a favorable setting for the Viet Minh takeover of the government.:73 In 1945 April, Ho walked a perilous journey from Pác Bó to Tân Trào, the Viet Minh headquarters in the Liberated Area. There, on 1945 August 16, Ho called for a general uprising to throw out the Japanese occupiers that ultimately led to the August Revolution.N.pvar

Even though being a son of a Cao Đài pope, N.cd Bich joined the Viet Minh in 1945,N.bjvm instead of the Cao Đài force.

After the August Revolution in 1945, the French began to negotiate their return to Tonkin with both the Viet Minh and the Chinese army coming to disarm the defeated Japanese north of the 16th parallel. Ho Chi Minh was weary of the Chinese, who might stay in Vietnam permanently, signed the March 6 [1946] AccordsN.m6a1 N.m6a3 with Jean Sainteny to agree to let the French army under General Leclerc to enter Tonkin. "With French troops arriving in Hanoi on March 18 [1946], Leclerc quickly established cordial relations with Ho Chi Minh."

CBS reporter David Schoenbrun interviewed Ho Chi Minh on 1946 September 11, the same day that a telegram was dispatched from the High Commissioner d'Argenlieu to the French Indochina Committee on the arrest of Bich on 1946 August 25.N.bb

Resistance

After graduating in 1935 from the École nationale des ponts et chaussées, a civil engineering school, Nguyen Ngoc Bich returned home to work as a civil engineer for the colonial government at the Sóc Trăng Irrigation Department until the Japanese coup d'état in Viet Nam (1945 September 3). Bich then joined the Resistance in the Soc-Trang base area and was appointed Deputy Commander of the Military Zone 9 (vi), established on 1945 December 10, and included the provinces of Cần Thơ, Sóc Trăng, Rạch Giá, together with six other provinces. Bich sabotaged many bridges that were notoriously difficult to destroy such as Cai-Rang Bridge in Cần Thơ—where a street was named to honor his feats N.nnbs—Nhu-Gia Bridge in Sóc Trăng, etc., blocking the advance of French forces directed by General Valluy and General Nyo, who were under the general command of General Philippe Leclerc, commander of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (Corps expéditionnaire français en Extrême-Orient, CEFEO).

Joseph A. Buttinger was an ardent advocate for refugees of persecution, and a "renowned authority on Vietnam and the American war" in that country. In 1940, he helped founded the International Rescue Committee, "a nonprofit organization aiding refugees of political, religious and racial persecution", and while "working with refugees in Vietnam in the 1950s, he became immersed in the history, culture, and politics of that nation". His scholarship was in high demand during the Vietnam War. The New York Times described his his two-volume Vietnam-history book, Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled,N.jbr1as "a monumental work" that "marks a strategic breakthrough in the serious study of Vietnamese politics in America" and as "the most thorough, informative and, over all, the most impressive book on Vietnam yet published in America". Joseph Buttinger wrote in [''Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled'', Vol. 2]

That Nguyen Ngoc Bich was being hunted by the French colonists was described in Joseph Buttinger's book::641

Miss Hammer cites the case of an emissary sent by Nguyen Ngoc Bich. The French took down his name when he came to their headquarters to negotiate a cease-fire, and "it was soon public knowledge that the French had put a price on his head as well as on that of his commander, Nguyen Ngoc Bich " (ibid., p. 158). ---Joseph Buttinger (1967), Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, Vol.1, p. 641.N.pbh

Publications

Notes

At first, the French colonialists tolerated the Cao Đài, prefering religious sects over Communists, allowing it to be practiced in Cochinchina (south Vietnam), but not in Annam (central Vietnam) and Tonkin (north Vietnam).:98 "In 1940–41, the French altitude changed in Cochinchina loo, since it was realized that the new religion had turned into a pro-Japanese force.:252 Citing messages from above, Caodaist priests predicted the certain victory of the Axis.":98

In the Spring of 1941, the Caodaistes found themselves in serious difficulty with the French administration, and sought help and protection from the Japanese, who were not in a position to provide. As a result, the Caodaistes were crushed by the French, with Cao Đài leaders sent into exile. By December 1941, the "famed" Kempeitai, the Japanese political police modeled after the Gestapo, came to Indochina, and provided help and protection to the Caodaistes and other nationalist factions.:89-90 (In Devillers (1952):90, "Kempeitai" was translated into French as "Gendarmerie" and "police politique", whereas in Patti (1980):41, "kempeitai" was translated as "security police".)

After the Japanese coup de force on 1945 March 9, being pro-Japanese,:76 :103,373 the Cao Đài sect along with other pro-Japanese groupsN.a

tr in the United National Front (Mặt Trận Quốc Gia Thống Nhứt),:524 established on 1945 August 14,:554 were convinced by Tran Van Giau, a Viet Minh leader in Cochinchina---and later "a prominent Vietnamese historian who organized the 1945 revolution in Saigon and the whole of Cochinchina (Nam Ky)":21---that they all would be "outlawed":186 by the invading Allied, agreed to an alliance under the leadership of the Viet Minh.:524

After the Japanese officially surrendered on 1945 September 2, the same day that Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam Independence, General Leclerc (on 1945 October 5):454 and the French 5th Régiment d'Infanterie Colonial (RIC,:xv Colonial Infantry Regiment, on 1945 October 3):454 were brought back to Cochinchina with the help of the British. The advance units of British troops, the 20th Indian Division, and of the French 5th RIC were flown into Saigon on 1945 September 12.:455

"The contentious character of the nationalist movement in the south facilitated Leclerc's 'pacification campaign' at the end of 1945 and the beginning of 1946. He took on the armies of the Hòa Hảo, the Cao Đài, and the Viet Minh one after the other. At first, he seemed to score a resounding military success. Many Caodaists rallied to the French. By March, Leclerc estimated that his troops controlled, not just the cities, but also 80 percent of the villages. Politically, however, France had confronted and alienated much of the population, and when the Viet Minh reorganized its forces and started to cooperate more systematically with the religious sects, guerrilla activity resurfaced in most of the areas the French thought they had pacified.":74

On 1946 April 10, Nguyen Binh, the equivalent of Võ Nguyên Giáp in the south,:75 formed the Unified National Front (Mặt Trận Quốc Gia Liên Hiệp, "Front National Unifié"),:253 composed of the Cao Đài and the same former pro-Japanese groups that were in the United National Front, established less than one year before on 1945 August 14, as mentioned above.

The side switching of these groups prompted Ho Chi Minh to describe the pro-Japanese politicians as "weathercocks who were pro-French yesterday, pro-Jap today, and pro someone else tomorrow.":105

D'Argenlieu was also known as the "abomination of Vietnam,":394 whom Bảo Đại was averse to have any dealings with. of the Atlantic Charter and subsequently reiterated in the San Francisco Charter".

References

Patti 1980Brocheux 2007Devillers 1952Doan-Them 1965Tonnesson 2007,Tram-Huong 2003,[1] Buttinger 1967a,Marr 1984,[2] Marr 1995,[3] Ho 1945Britannica-->Marr 2013

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