Élysée Accords
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The Elysée Accords were an international agreement to give independence and unification for Vietnam as an associated state within the French Union on 8 March 1949.[1][2] This was a turning point in Vietnamese history because France no longer considered Vietnam a colony while Vietnam reunified its two protectorates and regained Cochinchina. The Accords signed at the Élysée Palace by ex-emperor Bảo Đại on 8 March 1949 to establish the State of Vietnam and received final ratification by the French National Assembly on 29 January 1950, and were signed by French President Vincent Auriol on February 2. The agreement was intended to have U.S. support for France's actions in French Indochina; as well as to convince Bảo Đại that France would give Vietnam a greater independence. The French colonial regime itself became softer after World War II.[3] The accords gave Vietnam all the necessary internal and external independence rights, but the State of Vietnam was still not a sovereign state but only an associated one.[4][5][1] Although the army of the State of Vietnam was heavily dependent on France as it fought the Vietnamese communists, France gradually returned administrative functions to the State of Vietnam in accordance with the terms of this agreement. The State of Vietnam gained complete independence within the French Union with the Matignon Accords on 4 June 1954.
The agreement led to the U.S. moving from a position of neutrality to supporting the French colonial empire in their Indochina and Bảo Đại's state.[4] The French portrayed their actions in French Indochina as attempting to keeping France's interests in this confederation while still giving native peoples a big freedom and help them fighting the spread of communism.
Content
[edit]The agreement was compared to the British Commonwealth of Nations, though fell short in many aspects. Vietnam was empowered to control its own finances and the path was paved for the creation of the Vietnamese National Army. Vietnam was granted the right to appoint diplomats to China, Thailand, and the Vatican City, whilst the remainder of Vietnamese foreign policy remained under French control.[5][1]
Effects
[edit]Whilst intending to prevent further nationalist sentiment in the war against communists, the Elysée Accords had the opposite effect - showing Vietnamese nationalists that the French were unwilling to compromise their interests in Indochina. Ngô Đình Diệm, an anti-communist nationalist, rejected an offer of Prime Minister in the new Vietnam, saying "the national aspirations of the Vietnamese people will be satisfied only when our nation obtains the same status India and Pakistan enjoy".[5]
On 22 July 1949, the United States State Department declared that the Elysée Accords were developments that realized the aspirations of the Vietnamese people, though the United States did not immediately recognize the new state, much to the disappointment of France. US support for the French in Vietnam grew steadily in 1949 and 1950 and with the loss of China to the Chinese Communist Party on 1 October 1949 and the recognition of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam of Hồ Chí Minh by the Soviet Union in January 1950, Americans eventually abandoned their policy of neutrality regarding Indochina when recognizing the State of Vietnam of Bảo Đại in February and granting $15 million in military aid as part of their anti-communist foreign policy.[4]
See also
[edit]- Fontainebleau Agreements
- 1954 Geneva Conference
- Communist Party of Vietnam
- Cần Lao Party
- Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Duiker, William (1994-07-01). U.S. Containment Policy and the Conflict in Indochina. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-6581-7.
- ^ Philippe Franchini, Les Guerres d'Indochine, vol. I, Pygmalion - Gérard Watelet, Paris, 1988, pp. 399-406
- ^ Simpson, Alfred William Brian (2004). Human Rights and the End of Empire: Britain and the Genesis of the European Convention. Oxford University Press. p. 285. ISBN 0199267898.
- ^ a b c Bragg, Christine (2005). Vietnam, Korea and US Foreign Policy. Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-435-32708-8.
- ^ a b c SarDesai, D. R. (1968). Indian Foreign Policy in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, 1947-1964. University of California Press.