Reunification of Vietnam: The Canadian Connection

DONG DANG, Northeastern Vietnam — The ‘Fixed Team Camp’ at Dong Dang was one of the observer points for the Canadian troops. Source: ICSC Cdn Del – Vietnam 1955-56

It is 1930 and the French have ruled Vietnam as a colony for nearly 50 years. Vietnam’s last emperor, Bao Dai, remains but wields no power and certainly has no loyalty to the French. The Vietnamese people are proud and never fully accept the occupation. Over the next ten years, underground militias and political groups prosper and openly challenge the occupation.

The people of Vietnam are pulled into the Second World War as France falls to Nazi Germany. Japan, a Nazi ally, seizes control and occupies Vietnam while allowing the token administration of the country by Vichy France. The underground militias continue to flourish. The strongest group, the Viet Mihn is a coalition of Ho Chi Mihn’s communists and Emperor Bao Dai’s nationalists. Its members are becoming savvy fighters with skills in communications, logistics and combat.

In 1945 the Viet Mihn boldly declare the formation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and proclaim Vietnam’s independence. The French will not accept this and attempt to squash the guerrilla forces. Eight years later, the French find themselves on the losing end, but not without a fight.

The French Expeditionary Forces attempt to cut off the supply lines to the Viet Mihn and entrench a garrison at Dien Bien Phu during the spring of 1954. Unfortunately, the French soldiers are sitting in the eye of a storm. The savvy nationalist-communist forces move overwhelming numbers of fighters and equipment into the hills surrounded the garrison. A dogged battle ensues and within sixty days it is over. The decimated French forces surrender and the First Indochina War is over. Vietnam is no longer a colony but it is not yet a nation either. 

The French military defeat at Dien Bien Phu swiftly leads to negotiations and from May to July, 1954, a conference is convened in Geneva, Switzerland, to resolve the problems within Indo-China; specifically Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The Geneva Accords is drafted and provides for Vietnam’s return to independence - but, not before free elections scheduled for July of 1956. Until then, Vietnam is temporarily divided into two states to enable the separation of the opposing parties. The Communists are to go to the north of the 17th parallel while others are to withdraw to the south.

A three-nation observer force is installed under the auspices of the Geneva agreement. Canada, Poland and Indian make up the International Commission for Supervision and Control (ICSC). This non-United Nations (UN) force consists, respectively, of western, communist, and neutral administrators and military personnel. It is an unexpected and unique invitation for Canada that sees members of External Affairs and the military on a mission together. In short order, 133 Canadians are dispatched to locations throughout Indo-China during the fall of 1954.

The ICSC mission is to ensure that the cease-fire is obeyed, that military forces and refugees return to their areas and that cross-border movement of unauthorized military personnel and war materiel is controlled throughout Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. As part of the Agreement, the international observers are to monitor the elections that will determine Vietnam’s future as a nation.

The members of the Canadian Delegation are witnesses to history from the onset. The former Viet Mihn alliance crumbles as Ho Chi Minh and his communist allies seize power in the north while Emperor Bao Dai’s nationalists are left to administer the south. However, it doesn’t take long for Bao Dai to be flushed out of the scene as the USA intensifies its involvement in the politics and warfare of Southeast Asia. In October of 1955, the anti-communist, U.S. backed, Ngo Dinh Diem declares the south as the Republic of Vietnam and announces himself as its president.

The promised elections that Canadians are to observe never transpire. Ngo Dinh Diem continues to squash any talk of elections by refusing to negotiate with the North all the while suppressing any opposition to his rule. His defiance spoils the hope of reunification and this leads to the Second Indochina War, better known as the Vietnam War of the 1960s.

Canadians leave in 1959 but rejoin the ICSC in the 1960s. In 1965, two Canadian soldiers are killed during the observer mission as Vietnam is engulfed in war between communist and democratic powers. The UN finally pulls the ICSC out of Southeast Asia as war peaks in 1969.

Vietnam, the former colony, will not be a nation again until the north and the south are united - and - the communists have plans for that eventuality.

The Canadian connection to Vietnam continues as a result of the January 1973 peace talks between the USA, the Vietcong, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Canada returns to the embattled area to monitor peace under the United Nations’ new International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS). However, the political divisions run too deep and the desire to be one country is too strong. In 1975, a well-coordinated invasion of the south by communist forces seals Vietnam’s fate. The former colony is reunified and once again a nation. 

Background Information
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The conference stipulated national elections take place in two years, but Diem suppressed the advocates of the agreed to election, and it never took place. The suppression continued, which led South Vietnamese opponents of President Ngo Dinh Diem to form the National Liberation Front, better known as the Viet Cong, which eventually launched guerrilla attacks against the RVN government and desired the reunification of Vietnam. The Viet Cong were supported by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) of the North.

Backed by the United States, Diem's government refused to open consultation with the North Vietnamese concerning general elections. The South contended it did not have to honor the agreement as it was not a signatory, and the U.S. feared that the communists would win the election.

Guerrilla activity in the South escalated, while U.S. military advisors continued to support the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The result was the Second Indochina War, more commonly known as the Vietnam War.

Sources
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Philip Shenon, "Bao Dai: Last Emperor of Vietnam" New York Times, Aug 2 1997. “Colby's Vietnam: History misrepresented” Washington Post, May 1, 1981. DND-CF Archives, VAC, DHH, Military Communications & Electronics Museum, “Canadian Delegation – ICSC 1955-1956”, United Nations file ICCS 1973. Private photo collection: Sgt (Ret) Renald "Ray" Paquette.