The Paris Agreement paved the way for national reunification and lessons for Vietnam's current diplomatic activities

Politburo member and Standing member of the Secretariat Vo Van Thuong, Party and State leaders and delegates visit the exhibition of historical documents and images at the ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam (January 27, 1973 - January 27, 2023) _Photo: VNA

The Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam was officially signed on January 27, 1973 in Paris (France), opening a new turning point in the history of the Vietnamese people's resistance war against the US to save the country; creating new opportunities for the Vietnamese revolution to continue to advance and gain new victories, culminating in the Great Spring Victory of 1975, completely liberating the South and unifying the country. The pioneering nature of the Paris Agreement was clearly and vividly demonstrated from the time it came into effect until the day of total victory on April 30, 1975.

The landmark, path-breaking nature of the Paris Agreement

To speak of the path-breaking nature of a document or an event is to speak of the nature of a new turning point, creating favorable conditions to plan a new stage, thoroughly completing the strategic goal. The Paris Agreement on Vietnam brought the long-term resistance war against the US to save the country of the Vietnamese people to a new milestone, successfully carrying out the task of "fighting to make the US go away". This was a strategic victory that created "heavenly time, favorable terrain, and harmony", strongly empowering the Vietnamese people to move forward to "fight to overthrow the puppet", successfully ending the long-term resistance war. Lasting from May 13, 1968 to January 27, 1973, with more than 200 public meetings and 45 private high-level meetings, 1,000 interviews, and hundreds of rallies in support of Vietnam, it can be seen that the Paris Agreement was the product of a steadfast and persistent struggle, demonstrating both the iron determination and the goodwill for peace of the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Vietnam Workers' Party to pave the way and create a new turning point beneficial to ending the war.

Firstly, the Paris Agreement paved the way for the Politburo and the Central Military Commission to complete the strategic plan for rapid national reunification as soon as possible, while quickly correcting the rightist manifestations after the Paris Agreement in a part of the military and civilians. The signing of the Paris Agreement changed the battlefield's form in a direction favorable to the revolution. With the Paris Agreement, the US had to withdraw, and the armed forces of both sides remained in place. Thanks to that, we defeated the enemy's "dividing line" plot, our troops did not have to "gather" in one place (like the period of the Geneva Agreement in 1954), but on the contrary, we maintained a "leopard-skin" interlaced situation on the battlefield, a situation that was very beneficial to us and disadvantageous to the enemy ⁽¹⁾ .

Our Party recognized that after the Paris Agreement, we had new factors of victory and capabilities brought about by the Paris Agreement, namely the revolutionary government and armed forces, liberated areas, political forces and political struggles of the masses in enemy-controlled areas, and the basic rights recognized by the Agreement. Therefore, we must take advantage of those factors and capabilities to "move forward to complete the cause of the people's national democratic revolution throughout the country" ⁽²⁾ .

In the Conclusion of the first phase of the Politburo Conference on October 10, 1974, our Party assessed that at this time, we have an opportunity and emphasized that “apart from this opportunity, there is no other opportunity. If we delay for another ten or fifteen years, the puppets will recover, the invading forces will recover... the situation will be extremely complicated” ⁽³⁾ ; from there, the Conference determined: “From now on, we must carry out all preparations urgently, create the most complete conditions and material bases to strike hard, strike quickly, win cleanly and win completely in the two years of 1975 - 1976” ⁽⁴⁾ .

However, before, during and after the Paris Agreement came into effect, the government and army of the Republic of Vietnam continued to carry out a series of stubborn and ambitious plans to encroach, pacify, seize land and people. The enemy's encroachment and pacification on the ground became increasingly blatant, but in some places, we reacted slowly, allowing the enemy to occupy land and people. When the Paris Agreement came into effect, President of the Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu still brazenly declared: Not implementing the Paris Agreement, not reconciling, opposing reconciliating with the communists; ordering the army to continue to attack, encroach on land, seize people, plant flags, and flood the territory.

Meanwhile, on our side, a number of cadres, party members, and soldiers who had just gone through years of fierce war, and now had the Paris Agreement, developed rightist ideology, losing vigilance against the enemy's plots and tricks. Moreover, in our initial leadership, we did not fully assess the enemy's ability to carry out their plots, and did not anticipate that the US imperialists, although defeated, were still very stubborn, finding every way to support the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to continue the war. In the first months of 1973, on some battlefields, the enemy gained the initiative, partially implemented their pacification policy, won over some people, encroached on some localities, and began to encroach deeply into the liberated areas of B2.

Faced with that situation, the Zone 9 Party Committee took the lead in successfully opening the way to fight against the pacification (5). The Zone 9 Party Committee Secretary, Comrade Vo Van Kiet, and the Commander, Comrade Le Duc Anh, proactively directed and commanded the people and army of Zone 9 to fiercely fight back against the puppet army's encroachments, forcing the withdrawal of many enemy posts, continuing to expand the liberated areas, protecting the people and the strategically important rice fields. Thanks to that, Zone 9 achieved many outstanding victories in the fight against the enemy's encroachments, becoming a leading example for other units to learn from.

The 21st Conference of the Central Executive Committee, Term III (July 1973) promptly identified the nature of the situation, proposed a direction of action, with the main spirit being to continue the attack, maintaining the viewpoint of violent revolution. On October 15, 1973, the Regional Command ⁽⁶⁾ issued an order: Resolutely fight back against the war actions of the Saigon government; resolutely fight back anywhere, with appropriate forms and forces. The order of the Regional Command clearly stated the right to fight back of the revolutionary armed forces, creating conditions for us to step up military activities to regain the initiative on the entire battlefield ⁽⁷⁾ .

With the proposal to put the B2 battlefield ⁽⁸⁾ one step ahead, approved by the Party Central Committee and the General Staff, in the dry season of 1974 - 1975, the Regional Command directed and commanded the B2 battlefield to carry out many offensive campaigns of the main force and combined campaigns in the Mekong Delta, winning great victories on Route 14 - Phuoc Long and in Military Region 9, at the same time achieving many meanings: Testing the reaction of the government and army of the Republic of Vietnam, especially the US; measuring the ability of our main force compared to the main force of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam; measuring the ability of the revolutionary armed forces to liberate large interconnected areas or not. Practice proved that these goals were all achieved after the victories of the campaigns in the dry season of 1974 - 1975, typically the victory of Route 14 - Phuoc Long. Immediately after the victory of Phuoc Long, the Party promptly supplemented the plan to attack and liberate Saigon. The Party agreed to attack and liberate Saigon in April because by May the rainy season in the South would begin, so our mobility, especially tanks, artillery and machinery, would be difficult, especially in the west and southwest of Saigon with the vast Long An area of ​​water fields, canals and swamps. Along with the drafting of the plan was the establishment of a “Fighting Determination” with a diagram outlining 5 directions of attack on the enemy’s lair.

With the spirit of proactively seizing the opportunity, in the early days of April 1975, the Regional Command quickly outlined the campaign plan to liberate Saigon and submitted it to the Central Office for Southern Vietnam and it was basically approved. That helped the Party Central Committee continuously supplement strategic determination, catch up with the extremely rapid changes of the battlefield, create the element of surprise, change the decision from the basic plan to liberate the South within 2 to 3 years at first to the opportunistic plan shortened to 1 year, then at the end of March, early April 1975, the Politburo determined to liberate Saigon in April 1975.

Thus, at each stage of development, the Party's art of leadership is always based on dialectical thinking and objective historical practice. That is, on the one hand , taking advantage of the successive periods of development of the revolution to mobilize and rally the masses to fight in the spirit that nothing is more precious than independence and freedom; on the other hand , we must know how to direct all our work towards creating and seizing opportunities to gain victory step by step, moving forward to achieve comprehensive and complete victory. This is truly a great creation, enriching, diversifying and enlivening the treasure of revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh thought.

Second, on the battlefield, the Paris Agreement paved the way, created a strategic shift, and created new strengths: (i) We gained the initiative on all battlefields, punished the enemy's encroachments, regained the people and lost areas, and expanded our liberated areas; (ii) We consolidated and completed the strategic position from North to South, from the Tri-Thien mountains and forests to the Central Highlands, the Southeast and the Mekong Delta; (iii) We built and strengthened mobile main force corps in the mountainous areas; concentrated strategic reserves in important areas; (iv) We improved the situation in the countryside and plains, creating springboards in the vicinity of large cities; (v) We launched a political struggle movement under the slogan of peace, independence, and national harmony; (vi) We continued to gain the sympathy and strong support of revolutionary forces and progressive people in the world ⁽⁹⁾ . It can be said that the Paris Agreement followed the scenario as our Party and President Ho Chi Minh had predicted, when hundreds of thousands of American expeditionary troops rushed into the South: America is rich but its strength is not limitless, America is aggressive but has weaknesses, we know how to fight, know how to win, then the resistance will definitely succeed (10). The Paris Agreement demonstrated the art of "knowing how to win step by step" to achieve complete victory of our Party in the context of the imbalance in the balance of power.

Entering the dry season of 1973 - 1974, the battlefields coordinated with each other in a rhythmic manner, moving to the proactive position of attacking the enemy; the combined strength of the three spearheads, three types of troops, three regions, mid-point and area, high point and regular was constantly promoted, creating a position of tension and containment of the enemy on a large scale, defeating the enemy's pacification plan, pushing the enemy into a passive and confused position. Thus, the Paris Agreement in 1973 opened up a new battlefield situation that was extremely favorable to us, the comparison of forces on the battlefield was completely in our favor when we still maintained all our forces in the Southern battlefield. This was the basis for our entire army and people to advance to "fight to overthrow the puppet army".

Third, for peace-loving and justice-loving humanity in the world, the Paris Agreement paved the way for the peaceful resolution of international conflicts, profoundly affecting the progress of many nations, and was a great encouragement for many nations sharing the same fate and starting point as our country in protecting basic national rights. It can be seen that from the Preliminary Agreement on March 6, 1946, the Provisional Agreement on September 14, 1946, the Geneva Agreement on July 21, 1954 and the culmination of the Paris Agreement on January 27, 1973, vividly demonstrated the truth: To have peace, the Vietnamese people must not only know how to make concessions but also know how to fight, not only know how to fight but the Vietnamese people never miss the opportunity to seek peace, even the slimmest opportunity. That is the dialectic of the Vietnamese revolutionary war, of the Vietnamese revolutionary diplomacy in the Ho Chi Minh era.

Former US Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara - one of the people who contributed to the US policy making in the war of aggression in Vietnam - drew 11 lessons from "The Vietnam Tragedy", including the lesson: "We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a nation to fight and sacrifice for its ideals and values..."; "reflected our basic lack of understanding of the cultural and political history of the people in the region, and of the personalities and habits of its leaders" ⁽¹¹⁾ . "The ideals and their values" that Mr. Robert S. McNamara mentioned were the basic national rights - independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, the ideal of national independence associated with socialism that the entire Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Party steadfastly adhered to. The 1973 Paris Agreement was the product of the struggle of an entire nation that always aimed for basic national rights, as Article 1 of this Agreement respectfully acknowledged: “The United States and other countries respect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreement on Vietnam.” Comrade Pham Van Dong once said: “There can be no compromise that goes against the basic rights of the Vietnamese people, against the common morality of all peoples in the world” ⁽¹²⁾ .

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Nguyen Thi Binh signed the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam, January 27, 1973, at the International Conference Center in Paris (France) _ Photo: VNA documents

Some lessons for current diplomatic activities

The Paris Agreement is the pinnacle of victory of the Vietnamese diplomatic front during the period of resistance against the US to save the country; marking the maturity of revolutionary diplomacy in the Ho Chi Minh era. This is the product of a fierce, fierce and complicated struggle on all three political, military and diplomatic fronts, the pinnacle of the art of combining "fighting and negotiating". It is also the result of a thinking that is both revolutionary and scientific; fighting while understanding the enemy and ourselves; working while summarizing practice, gradually supplementing, developing and perfecting through the stages of resistance. The Paris Agreement deeply demonstrates the spirit of daring to fight, daring to win and the ability to know how to fight and know how to win of the Vietnamese people.

In the context of current international integration and deep globalization, the significance and stature of the Paris Agreement leave many valuable lessons for Vietnam's diplomatic activities.

First, always ensure the highest national interests, in which independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are the core.

Independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity are sacred values ​​that any nation, even a small nation with a low starting point, has the right to enjoy because they are the most basic rights, and at the same time, the minimum basis to ensure a nation's normal existence and development. The steadfastness and consistency of our Party and our people in pursuing these values ​​from 1945 to the present, especially in the Paris Agreement, will forever be a valuable lesson and a shining example for peace-loving nations around the world. The 1973 Paris Agreement was a turning point victory, paving the way and a necessary condition to force the US and its allies to withdraw their troops from South Vietnam, creating the premise for the Vietnamese army and people to end the war.

In the new context, the Resolution of the 8th Central Conference of the 13th tenure affirms to ensure the highest national interests on the basis of firmly protecting the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland; implementing the motto of "adapting to all changes", in which national interests are immutable.

Second, be gentle and skillful but very determined and resolute.

The gentle, clever but also very steadfast and resolute behavior of the Vietnam Workers' Party at the 1973 Paris Conference is a valuable lesson in the diplomatic art of the Vietnamese revolution. Today, the international context and the domestic situation, in addition to favorable aspects and opportunities, also have many difficulties, risks, and unpredictable developments, requiring the entire Party, people and army of Vietnam to continue to be steadfast, thoroughly resolve the relationship between partners and objects, "adapt to the unchanging and adapt to all changes" in every situation and circumstance.

The image of the “Vietnamese bamboo tree” with “ firm roots, strong trunk, flexible branches , imbued with the soul, character and spirit of the Vietnamese people” ⁽¹³⁾ as General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said is the main policy of modern Vietnamese foreign affairs. Thanks to the skillful art of combining flexibility and creativity in strategy with steadfastness, determination and perseverance in strategy, from a country under siege and embargo, Vietnam has “expanded and deepened relations with 193 countries and territories, including 3 countries with special relations, 5 countries with comprehensive strategic partnerships, 13 strategic partners and 12 comprehensive partners” (14), helping to create a favorable situation for the process of realizing the ideal of national independence and socialism.

Third, proactively and actively promote combined strength to achieve the highest efficiency.

Promoting the combined strength has always been identified by the Party as one of the important factors leading to the success of the revolution. That is the combined strength of internal and external forces; the strength of the forces; the combination of localities, the strength of economy, politics, military, culture, diplomacy; combining national strength with the strength of the times, the balance of relations between major countries, both fighting and negotiating; the strength of the great national unity bloc; the strength of patriotism, the will that nothing is more precious than independence and freedom... Therefore, it contributed significantly to the victory of the resistance war against American imperialism, the complete liberation of the South, and the reunification of the country. To bring into full play the combined strength of the entire nation and the entire political system combined with the strength of the times, to make the most of the consensus and support of the international community to firmly protect the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, to protect the Party, the State, the people, the socialist regime, the culture and national interests; to maintain the environment, political stability, national security and human security; to build an orderly, disciplined, safe and healthy society to develop the country in the direction of socialism.

More than 50 years have passed since the Paris Agreement was signed, the world has changed a lot but the pioneering significance and special era-wide significance of the Agreement still remain valuable, deeply reflecting Vietnam's unique diplomacy in the Ho Chi Minh era. Looking back at the Paris Agreement, we can see more clearly the value of correctly assessing and forecasting the situation and trends of the world, steadfastly and diligently realizing the development goals of the nation, making an important contribution to the progressive humanity to continue to fight strongly for national equality, social democracy and human development./.

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(1) According to the Paris Agreement, more than half a million American and allied troops will withdraw from Vietnam. Meanwhile, 13 main revolutionary divisions still stand firm in strategic areas of the South along with tens of thousands of local troops and guerrillas. Quoted from: Ministry of National Defense, Military Region 7: History of the Regional Command, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2004, p. 485
(2) Complete Party Documents , National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2004, vol. 35, p. 186
(3) Complete Party Documents , ibid , p. 177
(4) Complete Party Documents , op. cit ., p. 183
(5) Zone 9 was codenamed T3, at that time including the provinces of An Giang, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Rach Gia, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, and Ca Mau. From the beginning, Zone 9's Party Committee had the correct perception, determined to raise the revolutionary flag to attack regardless of the Central's order. Quoted from: Ministry of National Defense, Military Zone 7: History of the Regional Command, op. cit. , pp. 508 - 509
(6) The Command of the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of South Vietnam (abbreviated as the Regional Command, from March 18, 1971 called the Regional Command), the Regional Command is under the leadership of the Politburo, directly the Central Office for the South, advising the Central Office for the South in leading the political and armed struggle movements.
(7) Ministry of National Defense, Military Region 7: History of the Regional Command , op. cit., p. 530
(8) B2 includes 5 military regions: Military Region 6 (the extreme South Central Coast and Southern Central Highlands including Lam Dong, Tuyen Duc, Quang Duc provinces and the narrow plains of Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Binh Tuy provinces); Military Region 7 (Southeastern region: Binh Long, Phuoc Long, Tay Ninh, Bien Hoa, Long Khanh, Phuoc Tuy); Military Region 8 (South Central region: Tan An, My Tho, Go Cong, Long Xuyen, Chau Doc, Sa Dec and Ben Tre); Military Region 9 (Southwestern region: Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Can Tho, Soc Trang (plus part of Bac Lieu province), Rach Gia, Ca Mau (including part of Bac Lieu and Ha Tien provinces); Saigon - Gia Dinh Military Region
(9) Complete Party Documents , op. cit ., p. 187
(10) War Summary Steering Committee (under the Politburo): Vietnam Revolutionary War 1945-1975 - Victory and Lessons , National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2000, p. 173
(11) Robert S. McNamara: Looking Back: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam , National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 1995, p. 316
(12) Tran Nham: The intellectual battle at the height of Vietnamese intelligence , Political Theory Publishing House, Hanoi, 2005, p. 270
(13) Nguyen Phu Trong: “Inheriting and promoting the national tradition and Ho Chi Minh's diplomatic ideology, determined to build and develop a comprehensive, modern foreign affairs and diplomacy imbued with the identity of “Vietnamese bamboo”, https://www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/guest/media-story/-/asset_publisher/V8hhp4dK31Gf/content/ke-thua-phat-huy-truyen-thong-dan-toc-tu-tuong-ngoai-giao-ho-chi-minh-quyet-tam-xay-dung-va-phat-trien-nen-doi-ngoai-ngoai-giao-toan-dien-hien-dai-man , accessed on December 14, 2023
(14) Nguyen Phu Trong: "Inheriting and promoting national traditions and Ho Chi Minh's diplomatic ideology, determined to build and develop comprehensive and modern foreign affairs and diplomacy, imbued with the identity of "Vietnamese bamboo"" , ibid.

Source: https://tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/guest/quoc-phong-an-ninh-oi-ngoai1/-/2018/869602/hiep-dinh-paris-mo-duong-thong-nhat-dat-nuoc-va-bai-hoc-cho-hoat-dong-ngoai-giao-cua-viet-nam-hien-nay.aspx