The Haiphong Incident or the Haiphong Massacre occurred on November 23, 1946, when the French
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
and several avisos bombarded the Vietnamese coastal city of
Haiphong, killing some 6,000 Vietnamese people.
[Cirillo, Roger (2015). ''The Shape of Battles to Come''. Louisville: University Press of Kentucky. p. 187. .] The incident, also known as the Shelling of Haiphong, is thought of as the first armed clash in a series of events that would lead to the
Battle of Hanoi on December 19, 1946, and with it the official outbreak of the
First Indochina War.
[Devillers, Philippe, and Jean Lacouture. ''End of a War: Indochina'', 1954. London: Pall Mall Press, 1969.]
Background
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the future of the Vietnamese territory was in question. After being under years of French colonial rule followed by Japanese rule during the war, Vietnam began to seek independence. Specifically, the Japanese renounced French claims to the Vietnamese territory on March 9, 1945, officially declaring Vietnam independent over France and under the control of Emperor
Bảo Đại.
This was counteracted by a rebellion on September 2, 1945, when
Ho Chi Minh
(: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...
and his guerilla army declared the official birth of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
.
Ho Chi Minh became the leader of the
Vietnamese Communist Party, and demanded complete autonomy from Europe.
The French disregarded these claims of autonomy and quickly moved to resettle Vietnam as a member for the
French Union. However, complete colonization was no longer an option due to power dynamics in the west and on March 6, 1946, after receiving pressure from the western allies,
Jean Sainteny
Jean Sainteny or Jean Roger (29 May 1907, in Vésinet – 25 February 1978) was a French politician who was sent to Vietnam after the end of the Second World War in order to accept the surrender of the Japanese forces and to attempt to re-annex V ...
, French Commissioner for Northern Indochina met with Ho Chi Minh in
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and signed the
Ho–Sainteny agreement. The agreement officially gave Vietnam independence as "a free state with its own government, parliament, army and finances, forming part of the
Indochinese Federation
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
and the
French Union". Additionally, the treaty allowed for the French to have a military presence in Vietnam for the following five years.
At the time of the signing, it was widely thought that Ho Chi Minh had given many concessions to the French. By allowing the continued presence of the French army, Ho allowed for a continuation of the French colonial control of the past. The Communist newspaper ''
Les Temps modernes
''Les Temps Modernes'' (''Modern Times'') is a French journal, founded by Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It first issue was published in October 1945. It was named after the 1936 film by Charlie Chaplin.
''Les ...
'' criticized the signing of the deal, calling the agreement "the lamentable surrender of all our
ommunistsideological and political plans". On the French side,
Thierry d'Argenlieu
Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu, in religion Father Louis of the Trinity, O.C.D. (7 August 1889 – 7 September 1964), was a Discalced Carmelite friar and priest, who was also a diplomat and French Navy officer and admiral; he became one of the m ...
illustrated French optimism regarding the treaty in a
communiqué
A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
he wrote to the Parisian government: "On the French level, the armed forces are assured of a friendly reception and we are pre-empting any reproach for opening hostilities ... We are fully safeguarding French economic and cultural interests now and for the future." Vietnamese worries in regards to the agreement soon came to fruition as France began to exert the same colonial authority it had formally denounced in the treaty. France created a virtual naval blockade of Haiphong by continuing to have a strong naval presence in the
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...
.
[Hammer, Ellen (1954). ''The Struggle for Indochina''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 182.] That led the Vietnamese to reach out for peace talks to curb French influence in the region. These peace talks came in the form of the
Fontainebleau Agreements, which occurred at the
Palace of Fontainebleau
Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence ...
and were led by
Phạm Văn Đồng
Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam following reunification of North and South Vietnam ...
for the Vietnamese and Max André on the side of the French, beginning on July 6, 1946.
[Lockhart, Bruce McFarland, and William J. Duiker. ''Historical Dictionary of Vietnam''. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006. Print.] The conference at the palace was held to discuss the provisions of the Ho-Sainteny Agreement.
At the conference, the French refused to revise the original treaty in any way. The Vietnamese leadership, led by Ho Chi Minh, settled to sign a
modus vivendi
''Modus vivendi'' (plural ''modi vivendi'') is a Latin phrase that means "mode of living" or " way of life". It often is used to mean an arrangement or agreement that allows conflicting parties to coexist in peace. In science, it is used to descr ...
, postponing talks to a later date.
These talks never occurred due to the outbreak of violence in November.
The Incident
On the morning of November 20, 1946, a French patrol ship seized a Chinese
junk attempting to bring
contraband
Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...
into Haiphong. While seemingly routine, the seizure of the ship was the beginning of a chain of unfortunate events. Vietnamese soldiers reacted to the seizure by firing on the French ship from the shore, killing 23 soldiers.
Armed clashes immediately broke out on land between French and Vietnamese nationalists, with a French burial party being ambushed, losing six more men.
The French immediately worked to dissipate the conflict and stopped the outbreak by agreeing to respect Vietnamese sovereignty in Haiphong on November 22, 1946.
This, however, was only the beginning of the incident. Once the news of the skirmish came to
Admiral d'Argenlieu in Paris, he sent a cable to
Jean Étienne Valluy
Jean Etienne Valluy (15 May 1899 – 4 January 1970) was a French general.
Early life
He was born in Rive-de-Gier, Loire, on 15 May 1899 to Claude (Claudius) Valluy and Jeanne, Adrienne Cossanges.
Military career
World War I
In 1917 he en ...
, commander of French forces in Indochina, ordering him to use force against the Vietnamese in Haiphong. Valluy, in turn, sent an order to Colonel Debès, commander of the French troops at Haiphong, stating, "It appears clear that we are up against premeditated aggressions carefully staged by the Vietnamese regular army ... The moment has come to give a severe lesson to those who have treacherously attacked you. Use all the means at your disposal to make yourself complete master of Haiphong."
[Hammer, Ellen (1954). ''The Struggle for Indochina''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 183.] Debès then issued an ultimatum to the Vietnamese in Haiphong demanding a withdrawal from the French section and Chinese sections of the city, including the port.
In the order, Debès invoked the Franco-Chinese agreement of February 28, 1946 as justification for demanding the Vietnamese evacuation of parts of the city.
Debès argued that the treaty gave France protective rights over the Chinese in Vietnam and thus gave them jurisdiction to engage in combat.
[Hammer, Ellen (1954). ''The Struggle for Indochina''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 185.]
After the Vietnamese failed to evacuate in time, the French began a bombardment of the Vietnamese sections of the city, using three French
avisos
An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication.
The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an '' ...
: ''Chevreuil'' (
Chamois-class minesweeping sloop), ''
Savorgnan de Brazza'' and ''
Dumont d'Urville''.
The role of the cruiser ''
Suffren'' in the bombardment is controversial, as some versions of events suggest the ship participated in the shelling and others claim it arrived after the action had already been carried out.
By November 28, 1946, Colonel Debès had taken complete control over the town.
While reports about the total number of casualties from the bombardment range widely from upwards of twenty thousand to less than one hundred.
["Haiphong, Shelling of". ''Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History''. Ed. Spencer C. Tucker. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Credo Reference. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.] Today it is widely agreed that the number of casualties is very close to six thousand as reported by the French sociologist
Paul Mus.
In return, French forces lost 20 to 29 men killed in Hai Phong from November 20 to 23.
Aftermath
Attempted reconciliation
Immediately after the shelling, the French government sought peace. All violence was ended by the afternoon of November 22 and tensions seemed to have been alleviated. This was not the case. Less than two weeks after the shelling, after receiving pressure from Paris to "teach the Vietnamese a lesson" General Morlière ordered a complete Vietnamese withdrawal from the city, demanding all Viet Minh military elements to be evacuated from Haiphong.
[Hammer, Ellen (1954). ''The Struggle for Indochina''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 184.] By early December 1946, Haiphong was under complete French military occupation.
The aggressive actions of the French regarding the occupation of Haiphong made it clear in the eyes of the Viet Minh that the French intended on maintaining a colonial presence in Vietnam.
[Modelski, George. "The Viet Minh Complex". ''Communism and Revolution: The Strategic Uses of Political Violence''. Ed. Cyril E. Black and Thomas P. Thornton. Princeton University Press, 1964. 185–214. Web.] The threat of the French establishing a separate southern state in Vietnam by besieging the city of
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
became a top priority for the Viet Minh to counteract.
On December 2, as a final effort to maintain good relations between the two nations, French Commissioner Sainteny (of the
Ho–Sainteny agreement) visited Hanoi to reach an agreement for a ceasefire. This proved unsuccessful as the French insistence on maintaining complete military control of Haiphong stalled all negotiations.
The December 16 election of the socialist
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister.
As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist le ...
as the
Premier of France
The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers.
The prime minister i ...
offered hope to Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese, as the French socialists had a much more tolerant policy towards Vietnamese independence.
That hope proved to be misplaced, as by the time Blum came into office violence between the Vietnamese and French was already widespread.
The onset of war
As relations between France and Vietnam continued to worsen, Ho Chi Minh issued a plea for peace between the two nations on December 12, stating, "Neither France nor Viet Nam can afford the luxury of a bloody war".
[Hammer, Ellen (1954). ''The Struggle for Indochina''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 187.] Ho, however, was not completely supported in his call for peace.
Võ Nguyên Giáp, leader of the Vietnamese army was convinced that open confrontation was inevitable. Giap was certain that the takeover of Haiphong signaled France's intent to attack and take over Hanoi. This led to Giap focusing on arming the Hanoi militias in preparation for an attack. The Vietnamese media reflected the concerns of General Giap. In an article on December 10, 1946, a Hanoi newspaper stated, "The grave hour has arrived. The Hanoi Committee of the
Việt Minh Front calls on the people to be calm, to be united, and to be ready to rise when the government gives the order
o rebel against the French"
The Vietnamese people, in turn, reacted to the plea to prepare, building barricades in the streets of Hanoi and engaging in armed skirmishes with
French legionnaire
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
s.
The final ultimatum to the Vietnamese was issued on December 19, when General Morlière ordered the leading Viet Minh militia, Tu Ve, to completely disarm.
That night, all electricity was turned off in Hanoi and the city was left in complete darkness. The Vietnamese (specifically the Tu Ve militia) attacked the French from within Hanoi with machine guns, artillery, and mortars. Thousands of French soldiers and Vietnamese civilians lost their lives.
The French reacted by storming Hanoi the following day, forcing the Vietnamese government to take refuge outside of the city.
[Devillers, Phillipe; Lacouture, Jean (1969). ''End of a War, Indochina'', 1954. London: Pall Mall Pres. p. 10.] Ho Chi Minh himself was forced to flee Hanoi for a more remote mountainous area.
The attack can be characterized as a preemptive strike against the French after the overtaking of Haiphong endangered Vietnamese claims to Hanoi and all of Vietnam. The uprising in Hanoi escalated the aggression between the French and Viet Minh into the
First Indochina War.
References
See also
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Battle of Hanoi (1946)
On December 19, 1946, Viet Minh soldiers detonated explosives in Hanoi, and the ensuing battle, known as the Battle of Hanoi marked the opening salvo of the First Indochina War.
History
On September 14, 1946, France and the DRV had signed a ' ...
*
*
France–Vietnam relations
French–Vietnamese relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit father Alexandre de Rhodes. Various traders would visit Vietnam during the 18th century, until the major involvement of French forces under Pignea ...
{{Vietnamese independence movement
First Indochina War
Conflicts in 1946
French Indochina
History of Haiphong
Invasions of Vietnam
1946 in French Indochina
1946 in Vietnam
Vietnamese independence movement
Wars involving Vietnam
Wars involving France
French Fourth Republic
Guerrilla wars
Insurgencies in Asia
Resistance to the French colonial empire
France–Vietnam relations
Indochina Wars
November 1946 events in Asia