Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

"Vietnamese Proclamation of Independence" redirects here. For other uses, see Declarations of independence of Vietnam.

Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
A copy of the original declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Ratified	September 2, 1945
Author(s)	Ho Chi Minh
Purpose	To announce and explain establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

Speech recording

The declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Tuyên ngôn độc lập Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa) was written by Hồ Chí Minh, and announced in public at the Ba Đình flower garden (now the Ba Đình Square) in Hanoi on September 2, 1945. It led to the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, replacing the Empire of Vietnam under the Nguyễn dynasty and Emperor Bảo Đại, who abdicated on August 25.

This declaration is recognized by the modern Vietnamese government as the foundation of the existing state of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

History

Vietnam, under the Nguyễn dynasty, became a protectorate of France in the late 19th century and later officially becoming a French Colony, but during World War II, Japan occupied the country from 1940. During this period, Ho Chi Minh created the Viet Minh in 1941 to coordinate resistance against both French colonial authorities and Imperial Japanese occupying forces. This group fought a guerrilla war against the Japanese and were to a degree supported by the Americans in 1945 via the Office of Strategic Services.

On August 22, 1945, the OSS agent Archimedes Patti, who had met Ho Chi Minh in southern China, arrived in Hanoi on a mercy mission to liberate allied POWs and was accompanied by Jean Sainteny a French government official. The Japanese forces informally surrendered (the official surrender took place on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay) but the only force capable of maintaining law and order was the Imperial Japanese Army, and so remained in power and kept French colonial troops detained.

Japanese forces allowed the Việt Minh and other nationalist groups to take over public buildings and weapons without resistance, which began the August Revolution. On the morning of August 26, 1945, at No. 48 Hàng Ngang, Hà Nội, Chairman Hồ Chí Minh presided over a meeting of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which he had called. The meeting unanimously decided to prepare to proclaim independence and to organize a large meeting in Hà Nội for the Provisional Revolutionary Government to present itself to the people. That was also the day that Vietnam officially promulgated the right of freedom and established a democratic republic system.

On August 30, 1945, Hồ Chí Minh invited several people to contribute their ideas toward his Declaration of Independence, including a number of American OSS officers. OSS officers met repeatedly with him and other Viet Minh officers during late August, and Patti claimed to have listened to Ho read to him a draft of the Declaration, which he believed sounded very similar to the United States Declaration of Independence.

On September 2, 1945, Hồ Chí Minh read the Declaration during a public meeting in front of thousands of people at what is now Ba Đình Square and announced the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the country's independence and becoming a republic.

External links

• Recording of original proclamation (in Vietnamese) and full text (in English) – Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (archived 22 September 2013)