John Foster DullesMay 1954
American delegates attended the Geneva summit but scarcely participated.
United States · Warfare / Vietnam War, 1st. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
American delegates attended the Geneva summit but scarcely participated.
But the plan hatched at Geneva was undermined and sabotaged by a lack of support.
The Geneva conference adopted a similar approach in Vietnam.
US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, a vehement anti-communist, refused to recognise, shake hands with or speak directly to Chinese or Viet Minh delegates.
Vietnamese territory would be divided temporarily into north and south, then given a road map to free elections, self Government, reunification and independence.
The Viet Minh delegates did not wish to sign: they sceptical about the scheduled 1956 elections and reluctant to agree to the 17th parallel border, which would mean surrendering territory to the South. In the end the Viet Minh representatives signed on the instructions of Ho Chi Minh, who was himself under pressure from the Soviet Union and China
A joint US-French naval task force was assembled near Haiphong harbour, while US personnel and aid workers organised refugee camps, food and medical supplies in South Vietnam.
The Geneva Accords also provided a 300 day grace period, so that civilians could relocate to North or South Vietnam.
The United States began providing assistance to those Vietnamese who wanted to move south.
This process – pointedly titled Operation Passage to Freedom – was part humanitarian mission, part propaganda ploy.
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