Geneva Agreements

The Geneva Agreements of 1954 (also, "Geneva Accords") arranged a settlement which brought about an end to the First Indochina War. The agreement was reached at the end of the Geneva Conference. A ceasefire was signed and France agreed to withdraw its troops from the region. French Indochina was split into three countries: Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vietnam was to be temporarily divided along the 17th Parallel until elections could be held to unite the country. These elections were never held; following repeated refusals to hold nationwide elections by Ngo Dinh Diem and his declaration of leadership of a new state, South Vietnam, the Vietminh established a communist state in the North led by Ho Chi Minh. The US gave Diem considerable support in the form of financial aid; due to the corruption evident in his regime, and the question of the depth of support for him in Vietnam, there was a certain amount of reluctance in doing so.

Walter Bedell Smith, US representative at the Conference, read a statement on July 21, 1954, in which the US' willingness to abide by the terms of the agreements was implied, and it promised to "refrain from the threat or use of force to disturb" them. Specifically, the statement seemed to promise not only US acquiescence to the mandated elections, but aid in executing them.

In the case of nations now divided against their will, we shall continue to seek to achieve unity through free elections

Black propaganda operations by the CIA commenced within ten days of Smith's announcement; the leaflets dropped on Hanoi were so convincing, that Vietminh denouncements of them were believed by even the Communist party faithful to be French trickery. Registration by Vietnamese wanting to go south to French territory increased threefold, and Vietminh currency halved in value, within days of the leaflet drop.

Aspects of the Conference that have been the subject of controversy include whether it constituted a partition of Viet Nam, the transfer of responsibility for abiding by the agreement from the French representative for Viet Nam, Bảo Đại, to his largely self-appointed (and US-backed) successor Ngo Dinh Diem, and similarly, the extent of US responsibility for abiding by an agreement it did not sign.

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