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Nguyen Ngoc Bich

Nguyen Ngoc Bich

Introduction

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Bich, 1962
Nguyễn Ngọc Bích
Born 18 May 1911
Ben Tre, Vietnam
Died 4 Dec 1966
Thu Duc, Vietnam
Occupation *Engineer
  • Resistance fighter
  • Medical doctor
  • Politician
Title Doctor (medical)
Known for Resistance war, politics
Nguyen Ngoc Bich 1931, student at École polytechnique.
Nguyen Ngoc Bich, circa 1933, student at École polytechnique.

Nguyễn Ngọc Bích (1911–1966) was a French-educated engineer, a hero in the Vietnamese resistance against the French colonists,[1]:850. Note a French-educated medical doctor, an intellectual and politician, who proposed an alternative viewpoint to avoid the high-casualty, high-cost war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam.[2]

The Nguyen-Ngoc-Bich street in the city of Cần Thơ, Vietnam, was named after him to honor and commemorate his feats (of sabotaging bridges to slow down the colonial French-army advances) and heroism (being on the French most-wanted list,[3]:122 imprisoned, subjected to an "intensive and unpleasant interrogation"[3]:122 that left a mark on his forehead,Note and exiled) during the First Indochina War.

Upon graduating from the École polytechnique (engineering military school under the French Ministry of Armed Forces) and then from the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (civil engineering) in France in 1935,[4] Dr. Bich returned to Vietnam to work for the French colonial government. After World War II, in 1945, he joined the Viet-Minh, and became a senior commander in the Vietnamese resistance movement, and insisted on fighting for Vietnam's independence, not for communism.

SuspectingNote of being betrayed by the Communist factionNote of the Viet-Minh and apprehended by the French forces, he was saved from execution by a campaign for amnesty by his École polytechnique classmates based in Vietnam, mostly high-level officers of the French army,[5]: 299 and was subsequently exiled to France, where he founded with friends and managed the Vietnamese publishing house Minh Tan (in Paris), which published many important works for the Vietnamese literature.[6] In parallel, he studied medicine and became a medical doctor. He was highly regarded in Vietnamese politics, and was suggested by the French in 1954 as an alternative to Ngo Dinh Diem as the sixth prime minister of the State of Vietnam under the former Emperor Bao Dai as Head of State,[7]:84 who selected Ngo Dinh Diem as prime minister. While Bich's candidature for the 1961 presidential election in opposition to Diem was, however, declared invalid by the Saigon authorities at the last moment for "technical reasons",[8][4], he was "regarded by many as a possible successor to President Ngo Dinh Diem".[8][9][10]

A large majority of the information in this article came from the master document Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography,[11] which contains even more information, including primary-source evidence and photos, than presented here.

Important historical events that affected Bich's adult life, together with those mentioned in his 1962 paper (e.g., failed agrarian reform, napalm bombs, famine, conquest for rice, etc.) are summarized, in particular the atmosphere in which Bich had lived for ten years working for the French colonialists (from 1935 to 1945), and the historical conditions that drove this French-educated engineer to become a "Francophile anticolonialist"Note 1, Note 2 and to join the Viet Minh in 1945 (e.g., the French brutal repressions in 1940 and 1945, the power vacuum after the Japanese coup de force in 1945, Ho Chi Minh's call for a general uprising from Tân Trào, the 1945 August Revolution, the Black Sunday on 1945 Sep 2 in Saigon, etc.). The key principle is to summarize a historical event only when it was directly related to Bich's activities. Care is exercised in selecting references and quotations that complement, but not duplicate, other Wikipedia articles at the time of this writing. For example, the history and the general use of napalm bombs, which Bich mentioned in his 1962 article, are not summarized. Regarding the French using American-made napalm bombs in the First Indochina War, well-known battlesNote are also not summarized.

Bao Dai to de Gaulle
❝I beg you to understand that the only means of safeguarding French interests and the spiritual influence of France in Indochina is to recognize the independence of Vietnam unreservedly and to renounce any idea of reestablishing French sovereignty or rule here in any form. . . . Even if you were to reestablish the French administration here, it would not be obeyed, and each village would be a nest of resistance. . . . We would be able to understand each other so easily and become friends if you would stop hoping to become our masters again.❞
--- Bao Dai, message to de Gaulle on 1945 Aug 20



Notes

Betrayal suspicion: On the betrayal suspicion, Cooper, Chester L. (1970), The Lost Crusade: America in Vietnam, Dood, Mead & Company, New York. Retrieved on 7 Mar 2023, p.123, wrote: "Whether the Viet Minh had actually betrayed him to French agents is not known for certain, but Bich always suspected that this was how he had been discovered," whereas the assertion that he "was betrayed by his Communist colleagues to the French" was written in the short biography that accompanied Bich's 1962 article, as written in Honey, P.J., ed. (March 1962), "Special Issue on Vietnam", The China Quarterly 9. Retrieved on 18 Feb 2023. Volume 9, which contained the articles written by several well-known intellectuals on Vietnam history and politics such as Bernard B. Fall, Hoang Van Chi, Phillipe Devillers (See Philippe Devillers (1920–2016), un secret nommé Viêt-Nam, Mémoires d'Indochine, Internet archived 2022.06.29), P. J. Honey, William Kaye (see e.g., A Bowl of Rice Divided: The Economy of North Vietnam, 1962), Gerard Tongas, among others. See the Editorial and the brief introduction of the contributors.
Back to Jump link "Note".

Bich's injury: A photo showing the injury mark on the forefront of Dr. Bich as a result of this "intensive and unpleasant interrogation" can be found in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.[11]
Back to Jump link "Note".

Francophile anticolonialists: "French teachings and models over Confucian ones. Some of these teachings were, to say the least, unhelpful to the colonial enterprise. Voltaire's condemnation of tyranny, Rousseau's embrace of popular sovereignty, and Victor Hugo's advocacy of liberty and defense of workers' uprisings turned some Vietnamese into that curious creature found also elsewhere in the empire: the Francophile anticolonialist."[12]:9
Back to Jump link "Note". Back to First Indochina War

Napalm battles: See, e.g., the battle of Vinh Yen (1951), the battle of Na San (1952), the battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954), etc.
Back to Jump link "Note".

Primary sources, quotations: See primary sources, extensive notes and quotations in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography[11] and Notes on Vietnam History.[13]
Back to Jump link "Note" 1, Jump link "Note" 2.

References

  1. ↑ Buttinger, Joseph (1967b), Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, Vol.2, Frederik A. Praegers, New York. Retrieved on 25 Feb 2023
  2. ↑ Nguyen-Ngoc-Bich (March 1962), "Vietnam—An Independent Viewpoint", The China Quarterly 9. Retrieved on 18 Feb 2023, pp. 105–111. See also the contents of Volume 9, which included the articles of many well-known experts on Vietnam history and politics such as Bernard B. Fall, Hoang Van Chi, Phillipe Devillers (see, e.g., his classic 1952 book Histoire du Viet-Nam in Section References and French French Cochinchina, Ref. 40), P. J. Honey, Gerard Tongas (see, e.g, J'ai vécu dans l'Enfer Communiste au Nord Viet-Nam, Debresse, Paris, 1961, reviewed] by P. J. Honey), among others.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cooper, Chester L. (1970), The Lost Crusade: America in Vietnam, Dood, Mead & Company, New York. Retrieved on 7 Mar 2023
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nguyen-Ngoc-Chau (2018), Le Temps des Ancêtres: Une famille vietnamienne dans sa traversée du XXe siècle, L'Harmattan, Paris, France. Retrieved on 18 Feb 2023. Preface by historian Pierre Brocheux.
  5. ↑ Tran-Thi-Lien (2002), Henriette Bui: The narrative of Vietnam's first woman doctor, in Gisele Bousquet and Pierre Brocheux, Viêt Nam Exposé: French Scholarship on Twentieth-Century Vietnamese Society, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 9780472098057, DOI:10.3998/mpub.12124, at 278–309. Google Book (search for "Bui Quang Chieu Ngoc Bich"), accessed 20 May 2023.
  6. ↑ Note: A list of important books published by Minh Tan can be found in Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography.
  7. ↑ Langguth, Arthur John (2000), Our Vietnam: The war, 1954–1975, Simon & Schuster, New York. Retrieved on 14 Mar 2023
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Honey, P.J., ed. (March 1962), "Special Issue on Vietnam", The China Quarterly 9. Retrieved on 18 Feb 2023.
  9. ↑ Note: A direct quote from the brief introduction of the contributors to The China Quarterly, Volume 9, 1962, reads: Dr. Bich's "personal influence upon Cochin Chinese opinion is considerable, and he is regarded by many as a possible successor to President Ngo Dinh Diem".
  10. ↑ Note: The Editorial of The China Quarterly, Volume 9, reads: "Five of our articles are by specialists who have observed the Hanoi regime from a distance. M. Tongas and Mr. Hoang Van Chi are writing on the basis of personal experience. Dr. Bich presents an independent view of the whole Vietnamese situation.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Nguyen-Ngoc-Chau & Vu-Quoc-Loc (2023), Nguyen Ngoc Bich (1911–1966): A Biography, Internet Archive. Retrieved on 21 Mar 2023, CC-BY-SA 4.0. (Backup copy.) Much of the information in the present article came from this biography, which also contains many relevant and informative photos not displayed here.
  12. ↑ Logevall, Fredrik (2012), Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam, Random House, New York. Retrieved on 12 Apr 2012, 864 pp. Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in History: "For a distinguished and appropriately documented book on the history of the United States, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000). A balanced, deeply researched history of how, as French colonial rule faltered, a succession of American leaders moved step by step down a road toward full-blown war" • Winner of the 2013 Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians • Winner of the 2013 American Library in Paris Book Award • Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations 2013 Gold Medal Arthur Ross Book Award • Finalist for the 2013 Cundill Prize in Historical Literature.
  13. ↑ Vu Quoc Loc (2023a), Notes on Vietnam History, Internet Archive. Retrieved on 27 Jun 2023, CC BY-SA 4.0.


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