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Digital Archive International History Declassified

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Vietnam War

 Documents on the Vietnam War. These telegrams, minutes, and discussion notes range from the mid-1950s to the end of the 1970s, and most come from Chinese and Albanian archives. There are many documents from Albania archives on Vietnam-Albanian relations. The collection also includes several Chinese telegrams and memorandums on foreign and economic relations with Indochina, as well as discussions with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. See also the Indochinese War and the 1954 Geneva Conference. (Image, American POW, 1973, US Department of Defense, DDST9904270)

  • August 01, 1957

    Journal of Soviet Ambassador to the DPRK A.M. Puzanov for 1 August 1957

    Kim Il Sung and Puzanov discuss aid to North Vietnam and the merger of several DPRK ministries.

  • August 07, 1957

    Journal of Soviet Ambassador to the DPRK A.M. Puzanov for 7 August 1957

    Puzanov and a KWP CC official discuss aid to Vietnam, the DPRK's efforts to overfulfill the targets of the economic plan, North Korea's nonferrous metal industry, and the DPRK's enhanced technical capabilities.

  • June 23, 1958

    Excerpt from ''Ordnance: Chronology of Historical Events, Volume 1''

    Excerpt from an internal Vietnamese army history which describes a 1958 shipment of weapons to Algeria to help the Algerian rebels fighting against the French.

  • August 15, 1961

    Telegram from the Enver Hoxha to Ho Chi Minh via Gac Mazi, the Albanian Ambassador to Moscow

    This is a telegram from the 1st Secretary of the Party of Labor of Albania Enver Hoxha to President Ho Chi Minh delivered via the Albanian Ambassador to Moscow Gac Mazi. This telegram discusses the possible visit of Ho Chi Minh to Tirana. Hoxha orders Mazi to contact Ho Chi Minh urgently and deliver a copy of the telegram to him. Enver Hoxha believes that the disputes between the various leaders of the socialist countries in Europe and the Party of Labor in Albania are serious and cannot be resolved simply or immediately. He assigns the blame for these disputes to the leaders of the other socialist countries. Hoxha asks Ho Chi Minh to talk to these leaders about these disputes before coming to Tirana. The reason for this is that other European communist leaders have begun denigrating the Party of Labor of Albania, the Albanian government, and the Albanian people. Hoxha writes that the Albanian leadership is still carefully analyzing the causes of the disputes. Lastly, he informs Ho Chi Minh that he will be ready to discuss the Tirana trip further in the second half of November of 1961.

  • August 29, 1961

    Telegram from the Albanian Ambassador in Beijing Reiz Malile to the Albanian Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu

    This is a telegram from the Albanian Ambassador in Beijing Reiz Malile to the Prime Minister, Mehmet Shehu. Malile reports on his discussion with Marshal Chen Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, about a possible visit from the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh to Tirana. Chen Yi suggests that Malile go to Vietnam for a national celebration and he promises a Chinese plane as transportation for his trip.

  • October 30, 1961

    Telegram from the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Ung Van Khiem to the Albanian Foreign Affairs Minister Behar Shtylla

    This document is a telegram from the Foreign Affairs Minister of North Vietnam Ung Van Khiem to the Albanian Foreign Affairs Minister Behar Shtylla. Van Khiem describes to Shtylla the history of American-Vietnamese relations from the 1954 Geneva Convention until 1961. Van Khiem stresses that the situation in South Vietnam has worsened after President Kennedy took office. During May 1961, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson came to Saigon and discussed with the President of the Republic of Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem the prospect of enlarging American presence in South Vietnam. Since that time the South Vietnamese government, with American support, organized internment camps and a cordon sanitaire in the area of the South Vietnamese borders with Laos and Cambodia. Van Khiem sees these actions as menacing to peace in Indochina, and Southeast Asia more generally. The North Vietnamese government, abiding by the Geneva Convention on Indochina, proposed organizing a conference with the South Vietnamese authorities in order to discuss free elections throughout the country and the reunification of Vietnam. The government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam denounced the American plans to enlarge the scope of aggressive actions in Vietnam and, especially, the plan to deploy the U.S. Army in South Vietnam.

  • December 02, 1961

    Telegram from Behar Shtylla to Ung Van Khiem

    This document is a telegram from Albanian Foreign Affairs Minister Behar Shtylla to the Foreign Affairs Minister of North Vietnam, Ung Van Khiem. Shtylla shares the same indignation as the Vietnamese minister towards the dangerous situation arising in Vietnam. According to Shtylla, Kennedy is trying to transform South Vietnam into a base of operations for aggression directed against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Taking into account other actions towards Laos and Cambodia, he believes Kennedy is attempting to convert Indochina into an American base. Shtylla states that the American policy in Vietnam violates the general international conventions of conduct, as well as the Vietnamese people’s sovereignty. Shtylla expresses full solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and supports its request that the chairmen of the Geneva Conference take measures against the American inference in South Vietnam.

  • May 02, 1962

    Report on Reiz Malile’s ambassadorial credentials sent to the DRV and his discussions with the DRV leaders

    The new ambassador to China and to the DRV, Reiz Malile, reports on his meetings with Vietnamese leaders during his visit to Vietnam on 14 – 28 of April 1962. Malile states that he met DRV President Ho Chi Minh, the Prime Minister of the DRV, Fam Van Dong, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the DRV, Ung Van Khiem, and 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Working Party of Vietnam, Le Duan. In his discussions, they support the Albanian government's stance on Khrushchev and the Soviet leadership in general. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese leaders avoid discussions targeted against the Soviet Union and, instead, propose the need for unity in the international communist movement. They also ask to stop the polemic in the media in order for the other bloc not to profit from the internal disputes of the communist camp. According to Malile, among the Vietnamese leadership there is a strong spirit not to cause a break with the Soviet Union. Malile claims that the Vietnamese communists are not fully informed on Albanian-Soviet disputes, which they view as simple disagreements between brothers. According to Malile, there is a great deal of Chinese and Soviet propaganda concerning the political international situation that presents differing points of view.

  • April 25, 1964

    Report by the War Department of the General Staff

    Report on China’s readiness and defense against an enemy attack.

  • June 06, 1964

    Minutes of the meeting between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s delegate Tran Dinh Thu with an Albanian official Shpresa Fuga on June 6, 1964

    This document is a report on a meeting between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s delegate, Tran Dinh Thu, with an Albanian official, Shpresa Fuga. Tran Dinh Thu reveals his appreciation for Albanian political support towards the cause of the South Vietnamese people against the United States. Tran Dinh Thu is also upset about the lack of actual financial support from the Soviet Union by comparing it to the more commendable support of the United States government for the government of South Vietnam. He asks for further Albanian support for the South Vietnamese people and asks that awareness of the Vietnam conflict be spread among the Albanian population.

  • August 06, 1964

    Report on the meeting between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s ambassador Nguyen Ngoc-Son with Qemal Rahmanaj

    This document is a report on a meeting between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam's representative, Nguyen Ngoc-Son, with an Albanian official, Qemal Rahmanaj. Nguyen-Ngoc-Son reveals the American and South Vietnamese 1955 plan concerning marching into North Vietnam and establishing order in the South. In 1961 the plan is carried out in 3 phases. In phase 1, the Americans and the South Vietnamese government cooperated to create order in South Vietnam and establish American bases in North Vietnam. Phase 2 includes improving the military capability of the U.S. army and commencing sabotage operations in the North. Phase 3 includes developing the South Vietnamese economy and the beginning of military operations against North Vietnam. Alarmingly, the frequency of attacks against North Vietnam increases even further in 1964. Because of this, the ambassador asks for a press conference to inform Albanian media about the situation in Vietnam.

  • August 07, 1964

    Declaration of the Government of the People’s Republic of Albania Concerning the Aggressive Miilitary operations of the US against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on August 7, 1964

    This document is a declaration of the People’s Republic of Albania decrying the American military's actions on August 7 targeted against North Vietnam. According to the Albanian government, these operations endangered peace in Indochina and Southeast Asia in general in addition to violating the Geneva Convention of 1954. The American 7th Fleet and the American Air Force, along with South Vietnamese government forces, provoked a retaliatory action from North Vietnam. In addition, the Albanian government believes the Americans dispatched spies and saboteurs to North Vietnam. The Albanian government fully supports the sovereignty and independence of the North Vietnamese people in their struggle against the Americans. This declaration was distributed to all foreign diplomatic envoys in Albania.

  • August 10, 1964

    Meeting between the North Vietnamese ambassador with the 1st vice-minister of foreign affairs of the People’s Republic of Albania Vasil Nathanaili

    This document outlines the meeting between the North Vietnamese ambassador with the 1st vice-minister of foreign affairs of the People’s Republic of Albania, Vasil Nathanaili. The ambassador thanks the Albanian government for the August 7 declaration in support of North Vietnamese sovereignty and independence. He informs the Albanian official about the growing pressure of the American government on the United Nations to become more involved in the conflict in Vietnam and to spread the blame for violating the Geneva Convention of 1954 on Indochina to North Vietnam. It is stated that the Soviet representative in the UN proposed to invite a North Vietnamese delegation to discuss the situation in Vietnam without previously informing the North Vietnamese government about the issue, prompting an official complaint to the Soviet embassy in Hanoi. Furthermore, the American representatives in the UN invited a South Vietnamese delegation in order to discuss the same issue. The document also mentions the reaction of the North Vietnamese government after the supposed violation of the Geneva Convention and specific steps to condemn the Americans publicly.

  • August 12, 1964

    Mao Zedong’s Comments on the War Department’s April 25 Report

    Mai praises the War Department's report on China's preparations for enemy attack.

  • August 19, 1964

    Report on How China's Economic Construction Should Prepare Itself Against an Enemy Surprise Attack

    China’s economic preparations against an enemy attack.

  • September 04, 1964

    Discussion between Mao Zedong and Sangsiv

    Mao Zedong advising Sangsiv on how to strengthen Communism in Laos, including learning from Chinese mistakes.

  • September 28, 1964

    Discussion between Mao Zedong and Cambodian Prince Sihanouk

    Zedong discusses previous and present Chinese-American relations, focusing especially on Taiwan

  • October 05, 1964

    Discussion between Mao Zedong and Pham Van Dong

    Zedong advises Pham Van Dong on how to handle war in South Vietnam and protection of North Vietnam.

  • October 26, 1964

    Report on the meeting between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s representative Tran Dinh Thu with Shpresa Fuga on October 26, 1964

    This document is a report on a meeting between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s representative, Tran Dinh Thu, with an Albanian official, Shpresa Fuga. Tran Dinh Thu discusses an upcoming international conference on solidarity with the people of South Vietnam against the Americans that is to be held in Hanoi on November 25. He invites the Albanian delegation along with 50 other delegations. The conference and the idea behind it are initiated by the Committee of the Communist Party of North Vietnam, but in fact it is carried out by the Vietnam Committee of Peace, the Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee and the National Front of Vietnam.

  • November 25, 1964

    A written message from the Albanian Prime Minster Mehmet Shehu to the participants of the conference on solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi on November 25, 1964

    This document condemns the recent American involvement in South Vietnam. In addition, Shehu stresses the importance of showing support for the struggle of the people of South Vietnam and the Geneva Convention of 1954 which, he implies, the Americans violated.