North Vietnamese Decision-Making, 1973-1975
A collection of published Vietnamese documents dealing with North Vietnam’s decision-making from the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973 until the end of the war in April 1975. Compiled by George J. Veith and Merle L. Pribbenow, much of the material in this collection formed the basis of Veith's book, Black April: The Fall of South Vietnam, 1973-1975 (2013). The collection is also introduced and contextualized in CWIHP Working Paper #84, "The Return to War: North Vietnamese Decision-Making, 1973-1975" (November 2017). (Image: Fall of Saigon, April 1975.)
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August 18, 1974
Cable from the COSVN Party Current Affairs Committee to the Politburo Reporting on the Results of COSVN’s 13th Party Plenum
Cable from the COSVN Party Current Affairs Committee to the Politburo reporting on the results of COSVN’s 13th Party Plenum, including all aspects of the situation since the dissemination of COSVN Resolution 12 and on the implementation of the Central Committee’s Resolution 21.
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October 01, 1974
Continue Supplying Weapons and Ammunition in Accordance with the 1973 Plan and Preparing for the 1974-1975 Plan and for the Supplemental Plan (KH-75B)
Military report in implementation of the resolution of the first session of the General Technical Department’s Party Committee, carrying out the mission of supplying the South Vietnamese battlefield that was approved during the General Department’s first Political-Military Conference.
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November 13, 1974
Guidance (No. 288) on Implementing the Resolution of the Central Military Party Committee in Combat and Force-Building Missions in 1975
Based on the strategic plan of the Politburo and the Central Military Party Committee on gaining victory in the next few years, the Central Military Party Committee met to make a detailed, concrete assessment of the situation in 1974 and laid out guidelines, missions, and a concrete plan to be carried out by the different battlefields in 1975.
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December 22, 1974
General Staff Cable on the C3+C4 Campaign Desires of the High Command, sent to the B3 Front
Cable from the General Staff detailing campaign plans of the Senior Leadership of the High Command to exploit an offensive posture and open up a strategic corridor to transform the balance of forces.
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January 05, 1975
Leadership of the Ministry of Public Security issues guidance for dealing with reactionaries in South Vietnam
Comrade Tran Quoc Hoan, Minister of Public Security, presided over a meeting that he had convened to study and implement guidelines on conducting the struggle against reactionaries, in support of the General Offensive and General Uprising in South Vietnam.
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January 06, 1975
Cable from X2 [Pham Hung] to the Ba Dinh Party Current Affairs Committee [Central Office for South Vietnam – COSVN], Reply to Cable No. 46/B19
Cable from Pham Hung to the Ba Dinh Party Current Affairs Committee describing the development of current battlefields and operational plans for the near future.
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February 10, 1975
Cable No. 727 from the Central Military Party Committee to Headquarters B4 [Thua Thien-Hue] and Headquarters B5 [Quang Tri]
Vo Nguyen Giap, on behalf of the Central Military Party Committee, sent a cable to Headquarters B4 and B5 to give an assessment of the situation at the battlefields and issue operational guidelines for the Tri-Thien battlefield in 1975.
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February 27, 1975
Cable No. 810B from the Central Military Party Committee to the Current Affairs Committee of the Tri Thien Party Committee, the Current Affairs Committees of the B4 and B5 Party Committees, and the Tri Thien Region Party Committee
On behalf of the Central Military Party Committee, Vo Nguyen Giap issues a directive on military operations, laying out battle plans to different regional committees.