On this day in 1945, Hồ Chí Minh announced the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to a crowd of thousands at the Ba Đình flower garden (now Ba Đình Square).

The Proclamation led directly to war with France, which concluded in the country being divided between French and self-rule at the 17th parallel. Vietnam would not achieve a unified, independent rule until 1976.

The Proclamation quoted heavily from the American Declaration of Independence and was vehemently critical of French rule. An excerpt reads:

"'All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.' This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

...Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice. In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every democratic liberty...They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly slain our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in rivers of blood...They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials.

For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country - and in fact is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty."

Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam uncle-ho-2

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • Abraxiel
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    "Nurse, give me 70 CCs mirth, Stat!"

    "But Doctor, the patient's jouissance is already elevated, shouldn--"

    "We can explore the spectrum of buoyant feelings later - I know a good jazz club, great acoustics - but I asked for mirth. Quickly Nurse, he's developing a rictus!"

    "You think you know better than me, hotshot? I've attended this procedure a hundred times - he needs the gentle milk of human kindness. All this excitement overwhelms his psyche."

    "Genivieve, you should know better than anyone that nothing is softer than to look upon the terrible lightness of our predicament and to delight in its motion, untroubled and in love."

    ". . . 70 CCs mirth, Doctor. But you must know this is only buying time. One cannot build peace on a balloon unmoored."

    "Don't we both know it well. Ah! Good, his smiles per minute are stabilizing. Another day . . . So Barnes', 8 o'clock?"

    "Humor doesn't suit you, Timur. I'll see you at Ellison's. Don't wear that dreadful suit this time."