French resistance veteran and official who concluded the 6 March 1946 preliminary agreement with Ho Chi Minh
On 6 March 1946, he reached an agreement with Ho Chi Minh that allowed French troops to enter Hanoi without fighting.
Born Jean Roger, he led the Normandy section of the Alliance resistance intelligence network during the Second World War. After the war, appointed French Republic commissioner for Tonkin and northern Annam, he negotiated with Ho Chi Minh; their 6 March 1946 agreement enabled French troops to enter Hanoi without fighting.
Activities and affiliations
- Diplomacy and international organization · France state institutions
Career Timeline
- 1907Born in Le Vésinet, France.
- 1940–1944Led the Normandy section of the Alliance resistance network.
- 1945–1946French Republic commissioner for Tonkin and northern Annam; negotiated with Ho Chi Minh.
- 1946Signed the preliminary agreement on 6 March.
- 1954Appointed French government delegate to North Vietnam.
- 1962–1966Served as minister for veterans and war victims.
- 1968–1977Served on the Constitutional Council.
Related historical events
- 1940–1944The French Resistance and the Liberation of FranceResistance network section chiefFrom 1940 to 1944, he led the Normandy section of the Alliance resistance network.
- 1945–1954The August Revolution and the First Indochina WarFrench negotiating representativeOn 6 March 1946, he reached a preliminary agreement with Ho Chi Minh that enabled French troops to enter Hanoi without fighting.
The First Indochina War and French policy, 1946–1947
After the 6 March 1946 agreement, Sainteny returned to France in April to prepare Ho Chi Minh’s visit and the Fontainebleau Conference. The University of Montreal’s Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War records that he remained in France from May to November. When the Haiphong crisis erupted in November, the French government sent him back to Hanoi; he arrived only on 6 December. On 19 December, as fighting began, his car struck a mine and he was seriously wounded. Within days he resumed his duties and formally took possession of the Government-General building again.
Sainteny also carried out French government instructions in the period immediately preceding the outbreak of fighting. The University of Montreal dictionary says that in November Georges Thierry d’Argenlieu sent him to pressure Ho Chi Minh to replace key members of the Vietnamese government with figures more amenable to France, and that Sainteny followed the order. Thus, the negotiator of the March agreement also took part in French policy to restore colonial authority. In March 1947 he was recalled to Paris to assist the government during debates on Indochina. In December, foreseeing further escalation of the conflict, he requested and obtained release from active service. In 1953 he published Histoire d’une paix manquée, a memoir recounting the Haiphong events and his Indochina experience.