1954 Geneva Conference declaration. Bedell Smith delivered a "unilateral declaration" of the US position, reiterating: "We shall seek to achieve unity through free elections supervised by the United Nations to insure that they are conducted fairly." While the three agreements (later known as the Geneva Accords) were dated July 20 (to meet Mendès France's 30-day deadline) they were in fact signed on the morning of July 21. The accords, which were issued on July 21, 1954, set out the following terms in relation to Vietnam: The agreement was signed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, France, the People's Republic of China, the Soviet
1954 Geneva Conference as constituting a political or territorial boundary." Separate accords were signed by the signatories with the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos in relation to Cambodia and Laos respectively. The British and Communist Chinese delegations reached agreement on the sidelines of the Conference to upgrade their diplomatic relations. The DRV at Geneva accepted a much worse settlement than the military situation on the ground indicated. "For Ho Chi Minh, there was no getting around the fact that his victory, however unprecedented and stunning was incomplete and perhaps temporary. The vision that had always driven him on, that of