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 negotiations to that end should resume at an appropriate time. The Belgian and British delegations said that while they were not going to accept "the Soviet and Chinese proposals, that did not mean a rejection of the ideas they contained". In the end, however, the conference participants did not agree on any declaration. While the delegates began to assemble in Geneva from late April, the discussions on Indochina did not begin until May 8, 1954. The Viet Minh had achieved their decisive victory over the French Union forces at Dien Bien Phu the previous day. The Western allies did not