INDO-CHINA: Land of Compulsory Joy

INDOCHINA

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Men with long megaphones prowled the streets of Hanoi, their exhortations echoing behind shuttered windows. "Dear compatriots," they droned, "your joy is indescribable!"

In Hanoi, the Viet Minh's red and yellow-starred flags hung from stores and warehouses, from shacks and villas, from cycle-taxis that darted along uncrowded boulevards. Portraits of Malenkov, Mao and Ho stared out from the stalls of the peddlers. At main intersections there were bamboo arches of triumph, decked with papier-mâché peace doves and slogans that proclaimed "INDEPENDENCE" or "PEACE" or "PRESIDENT HO FOR TEN THOUSAND YEARS."...