The Viet Minh

Who are they?• Translated from Vietnamese, Việt Nam

Dộc Lập Dồng Minh Hội means League for the Independence of Vietnam. They fought for the independence of the Vietnamese people from the colonial French and the Imperial Japanese, who were occupying Indochina at the time. They had Communist ideologies and sought to introduce a democratic republic of Vietnam.

Leaders• The Viet Minh were lead by Vo

Nguyen Giap and Ho Chi Minh.

Left: Vo Nguyen Giap, Right: Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh• Ho Chi Minh was one of the leaders of the Viet Minh

movemnet, and was a Communist, Marxist-Leninist and later in his life, Prime Minister and eventually President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He lead the Viet Minh movement against the French and Japanese in Indochina, and lead the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam war until his death in 1969. Born in1890, he spent time in France, England, the U.S.A, the Soviet Union and China, where he studied politics and literature and became extremely well educated on all the major European, Western and Asian ideologies and political structures. In 1941, Ho moved back to Vietnam to lead the Viet Minh against the Japanese and the Vichy French (a puppet French government controlled by the Nazi Germans), being secretly supported by the American government. From this time onward he lead the Viet Minh against the French, Chinese and American invading forces.

Vo Nguyen Giap• Vo Nguyen Giap born in the village of An Xa. He was educated

in the university of Hanoi, but was expelled for organizing a student strike. He spent much time in Vietnam as a school teacher and journalist. He was arrested in 1930 and spent 13 months in prison. In 1931 he became a member of the Communist party and took part in several demonstrations against French rule in Indochina. When France outlawed Communism, he fled to China where he met up with Ho Chi Minh. While he was in China, his wife, sister, father and sister-in-law were tortured and killed. When he returned to Vietnam in 1944, he led many attacks against the Japanese and French. He was one of the main leaders in the wars against the French Japanese and eventually the American Alliance.

Major Battles• After several guerilla operations against the Japanese and Vichy French, the

Viet Minh began peace talks with the occupying French government, but with the arrival of the Chinese Nationalist Army, the peace talks broke down, and nearly ten years of fighting followed. This was known as the First Indochina War. The Viet Minh were pushed out of Hanoi, but took back much of the countryside. Their advantages were there ability to withdraw and disappear into the jungle, and their heavy support from the Communist China. They could withdraw across the border to China and regroup. Coming directly out of the World Wars, the French Army fought in a non-guerilla war and could not engage the Viet Minh, so there superior numbers and technology were a disadvantage as opposed to an advantage. The lack of progress in the war, and the unpopularity of war, due to the rapidly modernizing French culture, led to the French reaching a compromise. Effectively leaving the north of Vietnam to the Viet Minh. The strongly supported Viet Minh (by the Chinese) soon began to advance on French territory. This fighting came to a peak in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. After heavy losses and lack of progress, the French conceded and separated Vietnam into North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam.

Vietnam War• With the spread of the propaganda of the

Domino Effect, the capitalist nations of the west invaded North Vietnam to stop the spread of communism. Ho and Giap led the Viet Minh against the primarily American forces. They inflicted heavy casualties on the Allied forces, and eventually forced the withdrawal of the Allied Forces. This was the last major operation of the Viet Minh.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vietnam• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War#Timeline• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vo_Nguyen_Giap