Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh was born May 19, 1890 and died September 2, 1969. Over the course of this Vietnamese Communist Revolutionary’s life he served as prime minister from 1946 – 1955 and President of The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). Following Minh’s schooling, he became a teacher for a short period and then became a sailor which gave him the opportunity to travel to many different countries. Minh settled in Paris in 1917 where he began to read books by Karl Marx initiating his interest in communism. In December, 1920 Minh became one of the founding members of the French Communist Party. Like other members of the French Communist Party, Minh had been inspired by the Russian Revolution. In 1924, Minh traveled to the Soviet Union where he put his beliefs down on paper in a letter to his friend, “it was the duty of all communists to return to their country to: make contact with the masses to awaken, organize, unite, and train them, and lead them to fight for freedom and independence.” To avoid the French authorities, Ho relocated to China on the Vietnam border where he organized the Vietnam Revolutionary League. On September 14, 1920, the Japanese army invaded Indochina and because Germany already occupied Paris at the time, the French decided to surrender to Japan. Ho Chi Minh and other nationalists decided to capitalize on this opportunity to rid Vietnam of any foreign control and so formed the Vietminh under General Vo Nguyen Giap. The organization relied on guerrilla warfare to fight against the Japanese. The Vietminh were given military aid by the Soviet Union and, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, by the United States as well. After the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vietminh were able to remove Japanese influence from their country. In September, 1945, Minh announced the formation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. However, without the Vietminh knowing, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, at a meeting at Potsdam, had already decided that the country would be divided into a northern half, under the control of the Chinese, and a southern half, under the control of the British. Following World War II, France attempted to regain control over Vietnam. In January, 1946, Britain removed its troops and China left Vietnam in a trade for the promise France would surrender its rights to territory in China. The Vietminh and the French soon began fighting, after France refused to recognize the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. After France realized it would not be able to defeat the Vietminh in a short period of time, the French government attempted to negotiate with the Vietminh, offering to help set up a national government and eventual independence. However, Ho Chi Minh and other Vietminh leaders did not accept, untrusting of the French word. The French surrendered May 7th after a drawn out war, ending in a key victory Dien Bien Phu. The foreign ministers of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France, met in Geneva to form a peaceful solution to the Vietnam situation. Members of the Vietminh opposed the cease-fire agreement because it included a division of Vietnam, however Ho Chi Minh persuaded them, arguing the division was temporary, and that in the General Election, the Vietnamese would elect a communist government to rule, re-uniting Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the top leader during Vietnam’s quest for diminishing foreign rule and regaining independence. Although his prediction for the general population in the South to vote for a communist ruler did not occur, Ho Chi Minh was able to create a more independent Vietnam. Without Ho Chi Minh and his organizing of the Vietminh, Vietnam today would be significantly different, possibly still under the control of major foreign powers.

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