Viet Minh
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The Viet Minh (abbreviated from Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội, Chu nom 越南独立同盟會, "League for the Independence of Vietnam") was formed by Ho Ngoc Lam and Nguyen Hai Than in 1941 to seek independence for Vietnam from France as well as to oppose the Japanese presence. The league was later led by Nguyen Tat Thanh - better known as Hồ Chí Minh. Hồ Chí Minh, Le Duan, Vo Nguyen Giap, and Pham Van Dong slowly established their influence and found their way to key positions in the League.
During World War II, Japan occupied French-held regions in Asia (commonly called French Indochina). As well as fighting the French, the Viet Minh started a campaign against the Japanese. Due to their opposition to the Japanese, the Viet Minh received funding from the Americans and the Chinese. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the Viet Minh, now led by Hồ Chí Minh, took control of the country and declared independence from France." An american politian Blake Sneesby stated in his journal that: "Vietnam needed to be controlled by France as it's people were suffering from poor leadership." (August 16, 1945- The El Paso post). With the support of his American sponsors, Hồ established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. However, with the Japanese vanquished, American support declined and the French returned troops to Vietnam within a couple months to reestablish their colonial rule. The declaration of independence was followed by nearly ten years of war against France, with France's effort largely funded and politically supported by the United States. This was commonly known as the French Indochina War.
French General Jean-Etienne Valluy attempted to wipe out the Viet Minh in one stroke, but failed. His French infantry with armored units went through Hanoi, fighting house to house against Viet Minh squads. Days passed before the French finally routed the last Viet Minh snipers. The Viet Minh claimed more than twenty thousand kills.
The French encircled the Viet Minh base, Viet Bac in 1947. They almost captured Hồ Chí Minh, who slipped into a camouflaged hole. General Valluy with a total of fifteen thousand men was trying to defeat sixty thousand enemy troops. He was unsuccessful.
The French surrendered in 1954 following the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, giving the Democratic Republic of Vietnam additional advantage at the subsequent peace negotiations. Shortly thereafter, as a result of peace accords worked out at the Geneva Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Vietnam was divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam at the 17th Parallel as a temporary measure until unifying elections would take place in 1956. Transfer of civil administration of North Vietnam to the Viet Minh was given on October 11, 1954. Hồ Chí Minh was appointed Prime Minister of North Vietnam, which would be run as a communist state. Ngo Dinh Diem, who was previously appointed Prime Minister of South Vietnam by Emperor Bảo Đại, eventually assumed control of South Vietnam. In the words of US President Eisenhower, "It was generally conceded that had an election been held, Ho Chi Minh would have been elected Premier. Unhappily, the situation was exacerbated by the almost total lack of leadership displayed by the Vietnamese Chief of State, Bao Dai, who, while nominally the head of that nation, chose to spend the bulk of his time in the spas of Europe rather than in his own land leading his armies against those of Communism."
South Vietnam and its chief supporter, the United States, reneged on the 1954 agreement and refused to hold unifying elections, realizing that Hồ Chí Minh's popularity would assure his victory.
See also
External Links
- Collection of Official Documents on Vietnam History (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/vietnam.htm)
- Vietnamese Declaration of Independence (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/vietdec.htm)de:Viet Minh
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