Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese nationalist leader who formed the Viet Minh resistance group to fight for Vietnam's independence from French colonial rule. As World War 2 was ending, the Viet Minh declared Vietnam's independence but France refused to relinquish control and fought the Viet Minh for nearly a decade. Despite support from the US, France was ultimately unable to defeat the Viet Minh and withdrew from Vietnam in 1954, though the country was temporarily divided pending reunification elections. Ho Chi Minh led North Vietnam and sought to reunify the country under communist rule, which later escalated into the Vietnam War with US involvement.

1. Ho Chi Minh

2. Historical context

3. The French had maintained a colonial interest in
the region since the 17th Century.
-Based on three factors:
1. The race to construct a colonial empire =
power and prestige.
2. Economic advantages -> raw materials
(industry) and closed markets (manufacturing).
3. Europe’s “moral” mandate to “civilise”.
Decolonisation In Indochina

4. Near the end of the Second World War decolonization was a major issue for the Allies especially
the French who desperately wanted to retain their colonial possessions after the war. Indo-
China exemplified the difficulties the French had in retaining their colonial possessions. The
Vietnamese wanted the independence that the Atlantic and United Nations Charters called for
and were prepared, if necessary, to fight for it. The French were no less determined to retain
possession of Vietnam and the rest of Indo-China, for they viewed the retention of their colonial
possessions as necessary to regain their international stature. Thus, the French, with monetary
assistance from the United States, fought the League for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet
Minh). France was able to secure American aid as part of the United States effort to contain
communism. Despite American assistance, the French were unable to defeat the Viet Minh and
withdrew from Vietnam and the rest of Indo-China. But France was gradually losing its grip in
Indo-China. It suffered heavy defeats and military casualties. After being forced to surrender at
the fortress of Dien Bien Phu on 7 May 1954, France realised that it could not continue fighting
this costly war far from its shores on the sole ground of anti-communism.

5. In 1919, Ho Chi Minh formed a nationalist
organisation in Paris amongst the 50 000
Vietnamese working in France called the
Association of Annamite Patriots to advance
the cause of decolonisation and
independence in Indochina.

6. Japanese conquest during World War II
The Japanese occupation of Vietnam began in September 1940 and continued for the duration of World War
II. The catalyst for this invasion was Japan’s ongoing war with China, which began in 1937. By occupying
Vietnam, Tokyo hoped to close off China’s southern border, halting its supply of weapons and materials. But
the occupation of Vietnam also fit into Japan’s long-term imperial plans. Japanese leaders, driven by militarism
and profit, dreamed of creating a ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere': an economic coalition of Asian
nations. Together these countries would expel Western imperialists and capitalists, then share trade, resources
and commodities between themselves. In reality the ‘Co-prosperity Sphere’ was to be a quasi-empire, run from
Tokyo for the benefit of Japan, its government and corporations. Countries like China, Korea and Vietnam
would be ruled by puppet governments and transformed into vassal states, providing cheap land, labor and
resources for Japanese industries. It was imperialism by stealth, thinly cloaked in a veil of Asian nationalism.
During World War II, the Vichy French had little power to resist Japan’s expansion into
Vietnam.
-In September 1940, they were forced to allow Japan to enter from North.
-On 9th March 1945, Japan staged a coup d’etat. (French had been liberated from Nazi rule by
allies in 1944. Vichy = stuffed.)
-Emperor Bao Dai appointed in 1925 aged 13. Allowed to pronounce Vietnamese Independence but
Japanese held firmly in place the French Imperial system control cabinet.

7. Rise of Asian nationalism and communism
Japanese defeat of Russia in 1905 significant – demonstrates Asian power. Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905.
The 1911 Chinese Revolution provided a model for similar such movements to occur in Indochina. Later,
when Nationalists came into power in China in 1927, the Vietnamese Nationalist Party was formed in Hanoi.
(VNQDD) – armed uprisings in Cochen China, hundreds guillotined.
Phan Boi Chau’s organisations: The Reformation
Society (1904) and the Vietnamese Restoration
Society (1912). 5 yr imprisonment and death in
1917.
o No finite plans to extricate the French
o Focused exclusively on intellectuals (5%)
o His followers were converted to communism by
Ho Chi Minh in 1925.

8. From the early 1920s, nationalism became intertwined with communism in Asia
as leaders of both persuasions vied with each other for the allegiance of their
peoples.
– D Martin.
Ho Chi Min worked as an agent for the Comintern throughout the 20s and 30s.
In 1924, Ho was posted to Southern China to take advantage of Asian
Nationalist sentiments amongst the Vietnamese exiles in Canton. Helped
establish the “Association of Revolutionary Youth.”
In 1929, he went to Hong Kong to unite the three rival factions of the
communist party in Vietnam -> Indochinese Communist Party.
In 1931, following the Japanese occupation of China, he helped the Chinese
Communist Party resist Japanese influence.

9. The Cold War and the Policy of Containment
•Immediately after WWII, the USA and USSR engaged in a bitter confrontation, each initially trying to
extend their influence and philosophy (Communism Vs Capitalism) throughout Europe.Spread to Asia.
1945 – end of 1980s.
•Division: Eastern Bloc and Western Bloc.
The former had commie govts closely aligned with USSR, latter US capitalist.
•Switch from Isolationist to Interventionist policies in USA
“Truman Doctrine” – called for free market reforms in Europe strong economies protect against
communism.
“Marshal Plan” - $12.6 billion from USA to Europe between 1947 and 1952.
Containment – US policymakers became fixated on stopping spread of communism.
“Domino Theory” – Dominated US foreign policy from late 1940s-1960s “War by Proxy”
– e.g. North Korea, June 1950. Ho Chi Minh perceived not as a nationalist leader but a
Moscow-controlled communist. Ultimate extension of this was the Vietnam War, or Second
Indochina War or American War. (1959-1979)

10. Ho’s Background
Ho Chi Minh (originally Nguyen That Thanh) was born on 19 May 1890 in Hoang Tru
in central Vietnam. Vietnam was then a French colony, known as French Indo-China,
but under the nominal rule of an emperor. Ho's father worked at the imperial court but
was dismissed for criticising the French colonial power.
In 1911, Ho took a job on a French ship and travelled widely. He lived in London and
Paris, and was a founding member of the French communist party. In 1923, he visited
Moscow for training at Comintern, an organisation created by Lenin to promote
worldwide revolution. He travelled to southern China to organise a revolutionary
movement among Vietnamese exiles, and in 1930 founded the Indo-Chinese
Communist Party (ICP). He spent the 1930s in the Soviet Union and China.
After the Japanese invasion of Indo-China in 1941, Ho returned home and founded the
Viet Minh, a communist-dominated independence movement, to fight the Japanese. He
adopted the name Ho Chi Minh, meaning 'Bringer of Light'.

11. At the end of World War Two the Viet Minh announced Vietnamese independence. The French
refused to relinquish their colony and in 1946, war broke out. After eight years of war, the
French were forced to agree to peace talks in Geneva. The country was split into a communist
north and non-communist south and Ho became president of North Vietnam. He was
determined to reunite Vietnam under communist rule.
By the early 1960s, North Vietnamese-backed guerrillas, the Vietcong, were attacking the South
Vietnamese government. Fearing the spread of communism, the United States provided
increasing levels of support to South Vietnam. By 1965, large numbers of American troops were
arriving and the fighting escalated into a major conflict.
Ho Chi Minh was in poor health from the mid-1960s and died on 2 September 1969. When the
Communists took the South Vietnamese capital Saigon in 1975 they renamed it Ho Chi Minh
City in his honour.
End of the War

12. Family and Education in Vietnam
Family:
On May 19, HO Chi Minh was born the second son to a family of farmers
(Faher: Nguyễn Sinh Sắc - Orphan who was adopted by a scholar when he was 15.)
(Mother: Hoàng Thị Loan -
living in Kim Lien, a small village in Annam (Central Vietnam). He was born NGUYEN Sinh Cung but later adopted the name Ho
Chi Minh (“He who enlightens”).
Education:
(1907) - After receiving a primary education at a local school, as well as being tutored by father’s scholar friends, Ho and his
brother traveled to the city of Hué to attend a prestigious Franco-Vietnamese academy. Three years later, Ho left the academy
before graduating and worked briefly as a schoolteacher in the town of Phan Thiet.
(1923–1925) - Communist University of the Toilers of the East

13. Western influences and travels: France and USSR
International Travels and his time in France.
• Ho left Vietnam at the age of 21 to travel.
• He worked on an Ocean Liner and visited Africa, England and the Americas before settling in Paris for 6 years.
• In countries like Algeria (another French colony) he saw the indigenous people being exploited.
• He became a convert to Lenin’s theory that capitalism leads to the exploitation of colonial people.
• Ho Chi Minh converted to Communism and became a member of the French Communist Party.
• He also founded a newspaper “Le Paria” which called for an end to French colonialism.
• In 1919 he attempted to present his case for Vietnamese independence to President Wilson at Versailles. He
was inspired by Wilson’s argument that “Self-determination” should be a principle of the Treaty of Versailles.
• Although Wilson refused to meet with him, the Soviet Union had noticed his activities.
• After being arrested in 1931 he is released from prison a year later and flees to Moscow where he resides for
seven years studying at the Lenin institute. When the Japanese invaded Indochina thus initiating French
surrender in 1940, Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam for the first time in over thirty years

14. Rise to prominence

15. Ho spent several years founding and leading organisations dedicated to achieving his communist and nationalist goals:
• He united the various Communist groups in Indochina to form the IndoChina Communist Party (ICP) in 1930.
• Returned to the Soviet Union to train Comintern agents before returning to China in 1938.
• In China he issued a statement that called for Vietnamese independence and freedom of assembly, speech and the press.
• In 1940 he returned to Vietnam for the first time in nearly 30 years.
• The Japanese had seized Indochina and Ho felt that this presented an opportunity to take control of Vietnam.
• In 1941 Ho Chi Minh formed the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh pledged to use force to end the Japanese and French rule of
Vietnam.
• The leadership of Ho and Giap saw this movement grow to a 10,000 guerilla army north of Hanoi.
Founded the Indochina Communist Party (ICP) and the Viet
Minh
Formation of the Indochina Communist Party

16. Overall Goals:
- To overthrow French imperialism, feudalism, and the reactionary Vietnamese capitalist class.
- To make Indochina completely independent.
- To establish a worker-peasant and soldier government.
- To confiscate the banks and other enterprises belonging to the imperialists and put them under the
control of the worker-peasant and soldier government.
- To confiscate all of the plantations and property belonging to the imperialists and the Vietnamese
reactionary capitalist class and distribute them to poor peasants.
- To implement the eight hour working day.
- To abolish public loans and poll tax. To waive unjust taxes hitting the poor people.
- To bring back all freedom to the masses.
- To carry out universal education.
- To implement equality between man and woman.

17. Experiences in China
In 1924, Ho was posted to Southern China to take advantage of Asian Nationalist sentiments amongst the rebel
Vietnamese exiles in Canton.
Ho radically made himself known to the public in china by forming an Indochinese Nationalist Party in February
1925.
Causing him to be Under heavy French Surveillance by March. Leading to him establish the “Association of
Revolutionary Youth.” in June 1925. He also founded a society of oppressed peoples of Asia in July.
In doing all these things, Ho taught at public speaking's about the morals that a good communist should have,
urging people following his cause.
In 1942, Ho’s mission to unite the Viet Minh and China in struggle against Japan ended in his arrest by the
nationalist government, and jailed for a year. Many people thought ho had died in prison, however rumors were
proved false when he returned to Vietnam with a force of 18 guerillas.

18. Development of Viet Minh and
Propaganda Units
Ho wrote the idea down on the back of a pack of cigarettes during the First
Revolutionary Party Military Conference in September 1944 and General Giap
brought the idea to fruitition. The units had the ability to fight if threatened by the
enemy. Otherwise, they would do recruitment, propaganda plays and skits, and
organize and mobilize the villages in the Communist cause. On 22 December
1944 Giap formed the First Armed Propaganda Brigade consisting of three teams
with a total of 34 people called the Tran Hung Doa Platoon. The unit was armed
with one machine gun, 31 rifles and 2 revolvers. That same month Ho Chi Minh
created the “Vietnamese People's Propaganda Unit for National Liberation,” which
became the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in September 1945.

19. Resistance to Japanese Occupation
The Japanese occupation of Vietnam began in September 1940 and continued for the
duration of World War II. The catalyst for this invasion was Japan’s ongoing war with
China, which began in 1937. By occupying Vietnam, Tokyo hoped to close off China’s
southern border, halting its supply of weapons and materials. But the occupation of
Vietnam also fit into Japan’s long-term imperial plans. Japanese leaders, driven by
militarism and profit, dreamed of creating a ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere': an
economic coalition of Asian nations. Together these countries would expel Western
imperialists and capitalists, then share trade, resources and commodities between
themselves. In reality the ‘Co-prosperity Sphere’ was to be a quasi-empire, run from Tokyo
for the benefit of Japan, its government and corporations. Countries like China, Korea and
Vietnam would be ruled by puppet governments and transformed into vassal states,
providing cheap land, labour and resources for Japanese industries. It was imperialism by
stealth, thinly cloaked in a veil of Asian nationalism.

20. Ho Chi Minh declared the Japanese to be the “number one enemy” but resisted calls for a major Viet Minh campaign
against them. Knowing the Japanese were in retreat and that a major Allied attack was imminent, Ho preferred to
wait. By June 1945 he felt strong enough to establish a Viet Minh-controlled zone in north-western Vietnam. Since
this region was remote and had no strategic significance to the Japanese, they did not launch any major campaigns
against it. Through the middle of 1945, the Viet Minh busied itself with organisation, propaganda and recruiting. Ho
Chi Minh also had to deal with food shortages and famine, which was widespread in the north. The Viet Minh
movement consolidated its hold in the north and began to spread into central Vietnam, gaining 100,000 new recruits.
By August, the resistance movement was stronger than ever and the Japanese were on the verge of defeat. Viet Minh
cadres began seizing control of Japanese-held villages and towns. In early August the US dropped atomic weapons on
the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which eventually led to the Japanese surrender. Another foreign
power had occupied Vietnam and had been defeated.