Viet Minh

• 1. Founding And Leadership

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  On the 19th of May 1941, Ho Chi Minh established a coalition called the League for Independence of Vietnam at Pác Bó in Cao Bằng province. This location sat deep within northern Vietnam's rugged terrain. The Indochinese Communist Party served as the main leadership organization behind this new group. Nguyễn Lương Bằng took charge as Director of the General Department from 1941 until 1951. Hoàng Văn Thụ held the position of Secretary of the General Department starting in 1941 before his capture by French colonial forces in 1943. The founding charter presented the movement as inclusive to political groups rather than purely communist. It exhorted soldiers, workers, peasants, intellectuals, civil servants, merchants, young men and women to overthrow French jackals and Japanese fascists. A non-communist individual became the first chairman of the organization. The Việt Nam Độc lập Đồng minh was not to be confused with the Việt Nam Cách mệnh Đồng minh Hội founded by Nguyễn Hải Thần.

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• 2. World War II Resistance

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  Japanese occupation of French Indochina triggered military campaigns against the invaders during World War II. A raid at Tam Dao internment camp on the 19th of July 1945 saw five hundred Viet Minh fighters kill fifty Japanese soldiers and officials. They freed French civilian captives and escorted them to the Chinese border. The Viet Minh also fought the Japanese 21st Division in Thái Nguyên province. Regular raids on rice storehouses helped alleviate an ongoing famine affecting the population. By the end of 1944, the group claimed a membership of five hundred thousand people. Two hundred thousand members resided in Tonkin while one hundred fifty thousand lived in Annam and another one hundred fifty thousand in Cochinchina. National salvation associations formed in Quảng Ngãi province alone enlisted one hundred thousand peasants by mid-1945. The Vanguard Youth expanded to two hundred thousand members in Cochinchina by early summer. Armed forces seized control of northern provinces after which they distributed lands to the poor. Local village militias emerged alongside quốc ngữ classes and universal suffrage declarations. Funding came from the United States, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China due to their opposition to Japan.

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• 3. August Revolution And Statehood

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  Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence by proclaiming the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on the 2nd of September 1945. This declaration occurred following the August Revolution takeover of nationalist organizations and Emperor Bảo Đại's abdication. The Chinese Kuomintang Army arrived within days to supervise repatriation of the Imperial Japanese Army in the North. Franco-British armies attacked the Viet Minh since the 23rd of September 1945 in the South. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam existed only in theory and effectively controlled no territory at that moment. Negotiations between the French and Việt Minh broke down quickly in December 1946. A three-way understanding emerged months later where the French gave up certain rights in China. The Việt Minh agreed to return of the French in exchange for promises of independence within the French Union. The Chinese agreed to leave the region. The organization advocated putting aside class struggle issues until 1948 to focus on gaining sovereignty for Vietnam. Recognition by communist China and the Soviet Union in January 1950 changed the organization's stance significantly.

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• 4. First Indochina War

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  Nearly ten years of war against France followed the breakdown of negotiations in late 1946. This conflict became known as the First Indochina War or the French War among Vietnamese people. The Việt Minh created a military school in Quảng Ngãi province in June 1946 due to short modern military knowledge. More than four hundred Vietnamese were trained by Japanese defectors in this institution. Young insurgents received training in use of modern firearms from foreign volunteers like Stefan Kubiak. French General Jean Étienne Valluy pushed the Viet Minh out of Hanoi with armored units. The French encircled the Việt Bắc base in late 1947 causing great damage but failing to decisively defeat forces. The campaign was considered a victory by communists over the well-equipped French force. France sought an alternative political solution by negotiating with anti-communist nationalists led by former emperor Bao Dai. The unified State of Vietnam emerged within the French Union in June 1949 under indirect French control. The United States recognized the new country in February 1950 to help the French fight communism while opposing colonialism. The Viet Minh government received recognition from the USSR and communist China in January.

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• 5. Geneva Accords And Division

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  The Geneva Conference in Switzerland produced peace accords that divided Vietnam into North and South at the seventeenth parallel. Transfer of civil administration of North Vietnam to the Viet Minh occurred on the 11th of October 1954. Ho Chi Minh became Prime Minister of North Vietnam which would run as a socialist state. Ngô Đình Diệm assumed control of South Vietnam after being appointed Prime Minister by Emperor Bảo Đại. The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for united Vietnam. Neither the United States government nor Ngô Đình Diệm's State of Vietnam signed anything at the conference. Non-communist Vietnamese delegates objected strenuously to any division but lost when the French accepted proposals from Việt Minh delegate Phạm Văn Đồng. The American Plan provided for unification elections under UN supervision but was rejected by the Soviet delegation. The United States believed Ho Chi Minh would win nationwide elections proposed at the Geneva Accords. Director of CIA Allen Dulles acknowledged evidence showed majority of people supported Viet Minh rebels. Diem refused to hold elections citing the South had not signed and were not bound to the Geneva Accords. Vietnam wide elections never happened while cadres in South Vietnam secretly launched an insurgency against the government.

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• 6. Regional Revolutionary Influence

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  Three thousand to five thousand Cambodian communist cadres formed the Khmer Việt Minh movement. These left-wing members regrouped in the United Issarak Front after 1950 living mostly in exile in North Vietnam. The term served as derogatory language used by Norodom Sihanouk dismissing Cambodian leftists organizing pro-independence agitations. Sihanouk's public criticism increased power of hardline anti-Vietnamese members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea led by Pol Pot. Many Khmer Việt Minh married Vietnamese women during their long exile period. The Khmer Issarak and United Issarak Front proved instrumental in foundation of the Cambodian Salvation Front in 1978. Phetsarath, Souphanouvong, Kaysone Phomvihane and Phoumi Vongvichit led Lao Issara organization. This group received training and support from Việt Minh during the First Indochina War. Laotian communists rejected French offers and fought side by side with Vietnamese communists throughout the conflict. In 1950, Lao Issara renamed itself Pathet Lao under leadership of Souphanouvong and others. The Pathet Lao later invaded Cambodia along with Vietnamese Army to overthrow Democratic Kampuchea state.

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