— Ch. 1 · Founding And Leadership —
Viet Minh.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
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.
World War II Resistance
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.