Born

Born in 1890, Ho Chi Minh is the adopted name of Nguyen That Tan. In 1930 Ho Chi Minh founded the Vietnamese Communist Party, which dedicated itself to securing independence and political power and by 1941 he was heading the Communist Vietminh, after being trained in Moscow shortly after the Russian Revolution.

War

Over time Vietnam has been in many wars and has come up against France and America several times. Ho Chi Minh was just one of many to see his country go to war and one of these times has been during world war two, when he helped set up safe bases to retreat to when A297083 fought Japan and they surrendered in September 1945, leaving Ho Chi Minh to declare independence for Vietnam, only to face French opposition as Vietnam had its roots firmly in opposition to French rule. In 1947 Ho Chi Minh had withdrawn to the safe bases, determined to wear down his opposition using political subversion and guerrilla tactics.

The First Indochina War

The First Indochina War began in earnest with Viet Minh attacks against isolated French outposts, forcing the colonial rulers back to defensive positions around Hanoi. In 1951 the Communists assaulted these positions head on but were badly defeated. But Ho Chi Minh was still not prepared to surrender, so he turned to guerrilla tactics and waited for his enemy to make a mistake. This came in November 1953 when French airborne replied to a Viet Minh move in Laos, by capturing the isolated valley of Dien Phu.

Ho Chi Minh Ruler of Vietnam

During 1954-1969 Vietnam was under the Vietnamese Communist rule of Ho Chi Minh. Who was also the North Vietnamese Communist Politician, Premier and President at that time. He was successful in leading his country's fight against the US between 1954-75 during the so- called Vietnam War and led the Viet Minh to force the French to surrender after a 55-day onslaught in may 1954.The Geneva Records reflected this in July 1954, which granted independence to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Vietnam at this time was split up into a western style government ruling the south and a Communist style government ruling the north. The South disagreed to elections in 1956 and by 1959 the south was facing renewed pressure from the north who wished Vietnam to be reunited.

The Second Indochina War

During the Second Indochina War, Guerrillas in the South known as Viet Cong (VC) began to mount attacks in rural areas. They were helped by the north via jungle paths (networks) through Cambodia and Laos known as the Ho Chi Minh trail. America sent in help to South Vietnam but it did little use and 60% of the population was taken over by Viet Cong causing political chaos in the south.

Ho Chi Minh The Last Years

Ho Chi Minh spent his last years before his death, at the age of 79 years old in 1969, as president, overseeing his country at war with America. North Vietnam was successful in that it weakened America's defence of South Vietnam by using gunboats to strike the US warships in August 1964 and even though between 1965- 1968, America tried to stay out of conflict, they got drawn in deeper supporting South Vietnam. Finally, before Ho Chi Minh's death the Vietnamese surprised the Americans (who thought victory was insight) by stepping up their military tactics against 550,000 American troops in Vietnam, forcing President Johnson to step down as president and President Nixon to be elected in his place (who wished to end the US agreement with Vietnam).

America and Vietnam

To view more on the last years of Ho Chi Minh and America's involvement with Vietnam edited entries like A715024, A664058, A715060, A715042, A715051 and A715033.