League for Independence of Vietnam Việt Nam Độc lập Đồng minh | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | Việt Minh |
| Leader |
|
| Governing body | Viet Minh General Department (Tổng bộ Việt Minh) |
| Director of General Department | Nguyễn Lương Bằng (1941–1951) |
| Secretary of General Department |
|
| Members of General Department | |
| Founder | Indochinese Communist Party (now theCommunist Party of Vietnam) |
| Founded | 19 May 1941 (84 years, 159 days) |
| Dissolved | 10 September 1955 (70 years, 45 days) |
| Preceded by | Anti-imperialist National United Front of Indochina (Vietnamese:Mặt trận Thống nhất Dân tộc Phản đế Đông Dương) |
| Succeeded by | |
| Headquarters | Pác Bó,Cao Bằng |
| Newspaper | National Salvation (Cứu Quốc) |
| Armed wing | People's Army of Vietnam |
| Ideology | |
| Party flag | |
.svg) | |
TheViệt Minh (Vietnamese:[vîətmīŋ̟]ⓘ,chữ Hán:越盟), officially theLeague for Independence of Vietnam (Vietnamese:Việt Nam Độc lập Đồng minh[2] orViệt Nam Độc lập Đồng minh Hội,chữ Hán:越南獨立同盟(會);French:Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam), was acommunist-lednational independence coalition formed atPác Bó byHo Chi Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as theViệt Minh Front (Mặt trận Việt Minh), it was created by theIndochinese Communist Party (ICP) as aunited front to achieve the independence for the nation of Vietnam and laterestablished theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), being the predecessor of the contemporarySocialist Republic of Vietnam.[3][4]
TheViệt Nam Độc lập Vận động Đồng minh Hội was previously formed by Hồ Học Lãm inNanjing, China, at some point between August 1935 and early 1936, when Vietnamese nationalist parties formed an anti-imperialistunited front. This organization soon lapsed into inactivity, only to be taken over by Ho Chi Minh and the ICP in 1941.[5] They presented the organization as inclusive of political groups, with a founding charter more nationalist than communist. It exhorted "soldiers, workers, peasants, intellectuals, civil servants, merchants, young men and women" to overthrow "French jackals" and "Japanesefascists", while the group's first chairman was a non-communist.[6] In general, the Việt Minh established itself as the only organized anti-French and anti-Japanese resistance group.[7]
Following theJapanese occupation, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from theRepublic of China, and later from the USOffice of Strategic Services. After World War II, the Việt Minh established theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam and opposed the re-occupation of Vietnam by theFrench Union, resulting in theFirst Indochina War. It also opposed non-communist Vietnamese nationalists, such as theViệt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, during thecivil conflicts, and later opposed theState of Vietnam as well as its successor, theRepublic of Vietnam. Until 1948,[8] this organization advocated putting aside the issue ofclass struggle anddictatorship of the proletariat to focus on gaining sovereignty for Vietnam. However, the organization's stance changed after being recognized by communistChina and theSoviet Union in January 1950.[9]
The political leader of Việt Minh was Ho Chi Minh. The military leadership was under the command ofVõ Nguyên Giáp. Other founders wereLê Duẩn andPhạm Văn Đồng.
TheViệt Nam Độc lập Đồng minh is not to be confused with theViệt Nam Cách mệnh Đồng minh Hội (League for the Vietnamese Revolution, abbreviated asViệt Cách) which was founded byNguyễn Hải Thần. Việt Cách later briefly joined the Vietnamese National Coalition in 1946.
Today, theVietnam Fatherland Front – a socio-political coalition led by theCommunist Party of Vietnam forming theVietnamese government – is recognized as the modern incarnation of the Việt Minh front in currentVietnamese politics.
The League for Independence of Vietnam (Viet Minh) was founded on 19 May 1941 inPác Bó,Cao Bằng province (in northern Vietnam).[10]Ho Chi Minh was the founder and hisIndochinese Communist Party was the main leadership organization within Viet Minh.[11]
Ho Chi Minh was the highest leader.Nguyễn Lương Bằng was appointed as the Direct of the General Department (from 1941 to 1951).[12]Hoàng Văn Thụ was appointed as the Secretary of the General Department (from 1941 to 1943 when he was captured by colonial French), and thenHoàng Quốc Việt [de;vi] took over the position (from 1943 to 1951).[13]
Nguyen Luong Bang, Hoang Van Thu and Hoang Quoc Viet were members of the Communist Party.
At the national level, Viet Minh is governed by the General Department (Tổng bộ).[14] Further down there were executive committees in provinces and cities; and executive commissions in communes.
However, due to political turmoil and civil unrest at the time, plus conflicts with Japanese and French forces, the Viet Minh's General Department was not completely elected.[14] Hence the details about members of the General Department were very scarce and not fully understood.
Viet Minh established strongholds in northern and central Vietnam.[15][16] But in southern Vietnam, Viet Minh faced many challengers such asCao Đài,Hòa Hảo (religious sects) andBình Xuyên (armed group).[17][page needed][16]
The founding and core members of Viet Minh were the communists. Other non-communists also joined the front.
Indochinese Communist Party:[18][15] the General Secretary wasTrường Chinh
Democratic Party of Vietnam:[19] the Secretary-General wasDuong Duc Hien [vi]; joined in 1944
Vanguard Youth:[21] the chairman wasPham Ngoc Thach [de;vi]; joined in 1945. A small number of organization's leaders joined other political organizations.
Bình Xuyên Force:[22] the Commander wasDương Văn Dương; joined in 1945. A faction led byLê Văn Viễn did not follow the Việt Minh and later supported theState of Vietnam and France National Salvation Army:[23] the Commander wasChu Văn Tấn; merged with the Propaganda Unit of the Liberation Army into Vietnam Liberation Army on 1945Even though many opposite parties fought against Viet Minh, many of their members joined Viet Minh and worked with the government of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam.
Revolutionary League of Vietnam (Viet Cach):[24][25]Dinh Chuong Duong,Bo Xuan Luat [vi],Ho Duc Thanh,Truong Trung Phung [vi]...
Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Viet Quoc):[26][27][28]Phan Khôi,Chu Ba Phuong [vi],Truc Khe [vi]...
National Independent Party of Vietnam:[29]Ngo Tan Nhon [vi]
Vietnamese Trotskyists (Fourth Internationals):[30]Truong Tuu [vi]
League for National Restoration of Vietnam:Ho Hoc Lam [vi;zh][31]The majority ofBuddhists supported Viet Minh. The majority ofCatholics,Cao Đài, andHòa Hảo initially supported the Viet Minh but later split into pro–Viet Minh, pro–State of Vietnam, and neutral factions.
Buddhist Association for National Salvation:[32][33][34]Thích Tịnh Khiết,Thích Minh Nguyệt,Thích Trí Thủ [vi],Thích Mật Thể,Thích Trí Quang,Thích Trí Độ [vi]...
Cao Đài Association for National Salvation:[35][36]Cao Triều Phát [vi;zh],Nguyễn Văn Ngợi [vi],Nguyễn Ngọc Tương..._-_Tomislav_Todorovi%25C4%2587_(22_November_2015).gif)
Catholic Association for National Salvation:[37][38]Hồ Ngọc Cẩn [ko;vi;zh],Võ Thành Trinh [vi],Nguyễn Bá Luật [vi],Phan Khắc Từ [vi],Phạm Bá Trực [vi]...
Hòa Hảo Association for Resistance War:[39][40] a few followers joined the front but not well documented, a known pro-communist Hòa Hảo follower wasHuynh Thien Tu.png)
Protestant Church:[40][41]Bui Hoanh Thu,Duong Tu Ap,Tran Van De...Viet Minh established many youth wing, woman wing and military wing. They aimed to draw supports from people of different backgrounds, classes, races, genders and religions.
National United League of Vietnam (Hoi Lien Viet):[42] the Leader wasHuỳnh Thúc Kháng
Vietnam Liberation Army:[47] founded in 1944; merged from the Propaganda Unit of the Liberation Army and National Salvation Army; the commander wasVõ Nguyên Giáp; today is thePeople's Army of Vietnam
Vietnam Public Security Service:[48] founded in 1945; the commander wasLe Gian [vi]; today is thePeople's Public Security of Vietnam
During World War II,Japan occupiedFrench Indochina. As well as fighting the French in thebattles of Khai Phat and Na Ngan, the Việt Minh started acampaign against the Japanese. For instance, a raid at Tam Dao internment camp inTonkin on 19 July 1945 saw 500 Viet Minh kill fifty Japanese soldiers and officials, freeing French civilian captives and escorting them to the Chinese border. The Viet Minh also fought theJapanese 21st Division in Thái Nguyên, and regularly raided rice storehouses to alleviate theongoing famine.[49]
As of the end of 1944, the Việt Minh claimed a membership of 500,000, of which 200,000 were inTonkin, 150,000 inAnnam, and 150,000 inCochinchina.[50][51] After theJapanese coup d'état in French Indochina, the Viet Minh andICP prolifically expanded their activities. They formed national salvation associations (cuu quoc hoi) that, in Quảng Ngãi province alone, enlisted 100,000 peasants by mid-1945. This was backed by theVanguard Youth (Thanh Nien Tien Phong) in Cochinchina, which expanded to 200,000 by early summer. In the northern provinces ofViệt Bắc, their armed forces seized control, after which they distributed lands to the poor, abolished thecorvée, establishedquốc ngữ classes, local villagemilitias, and declareduniversal suffrage and democratic freedoms.[52]
Due to their opposition to the Japanese, the Việt Minh received funding from the United States, theSoviet Union and theRepublic of China.[53] After theAugust Revolution's takeover of nationalist organizations and EmperorBảo Đại's abdication to the Việt Minh,Ho Chi Minhdeclared Vietnam's independence by proclaiming the establishment of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 September 1945.[54][A]
Within days, the ChineseKuomintang (Nationalist) Army arrived in Vietnam to supervise the repatriation of theImperial Japanese Army in the North. In the South, Franco-British armies hadattacked the Viet Minh since 23 September 1945. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam therefore existed only in theory and effectively controlled no territory. A few months later, the Chinese, Vietnamese and French came to a three-way understanding. The French gave up certain rights in China, the Việt Minh agreed to the return of the French in exchange for promises of independence within theFrench Union, and the Chinese agreed to leave. Negotiations between the French and Việt Minh broke down quickly in December 1946. What followed was nearly ten years of war against France. This was known as theFirst Indochina War or, to the Vietnamese, "the French War". The Viet Minh had also been in conflict with the nationalists and Trotskyists since August 1945.
The Việt Minh, who were short on modern military knowledge, created a military school inQuảng Ngãi province in June 1946. More than 400 Vietnamese were trained by Japanese defectors in this school. These soldiers were considered to be students of the Japanese. Later, some of them fought as generals against the Republic of Vietnam in the Vietnam War or, to the Vietnamese communists, "the American War". Young insurgents of the Việt Minh also received training in the use of modern firearms by some foreign volunteers, such asStefan Kubiak.[55][56]
French GeneralJean Étienne Valluy quickly pushed the Việt Minh out ofHanoi. His French infantry with armored units went through Hanoi, fighting small battles against isolated Việt Minh groups. The French encircled the Việt Minh base,Việt Bắc, in late 1947, they caused great damage to the Viet Minh but failed to decisively defeat the Việt Minh forces, and retreated soon after. According to the communists, the campaign was a Việt Minh "victory" over the well-equipped French force. While the war with the Viet Minh was ongoing, France decided to seek an alternative political solution by negotiating with the anti-communist nationalists led by former emperorBao Dai, leading to the establishment of the unified and "independent"State of Vietnam within theFrench Union in June 1949. However, the new state remained indirectly controlled by France and was only gradually given power. The United States recognized the new country in February 1950 to help the French fight communism (but opposed colonialism) and opposed the Viet Minh's governement that got recognized by the USSR and communist China in January.[57][9]
The Việt Minh continued fighting lonely against the French until 1950 when they got a massive and important help from the Chinese communists, and later the border of China and Vietnam was linked together as a result of the campaign calledChiến dịch Biên giới ("Borderland Campaign"/Battle of Route Coloniale 4) that year. The newly communistPeople's Republic of China gave the Việt Minh both sheltered bases and heavy weapons with which to fight the French. With the additional weapons, the Việt Minh were able to take control over many rural areas of the country. Soon after that, they began to advance towards the French-occupied areas.
On 7 March 1951, Viet Minh and National United League of Vietnam (Hội Liên Việt) merged to form theVietnamese United Front (Mặt trận Liên Việt).[58] Nonetheless, people continued to call the new front as Viet Minh. In late 1953, the Viet Minh began aland reform that turned out to be a disaster.[59]
Later the United Front changed into the currentVietnam Fatherland Front (Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam) on 10 September 1955.
Following their defeat at theBattle of Điện Biên Phủ, the French began negotiations to end the conflict. As a result of peace accords worked out at theGeneva Conference inGeneva, Switzerland, Vietnam was divided intoNorth Vietnam andSouth Vietnam at the17th Parallel with the French army retreating to the South and the Viet Minh army retreating to the North as a temporary measure until unifying elections could take place in 1956. Transfer of civil administration of North Vietnam to the Viet Minh was given on 11 October 1954. Ho Chi Minh was appointedPrime Minister of North Vietnam, which would be run as asocialist state.Ngo Dinh Diem, who was previously appointed Prime Minister of South Vietnam by EmperorBảo Đại, eventually assumed control of South Vietnam.
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The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. Neither the United States government nor Ngô Đình Diệm's State of Vietnam signed anything at the 1954 Geneva Conference. With respect to the question of reunification, the non-communist Vietnamese delegation objected strenuously to any division of Vietnam, but lost out when the French accepted the proposal of Việt Minh delegatePhạm Văn Đồng,[60] who proposed that Vietnam eventually be united by elections under the supervision of "local commissions".[61] The United States countered with what became known as the "American Plan", with the support of South Vietnam and the United Kingdom.[62] It provided for unification elections under the supervision of theUnited Nations, but was rejected by the Soviet delegation.[62] From his home in France, Vietnamese EmperorBảo Đại appointed Ngô Đình Diệm asPrime Minister of South Vietnam. With United States support in rigging the referendum of 1955 using secretCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) funding,[63] Diệm removed the Emperor and declared himself thepresident of theRepublic of Vietnam. A year later, the republic's constitution was promulgated.
The United States believed Ho Chi Minh would win the nationwide election proposed at the Geneva Accords. In a secret memorandum, Director of CIAAllen Dulles acknowledged that "The evidence [shows] that a majority of the people of Vietnam supported the Viet Minh rebels."[64] Diem refused to hold the elections by citing that the South had not signed and were not bound to the Geneva Accords and that it was impossible to hold free elections in the communist North.[65] Vietnam wide elections never happened and Việt Minh cadres in South Vietnam secretly kept by the communists launched an insurgency against the government. North Vietnam also occupied portions of Laos to assist in supplying the insurgents known as theNational Liberation Front (Viet Cong) in South Vietnam. As part of the globalCold War, the war gradually escalated into theSecond Indochina War, called the "Resistance War against America" by Vietnamese communists and commonly known as the "Vietnam War" internationally.[66]
The Khmer Việt Minh were the 3,000 to 5,000Cambodian communist cadres, left-wing members of theKhmer Issarak movement regrouped in theUnited Issarak Front after 1950, most of whom lived in exile in North Vietnam after the1954 Geneva Conference. Khmer Issarak and United Issarak Front were under leadership ofSon Ngoc Minh,Tou Samouth, Sieu Heng, etc. It was a derogatory term used byNorodom Sihanouk, dismissing the Cambodian leftists who had been organizing pro-independence agitations in alliance with the Vietnamese.[67] Sihanouk's public criticism and mockery of the Khmer Issarak had the damaging effect of increasing the power of the hardline, anti-Vietnamese, but also anti-monarchist, members of theCommunist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), led byPol Pot.[68]
The Khmer Issarak and United Issarak Front were instrumental in the foundation of theCambodian Salvation Front (FUNSK) in 1978. The FUNSK invaded Cambodia along with theVietnamese Army and overthrew theDemocratic Kampuchea Pol Pot state. Many of the Khmer Việt Minh had married Vietnamese women during their long exile in Vietnam.[69]
Lao Issara (Free Laos) was a political and military organization of Laotian communists, led byPhetsarath,Souphanouvong,Kaysone Phomvihane,Phoumi Vongvichit. Lao Issara received training and support fromViệt Minh. Under French intervention, Lao Issara was split into non-communists and communists. Laotian non-communists under leadership of Pretsarath later established theKingdom of Laos which was part of theFrench Union.
However Laotian communists rejected the French offer and fought side by side with Vietnamese communists during theFirst Indochina War. In 1950, Lao Issara was renamed toPathet Lao (Laos Nation) under leadership ofSouphanouvong,Kaysone Phomvihane,Phoumi Vongvichit, etc.
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