The Viet Minh, also spelled Viet-Minh, Viêt-Minh or Vietminh (contraction of Viet Nam Ðoc Lap Ðong Minh Hoi, in chu nôm, or in French League for the Independence of Vietnam), was a Vietnamese political and paramilitary organization , created in 1941 by the Indochinese Communist Party.
The Viet Minh presented itself as a common front bringing together nationalists of all persuasions, and aimed at fighting for the unity and independence of Viet Nam, then under French control and composed of two protectorates (Tonkin in the north, Annam in the center) and a colony (Cochinchina in the south). In practice, the leadership of the Viet Minh was always clearly dominated by the Communists, whose main leader was Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnamese People's Army was created by Võ Nguyên Giáp as the armed wing of the Viet Minh. The league was officially renamed in 1951, but the name Viet Minh remained in use until the end of the Indochina War to designate the separatists and their armed forces.
Creation
The Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) was created in 1930 in Hong Kong at the crossroads of the networks of the eastern branch of the Comintern and those of the Chinese Communist Party.
In September 1940, the Empire of Japan invaded French Indochina, making it a rear base for its troops throughout the rest of World War II. The French colonial power appears to be in a weak position. Ho Chi Minh returns to Vietnam to continue the struggle for independence. In May 1941, the Viet Minh was created following a decision of the eighth plenum of the Indochinese Communist Party.
Until 1945, the Viet Minh organized itself around a double challenge to French colonization and the Japanese occupation, but without yet resorting to violence, given its lack of means. In December 1944, Võ Nguyên Giáp created the "Armed Propaganda Brigade", ancestor of the Vietnamese People's Army. It extends its control over the isolated regions of the country by taking advantage of the weakening of the French.
Vietnam takeover in August 1945
In March 1945, the Japanese, fearing an Allied incursion into French Indochina, carried out a coup against the French, effectively destroying the colonial administration. The Viet Minh, quickly aided by the American secret services, prepares to take action against the Japanese occupation.
On August 13, while the Japanese were routed on the Pacific front, the Viet Minh launched a nationwide insurrection. On August 19, it was to the Vietnamese separatists that the Japanese troops in French Indochina presented their surrender. During the August Revolution, Ho Chi Minh's men extended their control over the north and, more relatively, the south of the country. On September 2, 1945, on Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). Major Archimedes Patti of OSS Detachment 101 is standing next to Võ Nguyên Giáp at this moment. Previously, he helped Ho Chi Minh write the declaration of independence of Vietnam, evoking that of the United States in the order of freedoms in the preamble2. During August and September, the Viet Minh began to suppress other Vietnamese political forces, also sparking race riots against the French.
Reorganization of the Vietnamese communist movement
After the August Revolution, the Viet Minh had to come to terms with other Vietnamese nationalist movements. The VNQDÐ (Viet Nam Quec Dân Ðeng), close to the Chinese nationalists of the Kuomintang, is clearly opposed to the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). Ho Chi Minh seeks to highlight his nationalist commitment, concealing his membership of the communist movement, in order to maintain the support of non-communist Asian countries and that of the United States, opposed to colonialism.
The RDVN also found itself isolated on the diplomatic level, while the French returned to the south of the country from September 1945, and the troops of the Republic of China invested Tonkin, occupying it until March 1946. government of the Viet Minh enjoys a certain sympathy on the part of the American representatives after the Second World War but cannot yet hope for frank support on the part of the USSR or of the French Communist Party, because of the political balance in Europe. In China, the Chinese Communist Party has not yet achieved victory against the Kuomintang and cannot provide tangible support to the Vietnamese communists.
In an interview in Moscow with General Georges Catroux in January 1947, during the Battle of Hanoi, Molotov declared "that he hoped that France and Vietnam could achieve an agreement satisfactory to both parties", without reestablishing "a regime of colonial domination”.
On November 8, 1945, Nguyen Hai Than, leader of the Dong Minh Hoi party, demanded the immediate resignation of the president, the dissolution of his government, the end of "one-party dictatorship" and the creation of a new government. This ultimatum is supported by General Lou Han, head of the Chinese troops in Vietnam, before his return to Kunming, who came with his army to disarm the Japanese forces north of the 17th parallel. Nguyen Hai Than reportedly told the Chinese that he was not responsible for any incident between the Viet Minh and the non-Communists, if the ultimatum was rejected by Ho Chi Minh. Three days later, following secret meetings, the PCI takes its adversaries by surprise by announcing its self-dissolution. Ho Chi Minh nevertheless retains control of the Viet Minh, a screen under which the PCI continues to exist unofficially. Võ Nguyên Giáp will carry out bloody purges from 1946 against non-communist nationalists and the rest of the Vietnamese political class. During his stay in France in 1946, Ho Chi Minh took the opportunity to meet Western communist leaders and explain his approach to them.
Outbreak of the Indochina War
From September 1945 to December 1946, the Viet Minh led the Vietnamese government. Negotiations take place with France to define an integration of independent Vietnam into the new French Union. In parallel, and from September 1945, the Viet Minh led guerrilla actions against the French troops in the south. At the end of September, Viet Minh elements carried out anti-French actions in Saigon for several days, massacring whites and mixed-race Eurasians. The league is organized in “parallel hierarchies”, distinguishing between “occupied zones”, “liberated zones” and “disputed zones”, extending its ramifications throughout the country. Roundups and arrests enabled the Viet Minh to make a clear place in the Vietnamese political class:at the end of 1946, only 291 deputies remained out of 444 in the provisional assembly, including two neutral members, survivors of the former opposition6. The Hô-Sainteny agreements seem to allow France to recognize the Viet Minh government, but the declaration of independence of Cochinchina and the failure of the Fontainebleau conference in December 1946 lead to the resumption of the armed conflict, now known as the nom de guerre of Indochina.
Avatars of the Viet Minh movement
Meanwhile, in 1951, the Viet Minh was officially merged into the Liên Viêt (United National Front of Vietnam), the coalition founded five years earlier by Ho Chi Minh in order to attract nationalists supporting the DRV. The political weight of the Liên Viet is much less than that of the Vi? communists (Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian). Concretely, it is now the new Workers' Party of Vietnam (Ðang lao dong Viet Nam), or Lao Dong, which exercises power. The leadership of the Lao Dong and that of the Vietnamese People's Army are the same as those of the former Viet Minh. By clearly taking up the communist colours, the Vietnamese separatists ensured the support of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, while the use of the screen Liên Viêt aimed to reassure non-communist separatists. However, the name Viêt Minh remained in use until the end of the Indochina War8.
After the Indochina War
The Indochina War ended with the Geneva Accords in 1954, and France's recognition of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam north of the 17th parallel. From 1955, a new movement developed, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (or Viet Cong), with a certain number of former Viet Minh cadres. The Viet Cong opposes the regime of the Republic of Vietnam and will face the United States in the Vietnam War.