Nguyễn Bình

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nguyễn Bình (* 1904 in the province of Hưng Yên , Tonkin ; † 1951 in Cambodia ; maiden name Nguyễn Phương Thảo ) was a nationalist activist in French Indochina and an officer of the Viet Minh with the rank of general. During the Indochina War he was the main organizer of the Viet Minh resistance against the French troops in Cochinchina .

Life

Nguyen Binh was born into a poor family in Hải Hưng Province, Tonkin . After primary school, Nguyen Binh first emigrated to Haiphong and then to Saigon . He only attended elementary school for three years, but there he learned to read and write sufficiently in Quoc Ngu so that he was able to continue his education as a teenager. In Saigon he worked as an employee in a laundry. He was active in nationalist political circles in Saigon and became a member of the VNQDD through his friendship with Trần Huy Liệu . In 1930 he was arrested by the colonial authorities for his political activities and sentenced to forced labor on the prison island of Poulo Condor , where he remained imprisoned until 1934. He lost an eye as a result of a brawl between communists and nationalists in prison. He was released along with many other political prisoners under an amnesty by the French Popular Front government.

During World War II , he organized anti-Japanese and anti-French activities, often with the support of the communists and his friend Tran Huy Lieu. After the Japanese came to power , Nguyen Binh set up his own militias in the Tonkins coastal areas. After the August Revolution , Nguyen Binh was accepted into the military hierarchy of the Viet Minh and sent to Cochinchina as the organizer of the anti-French resistance . Nguyen Binh tried with all his might to form a coalition against the reoccupation of the country by the French Expeditionary Corps in Cochin China , which he succeeded for a short time. Nguyen Binh organized an urban guerrilla against the colonial power and responded by turning the sects of Cao Dai and Hoa Hao towards the French with an attack campaign against their leaders. In internal debates, Nguyen Binh was an advocate of a radical course of war against the colonial power and spoke out in favor of not negotiating with the French. In January 1948 he was appointed major general and was thus the highest ranking officer after Võ Nguyên Giáp of the Viet Minh . In 1949 and 1950 Nguyen Binh tried to convert the forces of the Viet Minh from a guerrilla to a regular armed forces. In 1951 he was ordered to Tonkin for political talks. He was killed in a raid by the 4th Battalion de chasseurs cambodgiens in Cambodia . His remains were transferred to Vietnam in 2000.

His successor as guerrilla leader in the south was Lê Duẩn .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Christopher E. Goscha : Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War ( 1945-1954 ) , Copenhagen, 2011, p. 316f
  2. ↑ Christopher Goscha: Vietnam - A New History. New York, 2016 p. 346
  3. ↑ Christopher Goscha: Vietnam - A New History. New York, 2016 p. 211
  4. ↑ a b Jacues Dalloz: Dictionnaire de la Guerre de l'Indochine , Paris, 2006, p. 170
personal data
SURNAME Nguyễn Bình
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nguyen Binh, Nguyen Phuong Thao
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Vietnamese general and guerrilla fighter
DATE OF BIRTH 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Hải Hưng Province , Tonkin
DATE OF DEATH 1951
Place of death Cambodia