Việt Minh

Flags of Việt Minh and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

The Việt Minh (simplified Vietminh , completely Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội , Hán Nôm 越南獨立同盟會, German "League for the Independence of Vietnam ") were founded in 1941 from various groups to secure the independence of Vietnam. They consisted of nationalist and communist groups. The political leader and a founder of Việt Minh was Ho Chí Minh . The military leadership was under the leader of the nationalist movement Võ Nguyên Giáp . Other founders were Lê Duẩn and Phạm Văn Đồng. In 1960 the Việt Minh united with other opposition groups to form the “ National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam ” (NLF).

1945-1960

Võ Nguyên Giáp and Hồ Chí Minh, the military and political leaders of the Việt Minh (ca.1942)

Second World War

The Việt Minh (5000 to 7000 resistance fighters) fought during the Second World War with the support of the Republic of China against the Japanese army and the Vichy-French colonial power (see: French Indochina ), which collaborated with the Japanese. The Việt Minh received support from the Office of Strategic Services . In return, they rescued crashed Allied aircraft crews, passed on information about Japanese troop movements and harmed the occupiers.

The Việt Minh in north and central Vietnam held the dominant position. As early as 1941, however, they tried to gain a foothold in Cochinchina by setting up a covert organization and smuggling in cadres, in order to be represented throughout Vietnam.

Indochina War

After Japan surrendered in August 1945, Indochina was returned to France. As a result, the Việt Minh tried to gain control of the country during the August Revolution and declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam through President Ho Chi Minh. France first recognized Vietnam's independence on March 6, 1946, but changed its position again and on November 23, 1946 used a dispute over customs sovereignty to attack Hải Phong , in which 6,000 people died. When further negotiations failed, the Việt Minh began the fight against foreign rule on December 19, 1946 with an attack on the French garrison in Hà Nội , which expanded into the Indochina War . From the end of the Second World War 1945 to 1949, the Việt Minh were able to increase the number of their active members from 5000 to 700,000, the majority of which came from northern Vietnam. In November 1949, the Việt Minh introduced conscription in the territories they controlled. With regard to their military forces, the Việt Minh had to fall back on prey weapons mostly from Japanese hands in 1945. By 1946, however, despite their sparse armament, they managed to put together a small core of regularly organized units. For this purpose, a rudimentary weapons production facility was set up. Around 1950 the military units of the Việt Minh were able to catch up with the units of the French expeditionary corps with the help of the People's Republic of China, with the exception of vehicles and the air force . In 1954 the Việt Minh had 125,000 regular soldiers, 75,000 regional forces and around 200,000 militiamen in their ranks.

After the Việt Minh had achieved one of their greatest victories at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ and inflicted heavy losses on the French, peace negotiations were opened. At the Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954, the temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel into a northern and southern part was decided. The Việt Minh took control of the northern part on October 11, 1954. Hồ Chí Minh became Prime Minister of the socialist state Democratic Republic of North Vietnam . President of South Vietnam was Ngô Đình Diệm in 1955 .

Vietnam War

The governments of South Vietnam and the United States did not sign the 1954 agreement and later refused to hold elections because they did not trust Ho Chi Minh as a communist. This refusal led to the Vietnam War , initially from 1955 as a civil war in South Vietnam. On December 20, 1960, the Việt Minh formed the Front national de liberation (FNL) ( National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam ), also known in the West as the Viet Cong . From 1964 the USA also bombed parts of Laos (Ho Chi Minh Trail), from 1965 North Vietnam and from 1970 parts of Cambodia (Ho Chi Minh Trail). After the 1973 armistice, North Vietnamese troops completely conquered South Vietnam by May 1, 1975 and ended the war.

Khmer Viet Minh

The 3,000 to 5,000 Cambodian communist cadres, left-wing members of the Khmer Issarak movement ( reformed after 1950 in the United Issarak Front ) were referred to as Khmer Viet Minh . Most of them lived in northern Vietnam after the 1954 Geneva Conference . Khmer Viet Minh was a derogatory term used by Norodom Sihanouk for the Cambodian left that he rejected and who had organized campaigns for the independence of Cambodia in alliance with the Vietnamese.

Sihanouk's public criticism and derision of the Khmer Viet Minh had the negative effect of strengthening the power of the hardliners, the anti-Vietnamese, but also anti-monarchist members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea , led by Pol Pot .

In 1978, the Khmer Viet Minh played a key role in founding the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (French: Front uni national pour le salut du Kampuchéa , FUNSK; or Salvation Front for short ). The Salvation Front invaded Cambodia in December 1979 together with the Vietnamese army and overthrew the state of Pol Pots, the Democratic Kampuchea . Many of the Khmer Viet Minh married Vietnamese women during their long exile in Vietnam.

Individual evidence

↑ Christopher E. Goscha : Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954). An International and Interdisciplinary Approach. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2012, ISBN 978-0-8248-3604-7 , p. 29
↑ Marc Frey : History of the Vietnam War. The tragedy in Asia and the end of the American dream (= Beck'sche series. 1278). 2nd, unchanged edition. CH Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 978-3-406-42078-8 , p. 17.
↑ Christopher E. Goscha: Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954). An International and Interdisciplinary Approach. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2012, ISBN 978-0-8248-3604-7 , p. 154.
↑ Jacques Dalloz: Dictionnaire de la guerre d'Indochine 1945-1954. Armand Colin, Paris, 2006, ISBN 978-2-200-26925-8 , pp. 17-19.
↑ Marc Frey: History of the Vietnam War. The tragedy in Asia and the end of the American dream. Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-61035-6 , pp. 54-63.
^ Russell R. Ross: Major Political and Military Organizations. In: Cambodia. A Country Study. Appendix B. Library of Congress Country Studies , Washington 1987.
↑ Ben Kiernan : How Pol Pot Came to Power. Colonialism, Nationalism, and Communism in Cambodia, 1930-1975. Yale University Press, New Haven (CT) 2004, ISBN 978-0-300-10262-8 , p. 227.
^ Margaret Slocomb: The People's Republic of Kampuchea, 1979-1989: The Revolution after Pol Pot. Silkworm, Chiang Mai 2004, ISBN 978-974-9575-34-5 .

[1] Christopher E. Goscha : Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954). An International and Interdisciplinary Approach. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2012, ISBN 978-0-8248-3604-7 , p. 29

[2] Marc Frey : History of the Vietnam War. The tragedy in Asia and the end of the American dream (= Beck'sche series. 1278). 2nd, unchanged edition. CH Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 978-3-406-42078-8 , p. 17.

[3] Christopher E. Goscha: Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954). An International and Interdisciplinary Approach. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2012, ISBN 978-0-8248-3604-7 , p. 154.

[4] Jacques Dalloz: Dictionnaire de la guerre d'Indochine 1945-1954. Armand Colin, Paris, 2006, ISBN 978-2-200-26925-8 , pp. 17-19.

[5] Marc Frey: History of the Vietnam War. The tragedy in Asia and the end of the American dream. Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-61035-6 , pp. 54-63.

[6] Russell R. Ross: Major Political and Military Organizations. In: Cambodia. A Country Study. Appendix B. Library of Congress Country Studies , Washington 1987.

[7] Ben Kiernan : How Pol Pot Came to Power. Colonialism, Nationalism, and Communism in Cambodia, 1930-1975. Yale University Press, New Haven (CT) 2004, ISBN 978-0-300-10262-8 , p. 227.

[8] Margaret Slocomb: The People's Republic of Kampuchea, 1979-1989: The Revolution after Pol Pot. Silkworm, Chiang Mai 2004, ISBN 978-974-9575-34-5 .