The Vietnam War, which left an indelible mark on recent history, was led by Ho Chi Minh, the founder of modern-day Vietnam, who spearheaded the Vietnamese national movement for 30 years. He confronted the Japanese, followed by the colonial French, and ultimately battled South Vietnam supported by the United States. From 1954 until his death in 1969, he served as the President of North Vietnam, earning a place in history as one of the few figures America could not defeat.
Ho Chi Minh, born in 1890 in what was then known as French Indochina, now Vietnam, harbored a deep-seated desire to dismantle both the monarchy and the colonizers due to his father's dismissal for criticizing the French palace. At the age of 21, he found work on a French ship, traveling the world extensively. Residing in London and Paris, Ho Chi Minh became a founding member of the French Communist Party. In 1923, he journeyed to Moscow, receiving training in Lenin's committees dedicated to realizing a global revolution. He then ventured to southern China to rally exiled Vietnamese under a revolutionary army. By 1930, he had established the Vietnamese Communist Party in French Indochina.
With the onset of World War II, Ho Chi Minh returned to his homeland when Japan occupied Vietnam in 1944. He led a guerrilla army of 10,000 men known as the "black-clad men" in a relentless campaign against the Japanese. After the war, the Vietnamese revolutionary declared his country's independence. However, the French showed no intention of leaving. Ho Chi Minh then engaged in warfare against the French, culminating in peace negotiations in Geneva in 1954. Another Cold War myth materialized, dividing Vietnam into North and South, much like Korea. Ho Chi Minh became the president of the North, driven by a singular vision: to unify Vietnam under communist rule.
In the early 1960s, North Vietnam-backed guerrillas, known as the Viet Cong, launched continuous attacks against the South Vietnamese government. Fearing the spread of communism, the United States assumed the role of global policeman and provided unwavering support to South Vietnam. Recognizing that remote aid wouldn't suffice, the United States escalated its military presence in Vietnam starting from 1965. Despite raining bombs from the skies, the Americans couldn't break the resolve of the Viet Cong, and colossal American transport planes brought back home a steady stream of casualties. Ho Chi Minh had transformed the forests of Southeast Asia into a veritable inferno for the Americans. The Vietnam War continues to resonate in the American psyche to this day.
Ho Chi Minh passed away in 1969, but the Viet Cong continued their struggle. Eventually, after Northern forces captured the capital of Saigon in 1975, the city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. In classic fashion, he had passed away, but his dreams had come true.
The Vietnam War played out in the eyes of global public opinion through mass media, garnering significant backlash in America. Its effects continue to reverberate today. After working as a laborer and kitchen assistant in various places around the world, including a stint in New York's Harlem, Ho Chi Minh returned and recounted his shock at witnessing the treatment of African Americans in America.
Despite the U.S. dropping 7 million tons of bombs on Vietnam—more than three times the amount dropped during World War II—Ho Chi Minh and his comrades refused to yield. In one of his speeches, Ho Chi Minh declared, "For every one person you kill of ours, we will kill ten of yours. But even under these circumstances, you are the losers, and we are the winners."
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