Việt Minh

(noun)

A communist national independence coalition formed on May 19, 1941. It initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, it opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China. After World War II, it opposed the re-occupation of Vietnam by France and later opposed South Vietnam and the United States in the Vietnam War.

Related Terms

Examples of Việt Minh in the following topics:

  • Indochina: The Background to War

    • The Viet Minh was founded as a league for independence from France, but also opposed Japanese occupation in 1945 for the same reason.
    • The Viet Minh took power in Vietnam in the August Revolution (launched by the Viet Minh against French colonial rule on August 14, 1945).
    • In January 1946, the Viet Minh won elections across central and northern Vietnam.
    • The French landed in Hanoi by March 1946 and in November of that year they ousted the Viet Minh from the city. 
    • Soon thereafter, the Viet Minh began a guerrilla war against the French Union forces, beginning the First Indochina War.

  • A Growing War in Vietnam

    • American advisors came in the late 1950s to help the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in the South combat communist insurgents from the North under communist leader Ho Chi Minh, known as the Viet Cong.
    • In South Vietnam, anti-Communist Ngo Dinh Diem had become prime minister in 1954, while Ho Chi Minh continued to rule the North.
    • The United States, fearing the spread of Communism under Ho Chi Minh, supported Diem, assuming he would create a democratic, pro-Western government in South Vietnam.
    • The Viet Cong and communist insurgencies in South Vietnam took advantage of this instability and increased their strength.
    • The CIA was less optimistic, however, warning that "the Viet Cong by and large retain de facto control of much of the countryside and have steadily increased the overall intensity of the effort."

  • Gradual Withdrawal

    • Vietnamization of the war, however, created a dilemma for U.S. forces: the strategy required that the U.S. troops fight long enough for the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) to improve enough to hold its own against Communist forces.
    • The U.S. authorized the ARVN to carry out an offensive operation aimed at cutting off the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southeastern Laos .
    • Nixon's policy of Vietnamization was tested when the South Vietnamese army launched Operation Lam Son, attacking the North Vietnamese supply line known as the Ho Chi Minh trail.

  • Commitment to Vietnam

    • The South Vietnamese Army, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), was unable to stop the advances of the Nothern Viet Cong army.
    • Doubt arose among Washington D.D. policy-makers that Diem was capable of defeating the opposing Chinese Communist regime in the North; some feared Diem might negotiate with Ho Chi Minh, the president of North Vietnam.
    • The South Vietnamese governement was run by a twelve member military revolutionary council, headed by General Duong Van Minh.
    • North Vietnam, utilizing the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk Trails, matched the U.S. at every point of the escalation, funneling manpower and supplies to the southern battlefields.
    • Meanwhile, the Viet Cong's ranks grew from approximately 5,000 in 1959 to 100,000 in 1964.

  • Champa Art in Early Vietnam

    • The civilization weakened under persistent conflict with external forces, culminating in 1471 CE with the conquest and obliteration of the capital Vijaya by the Đi Việt of northern Vietnam.

  • The Northern Song Era

    • There was also a significant war fought against the Lý dynasty of Vietnam from 1075 to 1077 over a border dispute and the Song's severing of commercial relations with the Đại Việt kingdom.

  • The Disadvantages of Communism

    • Ho Chi Minh raised a guerrilla army in Vietnam, promising them a Utopian communist future of rule by the people and a communal country.
    • The theory peddled by Ho Chi Minh was far removed from the practice of Communism once he was successfully elected.

  • The Peace Accords and the Legacy of Defeat

    • President Duong Van Minh, who had succeeded Huong two days earlier, surrendered.
    • Ho Chi Minh is quoted as saying, "You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours...

  • Vietnam Becomes Nixon's War

    • Vietnamization of the war, however, created a dilemma for U.S. forces: the strategy required that the U.S. troops fight long enough for the South Vietnamese army, the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN), to improve enough to hold its own against the northern forces.
    • The tactical goal of this bombing was to destroy what was believed to be the headquarters of the northern Viet Cong army.

  • "Americanizing" the Vietnam War

    • North Vietnam, utilizing the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk Trails, matched the U.S. at every point of the escalation, funneling manpower and supplies to the southern battlefields.