Ho Chi Minh (d. 1969)

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Biography

Hồ Chí Minh, colloquially known as Uncle Ho among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman who founded the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, which was commonly known as North Vietnam after 1954. He served as its first president from 1946 until his death in 1969 and as its first prime minister from 1945 to 1955. A committed Marxist–Leninist, Hồ also played a central role in establishing the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 and later led its successor, the Workers' Party of Vietnam, as chairman until his death.

In Their Own Words (5)

My people hunger for independence and will have it. [...] And are you forgetting some recent examples of what ragged bands can do against modern troops? Have you already forgotten the heroism of the Yugoslav partisans against the Germans? The spirit of man is more powerful than his own machines.

David Schoenbrun, As France Goes (page 234), Harper, 1957. , 1957

Nothing is more precious than Independence and Liberty.

Political slogan, quoted in Ho Chi Minh and His Vietnam : A Personal Memoir (1972) by Jean Sainteny, p. 172 , 1972

The Trotskyists are not only the enemies of Communism, they are also the enemies of democracy and of progress. They are the most infamous traitors and spies.

From a letter sent to the Communist Party of Vietnam, quoted in Vietnam & Trotskyism (1987) , 1987

Remember that the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the cypress to show their strength and their stability.

As quoted in From Colonialism to Communism : A Case History of North Vietnam (1964) by Văn Chí Hoàng, p. 37 , 1964

A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eighty years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the Fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent. For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country and in fact it already has been so. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.

Vietnamese Proclamation of Independence (2 September 1945) , 1945

Timeline

The story of Ho Chi Minh, told in moments.

1890 Birth

Born Nguyen Sinh Cung in Nghe An province, French Indochina. His father is a Confucian scholar who refuses to serve the French colonial administration. At 21, Ho leaves Vietnam on a French merchant ship working as a kitchen hand. He won't return for 30 years. He uses between 50 and 200 aliases during his life.

50 to 200 aliases in one lifetime. Did you ever lose track of who you were? Leaving Vietnam at 21 as a kitchen hand. Did you know you d be gone 30 years?

1920 Life

Becomes a founding member of the French Communist Party in Paris. He's been living in London, then Paris, working odd jobs: photo retoucher, gardener, fake antique painter. He petitions the Versailles Conference for Vietnamese self-determination. Nobody listens. He studies in Moscow, then goes to China to organize.

Petitioning Versailles for Vietnamese self-determination and nobody listened. Was that the radicalization? Was becoming a Communist a conviction or a practical choice?

1941 Event

Returns to Vietnam after 30 years abroad. Founds the Viet Minh independence movement in a cave in Pac Bo, near the Chinese border. When Japan surrenders in 1945, he launches the August Revolution and declares independence on September 2 in Hanoi. He quotes the American Declaration of Independence in his speech.

You quoted the American Declaration of Independence. Was that sincere or strategic? 30 years abroad, then back to a cave near the Chinese border. Was Vietnam still home?

1954 Event

The Viet Minh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu after a 57-day siege. The French lose 11,000 men. It ends a century of French colonialism in Indochina. At Geneva, Vietnam is divided at the 17th parallel. Ho gets the north.

Dien Bien Phu ended a century of French colonialism. Was that the proudest day? Getting the north at Geneva. Was partition acceptable or just a starting point?

1965 Event

The U.S. escalates from advisers to combat troops. Ho oversees the supply network through Laos and Cambodia that Americans call the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Tens of thousands of tons of supplies move south on bicycles and human backs. He tells his people the war may last 10 or even 20 years but they will win.

The war may last 10 or 20 years but we will win. Did you ever privately doubt that? Tens of thousands of tons of supplies on bicycles. Was that genius or desperation?

1969 Death

Dies in Hanoi at 79 on the 24th anniversary of Vietnam's independence declaration. He asks to be cremated and have his ashes scattered. The government ignores his wishes and embalms him in a Soviet-built mausoleum in central Hanoi, where his body is displayed behind glass.

You asked to be cremated. They embalmed you behind glass instead. Does that betrayal matter? Dying on the anniversary of independence. Was the timing deliberate?