appeal to the peasants who made up 90% of the population. This was not difficult as the peasants were fed up with the steep land taxes, inhumane working conditions and the egotistic attitude of French leaders. They saw the Viet Minh’s objective as a nationalist movement rather than a communist one. While growing up, I had worked as a schoolmaster for a time, and went to a technical school in Saigon. In 1911, I went to work on ocean freighters, which took me around to Africa and as far as Boston and New York City. After two years in London from 1915-1917 me and my family moved to Paris and remained there until 1923. In Paris I had become a socialist and organized a group of Vietnamese who were living there in a protest against French colonial …show more content…
It was up until the 1940's that I began to use the name Ho Chi Minh, meaning "Ho the Enlightener." In 1941, it is a fact that my comrades and I formed a league for the independence of Vietnam. Throughout my travels and being inspired by the successful communist revolution of Russia, I can tell you that the capitalist traditions of France meant that they were only interested in retaining their possessions, and not equally sharing them out. However, in Russia, the Soviet Union emphasized liberation and equality for all people and I realized that to become a strong unified country, Vietnam must follow in the footsteps of the Soviet Union and become communist to end oppression once and for all. When I returned home in 1929, my respect for the French was once again lowered when authorities sentenced me to death. I had to be smuggled into Hong Kong, but then found refuge in the Soviet Union, and remained there until 1938. I eventually returned back to Vietnam in 1941, after the fall of the French in June 1940. This of course was a glorious day for me, and I'm sure thousands of other Vietnamese and I knew then at that time that I must make a change starting with the political infrastructure of …show more content…
After the Japanese eliminated the French administration in March 1945, the Viet Minh was able to operate more freely, and it expanded very rapidly. By the time Japan surrendered to the US in August, the Viet Minh had strong organizations in much of Tonkin and Annam, and significant support in Cochin-china. In the weeks following the Japanese surrender, the Viet Minh seized local authority in most of Vietnam, and declared the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. By the end of 1945, the French were coming back to Vietnam. Negotiations between France and the Viet Minh went on for about a year, but produced no effective compromise. The Viet Minh wanted Vietnam to have independence, or at least something very close to full independence. The French wanted to regain effective control of the country. By December 1946, all efforts at a peaceful settlement had failed; the French and the Viet Minh were at war. In 1858, the French occupied Vietnam. During France's entire rule, there were constant peasant uprisings but to no