Paper HEI 4ème Histoire: The Vietnam Wars: Jussi Hanhimaki
Was Ho-Chi-Minh a Nationalist or a Communist?
:: Introduction ::
Hồ Chí Minh is very well-known as the founder and first President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Meanwhile, many aspects of his personal history or beliefs still remain unclear.
Officially the first and most efficient Vietnamese independence struggler, Hồ Chí Minh is nonetheless a complex person to study: Nicknames, travels, historical shadows, imprisonment, unclear or unverified affirmations… In consequence, some datas have to be taken carefully into account.
:: Biography (summary) ::
The youngest of three children, Hồ was born Nguyễn Sinh Cung on 19th may1890 in a village in central Vietnam.
Hồ's father was working as a teacher (thus his exact function remains unclear) for colonialists, but was fired as he refused to learn french. Hồ inherited those rebellious traits and showed interest in his country historical background, drawing parallels to the current history: He began to involve in various "informative" movements, questioning how a country claiming to conform to "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" could be oppressing his Land.
He was kicked out of school in 1910, after being caught giving out copies of banned papers. Surprinsingly, Hồ found an employment as a teacher in Phan-Thiet village, south of Vietnam.
In 1912, twenty-two years old at the time, Hồ found a job on the French ship Latouche-Treville, which he held for two years. This gave him the occasion to notice that everywhere they are, people under colonial rule were suffering the same. Doing a choice that still remains unclear he tried, with no success, to enter the French Colonial School.
He then headed to London where he worked as a hotel cook and eventually formed his first Worker's Association to improve the conditions of the asian community.
Before WWI came to an end, he spent some time in New-York, addressing the League of Nations a document called: "Pledges of the Vietnamese People in the form of a Song", beginning to act abroad as a Vietnamese representative.
Once he arrived in France in 1919, he engaged in political activities a step further. At the Versailles Treaty he tried to submit President Wilson a list of revendications but he was refused. At the Congrès de Tours on December 30th 1920, Hồ was one of the founders of the French Communist Party. Additionnally he created propaganda leaflets in the name of "Group of Viet Patriots" and was a pivotal writer of "Le Paria –Journal Anticolonialiste".
From this point on, he began to be closely monitored by French authorities as he was:
1) militating for Vietnam's independence as a native nationalist.
2) involved in communist leadership in France.
In June 1923 he went to the USSR. Some scholars affirm he was working closely with Komintern. Nicknaming himself Ly Thuy, he then went to Guang Zhou, China where in 1925 he formed the Thanh Nien Cach Mang Dong Chi Hoi (Association of Youth Revolutionary Comrades) until he was arrested by the Kuomintang1.
After his release he arrived in Hong-Kong (1930) where he created the Parti Communiste Indochinois. He was subsequently arrested one more time and held into custody for another 3 years (until 1933), before going back to Soviet Union where a really blurry period starts (he allegedly cured himself from chronic diseases for five years).
He came back to China in 1938 to be an advisor for the Chinese Red Army as well as to make contacts with other exiled Vietnamese militants. As the Japanese invaded Vietnam, Hồ formed the Viêt Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (Viet-Minh –League for the Independence of Vietnam) in 1941, exacerbating nationalists to oust the invaders. But because of the communist ideology beneath he was supported by Vietnamese communists as well. Externally, Bác Hồ was helped by the French services as well as the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS - Major Archimedes Patti2).
After the Japanese surrendered, Hồ proclaimed the Vietnam Independence on September 2nd 1945, wishing to give freedom to his people.
Wishing to keep a dream alive, French government negociated its return with Hồ Chí Minh: a settlement was found according independence to Indochina under French Union authority3. Hồ was accused of betrayal. However the tension grew and soon the war broke out openly.
French army was increasingly supported by the US (and the famous Air America4): while Vietnam was furnished with weapons by the People's Republic of China from 1949 on. War lasted until the Dien Bien Phu battle in 1954 and the subsequent Geneva Peace Conference that lead to the country partition, as the communist regime in the northern part was fully recognized. South Vietnam (SVN) as well as the US refused to endorse the agreement fearing it would ultimately mean the fall of the entire country to a communist state.
Shortly after, in 1956 Hồ became Secretary General of the Party, until 1960.
After years of "skirmishes" the situation worsened dramatically, leading to a US involvement in the support of SVN government of Ngô Đình Diệm. Finally the war was "undeclared" in 1964 under Johnson's Administration.
Hồ refused to settle any agreement that would let an opportunity for a foreign power to "invade" again the country and impose its rules. So he decided to fight until complete "victory" for a free and reunited Vietnam, the goal of his entire life.
When President Johnson wrote him a letter in order to purpose a peace process, Hồ replied: "Vietnamese people are determined to continue their resistance until they have won real independence and liberty and true peace. They will never give way to force, will never accept conversation under the clear threat of bombs". He died while his fellow comrades were still fighting for independence, on September 3nd, 1969.
:: Ho Chi Minh's legacy ::
After the communist takeover of the south, the major city, Saïgon, was renamed "Tham Pho Hồ Chí Minh" (Hồ Chí Minh City). This is the best example of the popular and official veneration that grew for him, even after he died.
Instead of blaming him for millions of deaths, people revere him as the founding father of their homeland. Nowadays Hồ Chí Minh is still considered as "Uncle Hồ" the father of modern, free and communist Vietnam. Personality cult remains omnipresent as his figure is represented on all the bank notes (!), is portrait displayed in every meeting room and his name sang on popular music.
The image displayed is invariably this of a wise old man, living a though life with little joy, sacrificing everything he owns on the benefit of his people. Ideologically he is referred to as a nationalist as well as a communist, depending on the audience and the moment. His ambiguous life and beliefs deserves the best whatever plans are those of his successors: Hồ Chí Minh became a Vietnamese icon representing the Good and whoever acts on his behalf should necessarily be a devote person.
:: Quotes ::
"We equated Hồ Chí Minh not with Marshal Tito but with Fidel Castro."5
"Le peuple vietnamien ne se soumettra jamais à la force; Il n'acceptera jamais de discussions sous la menace des bombes", Letter to President Johnson, February 1967.
"I’ve sensed the strong nationalism, the strong motivation both in the South and the North, and the strong nationalistic feelings of their leaders, Hồ Chí Minh and Diem."6
U.S Government has constantly intervened in Viet-Nam, it has launched and intensified the war of aggression in South Viet-Nam for the purpose of prolonging the division of Viet-Nam and of transforming South Viet-Nam into an American neo-colony and an American military base. The American Government (…) has been waging war against an independent and sovereign country. 7
:: Conclusion ::
I believe we can see two parts in Bà Hò (Uncle Hồ) 's political involvement:
From his birth and throughout his youth, he saw his father in discordance with the French colonial rule. As the family is a big frame-value in Vietnamese culture, Hồ felt more sympathy for the nationalist struggle and got first involved in this direction.
After his arrival in France in 1919 he began to get interested in Marx's theories. For Hồ, Marx was the only thinker taking care of the people in the colonies. His engagement was officialized when he participated to the funding session of the Parti Communiste Français, in Tours (1920).
From this point on, we can point out that Hồ's political project was driven by nationalist interests ("government by the people, from the people, for the people", denial of foreign influences, …) as well as communist ideals (land reform, …).
In conclusion, Hồ Chí Minh was a nationalist that married communism in order to get the broadest internal and external support to push his struggle further in the ultimate goal of having an independent Vietnam for the generations to come.
1 http://www.vietquoc.com/hcm-more.htm
2 http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/books/aiv/0012.cfm
3 http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~pfd2009/amb_view.html
4 http://www.odci.gov/csi/studies/winter99-00/art7.html
5 R. McNamara, In Restrospect, p. 33, 1991
6 www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/11/interviews/mcnamara/
7 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1967-vietnam-letters1.html
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