Human Interests

Ho Chi Minh: hero of Vietnam’s iconic city

Ho Chi Minh City is the most important city in Vietnam, quite famous on the world stage, formerly called Saigon, famous for its wealthy history, dynamic culture and vibrant city life. However, Ho Chi Minh City is greater than only a city, it’s the name of probably the most influential national hero in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh is Vietnam’s most influential national hero. | Source: gettyimages.com

He was born with a reputation Nguyen Sinh Cung, Ho can also be known by two other names viz Nguyen Tat Thanh Or Nguyen Ai Quocand was president from 1945 to 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). During his leadership, he fought against colonialism during World War I and World War II against the three nations of France, Japan, and the United States.

The leader of French Indochina was born on May 19, 1890, in Hoang Tru, Vietnam, where his influence began to grow after he became the founding father of the Communist Party of Indochina (1930) and its successor, the Viet-Minh (1941).

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Ho Chi Minh visited the Stralsund shipyard and the island of Riems in East Germany on July 27, 1957 | Source: Bundesarchiv

He got here a great distance before he was finally recognized as certainly one of the essential founders of the anti-colonial movement in Asia after World War II and one of the crucial influential communist leaders of the twentieth century. It all began when he left the country on June 3, 1911 to travel around the globe on a French ship. This journey took him to several ports in Africa, the United States of America (Boston and New York), the Soviet Union or Russia, China, and even to London, where he lived for 2 years from 1915 to 1917.

The leader or politician didn’t fit into his previous job lists corresponding to cook’s assistant, pastry chef, gardener, sweeper, waiter, photo retoucher and oven stoker. However, throughout the six years he spent in France (1917–1923), after moving from London, he began his leadership journey, becoming an energetic socialist, where he was nicknamed “Nguyen Patriot” or “Nguyen Ai Quoc”.

Beginning with organizing a bunch of Vietnamese in 1919, he submitted an eight-point petition to the Versailles Peace Conference demanding equal rights for the people of Indochina under French colonial rule.

Thanks to this movement, many Vietnamese saw Ho as a hero, despite the fact that his petition was disgraced. The following yr, inspired by the Russian Revolution and Lenin’s anti-imperialist ideas, Ho joined the French Communist Party after withdrawing from the Socialist Party in December 1920.

In 1923 he visited Moscow to coach on the Comintern, a corporation created by Lenin to advertise world revolution. He then continued his journey to southern China to prepare a revolutionary movement amongst Vietnamese exiles, forming them into Vietnam Thanh Nien Cach Menh Dong Chi Hoi (Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association)commonly known by the name Thanks Nien.

Close-up portrait of Ho Chi Minh on a Vietnamese banknote, Vietnamese paper money
Portrait of Ho Chi Minh on Dong (Vietnamese banknote). source: freepik

In the Thirties he spent most of his time within the Soviet Union and China. He first founded the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) and acted as a mediator between factions, specializing in organizing revolutionary motion fairly than initiating it. Strategically, Ho managed to take care of balance with Moscow and gain influence among the many Vietnamese communists.

French repression in Vietnam intensified when Ho was sentenced to death and fled to Hong Kong in 1931–1932. By 1935, Ho supported the policies of the Popular Front on the Seventh International Congress in Moscow, advocating an alliance with non-communist leftist groups against fascism.

With the formation of the Popular Front government, France granted freedom to leftist forces in Indochina from 1937 to 1938, although Ho remained in exile. However, with the autumn of the Blum government in 1937, repression intensified, and by 1938 the influence of the Popular Front waned.

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Letter from Ho Chi Minh to President Harry S. Truman, February 28, 1946 | Source: US National Archives and Records Administration

In 1938, Ho returned to China and stayed with Mao Zedong in Yen-an. After France’s defeat by Germany in 1940, Ho, together with Vo Nguyen Giap and Pham Van Dong, saw a chance to extend their influence. It was during this time that he took the name Ho Chi Minh, meaning “He who enlightens.”

Returning to Vietnam in 1941 in consequence of the Japanese invasion of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh gained greater influence during World War II, forming alliances with various anti-colonial forces, including the United States, and cooperating with the Allies of their fight against the Japanese occupation of Vietnam .

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Fast forward to 30 years of his presidential era. He dedicated his life to guiding Vietnam through a turbulent period, including war with French colonial rule, conflict with the United States, nation-building, particularly in North Vietnam, implementing land reform, encouraging economic development, and prioritizing education and social welfare.

By July 2, 1976, when the Vietnam War ended and the unification of North and South Vietnam, the city formerly known as Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The former president was famous for his modest lifestyle. It is said that he preferred to live in a simple wooden house on stilts on the palace grounds, where he died – on September 2, 1969 – rather than in the ostentatious yellow Presidential Palace.

To summarize, Ho Co Minh in life after his stay and return to Vietnam

Year

Ho Chi Minh activities

1911

Travel around the world on a French ship to Africa, America and Britain.

1915-17

Ho lived in London

1917–23

After leaving London, Ho then moved to Paris, France

1920

Ho joined the French communists

1923

He visited Moscow for training at the Comintern, an organization created by Lenin to promote world revolution

1930

  • Founded the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP)
  • Ho spent that year in the Soviet Union and China.

1931-32

Ho was sentenced to death and fled to Hong Kong

1935

Ho attended the Seventh International Congress in Moscow to support the policies of the Popular Front.

1937-38

France gave freedom to leftist forces in Indochina following the formation of a Popular Front government while Ho remained in exile

1941

Back to Vietnam

[1945

  • Ho Chi Minh wykorzystał ten moment, aby ogłosić niepodległość Wietnamu
  • Został pierwszym prezydentem Demokratycznej Republiki Wietnamu od około 30 lat

1969

Zmarł Ho Chi Minh

1976

  • Zakończenie wojny w Wietnamie i zjednoczenie Północnego i Południowego Wietnamu.
  • Imię Ho Chi Minha zostało użyte do zmiany nazwy Sajgonu.

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