Vietnam Before 1940, Part 2

Question 1: Discuss Tang Tuyet Minh.

Answer 1: Tang Tuyet Minh was Ho Chi Minh’s Chinese wife. She was born in 1905 and married Ho, then known as Nguyen Ai Quoc, in 1926, when she was 21 and he was 36. Ho disregarded objections to marrying a Chinese woman, citing his need to learn the language and have someone to maintain his home. He was forced to flee China and leave her behind in 1927 amidst an anti-communist uprising led by Chiang Kai-shek. For years afterward, all their attempts to communicate with one another were either intercepted or withheld by other parties, or simply went unanswered. They would never reunite. To date, the Vietnamese government has never confirmed their marriage, and the country has suppressed information regarding her existence, as it would be particularly damning to myths regarding Ho Chi Minh being celibate so as to better focus on his country.

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Question 2: Discuss Ho Chi Minh’s return to Vietnam during World War II.

Answer 2: Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in 1941, at which point he became a leader of the Viet Minh, battling both the French and the Japanese who occupied French Indochina during the Second World War. He was secretly supported in this by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services. In August 1945, Ho spearheaded the August Revolution, convincing Emperor Bao Dai to abdicate his throne and publishing the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which established Vietnam under a new provisional government with Ho as its chairman. Despite these endeavors, no country would initially recognize Ho’s new government or his position as its chairman. Following the revolution and proclamation, the Viet Minh successfully defended their seat of power against numerous rivals, typically by killing the leaders of the rival groups. Eventually, the Communist Party banned all other political parties, thus preventing future opposition.

Question 3: Discuss Ho Chi Minh’s presidency.

Answer 3: In 1954, France and Vietnam reached an agreement through the Geneva Accords, effectively ending the war between French Indochina and the Viet Minh. As part of the agreements, Vietnam was split into two countries, North and South, with Ho Chi Minh as the president of North Vietnam, which was a single-party communist nation. Although Ho had become a tremendously influential figure in his country by this time, his political power over North Vietnam was short-lived. By 1960, Ho’s power was usurped by another political figure, Le Duan, who was appointed the boss of the Communist Party. Ho’s political power was thereby drastically diminished, but his stature as a national hero made him a prominent and persistent figurehead throughout the country, power or not.

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