Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), Vietnamese Communist leader, who was the first president (1945-1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the principal force behind the Vietnamese struggle against French colonial rule after World War II (1939-1945). Ho's childhood name was Nguyen Sinh Cung, but in accordance with Vietnamese custom, he received a new name, Nguyen Tat Thanh, at the age of 10. Ho was born in the village of Kim Lien in Annam, a region that now makes up central Vietnam. At the time, Vietnam was part of a French colony known as the Indochinese Union, or French Indochina, although it remained under the nominal rule of an emperor. Ho's father served as an official at the Vietnamese imperial court, but French authorities eventually dismissed him for criticizing French domination of his country. As an adolescent, Ho attended a French-run school in Hue. Expelled for rebellious activities in 1908, he then briefly taught at a private school in Phan Thiet. In 1911 Ho signed on as a cook for a French steamship liner, and then worked in the United States and London, England. It was while living abroad that Ho evidently became acquainted with the ideas of German political theorist Karl Marx, which form the basis of communism.
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Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 - September 2, 1969) was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, who later became Prime Minister (1946-1955) and President (1955-1969) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Ho is most famous for leading the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu. He was one of the most important Communist figures of the 20th century, Ho Chi Minh led the Vietnamese struggle for independence from France during the First Indochina War (1946-1954). In 1954 Vietnam was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam, with Ho as the leader of North Vietnam.
Ho's childhood name was Nguyen Sinh Cung, but in accordance with Vietnamese custom, he received a new name, Nguyen Tat Thanh, at the age of 10. Ho was born in the village of Kim Lien in Annam, a region that now makes up central Vietnam. At the time, Vietnam was part of a French colony known as the Indochinese Union, or French Indochina, although it remained under the nominal rule of an emperor. Ho's father served as an official at the Vietnamese imperial court, but French authorities eventually dismissed him for criticizing French domination of his country. As an adolescent, Ho attended a French-run school in Hue. Expelled for rebellious activities in 1908, he then briefly taught at a private school in Phan Thiet. In 1911 Ho signed on as a cook for a French steamship liner, and then worked in the United States and London, England. It was while living abroad that Ho evidently became acquainted with the ideas of German political theorist Karl Marx, which form the basis of communism.
(Documentary made by The History Channel)
Map Vietnam
Vietnam is relatively long and narrow, with a varied terrain. The far north and much of central Vietnam are hilly to mountainous. In the north, the highlands slope gradually toward the eastern coast, forming broad plains intersected by numerous streams. The plains are intensely cultivated, and over centuries the Vietnamese have built many dikes and canals to irrigate crops and control flooding. In central Vietnam, the narrowest part of the country, the mountains and highlands extend nearer to the coast, in a few places jutting into the sea and elsewhere dropping sharply to a narrow coastal plain. Southern Vietnam is very low lying, containing the broad, fertile delta of the Mekong River. Like the northern plains, much of the Mekong Delta is cultivated, and there are vast tracts of rice paddies.
Vietnam developed as an agricultural society, and the population is still predominantly rural. In 2003, 26 percent of the population lived in urban areas. People are increasingly migrating to cities, however, swelling the populations of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and other places.
Vietnam has about 50 ethnic and language groups, but ethnic Vietnamese, or Viets, constitute the vast majority of the population. The original homeland of the Vietnamese people was in the valley of the Red River, a river that originates in southern China and flows through northern Vietnam before entering the Gulf of Tonkin. China conquered the region in the 2nd century bc, but the Vietnamese successfully restored their independence in ad 939. During the next 1,000 years, Vietnam became one of the most dynamic civilizations in Southeast Asia and expanded southward along the coast.
France invaded Vietnam in the late 19th century. The French divided the country into three separate regions; joined the regions with Cambodia and Laos into the Indochinese Union, known as French Indochina; and exploited Vietnamese resources to benefit France. After World War II (1939-1945), anticolonial groups led by the Indochinese Communist Party revolted against French rule. In 1954, after Vietnamese forces defeated the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam was temporarily divided into two zones: North Vietnam, led by a Communist government, and South Vietnam, headed by anti-Communists. For the next 20 years the government in the South, supported by the United States, sought to defeat a growing insurgent movement led by the North to unify the country (see Vietnam War). The United States withdrew its combat troops in 1973, and South Vietnam fell to a Communist offensive two years later. In 1976 a unified Communist state was established with its capital at Hanoi. Although Vietnam remains under Communist rule, its leadership has begun implementing aspects of a market economy in order to promote economic development.
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