Ho Chi Minh

1890–1969

   Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the Vietnamese resistance to Japanese rule during the war. He had been associated with the Chinese Communist movement in Canton and had set up in China the Communistdominated Viet Minh, which was to fight for Vietnamese independence. However CHIANG Kai-shek had him interned in jail from 1942–43 and it was only on the insistence of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) that he was released to fight in Vietnam. He turned to the US in Kunming to help his movement and received arms and supplies from the Americans but instead of pursuing an out and out offensive against the Japanese, the Viet Minh remained in the highlands of Tonkin building a network of support and waiting for the defeat of the Japanese. In August 1945 his forces were strong enough to march into Hanoi and set up the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.