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Viet Minh
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Ho Chi Minh, president of North Vietnam, with a long white beard and mustache, wearing a dark jacket, seated and looking to the side in a 1957 black-and-white portrait.
Discover how the United States worked with the communist Viet Minh against the Japanese in World War II
Map of Vietnam from 1954 to 1976, showing North Vietnam in the north and South Vietnam in the south, separated by a demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel. The map highlights the Ho Chi Minh Trail running from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam, with major cities such as Hanoi in the north and Saigon in the south, as well as neighboring countries and bodies of water.
Note how the Viet Minh's guerrilla tactics confined French troops to the cities in the First Indochina War
Learn how U.S. presidents Eisenhower and Truman backed France against the Viet Minh in the First Indochina War
Watch the Viet Cong's guerrilla communist forces move down the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos and Cambodia
At a Glance
U.S. trooops of the 7th. and 9th. divisions wade through marshland during a joint operation on South Vietnam's Mekong Delta, April 1967.
Pop Quiz: 19 Things to Know About the Vietnam War
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Ho Chi Minh, president of North Vietnam, with a long white beard and mustache, wearing a dark jacket, seated and looking to the side in a 1957 black-and-white portrait.
Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh, 1957.

Viet Minh

Vietnamese revolutionary organization
Also known as: League for the Independence of Vietnam, Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi(Show More)
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Viet Minh, organization that led the struggle for Vietnamese independence from French rule. The Viet Minh was formed in China in May 1941 by Ho Chi Minh. Although led primarily by communists, the Viet Minh operated as a national front organization open to persons of various political persuasions. In late 1943, members of the Viet Minh, led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, began to infiltrate Vietnam to launch guerrilla operations against the Japanese, who occupied...

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