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Ho Chi Minh was a committed Nationalist and Vietnamese Communist, who fought for a united Vietnamese state.
Ho Chi Minh ( Vietnamese "Hồ Chí Minh", Chinese 胡志明) (originally named Nguyễn Sinh Cung, and known as "Bác Hồ" (Uncle Ho) in Vietnam) ( May 19, 1890 - September 3, 1969) was a Vietnamese revolutionary, statesman, Prime Minister (1954) and President (1954 - 1969) of North Vietnam.
1 Biography
He received the name Nguyễn Tất Thành at age 10. Ho embraced Communism while living abroad in England (where he trained as a pastry chef under Escoffier) as well as FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. from 1915Events January 12 The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of Congress. January 12 United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote. January 13 An earthquake (6. 8 in Richter scale) in Avezzano, Ital - 1923Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 Events January 1 Grouping of all UK railway companies into four larg. His father was a ConfucianConfucianism ( Pinyin: ruji "The School of the Scholars"), sometimes translated as the School of Literati is an East Asian ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of Confucius. Debated during the Warring States Period and scholar, and Ho himself received a strong Confucian upbringing. In France, in 1918Events January January 8 President Woodrow Wilson announces his " Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I. February February 3 The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long)., Ho Chi Minh tried to win independence from French colonial rule and was ignored. In 1919Events January January 1 Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company January 5 Spartacist uprising Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution with Spartacist League in the forefront January 9 Spartacus, he petitioned the powers at the VersaillesVersailles is a commune in France. It is the prefecture (capital) of the Yvelines departement''. Population (1999): 88,476. History Versailles used to be an unimportant village a few miles west of Paris until May 6, 1682 when King Louis XIV moved his cour peace talks for equal rights in IndochinaIndochina or French Indochina was a federation of French colonies and protectorates in south-east Asia, part of the French colonial empire. It consisted of Cochin China, Tonkin, Annam (all of which now form Vietnam), Laos and the Khmer Republic (now Cambo. He soon helped form the French Communist Party and spent much time in Moscow. He later moved to Hong Kong, where he founded the Vietnamese Communist Party.
After adopting the name Ho Chi Minh, or "He Who Enlightens," he returned to Vietnam in 1941 and declared the nation's independence from France. He read a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, replacing the words Great Britain with France, hoping for US support in his efforts; he got none. He led the Viet Minh independence movement in 1941, directed successful military actions against the Japanese occupation forces and later against the French bid to reoccupy the country ( 1946- 1954), and became President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( North Vietnam) in 1954 (he had declared himself President on March 2, 1946 but this was not recognised internationally). He signed an agreement with France which recognized Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union on March 6, 1946. Ho was a moderate within the Communist Party, and steadily lost influence to militant radicals. He was a leading force in trying to re-unite North Vietnam with South Vietnam through invasion during the 1960s. Ho led a nearly continuous war against the French and, later, the American backers of South Vietnam until his death.
During his presidency, He was the center of a large personality cult, which increased in force after his death. In 1975 the city Saigon (Sàig̣n) was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, after him.
Ho died on September 2, 1969 at age 79. His embalmed body was put on display in a granite mausoleum modeled on Lenin's tomb in Moscow. This was consistent with other Communist leaders who have been similarly displayed before and since, including Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung, and for a time, Josef Stalin, but the "honor" violated Ho's last wishes. He wished to be cremated and his ashes buried in urns on three Vietnamese hilltops. He wrote, "Not only is cremation good from the point of view of hygiene, but it also saves farmland."
