Who was the nationalist leader who led Vietnam against the french?

Answer 1

Its Ho Chi Minh.

That is the conventional wisdom, but it is mistaken. Ho Chi Minh was portrayed by his supporters as a great nationalist, but in fact he was a dedicated internationalist who (according to Hanoi's own biographies) had co-founded the French Communist Party in December 1920 and then traveled to Moscow to receive education. He didn't set foot inside Vietnam between 1911 and 1941, and during most of this time he traveled the world as a paid agent of the Communist International (COMINTERN). The most influential nationalist leader in Vietnam during the first half of the 20th century in Vietnam was Phan Boi Chau, whom Ho sold out to the French in return for money. He needed to eliminate genuine nationalist opposition so the Communists could seize control of the anti-French resistance movement--and he hoped the execution of Phan Boi Chau would create further opposition to the French which the Party could exploit. (The French did not execute him, but placed him under house arrest until he died.) In 1946, Ho signed an accord in Paris that invited the French colonialists to return to Vietnam--and the Ho's Viet Minh military conducted joint operations with the French to kill the VNQDD and other truly nationalist groups as "enemies of the peace" because they had refused to accept the return of the French. Most of Ho's Viet Minh followers were genuine nationalists, but the movement was always led by the Indochinese Communist Party.

The Pentagon Papers, vol. 1, p. 261 (Gravel ed.) correctly noted that:

"Ho Chi Minh was an old Stalinist, trained in Russia in the early '20s, Comintern colleague of Borodin in Canton . . . [and a man who presumably] spoke with authority within the upper echelons of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union."

On page 46 of the same volume, we find this account:

"On 6 March 1946, Ho signed an Accord with the French providing for French re-entry into Vietnam for five years in return for recognizing the DRV as a free state within the French Union. This Accord taxed Ho's popularity to the utmost, and it took all Ho's prestige to prevent open rebellion. . . . [I]n mid-June, the Viet Minh, supported by French troops, attacked the Dong Minh Hoi and the VNQDD [nationalist groups], as 'enemies of the peace' effectively suppressed organized opposition, and asserted Viet Minh control throughout North Vietnam."

For more information about Ho and his Vietnamese Communist, see Robert F. Turner, Vietnamese Communism: Its Origins and Development (1975).

Answer 2

Its Ho Chi Minh.

That is the conventional wisdom, but it is mistaken. Ho Chi Minh was portrayed by his supporters as a great nationalist, but in fact he was a dedicated internationalist who (according to Hanoi's own biographies) had co-founded the French Communist Party in December 1920 and then traveled to Moscow to receive education. He didn't set foot inside Vietnam between 1911 and 1941, and during most of this time he traveled the world as a paid agent of the Communist International (COMINTERN). The most influential nationalist leader in Vietnam during the first half of the 20th century in Vietnam was Phan Boi Chau, whom Ho sold out to the French in return for money. He needed to eliminate genuine nationalist opposition so the Communists could seize control of the anti-French resistance movement--and he hoped the execution of Phan Boi Chau would create further opposition to the French which the Party could exploit. (The French did not execute him, but placed him under house arrest until he died.) In 1946, Ho signed an accord in Paris that invited the French colonialists to return to Vietnam--and the Ho's Viet Minh military conducted joint operations with the French to kill the VNQDD and other truly nationalist groups as "enemies of the peace" because they had refused to accept the return of the French. Most of Ho's Viet Minh followers were genuine nationalists, but the movement was always led by the Indochinese Communist Party.

The Pentagon Papers, vol. 1, p. 261 (Gravel ed.) correctly noted that:

"Ho Chi Minh was an old Stalinist, trained in Russia in the early '20s, Comintern colleague of Borodin in Canton . . . [and a man who presumably] spoke with authority within the upper echelons of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union."

On page 46 of the same volume, we find this account:

"On 6 March 1946, Ho signed an Accord with the French providing for French re-entry into Vietnam for five years in return for recognizing the DRV as a free state within the French Union. This Accord taxed Ho's popularity to the utmost, and it took all Ho's prestige to prevent open rebellion. . . . [I]n mid-June, the Viet Minh, supported by French troops, attacked the Dong Minh Hoi and the VNQDD [nationalist groups], as 'enemies of the peace' effectively suppressed organized opposition, and asserted Viet Minh control throughout North Vietnam."

For more information about Ho and his Vietnamese Communist, see Robert F. Turner, Vietnamese Communism: Its Origins and Development (1975).