Ho Chi Minh: Freedom Fighter and Patriot

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Before WWII, during the French rule in Vietnam, the French used the Vietnamese to their advantage. Many Vietnamese people were living under oppression by the French authorities. Some, seeking independence, fought back against the French. One of these revolutionaries was Ho Chi Minh. Although many democratic countries disliked his support for Communism, Ho was strongly passionate about liberating Vietnam. As a prime minster, a president, and a leader of Vietnam, Ho majorly contributed to the Vietnamese independence movement through 1941. While Ho Chi Minh is considered a tyrant by democratic countries such as France and the US, he stands a force for good in the founding of an independent Vietnam based on the ideals of freedom and communism.

Ho Chi Minh’s philosophy began to develop in adolescence. Ho spent his early years in Vietnam studying under Vietnamese nationalism. He was born as Nguyen Tat Thanh in 1890 in the Kim Lien village of Annam. Not until 1945 would he call himself Ho Chi Minh, in order to conceal his identity from anti-communists. His father, Nguyen Sinh Sac, was a Vietnamese nationalist who despised the French for colonizing Vietnam.

Ho’s strong developing feelings of nationalism at a young age had a long-lasting impact in his years as a revolutionary. For instance, he went to memorial services at a temple for revolutionaries who were killed in the resistance against the French (Duiker 24). As he grew older, Ho’s hatred of foreigners and their practice of imperialism increased. In 1901, Ho was shocked to hear of the poor treatment of Vietnamese laborers recruited by the French to construct a new highway into Laos. Specifically, some peasants who worked on the bridge came back injured, diseased and malnourished, ...

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...ambridge University Press, 2007. Print.

Coppola, Kaitlin. “Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969).” Coldwar.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.

Duiker, William J. Ho Chi Minh: A Life. City of Publication: Hyperion, 2000. Print.

History.com Staff. “Ho Chi Minh.” History.com. A+E Networks, 2010, Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

Ho Chi Minh. Selected Works. (Hanoi. 1960-1962), Vol. 2. Vietnam: Print.

“Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969).” BBC. n.p. n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

“Messages to America: The Letters of Ho Chi Minh.” History is a Weapon. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.

Moïse, Edwin E. “The Geneva Accords” & “The Aftermath of Geneva, 1954-1961.” Clemson. n.p. 1998. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.

Simkin, John. “Ho Chi Minh.” Spartacus Educational. n.p, n.d Web. 1 Feb. 2014.

Spector, Ronald H. “Vietnam War.” Britannica. n.p, n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

Trueman, Chris. “Ho Chi Minh.” History Learning Site. n.p. 2000. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

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