Ho Chi Minh (1945-1969)
Ho Chi Minh was born in Vietnam in 1890. Many of his family members gained employment from the French. His father was a teacher employed by the French and his sister was part of the French Army yet they used these positions to gain freedom for their country by stealing weapons and teaching children about Nationalism. He moved to Paris in 1917 and learned about communism by reading pieces by Carl Marx. When the French Communist Party was started and he became an active member and decided that it was his duty to return to his home country and spread the knowledge and freedom of communism. In 1945, without the knowledge of any Vietnamese rulers, British, American and Russian authorities decided that Vietnam would be split into South and North, with the South controlled by the British and the North controlled by China. After WWII China and France retreated and negotiated with France for control over both North and South Vietnam, which resulted in Ho Chi Minh and his Vietminh followers to begin fighting with France. By 1953 the Vietminh controlled most of the North, and the French controlled most of the South but had put the former Vietnamese Emperor Bo Dai in charge there. On May 7th, 1954 the French surrendered. The United States then decided that they could not let Ho Chi Minh spread communism and began to intervene. In 1960, Ho Chi Minh combined efforts with some others and created the Vietcong. Operation Rolling Thunder by the U.S. lasted three years and bombed North Vietnam and shattered their economy. Ho Chi Minh died in 1969.