Viet Minh (redirected from Vietminh)

Viet Minh (vēĕt` mĭn), officially Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh [League for the Independence of Vietnam], a coalition of Communist and nationalist groups that opposed the French and the Japanese during World War II. The Viet Minh spearheaded Vietnamese resistance to French rule in the French Indochina War (1946–54). The organization was soon dominated by Communists, and in 1951 its Communist elements were absorbed by the Communist party of North Vietnam.

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Viet Minh

 in full Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi
(English; “League for the Independence of Vietnam”)

Organization that led the struggle for Vietnamese independence from French rule. Formed in 1941 by Ho Chi Minh, it was a national organization open to people of all political leanings, though it was led by communists. In 1943 the Viet Minh began guerrilla operations against the occupying Japanese; when the Japanese surrendered to the Allies, the Viet Minh seized Hanoi and proclaimed Vietnam's independence. In the First Indochina War that followed, the Viet Minh (and the Vietnamese Workers' Party [Lao Dong] that succeeded them) defeated the French. Elements of the Viet Minh also joined the Viet Cong to fight the U.S. in the Vietnam War. See also Vo Nguyen Giap.