Ho Chi Minh was a revolutionary leader who played a pivotal role in Vietnam’s fight for independence from French colonial rule and later, the United States. He is best known for leading the Viet Minh independence movement and serving as the first president of North Vietnam, ultimately unifying the country under communist rule after his death.
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With Ho Chi Minh, you have to understand that he was both – he was a founding member of the French Communist Party that I myself have associated with. So it’s incorrect to say he was just a nationalist. He had very serious goals for the future of his country that, sorta like the Irish where there was a debate about “do we just do the same thing under another flag, or do we really change everything?”
But, he also knew to trust no one and that external powers were always going to try to screw and divide Vietnam. China did that a few years after his death and the reunification of Vietnam, after all. And French communists took a few decades to come around to being actually supportive of colonial independence movements. Also, Ho, unlike most other colonial independence leaders, was extremely familiar with the West and spent much of his life there. He ironically learned a lot from the American Revolution
Sometimes, you don’t want to fight, but you have to
Thank you for this extremely engaging documentary. Best wishes from a 70-year-old US expat living in Cambodia.
How and Where questions
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America lost that war because they never understood what it was about. Independence. Uncle Ho was a great revolutionary to leader ❤❤❤😂😂😂
Ho Chi Minh was one of the world’s great cultural figures. I really admire and respect him.
Nuyuen is like Chan,big surname for the witnesses
All i remember when i was little,Hong Kong had a refugees camp in Hong Kong,most of them are in other countries
To China Vietnam is still a 3rd world country,still very poor in mostof the outter areas
Great to know Ho Chi Minh is a communist 😮eader
Thank you for your effort to make a neutral perspective that isn’t toxic about political ideology. But there’re a lot of incorrect information that I hope you can search again about: Hồ Chí Minh’s marital status (the Chinese woman might be a cover, Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai is definitely not! If there are any document said that it might be a cover too. She was just a comrade!); Chinese only sent their professionals to train VNese engineers, not soldier, they didnt involve in the fight directly; and some minor incorrect information but it might be your opinion, so well, I wont complain, it’s because we’re from 2 sides of perspective. But almost your knowledge about HCM is quite correctly, very appreciate that! Keep going😊support you
We all know Nixon was a corrupt terrorist, this is how history remembers him
Communist and Communist. How come non Communist can't speak 08 different languages like him HCM? General commanders around the world voted him to Unesco. Google.
Abused the Communist world to create games but was unsuccess. Gulf of Tonkin led to the Vietnam War or the mineral resources of Vietnam CIA report (.gov) or Google?
Today's mineral resources of Vietnam rank among the world's largest just behind China no.1.
Try to rob 150 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and oil reserves of Vietnam unsuccessfully.
How many 100M tons of Gold Mines reserves in Vietnam. Google.
Bauxite 5.8-billion tons and Ti-22 600M tons. REEs deposit 23M tons in Vietnam. Os-76 costs $30M per kilo and Ir-77 costs 96M per kilo and millions of ton discovered in Vietnam. Rare Earth Elements map. Google.
Broke ass brought freedom and democracy to Vietnam $3 bucks 5 meals. Homeless drug zombie covers on earth but exports to the world. Break it down and stop!
Mineral resources of Vietnam are more than America and NATO 400 times. Google. Funny!
Only the south fought America because they obeyed China. Very simple to understand! Only the whole Vietnam fights Chinese.
Many Communist leaders are being set as a hero based on manufactured "historical data"
For the Vietnamese from the South Ho Chi Minh name is a historical nightmare !
Vietnam social economic/ political development will be better without Ho !
The tactic is used by him Ganimi Kava in hindi is also known as guerrilla Warfare tactic and this tactic was known to him by one of the best indian kings known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhonsle Maharaj
Ho Chi Minh – The Communist Who Defeated the West Documentary
The French caused the war that engulfed the Americans, the original war was a 'war of independence', for the Vietnamese against the French (who refused to give up colonies) after the second world war. The French turned the war into a 'war against communism). This in turn drew the Americans into the war, in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Vietnam was abandoned by the French in 1954, after the battle at Dien bien phu. This sucked the Americans into the Vietnamese war until 1973/75 before Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese.
What;s with the poor pronuciation of Hue? It;s not pronounced that way in Vietnamese and there's no reason to pronounce it that way in English. It;s pronounced the same as 'way'.
the communists are winers, they produced 10 of million and 100 of million of cheap laborers for the capitalists come in to take advantage of, and millions left to export
Actually, they pulled their troops out as American Military defeated by their own radical, scumbag, Commies, double agencies, traitors, and demo left wingers. Do they defeat by Talibanese in Afghanistan??? 💀☠️👽check it out Vietnamese Commies now, how they defeated USA.
Vietnam: The Land of Heroes — Why Not the Rest of Asia?
Following the foundation of the Third Communist International (1919), Moscow gradually deployed agents such as Ho Chi Minh, across Asia to ignite revolutionary movements. While many such efforts failed — in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and elsewhere — only in China, Vietnam, and North Korea did communism succeed.
Contrary to popular narratives that portray Ho Chi Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp as extraordinary persons whose strategies alone changed history, the REAL FACTOR that set Vietnam apart was STRUCTURAL: its GEOGRAPHY. This same factor explains why similar revolutions failed elsewhere.
Geography as the Hidden Advantage.
Vietnam, (Lao, Cambodia) China, and Korea share a continuous land corridor connecting them to the Soviet Union. This corridor allowed:
– Steady delivery of weapons, advisors, and training
– Safe havens in southern China for regrouping and planning
– Protected overland routes hidden from colonial and Western powers
By contrast, countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia were isolated — separated by vast seas, lacking secure overland routes, and vulnerable to colonial suppression. This made communist movements there highly vulnerable, despite Communist International support.
Why Vietnam Won — and North Korea Did Not
Vietnam’s war successes were STRUCTUALLY ENABLED RATHER THAN MIRACULOUS:
1/ The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954) illustrates this perfectly.
The French were trapped in a remote valley. Mountains, jungles, Soviet-supplied weapons (105 mm howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, small arms), and Chinese advisers who shared strategic guidance and trench-building techniques learned from the Korean War enabled Giáp to transport troops and artillery in ways the French thought impossible.
Dien Bien Phu victory was the COMBINED RESULT of Vietnamese initiative, Chinese military expertise, and Soviet material aid, all made possible by geography.
Had Dien Bien Phu been located in Indonesia or other island nations, overland logistics would have been impossible, and the French would likely have crushed the movement.
2/ North Korea, though connected to China, is a peninsula surrounded by ocean with no secure corridors for secret troops and weapon movements into the South. Unlike Vietnam, North Korea could not build “Ho Chi Minh–style trails,” and any attempts to infiltrate, to support insurgents in South Korea like Vietnamese Liberation Front in the south were vulnerable to detection and interception or destroy.
GEOGRAPHY therefore enabled Vietnam’s success in 1954 against the French and in 1975 against South Vietnam and the U.S., while Structural Limitations PREVENTED North Korea from conquering the South Korea despite repeated military efforts for 80 years.
Logistics Over Individual Action
The Ho Chi Minh Trail, Chinese bases, and Soviet support were only possible because of geography. Leaders elsewhere could not replicate this: movements on isolated islands or exposed peninsulas relied on risky sea transport, easily intercepted by colonial or American powers. Vietnam’s victories were STRUCTURALLY determined — not the product of outstanding leadership alone.
The Myth of “Legendary Leaders”
While Ho Chi Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp were effective leaders, their success was AMPLIFIED BY GEOGRAPHY — not extraordinary personal ability. Remove that advantage, and the SAME leaders would likely have failed elsewhere.
That is why other Asian countries PRODUCED NO SUCH “heroes.” Geography offered no lifeline, no sanctuary, no path for revolution to survive.
In fact, due to geography, most Southeast Asian countries achieved independence after 1945 WITHOUT PROLONGED WARS, establishing democratic republics. Unlike Vietnam, where geography enabled sustained conflict and shaped communist revolutionary outcomes.
=> If Vietnam had not insisted on practicing Marxism–Leninism under the influence of the Communist International, it could likely have achieved independence peacefully after 1945 — just as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia did — without becoming a divided nation like Korea and without two devastating wars against the French and the Americans.
At that time, China was still weak and not yet established as a communist power, so it would not have been able to interfere with or prevent Vietnam from choosing a different political path.
The choice of ideology, not the lack of patriotism, prolonged Vietnam’s suffering and prevented the emergence of a democratic republic similar to its Southeast Asian neighbors or South Korea.
Conclusion
Vietnam’s victories were not primarily the result of genius leadership — they were the result of GEOGRAPHY, logistics, and external support. Borders with China and land routes made the flow of Soviet and China aid possible, providing the foundation for military success.
Recognizing this does not diminish the courage of all soldiers in Vietnam; it explains why similar revolutions elsewhere failed.
GEOGRAPHY was the silent but DECISIVE force shaping the destiny of Asia’s revolutions, including Vietnam and Korea — after World War II in 1945, in 1954, and again in 1975.
He didn’t win so much as the USA got bored and went home.
at 59:57, Nguyen Van Thieu stayed in office until 21st April 2975, not 1963 and he died in 2001, not in 1963
His real name is Nguyen Sinh Cung, and Ho Chi Minh means The Man Who Brings Light.
I want to confirm one fact about our President. He is not a Communist, he is a nationalist (this is why Stalin refused to help him once), he can also be referred as a strategic Socialist. Communism, more specifically Marxist-Leninism, is what he thought fit Vietnam society at the time, believing it can leverage the society to overcome the war and post-war period. His aim was the socialist society, not full Communism society, where future society is developed enough to be adaptive and evolve independently. He never said to skip Capitalism, he wants to learn what’s good and skip only what’s bad, and that we should make peace with national capitalists as they are nowhere near imperialism, they was dominated by conlonists too. But history happened after he died, what happened before Nguyen Van Linh’s Doi Moi period was never what Uncle Ho asked for. Vietnam likes to cut scenes and rewrite scripts without asking the writer.
Ho Chi Minh had a sad life, regardless of his private life, he never achieved his goal for liberating the South of Vietnam and the transition to Socialism when he died. I will not discuss what happened around him at his final times, but for what he has done for his country, he did not deserve it, nor deserve to get his words twisted.
The Secret Reason Ho Chi Minh & Kim Il-sung Succeeded:
Most people don’t realize it, but Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam and Kim Il-sung in Korea succeeded primarily because of geography, supported by the Comintern (the Soviet-led Communist International) in the 1920s–1940s, which sent communist agents around the world to spread communism — including across Asia.
Northern Vietnam and northern Korea border China, allowing both leaders to receive weapons, funds, training, advisors, and safe bases directly from the USSR and Chinese communists.
In other Southeast Asian countries—Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, Thailand—ALL communist movements failed because they had no direct access to China. Even leaders as capable as Ho Chi Minh or Kim Il-sung, if they had been born or operated elsewhere, speaking different local languages, would have definitely failed.
GEOGRAPHY was the decisive factor, far more important than ideology, skill, or Comintern support alone.
Respect Ho Chi Minh
“An American Requiem”, an autobiography by James Carroll, whose father was a Pentagon intelligence lieutenant colonel: a specialist in finding coordinates for bombing in Vietnam, and whose mother was a close friend of Cardinal Spellman. He wrote “The Vietnam War Began with Spellman”, a bestseller in 1960-70, winning the National Book Award for Non-Fiction (1996), the highest award in American literature. Carroll devoted the entire chapter 8, “Holy War”, to the Vietnam War.
– According to Father Martin Malachi: Spellman went into Vietnam following the wishes of Pope Pius XII: he wanted the Americans to put Ngo Dinh Diem in power because of the influence of Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc.
The pogroms were
multiplying to the accents of this nazi march: "When the Jewish blood
streams from the knife, we feel better again." (Horst-Wessel-Lied).
In the following years, Pius XII saw even worse without being stirred. It is
not surprising that the catholic heads of Germany vied with each other in their
servility towards the nazi regime, encouraged as they were by their Roman
"Master". One must read the dishevelled ravings and verbal acrobatics of
opportunist theologians such as Michael Schmaus. He was later made a
"prince of the church" by Pius XII, and described as "the great theologian of
Munich" by the publication "La Croix" on the 2nd of September 1954—
or again a certain book entitled Katholisch-Konservatives Erbgut, of
which someone wrote:
"This anthology brings together texts from the main Catholic theorists of
Germany, from Gorres to Vogelsang; it makes us believe that nationalsocialism was born purely and simply out of Catholic ideas." (Gunther
Buxbaum, "Mercure de France", 15th of January 1939).
The bishops, made to take an oath of allegiance to Hitler by the
Concordat, always tried to excel each other in their "devotion":
"Under the nazi regime, we constantly find the fervent support of the
bishops in all the correspondence and declarations from ecclesiastical
dignitaries". (Joseph Rovan, op.cit. p.214).
In spite of the obvious difference between Catholic universalism and
hitlerian racism, these two doctrines had been "harmoniously reconciled)),
according to Franz Von Papen; the reason for this scandalous accord was
because "Nazism is a Christian reaction against the spirit of 1789".
His vision of independence united millions.
Thank you for a neutral narrative on this subject. 👍🏻
If you take “communism” as a means, then he’s a nationalist. 😊
Ho Chi Minh – Uncle Ho, our true idol!
chủng tộc 3 que sỏ lá chắc tự nhiên mất khả năng đọc hiểu tiếng anh trong những video lịch sử thế này :)))
đã người nước ngoài thu thập tài liệu và làm thành 1 video thế này thì khỏi bảo tuyên truyền của cộng sản
It’s hard to follow thís documentary.. not very well done… kinda boring
The problem with Ho is he used violence to achieve his aim, create a government he can control.
Lessssss go
If only France and then USA had worked with him to be an independant free nation, he likely would have been commie light, or maybe not much at all, VN people are rapacious capitalists at heart. If the western "democracies" would have sent the peace corps instead of the Marine corps, the outcome im sure would have been much better for everyone. As it worked out it was a total disaster. VN is now a beautiful country full of hard working decent nice people, but they sure had a long hard road to get here. Good docu!
DIEN BIEN PHU: A VICTORY DEPENDENT ON CHINA AND THE SOVIET UNION
The 1954 victory at Dien Bien Phu is often praised as the “pinnacle of command” by General Vo Nguyen Giap. Yet historical reality shows that the Viet Minh could hardly have won without Soviet weapons and Chinese advisors.
1. Firepower from abroad:
The decisive 105 mm howitzers and anti-aircraft guns used in the battle were supplied by the Soviet Union, received and transported by China.
Thanks to these weapons, the French airstrip was destroyed, supply lines were cut off, and French forces were completely encircled.
Had they relied only on guerrilla tactics, the Viet Minh could never have brought down the heavily fortified French stronghold.
2. Strategy changed under Chinese advisors:
In his memoir Dien Bien Phu: The Most Difficult Decision (1990), Vo Nguyen Giap admitted:
“The first plan was to strike rapidly and win rapidly… [but] in the end I had to make the difficult decision: withdraw the troops to prepare for a protracted fight.”
This shift was not accidental, but a direct result of Chinese advisors:
-General Wei Guoqing, head of the Chinese Military Advisory Group, persuaded Giap to abandon the “strike fast, win fast” plan.
-Luo Guibo, political advisor, tightened discipline and strengthened morale.
-Xiao Jingguang, logistics expert, directly instructed how artillery was transported across difficult mountain terrain.
3. Tactics reflected Chinese and Korean War experience:
The trench systems creeping closer to French strongpoints mirrored Korean War methods.
Artillery hidden in caves was a technique promoted by Chinese advisors.
Supply chains run by civilian porters and bicycles followed Chinese military logistics models.
Conclusion
Without Soviet weapons delivered through China, the Viet Minh lacked firepower.
Without Chinese strategy and advisors, Giap’s “strike fast, win fast” plan risked disastrous failure.
Without Chinese logistics, the siege could not have lasted.
Dien Bien Phu ended French colonial rule. But it was not solely a “Vietnamese victory” as many believe. It was a joint outcome, in which China played the role of “strategic master” and the Soviet Union provided decisive firepower. Vo Nguyen Giap executed the victory, but he did not create it alone.
Moreover, the victory also reflected a deliberate ideological effort: the Soviet Union and China did not support merely for military reasons, but to expand communist influence in Vietnam and Indochina, turning the war against French colonialism into part of the global strategy of the Cold War.
I think American involvement in Vietnam was epic plunder, turning Vietnamese into enemies. US could have friendship with Hanoi, as Vietnam is more afraid of China, just wanting independence