The 1930’s wasn’t a happy time for the Vietnamese. For 60 years, Vietnam had been forcefully ruled by France. They were under a republic ruling, however they did not follow it. As more time went by, the people became more infuriated and annoyed, which lead to the French growing stricter. All public meetings were banned, citizens couldn’t leave their area without paperwork, and they arrested anyone for acting suspicious, before the coming of Ho Chi Minh’s leadership. Ho fought for the country’s independence for many years, until he was able to achieve his goals in 1945. Nguyen That Thanh, more commonly known as Ho Chi Minh; which translates to “he who enlightens” in Vietnamese, was born on May 19th, 1890 in Nghe An, Central Vietnam. His father, Nguyen Sinh Huy worked hard to pass the civil service exam to work for the government, but soon enough he resigned due to the French involvement. He did not believe that they shouldn’t interfere with the Vietnamese affairs. His views on their government system was influenced by his father, by introducing him to a number of rebel groups. At the age of nine, he was working for anti-colonial organisation as a messenger. Ho Chi Minh attended the National Academy in Hué, Vietnam, but was kicked out for joining the protests against their current regime in 1908. As a result of that, he travelled to south Vietnam, working as a schoolteacher. In 1911, he switched his occupation to a cook on a French steamship. Ho visited several ports in Europe, Africa, and the US. For years Ho Chi Minh lived abroad. He learned about communism during his time out of the country. Communism is the idea of believing that everyone should be equal. All property should be shared between the citizens. There would not be such thing as social classes, and no one would be excluded in anything. He hoped to spread this idea to Vietnam, where they would no longer be forced to do anything by the French. Ho Chi Minh was a member of the Indochina Communist Party (ICP). The group’s aim was to overthrow the french rulers and make Vietnam an independent country. ICP was spread throughout the country, and was taking on members by having secret meetings and sneaking leaflets amongst the Vietnamese. In 1925, Ho Chi Minh alongside a few former members of Tam Tam Xa (The New Vietnam Youth Union. A revolution organisation) founded a Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League (Thanh Nien). They recruited young vietnamese who had the same views as them. They gave lectures on the revolutionary theories and practices at their headquarters in downtown Guangzhou. The group’s growth was slow in 1925. However in 1927, Phan Chu Trinh, a nationalist fighting for the independence of Vietnam died, and Nguyen An Ninh, an activist against the French was arrested. This resulted in the expansion of the Youth League. Many recruits were triggered by the French authorities’ actions. Thanh Nien ended in 1928 when Jiang Jieshi, a Chinese political and military leader continued to mistreat communists. He put an end to the lectures being give, and arrested all the main leaders. However, Ho Chi Minh managed to flee to Moscow, Russia. Ho wanted to continue his teachings and influence on the country, but he knew that the French were on the look out for him. He wouldn’t be able to sneak back into the country without being arrested, so he had to wait for the perfect chance. World War 2 broke out in 1939. The French were too occupied with the Germans invading their country and the Japanese attacking the french bases in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the least of their worries. Ho got by with sneaking back into Vietnam, and immediately set up headquarters for the ICP. The office was located in a cave ringed with jungle in Pac Bo. Ho Chi Minh also created another League of Independence called Viet Minh. However he left a man name Nguyen Giap to be in charge. Their aim was to train their recruits to fight both the French and the Japanese. They were taught how to guerrilla. A type of fighting that was made up of surprise ambushes and raids against the enemy. The group got their weapons from America and China, since both countries were also at war with Japan. In 1945, the war ended when the US dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan. As soon as the news reached Ho Chi Minh, he urged the Vietnamese to strike. He rushed this process before the French were able to gain their control and strength back. All across Northern Vietnam, the Viet Minh organisation gained authority of important buildings such as the government building and police stations. The country was then renamed to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. They had a new flag, and elected Ho Chi Minh as their president. Ho was now the leader of their nation. Ho Chi Minh encountered many individuals that influenced his position and who he became; however Vo Nguyen Giap and Ngo Dinh Diem are the most significant. Vo Nguyen Giap, a Vietnamese military and political leader, was the leader of the Viet Minh. Vo worked side by side with Ho Chi Minh, as they were both fighting off the French. Both wanted their country to gain independence. During the Cold War, Giap served as the Minister of Defence and Commander-in-chief of the Vietnamese Army. His guerrilla tactics were so perfected, that they led to the Viet Minh victory against the French. The strategies he used helped both their military and political positions. Ngo Dinh Diem, however was at the opposing side of the Cold War. In 1945, he was captured by Ho Chi Minh’s forces. Diem was invited to join the Northern Vietnam government system, but he declined. In 1954, Ngo Dinh Diem became the president of Southern Vietnam. Unlike Northern Vietnam, the South was anti-communist. Diem’s orders were made clear to arrest any communists in his country. If one was found, they would be tortured and killed. His actions started a domino effect reaction. Ho Chi Minh would then order his people to attack their government, which led to the Southern Viet’s to defend themselves. This went on until it became much more serious; resulting in the Vietnam War. Ho Chi Minh’s actions during the Vietnam War impacted many people’s lives. Amid the war, the enemies would try to have peace talks with North Vietnam, but they would not agree on anything until they got what they wanted. Without a peace agreement, the war advanced, which continued the deaths of many people. Ho Chi Minh was brutal to his rivals, he did not care if they were resting or on duty; the military’s guerrilla tactics was their best strategy. Around 58,220 casualties took place between the years the war was running. That’s 58,220 lives that ended; 58,220 families who lost a loved one; 58,220 innocent people that were killed. Those 58,220 lives can never be gotten back. Ho Chi Minh’s actions impacted those 58,220 people. Most of them did not even want to join, but were forced due to mandatory military duties. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s former leader has impacted his country for the rest of it’s running time from his one action. He made Vietnam an independent country. Without him, Vietnam would have probably remained until the control of the French. No one before him was powerful and persuasive enough to lead several revolutionary groups at once. His advancement and haste to make his nation free from French controls was alluring to his recruits, which led him to becoming the president. The independence of Vietnam is credited towards Ho Chi Minh, and without him, many events would have happened differently in history.