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[* Vo Nguyen Giap (1911- )
- alias Duong Hoai Nam (Du+o+ng Hoa`i Nam) or brother Van (anh Va<n); born
in 24/8/1911 (communist document says that he was born in 1910) in An Xa
(An Xa'), Quang Binh (Qua?ng Bi`nh) province. Giap's father was a
low-ranked mandarin. Among early members of the ICP, Giap was most
intellectual : he studied at the Hue's National Academy (tru+o+`ng Quo^'c
ho.c Hue^'), graduated from Lyce'e Albert Sarraut.
- Giap joined the New Vietnamese Revolutionary Party (Ta^n Vie^.t Ca'ch
Ma.ng DDa?ng) in 1924.
- 25/11/1930 : the court Thua Thien sentenced Giap to 2 years in prison.
Giap entered the ICP.
- 18/11/1931 : Giap was released and lived on probation in his hometown.
- 1932-1937 : Giap went to Hanoi and taught history at the private school
Thang Long (Tha<ng Long) where he was acquainted with Dang Thai Mai
(philosophy teacher), his close friend and second father-in-law. Giap
studied Laws at University of Hanoi (1938) but must cancelled it due to
making a living.
- 1936-1939 : Giap was in the leadership of "the Indochinese Democratic
Front" (Ma<.t tra^.n da^n chu? DDo^ng du+o+ng, a front of the ICP).
Cooperating with the paper "Le Travail". He married Nguyen Thi Quang Thai
(Nguye^~n Thi. Quang Tha'i), younger sister of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai. Thai
was a communist, later caught and died in Hoa Lo prison ("Hanoi Hilton").
- 5/1940 : sent to China.
- 1941 : Giap returned to Vietnam and participated in resistance in Cao
Bang, near the Sino-Viet border.
- 22/12/1944 : head of the "Armed propaganda detachment" or "the Vietnam
People's Propaganda Unit for National Liberation (DDoa`n vo~ trang tuye^n
truye^`n gia?i pho'ng qua^n).
- According to "Setting the Stage" by E. Doyle, after the Japanese coup in
9/3/1945, Vietminh contacted OSS. The Americans could not relied on the
defeated French and turned to the Vietminh for information concerning
Japanese movements in Vietnam. The British with the French support had
their own commando operations in Vietnam's northern mountains. Relations
between the two groups were not smooth. The Vietminh believed that the
French were more interested in restablishing their rule in Vietnam than
fighting the Japanese. The Americans believed in the Vietminh, not the
Anglo-French guerilla forces. Americans who worked with Thanh during
1944-1945 described him as a "brilliant and capable man...who speaks for
his people...he is a moderate man and ready to remain pro-West...".
American commandos often joined with the Vietminh. By the end of the war,
not only were OSS teams cooperating with the Vietminh, they were joined as
well by Air-Ground-Air-Service teams (AGAS) aiding downed pilots, by units
of the Joint Army-Navy Intelligence Service (ANIS) and by team of officers
under Colonel Steven L. Nordinger, charged with the repatriation of
American prisoners of war.
- 4/1945 : Giap was chief of the Vietminh force and prepared to strike
Japanese from "liberated zones" expanded beyond Cao Bang province.
- 7/1945 : American commando team in "Deer Mission" led by Major Allison
K. Thomas parachuted in the Vietminh-held territory and were welcomed with
a simple sign : "Welcome to our American friends". Thomas was instructed
to set up a commando unit to cut Japanese land transportation. Then one
hundred Vietminh fighters were trained and called the Deer Team.
- Sunday of 26/8/1945 : Giap organized a demonstration to welcome some
"commissioners in the government" and Major Archimedes Patti's group in
Hanoi.
- 29/8/1945 : minister of Interior.
- 2/3/1946 : chief of the Resistance United Committee (chu? ti.ch U?y ban
Lie^n hie^.p kha'ng chie^'n).
- 3/11/1946 : minister of National Defence.
- 7/1947 : losing the Defence post, but assigned as commander-in-chief of
the Vietminh army (To^?ng tu+ li.nh qua^n ddo^.i Vie^.t Minh).
- 1/1948 : promoted as "senior general" (dda.i tu+o+'ng).
Before 1977, Giap was seen as author of military victories in the
Sino-Viet border area Viet Bac (the campaign "Border", 1950) and Dien Bien
Phu (1954).
In 1955, Giap was the 5th man in the politburo, vice-premier, minister of
the National Defence and commander-in-chief of the PAVN. In 9/1960, at
the 3rd party conference, Giap was reduced to the 6th position, below Pham
Hung but above Le Duc Tho and still head of the Central Political
Commissariat (Bi' thu+ qua^n uy? trung u+o+ng).
After the Tet Offensive (1968), especially after Thanh's death on
2/9/1969, Gia'p was demoted progressively. At the 4th party conference in
12/1976, Giap was at the 6th position in the politburo while Pham Hung got
the 4th and Le Duc Tho, the 5th.
Early in 1980, Giap tranferred the defence and the Central Political
Commissariat to Van Tien Dung (Va<n Tie^'n Du~ng). Two years later, in
3/1982, Giap was out of the politburo and only kept the nominal post as
vice-premier in charge of the Science and Technology.
It was known for a long time that relation between Giap and Chinh had been
bad for a long time. Giap has seldom bothered to conceal his dislike of
China; to him, Soviet military technology which he studied during severa
visits to Russia was better than Chinese.
Giap's prestige declined more when Beijing revealed that the CCP military
advisors contributed a great deal in setting up means and strategies in
military operations in the first Indochina War from 1950-1954, especially
the campaigns "Border" of 1950 and Dien Bien Phu of 1954.*]
(continued)
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