Viet Minh Front’s role in history spotlighted at Hanoi exhibition

The display at the Vietnam National Museum of History is held on the occasion of the 75th founding anniversary of Viet Minh (May 19, 1941). 

Viet Minh, full name Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (League for the Independence of Vietnam), existed until 1951. 

At the opening ceremony, Politburo member and Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee President Nguyen Thien Nhan said Viet Minh helped unite Vietnamese people from all social strata during the struggle for national liberation. And the first success was the victory of the August Revolution that gained independence for Vietnam in 1945. 

Among nearly 200 items on display, many of them introduce the domestic and global historical background for the establishment of the front. 

Other objects and photos relate to the establishment of Viet Minh and the role of late President Ho Chi Minh, known as Nguyen Ai Quoc then, in the foundation. 

They include a verse on the 10 policies of Viet Minh written by President Ho Chi Minh to call for people’s solidarity. It was written in “luc bat”, a traditional verse form in Vietnamese poetry that consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables. 

Another notable exhibit is the rattan suitcase President Ho Chi Minh brought along when he returned to Vietnam on January 28, 1941, after 30 years of staying abroad to seek ways for saving his homeland. He also used this suitcase during his time in Ha Quang district of Cao Bang province later that year. 

The exhibition also features objects demonstrating the role of Viet Minh in raising national unity to prepare for the August Revolution in 1945, and the resistance war against French colonialists in the following years. 

Photos and documents on the great national unity bloc during the Doi moi (Reform) period since 1986 are showcased in the last section of the event, which stays open until August.