About
Võ Nguyên Giáp was a Vietnamese general and politician, commander-in-chief of the People's Army of Vietnam during the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War. Born into a peasant family, he became a history teacher before joining the revolutionary movement. In 1944, he founded the Vietnam Liberation Army Team, predecessor of the People's Army. He is renowned for his decisive victory at Điện Biên Phủ in 1954, which ended French colonial rule. He also directed the Tết Offensive (1968), the Easter Offensive (1972), and the final Hồ Chí Minh Campaign (1975) that unified Vietnam. After the war, he held ministerial positions and remained an influential figure until his death in 2013.
* 1911-08-25 — † 2013-10-04
Major works
- People's Army, People's War (1962)military essay
- Big Victory, Great Task (1968)military essay
- Điện Biên Phủ (1964)memoir
- The Peasant Question (1937)political study
Key milestones
- 1944Founded the Vietnam Liberation Army Team, predecessor of the Vietnam People's Army.
- 1954Won the decisive battle of Điện Biên Phủ, leading to the Geneva Accords and the end of the First Indochina War.
- 1975Led the Hồ Chí Minh Campaign, resulting in the reunification of Vietnam.
Themes
People's warMilitary strategyNational independenceCommunist revolutionDecolonization
Sources: id.loc.gov · britannica.com · indochine.uqam.ca