Viet Minh Việt Minh ( ; abbreviated from " Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội " , English " League for the Independence of Vietnam " ) was a communist national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó on May 19 , 1941 . The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire . When the Japanese occupation began , the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China . After World War II , the Việt Minh opposed the re - occupation of Vietnam by France and later opposed South Vietnam and the United States in the Vietnam War . World War II . During World War II , Japan occupied French Indochina . As well as fighting the French , the Việt Minh started a campaign against the Japanese . As of the end of 1944 , the Viet Minh claimed a membership of 500 , 000 , of which 200 , 000 were in Tonkin , 150 , 000 in Annam , and 150 , 000 in Cochinchina . Due to their opposition to the Japanese , the Việt Minh received funding from the United States , Soviet Union and the Republic of China . When Japan surrendered in August 1945 , the Japanese handed over control of some public buildings and weapons requisitioned from the French army to the Việt Minh , now led by Hồ Chí Minh , after turning in the Vietnamese nationalist leaders of the Việt Minh to the French colonialists . The Việt Minh also recruited more than 600 of the Japanese soldiers , who fought in the war against France until 1954 . After the nationalist organizations proclaimed the independence of Việt Nam , Hồ proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2 , 1945 . First Indochina War . However , within days , the Chinese Kuomintang ( Nationalist ) Army arrived in Vietnam to supervise the repatriation of the Japanese Imperial Army . The Democratic Republic of Vietnam therefore existed only in theory and effectively controlled no territory . A few months later , the Chinese , Vietnamese and French came to a three - way understanding . The French gave up certain rights in China , the Việt Minh agreed to the return of the French in exchange for promises of independence within the French Union , and the Chinese agreed to leave . Negotiations between the French and Việt Minh broke down quickly . What followed was nearly ten years of war against France . This was known as the First Indochina War or , to the Vietnamese , the French War . The Việt Minh , who were short on modern military knowledge , created a military school in Tỉnh Quảng Ngãi in June 1946 . More than 400 Vietnamese were trained by Japanese soldiers in this school . These soldiers were considered to be students of the Japanese . Later , some of them fought as generals against the United States in the Vietnam War . French General Jean - Etienne Valluy quickly pushed the Việt Minh out of Hanoi . His French infantry with armored units went through Hanoi , fighting small battles against isolated Việt Minh groups . The French encircled the Việt Minh base , Việt Bắc , in 1947 , but failed to defeat the Việt Minh forces , and had to retreat soon after . The campaign is now widely considered a Việt Minh victory over the well - equipped French force . The Việt Minh continued fighting against the French until 1949 , when the border of China and Vietnam was linked together as the result of the campaign called Chiến dịch Biên giới ( Borderland Campaign ) . The newly communist People ' s Republic of China gave the Việt Minh both sheltered bases and heavy weapons with which to fight the French . With the additional weapons , the Việt Minh were able to take control over many rural areas of the country . Soon after that , they began to advance towards the French occupied areas . North Vietnam and the end of the Việt Minh . Following their defeat at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ , the French began negotiations to leave Vietnam . As a result of peace accords worked out at the Geneva Conference in Geneva , Switzerland , Vietnam was divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam at the 17th Parallel as a temporary measure until unifying elections could take place in 1956 . Transfer of civil administration of North Vietnam to the Việt Minh was given on October 11 , 1954 . Hồ Chí Minh was appointed Prime Minister of North Vietnam , which would be run as a socialist state . Ngô Đình Diệm , who was previously appointed Prime Minister of South Vietnam by Emperor Bảo Đại , eventually assumed control of South Vietnam . The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam . Neither the United States government nor Ngo Dinh Diem ' s State of Vietnam signed anything at the 1954 Geneva Conference . With respect to the question of reunification , the non - communist Vietnamese delegation objected strenuously to any division of Vietnam , but lost out when the French accepted the proposal of Viet Minh delegate Pham Van Dong , who proposed that Vietnam eventually be united by elections under the supervision of " local commissions " . The United States countered with what became known as the " American Plan , " with the support of South Vietnam and the United Kingdom . It provided for unification elections under the supervision of the United Nations , but was rejected by the Soviet delegation . From his home in France , Emperor Bảo Đại appointed Ngô Ðình Diệm as Prime Minister of South Vietnam . With American support , in 1955 Diệm used a referendum to remove the former Emperor and declare himself the president of the Republic of Vietnam . When the elections failed to occur , Việt Minh cadres who stayed behind in South Vietnam were activated and started to fight the government . North Vietnam also invaded and occupied portions of Laos to assist in supplying the guerilla fighting National Liberation Front in South Vietnam . The war gradually escalated into the Second Indochina War , more commonly known as the " Vietnam War " in the West and the " American War " in Vietnam . The Khmer Viet Minh . Khmer Viet Minh were the 3 , 000 to 5 , 000 Cambodian communist cadres , left - wing members of the Khmer Issarak movement regrouped in the United Issarak Front after 1950 , most of whom lived in exile in North Vietnam after the 1954 Geneva Conference . It was a derogatory term used by Norodom Sihanouk , dismissing the Cambodian leftists who had been organizing pro - independence agitations in alliance with the Vietnamese . Sihanouk ' s public criticism and mockery of the Khmer Viet Minh had the damaging effect of increasing the power of the hardline , anti - Vietnamese , but also anti - monarchist , members of the CPK , led by Pol Pot . The Khmer Viet Minh were instrumental in the foundation of the Cambodian Salvation Front ( FUNSK ) in 1978 . The FUNSK invaded Cambodia along with the Vietnamese Army and overthrew the Democratic Kampuchea Pol Pot state . Many of the Khmer Viet Minh had married Vietnamese women during their long exile in Vietnam . Note . The " Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội " is not to be confused with the " Việt Nam Cách Mạng Ðồng Minh Hội " ( League for the Vietnamese Revolution , abbreviated as " Việt Cách " ) which was founded by Nguyễn Hai Than and Hồ Ngoc Lam , and which later joined the Vietnamese National Coalition in 1946 .