Giap, Vo Nguyen

Vo Nguyen Giap rose to prominence as the most important military figure in 20th-century Vietnam. His career encompassed World War II, the war for National Liberation from the French (1946–1954), and the war for national reunification (1960–1975), dominated by the conflict with the United States from 1965 to 1972. As founder and frequent head of the People’s Army of Viet Nam (PAVN), Giap’s leadership skills and strategic thinking led to military victories that, though costly, in the end brought Vietnam independence and reunification. His later literary works highlighted the importance of the military as an instrument of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP, later the Vietnamese Communist Party) and as a powerful force behind “the revolution.” This entry discusses Vo Nguyen Giap’s rise to power and ...