General Giap was known as the Red Napoleon, one of the foremost military geniuses of the last century, a school teacher in journalist who became a communist, a revolutionary and a military strategist, a guerrilla leader who ended the French colonial occupation of his country and fought on against the US forces who alternately retreated as well. Giap was born into a family of rice farmers when Vietnam was better known as Indochina, an impoverished corner of the French Empire in the southeast asia. Communist rebels under Ho Chi Minh began their war indepence against the French in 1951. Giap was the second most prominent figure in the fight and his fame only grew after 1954 siege of Dien Bien Phu. The battle lasted nearly 2 months claimed thousands of lives but in the end Giap's guerrilla army was victorious the French stunned by the setback, left Vietnam that the same year. "With the victory of Dien Bien Phu we put the name of Vietnam on the map of the world" he told one interviewer- Vietnam got a place on american maps in particular when Washington committed its own growing number forces to a cold war campaign to defend itself Vietnam against the communist- run north. Gen Giap led his people and what they came to refer to as the American war and was the mastermind of what may have been its decisive encounter the Tet Offensive of 1986- a surprise attack that targeted dozens of cities in South Vietnam. The Us embassy was even briefly overrun both sides suffered heave casualties before the offensive was eventually repulsed. And the war dragged on for years but the offensive is remembered as a major turning point in the conflict, a blow to the American confidence, it was one more reason Giap was considered as a hero by many Vietnamese and communists worldwide. He lived all his last years in Hanoi in a french villa receiving accolades interviewers and guests. The Red Napoleon died peacefully at the age of 102.
0 comments:
Post a Comment