HCM’s second time to france

President Ho Chi Minh’s visit to France in 1946 was one of the most important
diplomatic activities of the Government during the 1945-1946 period. His visit
to France began a diplomatic trend of new Vietnam according to his own
thinking: peaceful dialogue on the basis of respecting each other’s sovereignty.
During his time in France, he left an unforgettable impression on French people
because of his sincerity, open-mindedness and simplicity. One of those French
people he met was Raymond Aubrac, former Commissioner of the Republic in
Marseilles and member of the French Parliament, who during President Ho Chi
Minh’s visit in 1946 not only became his friend but also participated in
Vietnamese fight for national liberation and their national construction for
decades that followed.

Ho Chi Minh’s journey from Moscow to Guangzhou

From 1911 to 1940, President Ho Chi Minh travelled across five continents,
immersing himself in the life of the working class, as well as working with
theoretical research and exploring practices of world revolution.
With his remarkable political activities in France, Nguyễn Ái Quốc was
sponsored by Dmitry Manuilsky, a Bolshevik revolutionary, to study in the
Soviet Union. In June 1923, he travelled to Moscow. Also, during this period,
he got more exposed to the communist activities and got to know more
revolutionaries who were also studying in Moscow at the time.

As a member of the Communist Internationale, in 1924, he took the new alias

Lý Thụy and then Vương and went to Guangzhou to help spread revolutionary
ideas to the local youth through his political science classes.

In 1927, his lectures were collected in a book named Đường Kách mệnh,
meaning The Revolutionary Road. This book marked the beginning of Marxism
and Leninism in Vietnam. Today, you can find the original copy of this book,
which is a national treasure, at Vietnam’s National Museum of History in
Hanoi.

Arrival in Thailand

In 1927, Nguyễn Ái Quốc came back to Europe and kept going around this
continent as assigned by the Communist Internationale.
One year later, he departed from Europe for Thailand. In the guise of a bald
monk named Thầu Chín, he spent his time in Nakhon Phanom working with the
overseas Vietnamese there. Meanwhile, he also authored some articles and
papers for publication in Vietnam.

Today, when visiting Nakhon Phanom, you can still find the house where Thầu
Chín used to live and a gallery showing his life here.

Stood trial in Hong Kong

In 1929, Nguyễn Ái Quốc went from Thailand to Hong Kong. In Kowloon, he

helped reconcile the conflicting communist parties from Vietnam, then
combined them to form the Vietnamese Communist Party on 3rd February
1930. This date is still celebrated annually in Vietnam.

In 1931, under the name of Tống Văn Sơ,Chinese, Nguyễn Ái Quốc was
captured by the police and had to stand trial as the British colonials considered
him as a threat. In 1932, he was released from prison and got on a boat to
Singapore. As this harbor city was part of British Malaya at this time, Tống Văn
Sơ was captured again by the British colonial police as soon as he arrived in
Singapore.

With the help of attorney Francis Henry Loseby and his fellows, Nguyễn Ái
Quốc was released. Though free, he still had to flee from Hong Kong to
Shanghai, China in January 1933. He kept moving northward to Vladivostok of
the former Soviet Union and found a way back to Moscow.