December 20
1946
Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Viet Minh, the group struggling to expel French colonial rule from Vietnam, issues the following statement: “All the Vietnamese must stand up to fight the French colonials to save the fatherland. Those who have rifles will use their rifles; those who have swords will use their swords; those who have no swords will use spades, hoes, or sticks. Everyone must endeavor to oppose the colonialists and save his country. Even if we have to endure hardship in the resistance war, with the determination to make sacrifices, victory will surely be ours.” The first Indochina War had begun.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 