Nationalism of the sort spread by the Free School Movement was squelched by the French as soon as it became a threat. After 1908, overt opposition in Vietnam was minimal. In 1927, a Nationalist Party was formed in Vietnam but this was repressed and many of its members moved to South China. Generally speaking, conditions were strictly controlled within Vietnam, and the radical and outspoken opponents to colonization were those who had left the country to be educated in France. They were able to travel and study, discussing the future of Vietnam and methods through which they could overthrow the colonial government.
During these travels, young Vietnamese intellectuals were first introduced to the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism. This doctrine was attractive to colonized people all over the world because of the Russian communist leade,r Lenin's, call for the end to colonization. Communism also seemed like a good alternative to the absolute monarchy and unfair landowning practices which had caused Vietnam so many problems throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The most famous of the Vietnamese student-intellectuals was Ho Chi Minh, who traveled not only to France, but to China, Russia, and throughout Europe, creating his own brand of communism in Hong Kong. Soon communists and nationalists joined together in the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP).