Founded in 1930, the Indo-China Communist Party under
Bo Chi Minh had achieved firm control over the Viqtnamese
nationalist revolution by the end of World War I1 and, immediately
following.the surrender of the Japanese, had established
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
of fruitless negotiations for independence, Ho initiated a
full-scale war against France in December 1946. The appearance
of a powerful Communist China in 1949, the meeting of
Sino-Vietnamese forces along a common border the following
year, and massive Chinese military, economic and technical
aid were indispensable to North Vietnam's final victory in
the field at Dien Bien Phu.
After a period