Vo Nguyen Giap was born on August 25, 1911 in An Xa village, Le Thuy District, Quang Binh Province. He is the son of Vo Quang Nghiem and Nguyen Thi Kien. Vo Quang Nghiem was a Confucian scholar who taught Chinese characters and a traditional herbalist. At An Xa village, the public lands were re-allocated every three years. Nghiem's family, which had many children, led a sparse life, apart from the period between crops, with 2.5 hectares of assigned crop field.

Viet Nam was colonized by the French during that time. Giap's maternal grandfather took part in the Can Vuong Royalist Movement against the French colonialists. When he was a child, his mother told him that when the French came, his maternal grandmother put her children in two bamboo baskets of a shoulder pole and carried them out of the village. His mother also told him about a folksong named "That thu kinh do" (The fall of the capital). That folksong from his childhood would never be forgotten.

Giap was an intelligent boy who was allowed to skip ahead. Nghiem wanted his son to study well so he would become a good person. Thanks to his two sisters who worked as small ware vendors to support him financially, he studied at Quoc Hoc School in Hue at the age of 13. He always held first place in his class. Once when he fell to second place, his teachers and classmates were all surprised. Studying was not his only concern. At that time, revolutionary movements were very active, especially when the French colonialists had brought Phan Boi Chau back from Japan and put him under house arrest by the Huong river. Many students joined in the protests demanding to release Phan Boi Chau and wore mourning bands for Phan Chu Trinh among other such activities. Giap was one of them.

In April 1927, a student strike took place at Quoc Hoc School in Hue. Giap's close friend, Nguyen Chi Dieu, who was three years older than him, often talked to Giap about his discontentment with the colonial style of education which aimed to train accomplices loyal to the mother country. The school supervisors noted Dieu was the leader of the school movements. During a math exam, a supervisor accused Dieu of cheating and expelled him from class.

Giap and his classmates signed a petition objecting to Dieu's expulsion from the school. Of course, the petition was rejected. Giap and Nguyen Khoa Van (a.k.a Hai Trieu) organized a student strike, which immediately developed into a general strike of students in Hue. Many students, both male and female, were arrested. After a week, the authorities released the students, and expelled those who were thought to be the strike leaders, including Vo Nguyen Giap, Nguyen Chi Dieu, and Nguyen Hai Trieu.

Giap went to Quang Nam, Sinh Dinh, then stayed in Hue for a while before heading back to his hometown in an intellectual impasse.

One day, Nguyen Chi Dieu went to An Xa to seek out Giap, Dieu brought along a document about "Lien doan cac dan toc bi ap buc tren the gioi" (the League of Oppressed Nations), and some documents from meetings of the "Viet Nam Thanh nien Cach mang Dong chi Hoi" (the Revolutionary Youth League of Viet Nam) in Guangzhou, in which was Nguyen Ai Quoc's address. Dieu said that having been expelled from school, he would join the revolutionary Tan Viet Party, which had a base in Hue. Dieu also showed Giap the agenda and regulations of the Party. A new path was opened for Giap.

In mid 1928, Giap went back to Hue. He took the cover of a secretary of Quan Hai Tung Thu Publishing House, on Dong Ba street, which housed a base of the revolutionary Tan Viet Party. Giap operated in a secret small group. He began to access economic, social, national and revolutionary theories. He was interested in Nguyen Ai Quoc's works, especially the "Ban an che do thuc dan Phap" (French Colonialism on Trial) and the "Nguoi cung kho" newspaper (Le Paria). From 1929, Giap was a member of the nuclear group in the revolutionary Tan Viet Party. He proactively mobilized for this party to join the Communist Party. He wrote to promote Marxism for Tieng Dan (The people's voice) newspaper. The authorities began to keep a close eye on all of his activities.

After the Soviet-Nghe Tinh Movement, the French became more oppressive. In October 1930, Vo Nguyen Giap and many others, including his former teacher Dang Thai Mai and friends at Quoc Hoc School in Hue, were arrested. Giap was sentenced to two years in prison. In late 1931, thanks to the struggle of the French Red Relief Society to release political prisoners, the authorities set free those sentenced three years or less. Dang Thai Mai, Vo Nguyen Giap and others were freed. Mai stopped teaching at Quoc Hoc school in Hue and went back to Vinh City. Vo Nguyen Giap was escorted to his hometown in An Xa.

Giap turned 20 years old and he stayed in An Xa for only a short time. He left for Vinh to realize his ambition. Thanks to his former teacher Dang Thai Mai, he got a temporary job. In 1932, Dang Thai Mai went to Ha Noi to teach and Giap followed him. He left school in the second year in Thanh Chung degree (Primary school Education or Diplôme d'Étude Primaire Supérieurs Franco-Indigène). He decided to spend 10 months taking the first Tu Tai exam (High School or Baccalauréat, 1ère partie) as a miscellaneous candidate, and he passed it with first-class honours. Vo Nguyen Giap began teaching in Thang Long School with his former teacher Dang Thai Mai.

In 1936, the Popular Front came into power in France, which caused the colonialist authorities in Indochina to implement some democratic renovations. Giap joined several public demonstrations organised by the Party. Regarding cultural activities, he wrote for several newspapers of the Party in French and Vietnamese. He became President of Bac Ky (Tonkin, the North) Press Committee. His capacity for work was prodigious. He could write for 24 hours non-stop producing an entire edition of the newspaper "Le Travail" so that it could be published the following morning.

In late 1939, the French Popular Front was defeated and Fascism emerged, threatening the world, including France. The Indochinese authorities suppressed the Vietnamese revolution movements that had risen up. At that time, Hoang Van Thu, Member of the Standing Committee of Indochinese Communist Party, suggested Giap go abroad, where he would later have a chance to meet Nguyen Ai Quoc. In summer 1940, he parted from his wife, who is also his comrade, and his newly born daughter. His first wife (Mrs. Thai) promised to leave for revolutionary activities when their daughter got a little older. They would never know that it was indeed a goodbye for good.

As destined, in Yunnan, Vo Nguyen Giap met Nguyen Ai Quoc, known as Ho Chi Minh by then. Soon after, Ho Chi Minh found out that Giap was a man for the future revolutionary path in Viet Nam. Ho Chi Minh contacted the Chinese Communist Party and sent Giap to Yan'an base for military education. On the way to Yan'an, he was called back by Ho Chi Minh. The Nazis had invaded France. Ho Chi Minh estimated that the Indochina situation would soon change dramatically and therefore, to return to the country for revolutionary preparation was imperative. In 1941, on the occasion of Tet (Lunar New Year), Ho Chi Minh returned to Viet Nam. During that time, he stayed in a cold and desolate cave in Pac Bo. He predicted that the revolution would succeed in 1945, an example of the genius of Ho Chi Minh.

In his first few years in Cao Bang, Vo Nguyen Giap was assigned to build revolutionary bases within ethnic minorities and open a Nam Tien (March South) route in order to connect with lowland revolutionary movements. Perhaps the task was the final test that he received from Ho Chi Minh. He successfully completed the task. The revolutionary base in Cao Bang had quickly expanded. In 1944, Cao Bang had many communes and districts completely allied with the Viet Minh Front. The March South route crossed the high mountains Phia Uắc, Phia Bióoc and linked with the lowlands at the Chu Market.

In December 1944, Ho Chi Minh entrusted Giap to establish the Vietnamese Mobilization and Liberation Army. According to Ho Chi Minh, it was the moment the Liberation Army "would travel from the North to the South, and all over Viet Nam". Ho Chi Minh foresaw a revolutionary army from this Mobilization and Liberation Army that could accomplish the historic mission to liberate the country. Only two days after its establishment, the army wiped out Phai Khat and Na Ngan Outposts, which were commanded by French officers. The newly-born eagle had suddenly flown high.

It was not surprising that before the National Resistance broke out, in a meeting of the Party Central Committee, there was a question of who would be appointed the Commander-in-Chief? Ho Chi Minh clearly had the question answered "Brother Van (Vo Nguyen Giap) will be that man". Despite the fact that some of the Party officers had received military education, after thirty-five years of traveling to find a way to liberate his country, Ho Chi Minh found that the only way to free a country of invaders was to carry out a resistance based on the strength of its people. The resistance would be a long-term, comprehensive struggle involving all people nationwide. Those thoughts were unprecedented, having never been introduced before. Only Ho Chi Minh could envision Giap's capability to make his ideas come true even though the 35-year-old man had never been to military school.

Two years after the outbreak of the war, the unit, comprised of people who only knew how to use weapons and could be defeated in a matter of days, was able to successfully resist the French modern army in the first big battle in cities and provinces. A year later, this unit continued to defeat the strategic offensive to the Viet Bac resistance base. This was also the only offensive by the French army on a resistance base during the National Resistance against the French colonialists. Thanks to the Viet Bac victory, the French "lightning" strategy was defeated.

In 1948, President Ho Chi Minh conferred upon Commander-in-chief Vo Nguyen Giap the military rank of a four-star General.

In the Bien Gioi (Border), Hoa Binh, Tay Bac (North West), Thuong Lao (Upper Laos) and Dien Bien Phu campaigns, under direct control of General and Commander-in-chief Vo Nguyen Giap, the Vietnamese army respectively defeated seven commanders of the French expeditionary armies, in which there were well-known experienced French military generals. These battles also put an end to the Resistance against French colonialists and signaled the twilight of colonialism in the 20th century.

The Mau Than offensive in 1968, Duong 9-Nam Lao (Road 9 - Southern Laos) in 1971, "Dien Bien Phu in the air" over Ha Noi in 1972, and the General Offensive in 1975 in the Resistance against the US, are considered great successes. They exemplified Ho Chi Minh's military thought, and were the hallmark of Commander-in-chief Vo Nguyen Giap in the two Resistances of the nation.

Vo Nguyen Giap's talent was demonstrated by the employment and promotion of the fighting traditions of our Vietnamese ancestors in the modern time: take few against many, take weak against strong, win big battles with small troops, and fight for victory. He was the Commander-in-chief who discovered and promoted the full strength of the armed forces, from the regular officers and soldiers to local militia and guerillas, and at every level of the Vietnamese army in the National Resistance. He fortified them against the enemies whose physical and material powers were more advanced. He treasured the blood of every soldier and officer. He connected with the people and comrades as if they were his own flesh and blood. He was absolutely loyal to the Party and the Nation.

The English historian, Peter MacDonald, writes: Vo Nguyen Giap was Commander-in-Chief for 30 years and was involved in political decision-making at the highest level for nearly 50 years. This commitment is unprecedented. Moreover, it is impossible to compare him to other generals, since the combination between guerilla and regular warfare on such a scale was extraordinary (French version: "Giap, Les deux guerres d'indochine". Peter Macdonald, Perrin, Paris, 1992).

His talent was not merely in military activities. In every task: diplomatic, interior, scientific, cultural, and ideological, assigned or voluntarily, Giap always made significant contributions. He hardly had time to relax since he was always totally committed to public affairs and the nation.

Source: "Commander-in-chief General Vo Nguyen GIap" Book