Nguyễn Hải Thần

Who was Nguyễn Hải Thần?

Nguyễn Hải Thần was a leader of the Việt Nam Cách Mạng Ðồng Minh Hội and a political leader during the Vietnamese Revolution. In 1905, he left Vietnam to study at military academies first in Japan then in China as part of Phan Bội Châu's Ðông-Du Movement. In 1912, he joined Châu's Vietnam Restoration League and became one of its representative in Kwangsi and one of its most capable military leaders.

After Châu's capture in 1925 that led to the league's demise, Thần and other revolutionaries in China founded the Việt Nam Cách Mạng Ðồng Minh Hội. A mild-tempered and thoughtful person, Thần was respected by many Chinese officials and overseas Vietnamese revolutionaries. His views were usually held in high regards. Using his good relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, he lobbied for the release and pardon of Hồ Chí Minh when the latter was in jail waiting to be executed for "crimes against the French colonial government".

In September 1945, Hồ and the Communists seized the government from Emperor Bảo Đại and founded the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Thần briefly joined Hồ's coalition government that comprised several non-Communist party leaders. After Hồ signed a modus vivendi Marius Moutet, France was able to return to its former colony. The move bought Hồ precious time to deal with the non-communist military forces. As soon as the Chinese troops that had entered Vietnam to disarm the Japanese were replaced by French expeditionary forces, Hồ's Việt Minh attacked all non-communist bases in the country. Thần, who opposed Hồ's communist connections, fled to Nanjing, China where he remained until his death in 1951.