Editing Võ Nguyên Giáp (section)

=== Political activism ===
While a student, Giáp had taken lodgings with Professor Dang Thai Minh,<ref>Macdonald 1993, p. 22.</ref> whose daughter, Nguyen Thi Minh Giang (also cited as {{ill|Nguyễn Thị Quang Thái|vi}}; 1915–1944),<ref name=Willbanks229/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://laodong.com.vn/Lao-dong-cuoi-tuan/Ve-mot-nguoi-than-cua-Dai-tuong-Vo-Nguyen-Giap/49018.bld |title=Archived copy |access-date=17 September 2024 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305095649/http://laodong.com.vn/Lao-dong-cuoi-tuan/Ve-mot-nguoi-than-cua-Dai-tuong-Vo-Nguyen-Giap/49018.bld |url-status=dead }}</ref> he had first met at school in Hue. She too had learned nationalism from her father and had joined the revolutionary activities with which Giáp was involved. In June 1938 (or, according to some sources{{specify|date=December 2018}}, April 1939) they were married and in May 1939 they had a daughter, Hong Anh (Red Queen of Flowers).<ref name=Willbanks229/><ref>{{cite book|first=Phillip B.|last=Davidson|title=Vietnam at War: The History|location=Novato|publisher=Presidio Press|year=1988|page=[https://archive.org/details/vietnamatwarhist00davi/page/7 7]|isbn=0-89141-306-5|url=https://archive.org/details/vietnamatwarhist00davi/page/7}}</ref> Giáp's busy political activities took a toll on his postgraduate studies, and he failed to pass the examinations for the Certificate of Administrative Law. Unable therefore to practice as a lawyer, he took a job as a history teacher at the {{ill|Thăng Long School|vi|Trường Tiểu học Thăng Long, Hà Nội}} in Hanoi.<ref>Currey 2005, p. 32.</ref>

As well as teaching in school, Giáp was busy producing and writing articles for ''Tiếng Dân'' (Voice of the People) founded by [[Huỳnh Thúc Kháng]] and many other revolutionary newspapers, while actively participating in various revolutionary movements. All the while, Giáp was a dedicated reader of military history and philosophy, revering [[Sun Tzu]].<ref>For details of Sun Tzu's influence on Giáp see: Forbes, Andrew & Henley, David (2012), ''The Illustrated Art of War: Sun Tzu'', Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books, {{ASIN|B00B91XX8U}}.</ref> He also made a particular study of [[Napoleon]]'s generalship, and greatly admired [[T. E. Lawrence]]'s ''[[Seven Pillars of Wisdom]]'', learning from it practical examples of how to apply minimum military force to maximum effect.<ref>Macdonald 1993, p. 23.</ref> He also read and was influenced by historical figures including [[Carl von Clausewitz]],<ref>T. Derbent: Giap et Clausewitz, éditions ADEN, Bruxelles 2006.</ref> [[George Washington]], and [[Vladimir Lenin]].<ref name="auto" /> During the [[Popular Front (France)|Popular Front]] years in France, he founded ''Hồn Trẻ tập mới'' (Soul of Youth),<ref name=Willbanks229>Willbanks 2013, p. 229.</ref> an underground socialist newspaper. He also founded the French-language paper ''[[Le Travail Movement|Le Travail]]'' (on which Phạm Văn Đồng also worked).

After the signing of the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]], the French authorities outlawed the Indochinese Communist Party. Its leaders decided that Giáp should leave Vietnam and go into exile in China. On 3 May 1940 he said farewell to his wife, left Hanoi and crossed the border into China. Giáp's wife went to her family home in Vinh, where she was arrested, sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment, and incarcerated in the [[Hoa Lo Central Prison]] in Hanoi.<ref>Macdonald 1993, pp. 22–23.</ref> In China, Giáp joined up with [[Hồ Chí Minh]], then an adviser to the [[People's Liberation Army]]. Giáp adopted the alias Duong Huai-nan, learned to speak and write Chinese, and studied the strategy and tactics of the Chinese Communist Party.<ref>Macdonald 1993, p. 27.</ref>

In September 1940, [[Vichy France]] agreed to the [[Japanese occupation of Vietnam]], to 'protect' Indochina. In May 1941 the Eighth Congress of the Indochinese Communist Party decided to form the [[Viet Minh]]; Giáp was made responsible for establishing an intelligence network and organising political bases in the far north of the country. To begin propaganda work among the population, a news-sheet called ''Việt Nam Độc Lập'' was produced. Giáp wrote many articles for it, and was repeatedly criticised by Ho Chi Minh for the excessive verbosity of his writing style.<ref>Macdonald 1993, p. 28.</ref>