The Vietnam Revolutionary League (), abbreviated as the Viá»Ât Cách, was a Vietnamese nationalist political organization that existed during the period of French colonization.
The Vietnam Revolutionary League was a pro-Republic of China organization consisting of a number of allied political groups active in Vietnam but based out of China. After Vietnamese independence, the Viá»Ât Cách followed Chiang Kai-Shek's army into Vietnam.
Before the Viá»Ât Cách was established, China-based Vietnamese revolutionary groups had previously attempted to unite into a larger organization. According to Neil L. Jamieson's book, Understanding Vietnam, communists, the Viá»Ât Quá»Âc, and several other groups jointly established bases in Jingxi, Guangxi starting in 1940. Khái Hðng and Hoàng ÃÂạo traveled to China as members of the (ÃÂVDCÃÂ), after which the Viá»Ât Quá»Âc moved to Kunming and published anti-Japanese newspapers alongside the communist organization there. When Japan advanced into Indochina, the Viá»Ât Quá»Âc established the Vietnam Liberation League (), comprising itself alongside the ÃÂVDCÃÂ, the ÃÂại Viá»Ât Nationalist Party, the (also known as the Phục quá»Âc Há»Âi), the Viá»Ât Minh, and other smaller parties. The Vietnam Liberation League was led by Nguyá» n Hải Thần, and counted among its members a number of future communist notables, including Phạm VÃÂn ÃÂá»Âng, Võ Nguyên Giáp, and Hoàng VÃÂn Hoan. In 1942, the organization relocated to Liuzhou, where a number of its constituent parties formed the Vietnam Revolutionary League. The founding congress of the Viá»Ât Cách opened on October 1, 1942, and featured delegates from various non-communist Vietnamese nationalist groups, most notably the Viá»Ât Quá»Âc and the Phục quá»Âc Há»Âi, under the auspices of Kuomintang general Zhang Fakui. The congress elected a seven-member Central Committee, consisting of:
The standing Committee members were Trðáng Bá»Âi Công, Nguyá» n Hải Thần, and Và © Há»Âng Khanh, but Và © Há»Âng Khanh and Nghiêm Kế Tá» were the most powerful members of the Committee due to their Kuomintang backing. However, in 1943 Zhang Fakui entrusted Há» ChàMinh with leadership of the Viá»Ât Cách. According to Robert Shaplen's book, The Lost Revolution: '"And it was from this time that Nguyen Ai Quoc changed his name to Ho Chi Minh, primarily to conceal his identity from Dai Li, Chiang's secret police chief. With the name of Ho Chi Minh, he became the leader of a broad organization of Vietnamese revolutionary groups called the Vietnam Revolutionary League, which was supported by the Chinese Kuomintang, and the communist-led Viet Minh was originally only a part of this organization." In March 1944, Nguyá» n Hải Thần chaired the Conference of Overseas Revolutionary Groups of the Vietnam Revolutionary League, establishing an administrative committee which included three delegates from the Indochinese Communist Party: , Phạm VÃÂn ÃÂá»Âng, and Há» ChàMinh. But in mid-1944, Há» ChàMinh returned to Vietnam, and Và © Há»Âng Khanh clashed with Nguyá» n Hải Thần and Nhất Linh. This alliance thus dissolved, and Nguyá» n Hải Thần continued to lead the Viá»Ât Cách.