The most effective military was the NLF, or the National Liberation Front of Vietnam. It had been founded by Ho Chi Minh, this military, was backed by communism, and had the personnel of the South and North Vietnamese. However, its immediate program was more concerned with national independence than with Communism. As Ho Chi Minh said, before one could practice Communism one had to have a country to practice it in. The majority of the North Vietnamese were communists the Vietnamese had many different types of political persuasions that joined in the struggle against foreign rule. The Vietnamese people welcomed members of the NLF into their homes and helped the military because the way the military treated the Vietnamese people was respectful; as well as, with much descency. .
The Viet Minh also did everything in their power to make friends with the US, and cooperated with the US, in the struggle against Japan. However, while Ho Chi Minh established a good relationship with the Chinese. Even though the Chinese, who gave the Vietnamese some arms and equipment, the U.S. said that the Vietnamese attempts to contact with Washington was a failure. The US government committed to a policy of alliance with France, and in the long run, this policy precluded friendship with the DRV and the entire country of Vietnam. .
By the end of 1945, the French came back to Vietnam. Negotiations between France and the Viet Minh went on for about a year, but produced no effective compromise. The entire population Vietnam wanted to have independence. The French wanted to regain effective control of the country. By December 1946, all efforts at a peaceful settlement had failed; the French and the Vietnamese were at war. .
From 1946 to 1950, the war was essentially stalemated. The French had overwhelming superiority in weapons; the French Army could take and hold any particular area it really wanted. However, the French had to bring soldiers from thousands of miles away, and it was not politically practical for France to send a really large number of French soldiers to Vietnam.
