The International Communist League (LCI) was a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. It was founded as the October Group in 1932, by a split in the Indochinese Bolshevik-Leninist Group, which also produced the Struggle Group. The group acquired its name from its journal, ''Thang muoi'' (''October''). The October Group supported but did not join La Lutte, a

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

of the Struggle Group and the

Indochinese Communist Party The Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), km, បក្សកុម្មុយនីស្តឥណ្ឌូចិន, lo, ອິນດູຈີນພັກກອມມູນິດ, zh, t=印度支那共產黨 was a political party which was t ...

(PCI), as it would have had to withhold its criticisms of the PCI. The October Group grew rapidly and began publishing a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, ''Le Militant''. This was suppressed by the colonial government in 1937 for supporting

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

s. As a result, they again began publishing ''October'', along with a new newspaper, ''Tia Sang'', which in 1939 became a daily - perhaps the world's first daily Trotskyist newspaper. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the leading figures in the group were arrested and the organisation banned. Activity did not resume until August 1944, when it was renamed the "International Communist League". The LCI fully supported the workers' uprising against colonial rule at the end of the war. It organised committees to take power in over 150 towns. Its membership grew rapidly, and it was able to establish

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...

es. However, an attempt to organise an assembly of the committees in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

was broken up by

Chief of Police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Duong Bach Mai with the support of the PCI. When a French expeditionary force arrived, the LCI organised a workers'

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, but its appeal for workers to arm themselves was not widely taken up.

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...

of the PCI signed an agreement with the French, and the most of the leaders of the LCI were executed or had disappeared by early 1946.

References

The forgotten massacre of the Vietnamese Trotskyists
*Ngo Van Xuyet

{{Authority control Banned political parties in Vietnam Communist parties in Vietnam Defunct political parties in Vietnam Trotskyist organizations in Asia Banned communist parties

See also

References