The Viet Minh cannon fodder were the poor peasants, but much of the leadership of the moment were from the landlord class (because they were educated).
But after the revolution was won in the North, the Party went sharp turn Maoist and purged them during the Land Reform Campaign that closely followed the Chicom model (and soon later they even did their own Hundred Flowers Campaign, too). Many were killed in village people's trials (as the "local tyrants") and others were imprisoned, but most importantly their families were completely excluded from the society and in effect left to starve. They called it something like isolation.
They eventually realized they made a mistake there and even organized a relief effort but for many absolutely innocent "class enemy children" and such it was too late.
Source: General Giap memoirs (his own mother was a minor landlord).
IIRC, the surviving leadership of the Viet Minh after the Tet Offensive despised Giap for the fact that they had been all but annihilated. Instead of helping them to rebuild, the NVA basically started taking over all major strategic operations. When they started infiltrating into South Vietnam, instead of supporting the VC, the NVA had their own 'government in a box' cadres that would take over villages.
I read a book written by someone who was a big supporter of the Phoenix Program, and they mentioned that the NVA would basically show up to a village, claim that the Americans were going to attack the village, and they needed to defend it; then they would fortify the village in an obvious manner, provoke an airstrike from the ARVN that would destroy the village, tell the people that the Americans bombed the village, evacuate them to a new location in Cambodia, and turn them basically into a loyalist, NVA, supporting village. The local VC connections could fuck off, or get absorbed. A few were even assassinated (also blamed on the Americans).
imagine if this actually happens and they end up forming their own nation state together.... we can only hope
What would be left as an option?
"We will drive you to the point of killing yourself if you say the naughty words."
"I will resist you with force to keep you from killing me."
"Aha! So you you are attacking us! Then you deserve to be killed!"
It's the same excuse that Vaush was using to defend the Rittenhouse lynching.
The Viet Minh cannon fodder were the poor peasants, but much of the leadership of the moment were from the landlord class (because they were educated).
But after the revolution was won in the North, the Party went sharp turn Maoist and purged them during the Land Reform Campaign that closely followed the Chicom model (and soon later they even did their own Hundred Flowers Campaign, too). Many were killed in village people's trials (as the "local tyrants") and others were imprisoned, but most importantly their families were completely excluded from the society and in effect left to starve. They called it something like isolation.
They eventually realized they made a mistake there and even organized a relief effort but for many absolutely innocent "class enemy children" and such it was too late.
Source: General Giap memoirs (his own mother was a minor landlord).
IIRC, the surviving leadership of the Viet Minh after the Tet Offensive despised Giap for the fact that they had been all but annihilated. Instead of helping them to rebuild, the NVA basically started taking over all major strategic operations. When they started infiltrating into South Vietnam, instead of supporting the VC, the NVA had their own 'government in a box' cadres that would take over villages.
I read a book written by someone who was a big supporter of the Phoenix Program, and they mentioned that the NVA would basically show up to a village, claim that the Americans were going to attack the village, and they needed to defend it; then they would fortify the village in an obvious manner, provoke an airstrike from the ARVN that would destroy the village, tell the people that the Americans bombed the village, evacuate them to a new location in Cambodia, and turn them basically into a loyalist, NVA, supporting village. The local VC connections could fuck off, or get absorbed. A few were even assassinated (also blamed on the Americans).