Lê Văn Viễn
Major General Lê Văn Viễn (; 1904–1972), also known as Bảy Viễn ("Viễn the Seventh"), was the leader of the Bình Xuyên, a powerful Vietnamese criminal enterprise decreed by the Head of State, Bảo Đại, as an independent army within the Vietnamese National Army (''Quân đội Quốc gia Việt Nam''). Viễn's career trajectory was quite unique in coming from a criminal background to become a (non-Communist) leader of the Việt Minh's Zone 7, then later named a General, in charge of an auxiliary military force within the French Union, and, finally, named a General in the VNA. From 1951–55, he made arrangements with Bảo Đại, by which the Bình Xuyên was given control of their own affairs in return for their financial support of the government. In 1955, Viễn flew to Paris with the help of Antoine-Marie Savani and the Deuxième Bureau/ SDECE after his unsuccessful attempt to oust the American-backed Premier, Ngô Đình Diệm. Biography Early life ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigon River. As a Municipalities of Vietnam, municipality, Ho Chi Minh City consists of 16 List of urban districts of Vietnam, urban districts, five Huyện, rural districts, and one Municipal city (Vietnam), municipal city (sub-city). As the largest financial centre in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City has the largest gross regional domestic product out of all Vietnam provinces and municipalities, contributing around a quarter of the Economy of Vietnam, country's total GDP. Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area, Ho Chi Minh City's metropolitan area is List of ASEAN country subdivisions by GDP, ASEAN's 5th largest economy, also the biggest outside an ASEAN country capital. The area was initially part of Cambodian states until it became part of the Vietna ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadly encompasses a wide variety of subspecialties, including light infantry, irregular infantry, heavy infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry, mechanized infantry, Airborne forces, airborne infantry, Air assault, air assault infantry, and Marines, naval infantry. Other subtypes of infantry, such as line infantry and mounted infantry, were once commonplace but fell out of favor in the 1800s with the invention of more accurate and powerful weapons. Etymology and terminology In English, use of the term ''infantry'' began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French , from older Italian (also Spanish) ''infanteria'' (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Côn Sơn Island
Côn Sơn ( ), also known as Côn Lôn is the largest island of the Côn Đảo archipelago, off the coast of southern Vietnam.Kelley, p 116 Other names Its former French name, Grande-Condore was popularly used during the times of French Indochina. Marco Polo mentioned the island in the description of his 1292 voyage from China to India under the name ''Sondur'' and ''Condur''. In Ptolemy's ''Geography'', they are referred to as the ''Isles of the Satyrs''. The medieval Arabic/Persian name for Pulo Condor was Sundar Fulat (, ). History Chenla period In , the Java (Daba) fleets from Shailendra dynasty were laid a military attacks. The Cambodian inscriptions were generally said the fleets was ''Malayan'', ''Sumatran'', ''Javanese'', or all of them, quickly seized the island. At that time, the island was used by Javanese pirates to conducting numerous military raids on Champa and Chiaou-Chou. English East India Company period In 1702, the English East India Company fou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Penal Colony
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to a correctional facility located in a remote location, it is more commonly used to refer to communities of prisoners overseen by wardens or governors having absolute authority. Historically, penal colonies have often been used for penal labour in an economically underdeveloped part of a state's (usually colonial) territories, and on a far larger scale than a prison farm. British Empire With the passage of the ''Transportation Act 1717'', the British government initiated the penal transportation of indentured servants to Britain's colonies in the Americas, although none of the North American colonies were solely penal colonies. British merchants would be in charge of transporting the convicts across the Atlantic to the colonies w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tiandihui
The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's ancestral organization. As the Tiandihui spread through different counties and provinces, it branched off into many groups and became known by many names, including the ''Sanhehui''. The ''Hongmen'' grouping is today more or less synonymous with the whole ''Tiandihui'' concept, although the title "Hongmen" is also claimed by some criminal groups. Branches of the Hongmen were also formed by Chinese communities overseas, some of which became known as Chinese Freemasons. Its current iteration is purely secular. Under British rule in Hong Kong, all Chinese secret societies were collectively seen as criminal threats and were bundled together and defined as "Triads", although the Hongmen might be said to have differed in its nature from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Teochew People
The Teochew (), Teo-Swa, or Chaoshanese are an ethnic group historically native to the Chaoshan region in south China who speak the Teochew language. Today, most ethnic Teochew people live throughout Chaoshan and Hong Kong, and also outside China in Southeast Asia, including in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The community can also be found in diasporas around the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and France. Names The ancestral homeland of the Teochew people is now known in China as Teo-Swa or Chaoshan (; Peng'im: ; ). This whole region was historically known as Teochew (; Peng'im: ; ), and this term continues to be used by the Teochew diaspora in Southeast Asia. In referring to themselves as Sinitic people, Teochew people generally use (), as opposed to (). Teochew people also commonly refer to each other as (). History The ancestors of the Teochew people moved to present-day Chaosha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hoa People
The Hoa people, also known as Vietnamese Chinese (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Người Hoa'', or ) are the citizens and nationals of Vietnam of full or partial Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia but allusions to the contemporary Hoa today mostly refers to people of Chinese ancestry who immigrated to Vietnam during the 18th century, who especially trace their ancestry to various southern Chinese provinces. The Hoa are an ethnic minority group in Vietnam as part of the Chinese community there, and can also be found in other regions such as in the Americas. They may also be called "Chinese-Vietnamese" or "Vietnamese Chinese" by the Vietnamese. Historically, the first wave of Chinese migrants into Vietnam brought Chinese-oriented cultural, religious and philosophical thought to Vietnam, where the Vietnamese gradually developed and adapted such elements to systematically its own. Beginning as early as the 19th century, the Hoa people ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Deuxième Bureau
The ''Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général'' ("Second Bureau of the General Staff") was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany. However the term "''Deuxième Bureau''" (), like "MI6" and "KGB", outlived the original organization as a general label for the country's intelligence service. French military intelligence was composed of two separate bureaux prior to World War II. The ''Premier Bureau'' was charged with informing the high command about the state of French, allied and friendly troops, while the ''Deuxième Bureau'' developed intelligence concerning enemy troops. The ''Deuxième Bureau'' was celebrated for its cryptanalytical work, but it was criticized for its involvement in the Dreyfus affair and its consistent overestimation of German military formations prior to World War II. Its final director was Colonel Louis Rivet. History 19th century On June ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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French Union
The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was ''de jure'' the end of the "indigenous" () status of French subjects in colonial areas. It was dissolved in 1958, after the downfall of the Fourth Republic. Composition The French Union had five components: # Metropolitan France, which included the French mainland, Corsica, and the four departments of French Algeria. # 'Old' colonies, notably those of the French West Indies in the Caribbean, that became overseas departments in 1946: Guadeloupe, Guiana, Martinique, and Réunion. # 'New' colonies, renamed overseas territories: Chad, Comoros, Congo, Dahomey, French India, French Polynesia, French Somaliland, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritania, New Caledonia, Niger, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Senegal, French Sudan, Ubangi-Shari, and Upper Volta. # Associated states: thre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vietnamese People
The Vietnamese people (, ) or the Kinh people (), also known as the Viet people or the Viets, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day northern Vietnam and Dongxing, Guangxi, southern China who speak Vietnamese language, Vietnamese, the most widely spoken Austroasiatic language. Vietnamese Kinh people account for 85.32% of the population of Vietnam in the 2019 Vietnamese Census, 2019 census, and are officially designated and recognized as the ''Kinh'' people () to distinguish them from the other ethnic groups in Vietnam, minority groups residing in the country such as the Hmong people, Hmong, Chams, Cham, or Muong people, Mường. The Vietnamese are one of the four main groups of Vietic languages, Vietic speakers in Vietnam, the others being the Muong people, Mường, Thổ people, Thổ, and Chứt people. Diasporic descendants of the Vietnamese in China, known as the Gin people, Gin people, are one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |