1941 was an interesting year with tremendous consequences indeed. Not just the entrance of two giants into the war (both by being attacked) but also by the (re)formation of an organization that was to have great influence in the 50s, 60s and early 70s.
Ho Chi Minh will return to Indochina this year, and reestablish the Viet Minh.
From Wiki (edited):
The Viet Minh was a national independence coalition re-formed at Pac Bo by Ho Chi Minh and his allies on May 19, 1941. The Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (League for the Independence of Vietnam) had previously been formed in Nanjing, China, at some point between August 1935 and early 1936 when Vietnamese nationalist parties formed an anti-imperialist united front. This organization soon lapsed into inactivity, only to be revived by the Indochinese Communist Party and Ho Chi Minh in 1941.
The Viet Minh established itself as the only organized anti-French and anti-Japanese resistance group.
When the Japanese occupation of Vietnam began, the Viet Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China. After World War II, the Viet Minh opposed the re-occupation of Vietnam by France and later opposed the American backed South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War.
During World War II, Japan occupied French Indochina. As well as fighting the French, the Viet Minh started a military campaign against the Japanese. As of the end of 1944, the Viet Minh claimed a membership of 500,000, of which 200,000 were in Tonkin, 150,000 in Annam, and 150,000 in Cochinchina. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the Japanese handed over control of some public buildings and weapons requisitioned from the French army to the Viet Minh, now led by Ho Chi Minh.
Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945.