HMO See HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION
Hmong Vhm6q\ or Miao \me-'au\ Mountain-dwelling peoples of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand who speak Hmong-Mien languages. There are also emigre communities in the U.S. Agriculture is the chief means of subsistence for the Hmong throughout their traditional territo¬ ries; they grow corn (maize) and rice and raise opium as a cash crop. Most venerate spirits, demons, and ancestral ghosts, and animal sacrifice is widespread. Households are multigenerational. In China many Hmong follow the Chinese practice of arranged marriage. Worldwide they num¬ ber about 9 million.
Hmong-Mien Vmsq-'myenV languages or Miao-Yao
\me-'au-'yau\ languages Language family of southern China, northern Vietnam, Laos, and northern Thailand, with more than nine million speak¬ ers. Hmong (Miao, Meo) has been divided into three dialect groups, West¬ ern, Central, and Northern. Beginning in the 18th century, groups of Western dialect speakers immigrated into northern Indochina. In the after- math of the Indochina wars that ended in 1975, many Hmong fled from Laos to Thailand. Some were eventually resettled in the U.S., which now has perhaps 150,000 Western dialect speakers. Mien (Yao) has three major dialects; the largest of which, also called Mien, accounts for about 85% of Mien speakers. Though these languages are structurally similar to other languages of the area, most notably Chinese, no genetic relationship between Hmong-Mien and any other language family has been demon¬ strated.
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Ho Chi Minh ► Hobhouse I 881
Ho Chi Minh orig. Nguyen Sinh Cung (b. May 19, 1890, Hoang Tru, Viet.—d. Sept. 2,1969, Hanoi) President (1945-69) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). Son of a poor scholar, he was brought up in a rural village. In 1911 he found work on a French steamer and traveled the world, then spent six years in France, where he became a socialist. In 1923 he went to the Soviet Union; the next year he went to China, where he started organizing exiled Vietnamese. He founded the Indochina Communist Party in 1930 and its successor, the Viet Minh, in 1941. In 1945 Japan overran Indochina, overthrowing its French colonial rulers; when the Japanese surrendered to the Allies six months later, Ho and his Viet Minh forces seized the opportunity, occupied Hanoi, and pro¬ claimed Vietnamese independence. France refused to relinquish its former colony, and the First Indochina War broke out in 1946. Ho’s forces defeated the French in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, after which the country was parti¬ tioned into North and South Vietnam. Ho, who ruled in the north, was soon embroiled with the U.S.-backed regime of Ngo Dinh Diem in the south in what became known as the Vietnam War; North Vietnamese forces pre¬ vailed over the south six years after Ho’s death.
Ho Chi Minh City formerly Saigon \'sl-,gan\ City (pop., 1999 est.: 4,549,000), southern Vietnam. It lies along the Saigon River north of the Mekong River delta. The Vietnamese first entered the region, then part of the kingdom of Cambodia, in the 17th century. In 1862 the area, includ¬ ing the town, was ceded to France. After World War II Vietnam declared its independence, but French troops seized control and the First Indo¬ china War began. The Geneva conference in 1954 divided the country, and Saigon became the capital of South Vietnam. In the Vietnam War, it was the headquarters for U.S. military operations; it was captured by North Vietnamese troops in 1975 and renamed for Ho Chi Minh. Rebuild¬ ing since the war has promoted its commercial importance.
Ho Chi Minh Trail Former trail system, extending from northern Viet¬ nam to southern Vietnam. It was opened in 1959 and used by North Viet¬ namese troops in the Vietnam War as the major military supply route. Starting south of Hanoi, the main trail traversed Laos and Cambodia on its way to South Vietnam and required more than a month’s march to travel. With underground support facilities, including hospitals and weap¬ ons caches, it was the main route for the invasion of South Vietnam in
Ho-fei See Hefei Ho-nan See Henan Ho-peh See Hebei Ho-shen See Heshen
Hoar, Ebenezer R(ockwood) (b. Feb. 21, 1816, Concord, Mass., U.S.—d. Jan. 31, 1895, Concord) U.S. politician. He graduated from Har¬ vard College (1835) and Harvard Law School (1839). His outspoken opposition to slavery soon made him a leading public figure in his home state. By the mid-1840s he was a member of the antislavery Whigs, or “Conscience Whigs,” in the Massachusetts state senate. Later he helped form the Free Soil and Republican parties in Massachusetts. He served on the Massachusetts state supreme court (1859-69), was briefly U.S. attorney general (1869-70), and was elected to the U.S. House of Rep¬ resentatives (1873-75).
Hoar, George Frisbie (b. Aug. 29, 1826, Concord, Mass., U.S.—d. Sept. 30, 1904, Worcester, Mass.) U.S. politician. He graduated from Harvard College (1846) and Harvard Law School (1849) and then went into private law practice in Worcester. He was an early supporter of the Free Soil Party in Massachusetts. With his brother, Ebenezer Hoar, and father, Samuel Hoar (1778-1856), he was instrumental in the formation of the Republican Party. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1869-77) and Senate (1877-1904). He championed civil-service reform, and he was an outspoken foe of the anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant American Protective Association.
Hoare, Sir Samuel (John Gurney), 2nd Baronet also called (from 1944) Viscount Templewood (of Chelsea) (b. Feb. 24, 1880, London, Eng.—d. May 7, 1959, London) British statesman. As sec¬ retary of state for India (1931-35), he had the immense task of developing and defending in debate the new Indian constitution and was a chief archi¬ tect of the Government of India Act (1935). He became foreign secretary (1935) but was forced to resign for his role in developing the unpopular Hoare-Laval Pact. As home secretary (1937-39), he helped develop the
Munich agreement, which marked him as an appeaser and damaged his repu¬ tation. In World War II he served as ambassador to Spain (1940-44).
Hoare-Laval Pact (1935) Secret plan to offer Benito Mussolini most of Ethiopia (then called Abyssinia) in return for a truce in the Italo- Ethiopian War. It was put together by British foreign secretary Sir Samuel Hoare and French premier Pierre Laval, who tried and failed to achieve a rapprochement between France and Italy. When news of the plan leaked out, it drew immediate and widespread denunciation.
Hobart City (pop., 2001: 191,169), chief port, and capital, Tasmania, Australia. Located on the Derwent River estuary at the base of Mount Wellington, Hobart is Tasmania’s largest and Australia’s most southerly city. Established in 1803, it became a major port for ships whaling in the southern oceans. Its lack of natural resources limited its development. It now has a deepwater port, rail lines, and an airport, making it a focus of communications and trade. The city is the site of Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals and the first Jewish synagogue in Australia (built
1843-45).
Hobbema Vha-bo-moV Meindert orig. Meyndert Lub- bertsz(oon) (baptized Oct. 31, 1638, Amsterdam—d. Dec. 7, 1709, Amsterdam) Dutch landscape painter. He worked principally in Amster¬ dam, painting quiet rural scenes studded with trees, rustic buildings, peaceful streams, and water mills. His idyllic landscapes are carefully composed and feature meticulous renderings of twisted foliage and gentle terrain. In 1689 he produced his masterpiece. The Avenue, Middelharnis. Though he apparently had little success in his lifetime, his work became popular and influential in England in the 19th century. In the 20th cen¬ tury he was generally regarded as second only to Jacob van Ruisdael, a pupil of his, among Dutch landscapists.
Hobbes Vhabz\, Thomas (b. April 5, 1588, Westport, Wiltshire, Eng.—d. Dec. 4, 1679, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire) English philoso¬ pher and political theorist. The son of a vicar who abandoned his family,