The greatest aspiration of Ho Chi Minh, the great liberation hero of the Vietnamese nation in the new era, was for the Fatherland to be liberated and the people to be free and happy. In January 1946, when answering foreign journalists in his capacity as President of the Government, he said:
“I have absolutely no desire for fame or fortune. I now bear the responsibility of the Presidency because my compatriots have entrusted me with it, and I must do my best, just like a soldier obeying the nation's orders to go to the front lines. Whenever my compatriots allow me to step down, I will gladly do so. I have only one desire, an ultimate desire, which is to see our country completely independent, our people completely free, and everyone having enough food and clothing, and access to education.”2
President Ho Chi Minh visited Vinh Phuc in 1963.
The greatest ambition was the driving force behind Ho Chi Minh's journey to many countries around the world to study and understand revolutionary theories and experiences, aiming to build a comprehensive system of revolutionary viewpoints for Vietnam, meeting the development needs of the nation and aligning with the evolutionary trends of humanity in the new era. Ho Chi Minh's system of revolutionary viewpoints is a continuation and development to a new level of the traditional spiritual values of the nation's thought and culture, combined with the selective synthesis and dialectical development of Eastern cultural and cultural values, the cultural and ideological values of the European and American revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries, and especially the revolutionary doctrines of Marx and Lenin. This system of revolutionary ideological viewpoints has the historical significance of a doctrine of liberation and development for independence and freedom.
Implementing Ho Chi Minh's doctrine of independence and freedom in a country that was formerly a colony, with a backward agricultural economy, underdeveloped industry, and a predominantly peasant population, must be a long-term endeavor. Generally speaking, it must be carried out through three successive revolutionary strategies: first, the national liberation revolution; then, the people's democratic revolution, creating the preconditions for the transition to socialism. For this revolutionary cause to succeed, it must first have a revolutionary party armed with a creative revolutionary doctrine as the ideological basis and guiding principle for revolutionary action; a scientific revolutionary program and line developed to suit the history, country, and people of Vietnam; and a scientifically and tightly organized party. Most importantly, it must have a contingent of Party members with revolutionary ideals and ethics, steadfastly fighting for the interests of the Fatherland and the people.
The issue of revolutionary ethics among Party members is related to the Party's leadership role and the success or failure of the revolution. Ho Chi Minh once emphasized: Just as a river needs a source to have water, without a source the river dries up. A tree must have roots, without roots the tree withers. A revolutionary must have ethics; without ethics, no matter how talented they are, they cannot lead the people. Therefore, from the preparation and establishment of the Party and throughout the stages of the struggle, Ho Chi Minh constantly focused on building the revolutionary strategy and educating and training Party members to be truly exemplary revolutionary fighters. The lecture "The Qualities of a Revolutionary," the first lecture in the work "The Revolutionary Path" at the cadre training class in Guangzhou, consists of 13 points, and the lecture "The Exemplary Revolutionary," consisting of 12 points, published only in September 1926, expresses the basic contents of revolutionary ethics for Vietnamese communist fighters. A revolutionary fighter must maintain their fighting spirit, always placing the interests of the Fatherland above all else, persevering and patiently, daring to sacrifice themselves for the great cause of the nation, disregarding positions of power and ill-gotten gains. It was thanks to building a team of exemplary revolutionary fighters that the Party overcame all trials and dangers, led our entire nation forward, leading to the success of the August Revolution of 1945, and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a state united by the entire nation.
President Ho Chi Minh and officers and soldiers on their way to work in Tuyen Quang (1951)
The establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ushered in a new era for the nation – an era of independence and freedom – transforming the Communist Party of Vietnam – the Ho Chi Minh Party – from a clandestine party into the ruling party throughout the country. Entering a new historical period, under the revolutionary banner of Ho Chi Minh and led by the Communist Party, the entire nation continued to strengthen national unity to carry out the tasks of resistance and national construction, with the slogan: “The nation above all! The fatherland above all!” As the ruling party, the Party possessed a state apparatus, a tool of power to organize and mobilize the forces of the entire society to carry out the tasks of resistance and national construction. Along with leading the nationwide resistance against the French colonial re-invasion, the Party and the State had to strive to build a new regime comprehensively under conditions where the country was facing countless difficulties, so as to “bring complete freedom and independence to the people and to allow all national elements to enjoy that freedom and independence as all things enjoy the sunlight”3.
From 1954 to 1975, the Party led the resistance war against the US to liberate the South and unify the country, while simultaneously advancing the revolution in the North to a new stage. The 30-year revolutionary struggle, a combination of resistance and national reconstruction, demanded that the Party utilize its creative intellect in formulating policies, while continuing to educate and train Party and State cadres, upholding revolutionary ideals for independence and freedom, maintaining fighting spirit, upholding revolutionary ethics, and eradicating individualism, as individualism would degrade the quality and morality of cadres holding positions of state power. Individualists are always self-serving, afraid of hardship and difficulty, corrupt, wasteful, greedy for fame and profit, autocratic, tyrannical, disregard the law, and look down on the people, etc. Therefore, while persistently pushing forward the resistance to defeat the invaders, it is necessary to eliminate individualism in each person, first and foremost among the cadres and Party members working in the Party and State apparatus, making all cadres and Party members exemplary revolutionary fighters. The training and education of Party members and cadres is conducted regularly through various rich forms, through practical work and combat, through the activities of Party and mass organizations, and through political study. In particular, there are planned study sessions with specific instructions and strict guidance, aiming to raise awareness, engage in self-criticism and criticism, and plan to correct shortcomings, promote strengths, and reform working methods. For example, the study session on the work "Reforming Working Methods" organized in 1947, during the fierce and arduous resistance war against the French enemy's quick-victory strategy, highlighted 12 points on the character of a true revolutionary Party. The author clearly stated that Party members and cadres must place the interests of the nation and the Fatherland above all else. Having enthusiastically trained and volunteered to be a vanguard soldier, they voluntarily joined the Party. Therefore, each Party member must strive to be worthy of being one of the representatives of the nation, "especially cadres and leaders, who must be even more worthy of the trust of the Party and the nation. They must set an example for all Party members and all the masses to follow."4
From mid-1965 onwards, the resistance war against the US for national salvation intensified in both parts of the country, demanding that the entire Party, army, and people further uphold revolutionary heroism and resolutely fight to bring the cause of building the North and fighting against the US to liberate the South and unify the country to complete victory. It was in this context that, on September 10, 1965, Ho Chi Minh wrote his invaluable historical testament. These were his final instructions, his feelings and beliefs for the entire Party, army, and people fighting on all fronts, and for future generations of Vietnam, urging them to forever uphold the sacred banner of national independence, freedom, and happiness for all the people... To realize and maintain the ideals of independence and freedom, first and foremost, there must be a revolutionary party to lead. That is the Communist Party of Vietnam, which he founded and nurtured. His testament states:
“Unity is an extremely precious tradition of our Party and our people. Comrades from the Central Committee to the Party branches must safeguard the unity and solidarity of the Party as carefully as they safeguard the pupil of their eye. Within the Party, practicing broad, frequent, and serious self-criticism and criticism is the best way to consolidate and develop the unity and solidarity of the Party. There must be mutual affection and camaraderie.” Our Party is a ruling party. Every Party member and cadre must truly internalize revolutionary ethics, truly be thrifty, honest, upright, and selfless. We must keep our Party truly clean and worthy of being a leader and a loyal servant of the people.”5
Firmly grasping the ideals of independence and freedom, the Party's internal unity from the Central Committee to the grassroots level, and the Party's members wholeheartedly serving the Party, the people, and the Fatherland, have enabled it to lead and organize the entire nation in united struggle to achieve victories for the nation.
In the course of the struggle against powerful imperialist forces, setbacks and mistakes are inevitable. It is precisely at such times that the Party must maintain unity and solidarity, practice broad democracy, and consider self-criticism and criticism as the best ways to unite, reflect together, and explore strategies, methods, and approaches to overcome difficulties and continue the fight to bring the revolutionary cause to complete victory.
Against the backdrop of the extremely difficult and sacrificial historical struggle against the US for national liberation in both North and South Vietnam from 1965 onwards, Ho Chi Minh pondered and reflected, writing these reasonable and heartfelt instructions with the belief that the Party would remain united, its fighting strength would continue to be strengthened, serving as the nucleus of national unity, ensuring the complete victory of the Vietnamese people's revolutionary cause.
Ho Chi Minh's Last Will and Testament, written in June 1965, was a top-secret document and was only publicly released in September 1969. However, during the resistance war against the US, he consistently focused on the task of building the Party, educating cadres and Party members on fighting spirit, revolutionary moral character, and preventing ideological degeneration and individualism.
In June 1968, during a meeting with several Central Party Propaganda officials regarding the creation and publication of the book "Good People, Good Deeds," Ho Chi Minh warned of the potential for degradation that could occur to a nation, a party, and an individual.
Next, on February 3, 1969, Ho Chi Minh published the article: "Raising Revolutionary Morality, Eradicating Individualism." He praised the brave and exemplary cadres and Party members who were courageous and exemplary in combat and production, who endured hardships first and enjoyed rewards later. However, alongside these comrades, there were also some Party members with low moral character, heavily influenced by individualism, corruption, embezzlement, wastefulness, greed for fame and profit, and a desire for power and position. They were arrogant, self-important, disregarded the collective, looked down on the masses, were detached from reality, bureaucratic, authoritarian, disunited, lacked organization, had a poor sense of responsibility, and failed to comply with the Party and State's policies, harming the interests of the revolution. Therefore, we must strive to strengthen education on revolutionary ideals and ethics, resolutely eradicate individualism, and elevate revolutionary morality... This is a necessary task to ensure that all Party members and cadres are worthy revolutionary pioneers, contributing even more to the cause of building the North, and advancing the resistance war against the US to save the country, overcoming all difficulties, which may last for several more years, and our people will still have to sacrifice many lives and resources. In any case, we must be determined to fight the American invaders until final victory. Our Fatherland will certainly be unified, and the country will be reunited.
When the Party becomes a ruling party, every Party member and especially high-ranking leaders must be imbued with revolutionary ethics, diligence, frugality, integrity, impartiality, and selflessness, as instructed in President Ho Chi Minh's Testament.
Let us uphold the oath of our entire Party, army, and people before the spirit of the Leader, first and foremost, the Party and State cadres and members must “study throughout their lives the ethics and style of the Leader, cultivate revolutionary qualities, not fear hardship, not fear sacrifice, train themselves to become loyal soldiers to the Party and the people…, vow to strive to cultivate themselves into new people, masters of the country, masters of the new society, carrying the victorious banner of President Ho Chi Minh to the final destination”6.
By studying and following President Ho Chi Minh's Testament, the entire Party, people, and army of Vietnam have overcome countless difficulties and successfully completed the cause of fighting against the US, liberating the South, and unifying the country, ushering the history of the Vietnamese nation into a new era.
Preserving and enhancing revolutionary ethics and eliminating individualism is a constant requirement of the entire Party and the entire people, first and foremost for Party members and cadres, especially now that the Party has become a ruling party.
President Ho Chi Minh warned: “A nation, a party, and each individual, who were great and attractive yesterday, will not necessarily be loved and praised by everyone today and tomorrow if their hearts are no longer pure, if they fall into individualism… Every person has both good and evil in their heart. We must know how to make the good in each person blossom like spring flowers and the bad gradually disappear; that is the attitude of a revolutionary…”7.
Ho Chi Minh's warning in 1968 remains highly relevant, reminding the entire Party and people, especially the Party and State cadres and members from the central to the grassroots levels, to continue studying and implementing his Testament, enhancing revolutionary ethics, eradicating individualism, and removing from the ranks of the Party and State any ideological and moral degeneration and corruption… in order to repel the great danger threatening the survival of the Party and the regime.
It is necessary to innovate and rectify the Party, enhance its leadership capacity and fighting strength, and build a truly clean and strong Party in terms of politics, ideology, and organization. This Party must be highly united, closely connected with the people, have a scientific leadership method, and possess a contingent of cadres and Party members with sufficient qualities and capabilities. This is truly a crucial and urgent task of vital importance to the Party and the revolutionary cause of our people today.
1Ho Chi Minh City:Testament
2Ho Chi Minh City:Complete Collection, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 1995, Vol. 4, p. 161
3Ho Chi Minh City:Complete Collection, Ibid, vol. 4, p. 45
4Ho Chi Minh City:Complete Collection, Ibid, vol. 4, p. 253
5Ho Chi Minh City:Complete Collection, Ibid, vol. 12, pp. 497, 498
6Ho Chi Minh City:Complete Collection, Ibid, vol. 12, p. 519
7Ho Chi Minh City:Complete Collection, Ibid, vol. 12, pp. 557, 558
