Ho Chi Minh with the victory of the August Revolution and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

1. Building a theory of national liberation revolution according to the proletarian tendency and the method of national uprising

Under the rule of French colonialism, Vietnamese society had many intertwined contradictions, but the fundamental and main contradiction was the contradiction between the Vietnamese people and the invading French colonialists and their reactionary lackeys. The more domination, oppression and exploitation increased, the deeper the contradiction became, the more the resistance and struggle for the survival of the nation developed, became more intense in nature, and diversified in content and form. Meanwhile, the conflict of interests between classes within the nation was reduced and the struggle between classes was not as fierce as the struggle against the enemies of the nation. Recognizing that reality, from the 1920s, Ho Chi Minh creatively applied and developed the theory of proletarian revolution in Vietnam, built the theory of national liberation revolution and spread it among the people. In the workRevolutionary Road, He distinguished two types of revolutions (revolutionary classandrevolutionary people), and at the same time determined the nature and task of the Vietnamese revolution in the immediate period as "national revolution".

First political platformThe Party's Constitution drafted by Nguyen Ai Quoc strongly emphasized the task of fighting imperialism in both political and economic aspects: "overthrow French imperialism and feudalism, make Vietnam completely independent, establish a worker-peasant-soldier government and organize a worker-peasant army"; "confiscate all large-scale industries of the imperialists and hand them over to the worker-peasant-soldier government"; "confiscate imperialist lands as public property and distribute them to poor peasants".

Applying Karl Marx's "dialectical working method", Ho Chi Minh analyzed the reality of colonial Vietnamese society, not considering the essence of the colonial national problem as the peasant problem, nor considering the number one aspiration of Vietnamese peasants in colonial times as land. He emphasized the objective requirement of revolutionary history in the colonies was to gain independence and freedom for the entire nation, mainly the peasants.

In the process of applying Marxist-Leninist theory and Vietnamese revolutionary practice, dogmatic tendencies appeared, so Ho Chi Minh's theory of national liberation revolution was criticized and went through harsh challenges in the first half of the 1930s, but he and the Party Central Committee persevered and skillfully overcame them.

In May 1941, Ho Chi Minh chaired the 8th Conference of the Party Central Committee. Based on the analysis of the international and domestic situation and the political attitudes of the classes and strata in Vietnamese society, the Conference clearly stated that under the two layers of Japanese and French oppression, “the interests of all classes were robbed, and the fate of the nation was in greater danger than ever”. The French colonialists and Japanese militarists were not only the enemies of the workers and peasants, but also the common enemies of the entire nation.

The conference decided: "It is necessary to change the strategy" and pointed out: "the current revolution in Indochina is not a bourgeois democratic revolution, a revolution that must solve two problems: anti-imperialism and land, but a revolution that must solve only one urgent problem "national liberation". The conference analyzed: "At this time, the interests of the sections and classes must be placed under the life and death, survival of the nation, of the people. At this time, if the problem of national liberation is not solved, if independence and freedom for the entire nation are not demanded, not only will the entire nation and people continue to suffer the fate of horses and buffaloes, but the interests of the sections and classes will not be reclaimed for ten thousand years". Therefore, the slogan "overthrowing the landlords, distributing land to the peasants" must be temporarily put aside. The interests of the peasants were resolved to an appropriate extent by implementing the slogans: confiscating the land of the imperialists and traitors and distributing it to the poor peasants, redistributing public land, and reducing rent and interest.

The conference advocated solving the national problem within the framework of each country in Indochina, in order to implement the policy of "national self-determination". "The peoples living in Indochina will, according to their will, organize themselves into a federation of democratic republics or stand alone as a national nation as they wish". "The freedom and independence of the peoples will be recognized and respected"^[1]That solution has the effect of promoting the strength of each nation in the struggle for self-liberation, destroying the enemy's distorted arguments about the national issue, and at the same time creating conditions for uniting the three nations of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in the struggle against the common enemy.

The method of national uprising was highly valued by Ho Chi Minh. He advocated the entire people's uprising, the entire people's uprising; regardless of age, gender, civilians, soldiers, all made revolution. The eighth conference of the Party Central Committee (May 1941) proposed the policy of armed uprising, emphasizing that preparing for armed uprising was the central task of the entire Party and the entire Vietnamese people in the direct phase of mobilizing to save the country. The conference resolution clearly stated: "We must always prepare a ready force, aiming at the most favorable opportunity to fight back the enemy..." In certain circumstances, "with the available force, we can lead a partial uprising in each locality, and can also win victory to pave the way for a great general uprising."^[2].

Ho Chi Minh's policy of raising high the flag of national liberation and his views on national uprising were preparations for the path and methods to gain victory for the August Revolution in 1945.

2. Founding the Viet Minh Front, strengthening national unity and preparing political forces

The law of movement is self-movement. The work of liberating oppressed peoples cannot passively wait for outside help, but must first rely on the internal strength of each nation.Declaration of the Colonial Union(1921) drafted by Ho Chi Minh stated: "Applying Marx's formula, we would like to tell you that your liberation can only be achieved through your own efforts."^[3].

To have a chance of victory, an armed uprising in Indochina "must have the character of a mass uprising, not a rebellion. The uprising must be prepared among the masses."^[4]. He assessed the strength of the armed people as an absolute advantage to defeat all invaders. In the workThe path of destinyHe believed that: "Revolution is the common work of all the people", the force of the national liberation revolution includes the whole nation: "the revolutionary nation has not yet divided into classes, meaning that scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants are all united in opposing tyranny", in which "workers and farmers are the root of the revolution", are "the owners of the revolution", and "students, small merchants, small landowners... are revolutionary friends".

First political platformThe Party's policy is to unite the forces of the entire nation, including workers, farmers, petty bourgeoisie, intellectuals, and middle peasants; to win over or neutralize the rich peasants, middle and small landlords, and Vietnamese bourgeoisie...; reflecting Ho Chi Minh's ideology of great national unity.

To advance towards the uprising to seize revolutionary power, building political forces was his top concern. It was both the basis for building armed forces and revolutionary bases, and the force that directly fought in forms from low to high. The political force was a large revolutionary army, including all enlightened and organized masses. "To have an armed army, there must first be a propaganda and mobilization army, a political army, so it must be done immediately, so that the political army becomes increasingly large. There must be politically enlightened masses who voluntarily take up arms in order to win."^[5].

When he first returned to the country (early 1941), Ho Chi Minh directed the pilot construction of the Viet Minh front in Cao Bang to gain experience for the movement nationwide. The eighth conference of the Party Central Committee (May 1941) advocated the application of "a method of extremely passionate appeal, in order to awaken the national spirit of the people". Therefore, the front "could not be called as before the anti-Indochina national unity front, but had to be changed to another name that was more nationalistic", which was the Vietnam Independence Alliance (abbreviated as Viet Minh). The organizations in the Viet Minh were all namedsave the nationto unite all Vietnamese people who love their country and their people. “When organizing a national salvation organization, the essential thing is not that the members must understand communism, but more importantly, that they have the spirit of national salvation and want to fight to save the country.”^[6]In the letterDear fellow countrymen(June 6, 1941), Ho Chi Minh wrote: "Currently, to fight the French and Japanese, we only need one thing:

National unity”.

“In the meantimenational liberation interests above all. We must unite to overthrow the imperialists and the Vietnamese traitors to save our race from the boiling water and fire. "Saving the nation is a common task. Every Vietnamese must shoulder a part of the responsibility: those with money contribute money, those with property contribute property, those with talent contribute talent."^[7].

Ho Chi Minh called on the masses to join the Viet Minh in order to:

"Determined to make this country,

"The flag of independence is raised, the foundation of equality is built"^[8].

WriteGuerrilla Song(1942), He called on all the old and young, men and women, soldiers to join the fight against the enemy. In the Directive on the establishment ofVietnam Propaganda Liberation Army(December 22, 1944) He affirmed: our resistance is a war ofpeople's resistance, Rightmobilize the people, arm the people. Armed uprising is not a purely military struggle. In the workThe Road to LiberationHe believed that armed uprising is when the people rise up and use weapons to drive out invaders. It is a great political and military struggle, an important matter, if done right, you will succeed, if done wrong, you will fail.

Viet Minh is the great national unity bloc of Vietnam, gathering a large number of people from all walks of life, political parties and patriotic religions, with the effect of isolating the imperialist enemy and its lackeys to focus the spearhead of the struggle on them. It is the place to organize, enlighten and train the political force for the revolution, a fundamental force and of decisive significance in the general uprising to seize power.

3. Step by step directing the building of armed forces and revolutionary bases

Right during the period of campaigning to establish the Party, Ho Chi Minh paid great attention to training military cadres, researching military theory, and laying the foundation for the birth of the Vietnamese revolutionary armed forces.

As an international activist, Ho Chi Minh studied military issues in many countries around the world, selectively absorbing positive and appropriate content from the world's military elite. Researching the military in China, the RecorderBasic understanding of militaryHe was also interested in researching and disseminating experiences in organizing, building and operating armed forces at the grassroots level. During the years 1941-1944, he wroteChinese Guerrilla Experience, French Guerrilla Experience, Russian Guerrilla Experience. The ancient oriental military heritage is distilled through translation.Sun Tzu's Art of War(1943),Magic of being a general of ConfuciusIn particular, he compiled many training documents for military officers, typically:Guerrilla tactics.

The revolution must have a foothold to solve the problem of potential. According to Ho Chi Minh, the revolution must have a foothold, the most solid foothold is the people's hearts. He paid great attention to the factors of harmony and geographical advantage. In 1940, while still in Guilin, Ho Chi Minh considered building a base in Cao Bang, then developing it down to Thai Nguyen. In early 1941, when he returned to the country, he chose Cao Bang as his first base because it was a place "with a good movement from before", "with a protective fence of the masses", and was also a place with a dangerous terrain, "advancing can attack, retreating can hold", but from Cao Bang, it had to develop downstream for the revolution to be victorious. During the period of resistance against Japan to save the country, when the liberated zone in Viet Bac was expanded, including the provinces of Cao Bang, Bac Can, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh directed the establishment ofliberated zoneand consolidate into a revolutionary base for the whole country.

Based on the strong political force in Cao Bang, self-defense teams were established. At the end of 1941, he directed the establishment of a small armed team of 12 soldiers, with the tasks of protecting the headquarters, communications and training self-defense teams.

At the end of 1944, he leftDirective on the establishment of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, defining the organizational principles, methods of operation and combat motto of the armed forces. That was the Party's first military platform. In compliance with this directive, on December 22, 1944, in Tran Hung Dao forest, the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army was established, initially with 34 soldiers, commanded by Vo Nguyen Giap. Three days later, the team won two consecutive battles in Phai Khat and Na Ngan. That was the "senior army". "Although its scale was small at first, its future was very glorious. It was the starting point of the liberation army, it could go from the South to the North, throughout Vietnam"^[9].

Implementing Ho Chi Minh's ideology of arming the revolutionary masses and building the people's army,Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army and National Salvation Armyunified intoVietnam Liberation Army(May 1945), at the same time, paramilitary forces including guerrilla, self-defense and combat self-defense teams were increasingly built up in localities and bases.

The process of preparing forces is a process of combining organization and struggle, through struggle to train forces and consolidate organizations. Revolutionary violence is the violence of the masses. Political forces and armed forces are both the foundation of revolutionary violence, the condition for combining political struggle with armed struggle in a general uprising of the whole people, creating overwhelming strength, disintegrating the administrative apparatus of the imperialists and their lackeys, and establishing a revolutionary government.

4. Proactively assess opportunities and resolutely seize the right moment, launch a general uprising to seize power.

To carry out a successful uprising, there must be sufficient subjective and objective conditions and it must break out at the right time. Along with careful preparation of forces, Ho Chi Minh and the Party Central Committee attached great importance to the issue of revolutionary opportunity. When he was in Guilin, China (November 1940), hearing news of the Southern uprising, he said: The general situation in the world is increasingly favorable to us, but the opportunity has not yet come, we cannot start an uprising. However, now that the uprising has broken out, we need to retreat skillfully to maintain the movement. As a master of creating force, establishing position, and seizing the opportunity, Ho Chi Minh deeply recognized the importance of the issue of opportunity. In the poem Learning to play chess, he wrote: “Phung thoi, nhat tot kha thanh cong” (Meeting the right time, one good can succeed).^[10].

The eighth conference of the Party Central Committee (May 1941) affirmed: “The Indochina Revolution must end with an armed uprising.” We must “always prepare a ready force, aiming at the most favorable opportunity to fight back against the enemy.”^[11].

Applying Lenin's thesis on the revolutionary situation in the workThe Road to LiberationCompiled under the direction of Ho Chi Minh, it stated three conditions of the opportunity for uprising:

One isThe imperialist colonial government was shaken to the extreme, they felt they could no longer sit still and hold their position as before.

Two isThe hungry masses hated the colonialists and imperialists to the extreme and saw the need to unite and rise up to overthrow the colonialists' rule, because everyone understood that if they sat still, they would die.

Three is, there was a revolutionary party capable of organizing and leading the masses to rise up in an uprising according to a correct line and a suitable plan, ensuring victory for the uprising.

The eighth conference of the Party Central Committee clearly stated that to launch an armed uprising, one must target subjective conditions:

“1) The National Salvation Front has unified the whole country.

2) The people could no longer live under the rule of France and Japan, but were ready to sacrifice and embark on the path of uprising.

3) The ruling faction of Indochina entered a general crisis to the extreme in terms of economy, politics and military.

4) The objective conditions were favorable for the Indochina uprising such as the Chinese army's great victory over the Japanese army, the French Revolution or the Japanese Revolution, the democratic faction's great victory in the Pacific, the Soviet Union's great victory, the revolutions in the French and Japanese colonies were vibrant, and especially the Chinese army or the British and American troops flooding into Indochina."^[12].

June 1941, in the letterDear fellow countrymen, Ho Chi Minh pointed out that one of the reasons for the failure of previous uprisings was becauseopportunity is not ripeIn the fall of 1944, he ordered the postponement of the uprising in Cao - Bac - Lang because the whole country did not have the conditions to respond, and the enemy could concentrate forces to suppress the uprising in one locality.

The Party and Ho Chi Minh always proactively predicted opportunities. Accurately assessing the development trend of the times, in October 1944, Ho Chi Minh sent a letter to the people nationwide, stating: “The invaders are close to being destroyed. The allied nations are about to achieve final victory. The opportunity for our nation to liberate is only in one or five and a half years. Time is very urgent. We must act quickly!”^[13].

When World War II ended, the Japanese government surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, the Japanese command in Indochina was extremely divided; the Japanese soldiers were disbanded and demoralized; the pro-Japanese Vietnamese forces were frightened. "The conditions for an uprising in Indochina were ripe." "A very good opportunity for us to gain independence had come."

However, this opportunity does not last forever. It will disappear when the Allies enter Indochina to disarm the Japanese army. With their imperialist colonial nature, they can set up a government contrary to the will and aspirations of the Vietnamese people. The French Empire is trying to restore its old position in Indochina. Reactionary forces in the country are trying to change masters. The revolutionary opportunity only exists during the period from when the Japanese militarists surrendered to the Allies until before the Allies enter Indochina. That is when the old enemy has fallen, but the new enemy has not yet arrived, and that is when the comparison of forces is most favorable for the revolution.

On August 16, 1945, Ho Chi Minh called out: "The decisive hour for the destiny of our nation has come. All compatriots, please stand up and use our strength to liberate ourselves... We cannot delay."^[14]. With a spirit of determination to seize the opportunity, he advised: now the extremely favorable opportunity has come. No matter how much sacrifice is required, even if the entire Truong Son range has to be burned down, we must resolutely gain freedom and independence. With a long-term vision, he pointed out: we must gain power and stand in the position of the master of the country to welcome the Allied forces to disarm the Japanese army.

Under the leadership of the Party and Ho Chi Minh, the entire Vietnamese people rose up in both urban and rural areas. The Vietnamese revolution made a great leap forward: it quickly moved from partial uprisings in the high tide of the resistance against Japan to a general uprising to seize power throughout the country.

Thanks to careful preparation of forces and the right timing, the August Revolution achieved a victory “quickly, neatly, with little bloodshed”. It was a successful example of the art of creating opportunities, predicting opportunities, accurately assessing opportunities, and at the same time resolutely seizing opportunities to launch a general uprising to seize power.

5. Founding the democratic republic political system and giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

In the workRevolutionary RoadHo Chi Minh pointed out: “We have sacrificed to make the revolution, so we should do it thoroughly, meaning that after the revolution, power should be given to the majority of the people, not left in the hands of the few. Only then will we avoid sacrificing many times, and only then will the people be happy.”^[15].

Ho Chi Minh was very interested in examining state models and political institutions in the US, France, and the Soviet Union.Brief outline, He advocated “establishing a worker-peasant-soldier government”. That was the state government of the oppressed working masses rising up to gain independence and freedom. However, in 1941, He advocated replacing the form of worker-peasant government with the form of a democratic republic to suit the nature and revolutionary forces in the colonies. “The revolutionary government of that new democratic country does not belong to any particular class but belongs to the entire nation, except for the lackeys of French and Japanese imperialism and traitors, enemies, who are not allowed to hold power. All people living on the land of Vietnam are entitled to participate in holding power, and must have a part in the duty of holding and protecting that government.”^[16]. While propagating, "We should not talk about overthrowing the feudal Southern Dynasty and confiscating the landlords' land, but about eliminating the traitors and traitors of the Vietnamese..., we should not talk about uniting workers and peasants and establishing a Soviet government, but should talk aboutall people unite and establish a democratic republic government”^[17]"After expelling the French and Japanese imperialists, the people's government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam will be established... That government will be elected by the national congress."^[18].

When the opportunity to liberate the Vietnamese nation was approaching, inLetter to compatriots nationwide(October 1944), Ho Chi Minh said: first of all, there needs to be a government representing the sincerity and unanimous action of the entire nation, including all revolutionary parties and patriotic organizations elected in the country. "Only such a structure has enough strength and prestige, internally leading the work of national salvation and nation building, and externally communicating with friendly countries."^[19].

The shift from the worker-peasant-soldier state model to the state model representing national unity was a wise decision of Ho Chi Minh, reflecting the unique features of the struggle for national independence in colonial Vietnam with heavy feudal remnants, in line with the change in strategy and tactics of the revolution in the direct campaign to save the country.

With the policy of establishing a democratic republic, the Party and Ho Chi Minh did not consider the Nguyen Dynasty in general, and King Bao Dai in particular, as enemies of the revolution, although they did not fight against the French, and existed on the basis of surrender and thanks to the tolerance of French colonialism. When Japan staged a coup against France (March 9, 1945), Bao Dai had the illusion of "gaining independence" by establishing the Tran Trong Kim cabinet, gathering a number of patriotic intellectuals.^[20], but took no action against Japanese militarism.

When World War II ended, the Japanese Government surrendered to the Allies. The National Congress held in Tan Trao (August 16 and 17, 1945) elected the Vietnam National Liberation Committee, chaired by Ho Chi Minh, "to lead the entire nation to resolutely fight for national independence."^[21].

The August Revolution of 1945 succeeded. The Japanese government and its henchmen were crushed. The remnants of the autocratic monarchy maintained by the French colonialists in Vietnam were abolished by the abdication proclamation of Emperor Bao Dai.^[22]“The revolutionary government was recognized and legitimized in the most glorious way by the enthusiastic participation of the entire Vietnamese people.”^[23].

At the request of President Ho Chi Minh after returning to Hanoi (August 25, 1945), the Vietnam National Liberation Committee reformed itself intoProvisional GovernmentThe Democratic Republic of Vietnam with 15 members led by Ho Chi Minh as President. The Declaration of the Provisional Government (August 28, 1945) stated the slogan "All people unite! Strive for complete independence!". It was "truly a unified national government with the responsibility of directing the whole, waiting for the day when the National Assembly could convene to elect an official Democratic Republic Government."^[24].

On September 2, 1945, the Independence Day was solemnly held at Ba Dinh Square. The provisional government presented itself to the nation. On behalf of the provisional government, Ho Chi Minh readDeclaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a state of the people, by the people and for the people. He affirmed:

“Vietnam has the right to enjoy freedom and independence, and in fact has become a free and independent country. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to devote all their spirit and strength, to sacrifice their lives and property, to safeguard that freedom and independence.”^[25].

As the soul of the August Revolution in 1945, the architect of the political system of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, then continued with the whole nation to steadfastly resist the French colonialists (1945-1954) with the spirit of "Rather sacrifice everything than lose the country, never become slaves" and resist the invading American imperialists (1954-1975) with the determination "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom", "President Ho Chi Minh is an outstanding symbol of the determination of an entire nation, who devoted his whole life to the cause of national liberation of the Vietnamese people, contributing to the common struggle of all nations for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress"^[26].