76 years of implementing Uncle Ho's call for patriotic emulation

During the process of leading the national revolution, President Ho Chi Minh always attached great importance to and promoted the role of patriotic emulation in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. Immediately after the country gained independence, the young government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam faced countless difficulties and challenges, had to face famine, illiteracy and foreign invaders. President Ho Chi Minh, together with the Party Central Committee and the Government, called on all people to participate in movements to increase production, eliminate illiteracy, contribute rice to relieve hunger for the poor, step by step bringing the country out of the precarious situation, firmly maintaining the independence and freedom of the nation.

Entering the resistance war against the French, after the victory of Viet Bac in the fall of 1947, in the extremely difficult and arduous circumstances of the resistance war for national construction, in order to encourage compatriots and soldiers nationwide to promote the tradition of patriotism, the will of self-reliance, self-strengthening, national pride and self-respect to overcome all sacrifices and hardships to successfully complete the cause of national liberation and unification, President Ho Chi Minh proposed the initiative to organize and lead the patriotic emulation movement. On March 27, 1948, the Party Central Committee issued a directive on promoting the patriotic emulation movement to mobilize all forces to serve the resistance war and national construction. The directive clearly stated"The purpose of patriotic emulation is to make the resistance war win quickly and the nation-building succeed quickly".

In order to widely implement the Central Party's Directive on the patriotic emulation movement, on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of the resistance war (the day the South resisted the French colonialists on September 23, 1945), on June 11, 1948, President Ho Chi Minh issued"Call for patriotic emulation", officially launchedpatriotic emulation movementthroughout the country. President Ho Chi Minh's call for patriotic emulation was published in the newspaper.National Salvation, branch number 6, number 968, June 24, 1948, full text as follows⁽¹⁾:

"The purpose of patriotic emulation is:

Destroy hunger,

Destroy ignorance,

Destroy foreign invaders.

The method is based on:

People's force,

The spirit of the people, to cause:

Happiness for the people.

Because of the duty of the Vietnamese people, any scholar, farmer, worker, merchant, or soldier, whatever they do, must compete with each other:

Expedite,

Fertilize,

Make more.

Every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of age, gender, rich or poor, big or small, must become a fighter on the fronts: Military, economic, political, cultural. Carry out a slogan:

National resistance,

Total resistance.

In patriotic emulation, we:

Just resisted,

Just founded the country.

The first results of the patriotic emulation will be:

The whole people have enough food and clothing,

All people know how to read and write,

The entire team was fully equipped with food and weapons to destroy the invaders.

The whole country will be unified and completely independent.

So we do:

Independent nation,

Civil liberties,

Happy people.

Three doctrines that the great revolutionary Sun Yat-sen put forth.

To achieve that good result, I would like to

The elders compete to urge their children and grandchildren to enthusiastically participate in work.

Children compete to study and help adults,

Rich people compete to expand their businesses,

Workers and farmers compete in production,

Intellectuals and professionals compete to create and invent,

Government employees compete to work wholeheartedly and serve the people.

Soldiers and militia compete to kill more enemies and capture more guns.

In short, everyone competed, everyone participated in the resistance and nation building. The movement was vibrant.

Patriotic emulation will be deeply rooted and spread to all aspects and all classes of people, and will help us to eliminate all difficulties and all enemy plots to achieve final victory.

With the indomitable spirit and endless strength of the nation, with the patriotism and determination of our people and army, we can win, we will definitely win.

Dear all compatriots,

Hey all soldiers,

Go!”

President Ho Chi Minh's call for patriotic emulation is the crystallization and concentrated expression of the basic contents of his thoughts on patriotic emulation; it is a document containing valuable instructions, of profound value in both theory and practice for the patriotic emulation movement; especially demonstrating the clear systematic and consistent nature of Ho Chi Minh's thoughts on patriotic emulation, on building a new life, a new society, and a new person. His call for patriotic emulation has the power to attract, motivate, and call upon our entire Party, people, and army to promote the tradition of patriotism, the spirit of solidarity, the will to be self-reliant, to overcome all sacrifices and hardships, and to be ready to devote all their intelligence and strength to the cause of national liberation, national reunification, and the construction and protection of the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

Over the past 76 years, the patriotic emulation movement has continuously developed, associated with each revolutionary period, there have been practical emulation movements that have brought about great results, contributing to beautifying the patriotic tradition and promoting the revolutionary heroism of the Vietnamese people.

Imbued with Uncle Ho's words:“Competition is patriotism, patriotism requires competition, those who compete are the most patriotic.”Emulation, reward and emulation movements in Nghe An province have had many positive changes, contributing to the whole Party, the whole army and the whole people in the province to overcome difficulties and challenges, and gain victories in all fields. In recent years, the province has continued to organize and disseminate the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's laws on emulation and reward work. Provincial departments, branches and sectors and localities have promoted emulation movements to successfully implement socio-economic development goals and targets, determined to build Nghe An to develop more and more comprehensively and strongly; to be worthy of Uncle Ho's wishes before he passed away:"I hope that our compatriots and comrades in the province will strive to make Nghe An soon become one of the best provinces in the North." ⁽²⁾.