Second Party Congress: Resistance and National Construction

SECOND PARTY CONGRESS

Time:February 11th to February 19th, 1951

Location:Vinh Quang commune (now Kim Binh commune), Chiem Hoa district, Tuyen Quang province

Number of delegates attending the Congress:158 official delegates, 53 alternate delegates

Number of party members in the country:over 760,000

The congress elected:

- Party Chairman:ComradeHo Chi Minh

- General Secretary:ComradeTruong Chinh

- Central Executive Committee:19 full members and 10 alternate members

- Politburo:7 full members and 1 alternate member (elected at the first meeting)

GENERAL CONTEXT:

From 1950 onwards, revolutionary movements worldwide developed strongly. The socialist system formed after World War II (1939-1945) was consolidated and strengthened in all aspects.

The national liberation movement continued to develop.

The world peace movement became a broad mass movement.

The world formed a "bipolar order," in which the United States and the Soviet Union shared the largest spheres of influence.

The US and Western countries launched the "Cold War" to oppose the socialist bloc. A global arms race ensued between the great powers, especially between the Soviet Union and the US.

In Indochina, the US increased its aid to France and its puppet army, deeply intervening in the war of aggression, ready to replace French colonialism.

The Vietnamese people's resistance war against French colonialism developed comprehensively, receiving the sympathy, support, and active assistance of the socialist bloc. Especially after the victory at the Border Campaign in 1950, the resistance war entered a new phase, the phase of counter-attack and offensive.

RESISTANCE AND NATIONAL BUILDING

Based on the practical requirements of organizing the resistance struggle of the three Indochinese nations, the Congress decided to separate the Indochinese Communist Party to establish a separate party in each of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, with a platform suited to the characteristics of each country. In Vietnam, the Congress decided to establish the Vietnam Workers' Party. The Congress studied and discussed the Political Report, the Report on the Vietnamese Revolution, the Report on the Party's Organization and Statutes, and supplementary reports on the National United Front, the people's democratic government, the people's army, the economy and finance, and the people's arts and culture.

The political report presented by President Ho Chi Minh summarized the Party's rich experiences over more than 20 years of leading the revolution, outlining the directions and tasks to bring the resistance war to complete victory. The report affirmed that the Party's line of a people's, comprehensive, and protracted resistance war for independence, unity, and democracy was correct, and that the resistance war of our people against French colonialism and American intervention would certainly be victorious. The report outlined the Party's two main tasks at this time:

+ To bring the resistance to complete victory.

+ The Vietnam Labor Party organization.

The Congress summarized the process of resistance against French colonialism and perfected the national democratic people's revolutionary line.

The Congress decided to bring the Party into public operation under the name of the Vietnam Labor Party, and adopted the Party's Political Platform, Charter, and Manifesto. The Congress also decided to establish revolutionary organizations suitable to the circumstances of Laos and Cambodia. The Vietnam Labor Party was obligated to assist the revolutionary organizations of Laos and Cambodia in leading the resistance of those two nations to final victory.

The Central Committee of the Party, elected by the Congress, consisted of 29 members. Comrade Ho Chi Minh was elected Chairman of the Party. The Politburo, elected by the Central Committee, consisted of 7 full members: Comrade Ho Chi Minh, Truong Chinh, Le Duan, Pham Van Dong, Vo Nguyen Giap, Nguyen Chi Thanh, and Hoang Quoc Viet, and one alternate member, Comrade Le Van Luong. Comrade Truong Chinh was re-elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party.

The Second National Congress of the Party was a momentous historical event, marking a new stage of maturity in the Party's ideology and political line. The Party, which had been operating clandestinely, returned to public activity under the name Vietnam Workers' Party, meeting the demands of revolutionary development.

DOMESTIC EVENTS

In early 1950, the people of Saigon's struggle against American intervention intensified, with the following highlights:

9/1/1950Over 3,000 students from Saigon-Chợ Lớn took to the streets to protest against imperialism and its collaborators; In February 1950, the first National Congress of the Vietnam Youth Federation in Việt Bắc decided to designate January 9th as the annual Student and Youth Traditional Day.

19/3/1950:Over 300,000 people in Saigon-Gia Dinh protested against American warships docking in Saigon port.

14/1/1950:The Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam issued a declaration on its foreign policy. From then on, socialist countries successively recognized and established diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam: China (January 18, 1950), the Soviet Union (January 30, 1950), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (January 31, 1950), Czechoslovakia (February 2, 1950), the German Democratic Republic (February 2, 1950)...

19/1/1950:President Ho Chi Minh embarked on a trip to China and the Soviet Union to seek international sympathy, support, and aid for the resistance war against French colonialism.

1September 6, 1950 to October 17, 1950We launched the Border Campaign and achieved great victories, "breaking the encirclement" and opening a new turning point in the development of the resistance war against the French.

December 1950:Backed by the American empire, the French colonialists sent General De Lattre de Tassigny to serve as High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the French forces in Indochina, proposing a new plan for a war of aggression.

March 3-7, 1951: The National Congress unified the Viet Minh and Lien Viet into the Vietnam National United Front (abbreviated as Lien Viet Front).

March 11, 1951: The first issue of Nhan Dan newspaper was published.

March 11, 1951: The People's Alliance of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia was established.

March 3, 1951: The Vietnam Workers' Party was introduced to the nation. President Ho Chi Minh delivered a speech.

May 6, 1951: The National Bank of Vietnam was established.

1951-1953: The Central Committee of the Party perfected the revolutionary line of the national democratic people, deciding on many specific issues to promote the resistance war against the French colonial invaders.

INTERNATIONAL EVENT

26/1/1950: India declares the establishment of a republic.

14/2/1950:Signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance between the Soviet Union and China: The treaty was valid for 30 years.

April 1950:The National United Front Committee of Cambodia and the Central Committee for National Liberation of Cambodia were established. On August 13, 1950, the Laotian Resistance Government was formed, marking a new stage in the development of the Indochinese revolution.

25/6/1950:War broke out between North and South Korea.

27/6/1950:US President H. Truman announced increased military aid to France in the Vietnam War, including sending military advisors and providing weapons.

November 1950:The Second World Peace Conference (held in Warsaw, Poland) adopted a resolution demanding that imperialism end its wars of aggression in Vietnam and Korea. The Vietnamese government sent a delegation to participate in the Conference.

23/12/1950The US pressured France to sign the Five-Party Defense Treaty, which included the US, France, and three puppet governments in Indochina, paving the way for direct US intervention in the Indochina War.

June 28, 1951: The Cambodian People's Party was founded.

September 4-8, 1951: The San Francisco Conference (USA) was held, with representatives from 51 countries attending to discuss ending the war in the Asia-Pacific region and establishing post-war relations with Japan.

At this conference, the head of the Vietnamese delegation, Tran Van Huu, affirmed Vietnam's long-standing sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos without any objection from the other 50 participating countries. This event demonstrates that the San Francisco Conference implicitly recognized Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

+ August 9, 1951: The United States and Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.