General Vo Nguyen Giap: A history teacher, a history writer

Love of history from childhood

Born and raised in An Xa village in Quang, the smallest delta region in Vietnam. Giap's mother, on days when she was not busy with farming, worked hard at her loom to earn a living. Giap's father was an educated farmer, plowing his own fields, and passed on to young Giap literacy, knowledge and love for his homeland and country in a countryside where every inch of land bears historical evidence. In the north of the province is the pristine Phong Nha cave, which attracts many pilgrims to pray before a remaining altar of the Cham people. On the coast, the majestic Hoanh Son range guards the sea, where the 18th-century poetess Ba Huyen Thanh Quan once praised one afternoon: "Remembering the country, my heart aches for the cuckoo." Even at a young age, the boy Giap understood that when the female poet mentioned the cuckoo bird, she was talking about the country because the sound of the cuckoo bird in Sino-Vietnamese is homophonous with the word "quoc", meaning country, homeland.

A short distance from An Xa village, there are still remains of the ancient citadel associated with the role of Mr. Dao Duy Tu - a military man and Chinese teacher. 25 years before Giap was born, Quang Binh was the area where the Can Vuong insurgents were active in response to King Ham Nghi's call to fight the French. In 1923, Giap said goodbye to his elderly parents and went to Hue to study at the National School. He was especially passionate about History, Geography and Physics. He only left his books when he was busy attending heated discussions on issues related to the country's history such as "saving the country", "renovating the country", "fighting foreign invaders"... At that time, people were whispering and talking about a person with a strange appeal named Nguyen Ai Quoc - a former student of the National School in Hue, author of the famous book "The Verdict of the French Colonial Regime". People gave him a copy and he read it with great interest.

In 1934, after passing the Baccalaureate in Philosophy, Vo Nguyen Giap enrolled in law school. While attending university, Vo Nguyen Giap also applied to work as a teacher at Thang Long Private School to earn a living.

In September 1935, the new Thang Long Private School opened its first school year. Looking at the list of professors, one can see that this was an organization of progressive intellectuals with a patriotic spirit: Hoang Minh Giam, Vo Nguyen Giap, Dang Thai Mai, Phan Thanh, Nghiem Xuan Yem, Nguyen Lan, Bui Ky, Pham Huy Thong, Ngo Xuan Dieu, Vu Dinh Hoe, Nguyen Cao Luyen, Trinh Van Binh, Nguyen Duong, Vu Dinh Lien... Therefore, students from all over the provinces also rushed to come, in the first year there were up to 2,000 students, a victory that the school's founders had not thought of. Thang Long School emerged as a bright spot in the private sector.

During his 5 years of teaching History at Thang Long School, Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap taught both national history and world history. Many high-ranking generals of our army were former students of Thang Long private school at that time, such as Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Minh Thao, Lieutenant General Le Quang Dao, Lieutenant General Pham Hong Cu... who still write memoirs printed in the school's yearbook, often mentioning Mr. Giap's passionate history lessons about the French Revolution of 1789, the meaning of the three words "Liberty - Equality - Fraternity", the reasoning of the 17 articles in the French "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen" in 1791, especially the Napoleonic wars, explained and analyzed on diagrams of the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino.

Mr. Bui Diem, who was the Ambassador of the Republic of Vietnam to the United States from 1967 to 1972, was a student who studied history with Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap at Thang Long Private School. He expressed his feelings and respect in his memories of Mr. Giap: “Among all the memorable characters, there is one person in particular that I will never forget, that is Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap - the person who taught me about History... He was someone who was captivated by revolution and struggle. The class program was set for the period from the end of the 18th century to the end of the 19th century in French history, but Mr. Giap insisted on only teaching about two periods: the French Revolution of 1789 and the battles of the Napoleonic era.”

Another person, Mr. Tran Van Ha - a former student of Buoi School, did not have the opportunity to study history directly with Mr. Giap, but hearing that his lectures were attractive and had a special appeal, he borrowed his friend's notebook to study. He said that "my roommate who studied at Thang Long Private School always bragged to me that Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap's lectures on the history of the French Revolution were really great. I borrowed it to read, it was really good! The lesson was like a story, very attractive about the capture of Bastille prison, the meaning of the three words "Liberty - Equality - Fraternity", the arguments of the 17 articles in the Declaration of Human Rights and Civil Rights... Naturally, in the reader's heart, love for the people, love for the country, against oppression and tyranny, against inequality, freedom, was aroused. Then it was as if there was an invisible force pushing him to do something.

In terms of teaching methods, Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap is a teacher with very skillful and creative methods. “Standing in front of the class, he looked at his students and spoke clearly. The appeal of the lecture began with raising the problem and directing students to focus on the event, from which he drew the essence and lessons of history. He always respected the objectivity of historical events, emphasized the analysis of historical figures so that students could understand history and know the era in which they lived.”

With a clear and passionate voice, close and friendly with students, Mr. Giap has entered the memories of many generations of students with all the beautiful images of a teacher who is respectable in personality, knowledgeable in knowledge and good in pedagogical ability. Because above all, it is his attachment to the teaching profession, his love of history and his respect for his students.

In 1990, when General Vo Nguyen Giap was interviewed by American journalist and historian Stanley Karnow - New York Times reporter, author of the book "Vietnam - a history", he said: "Please remember, I am a general fighting for peace. If I had not become a soldier, I would probably still be a teacher, maybe Philosophy or History".

The learned historian

During the leadership of the two long-term resistance wars against the two enemies, the French colonialists and the American imperialists, under the leadership of the Party and President Ho, General Vo Nguyen Giap made great contributions to the formation of a unique military doctrine of Vietnam in the Ho Chi Minh era - the people's war strategy. That doctrine both inherited and developed the historical lessons of our ancestors in fighting foreign invaders: Using humanity to overcome brutality, using humanity to replace violence; using small to overcome big, using few to fight many. In all different circumstances and situations, the General always knew how to apply Ho Chi Minh's thought creatively, especially the "people's hearts and minds" position. In the role of a Commander-in-Chief of the army with the character and passion of an educator, the General recognized that Vietnam is a country with a small land area, a small population, and a poor economy, but the thirst for peace does not mean victory at all costs. The General always felt pain for every wound of every soldier, regretted every drop of blood of every warrior. In every battle, he always found a way to fight that was both unique and creative, ensuring the highest victory while always minimizing casualties for his generals and soldiers.

Historical thinking and the qualities of a history teacher influenced the political and military awareness of General Vo Nguyen Giap. He believed that we must always respect history, perceive the truth correctly, and consider all events from a historical perspective with its dialectical movement. The General affirmed: Besides the spirit of our predecessors, the lessons on how to defeat foreign invaders from our predecessors have brought very useful knowledge for the battles of the 20th century.

After retiring from his military and government positions, General Vo Nguyen Giap returned to civilian life and devoted a lot of time, energy and intelligence to participating in many war summary works, and edited a research topic on Ho Chi Minh's ideology. Leaving behind more than 30 years of military career full of hardships and challenges during the two long resistance wars, he still did not rest for a single day even though he was old and weak, but he was still very clear-headed, rushing to do the work that he considered most important to him: Remembering so that everyone could think together. He "removed" the memory tape to express his memories of historical events, historical periods, periods, historical figures to leave in his memory in the historical flow of the nation, to leave in the memory of future generations historical subconscious with some of his memoirs such as: "Historical stages" (National Political Publishing House, 1994), "Fighting in the siege" (People's Army Publishing House, 1995), "Road to Dien Bien Phu" (People's Army Publishing House, 1999), "Dien Bien Phu, historical rendezvous" (People's Army Publishing House, 2000), "Headquarters in the victorious Spring" (National Political Publishing House, 2000)...

Taking off his military uniform and rank, wearing simple civilian clothes, he resembled a teacher, attached to history and historiography as a "career", a fate that he had formed, a debt that he would repay. From a history teacher at the famous Thang Long Private School in Hanoi, he joined the revolution, rushed into battle and became a general fighting the enemy. After the war, he returned to the work of writing history. Unlike many historians, "He is worthy of being a person who wrote history in both senses: making history and copying history. Thus, he still has to do the job: Reflecting himself in history".

With the qualities of a historian and the role of a witness of history, in his memoirs, he spent a lot of time, number of characters, and volume of articles about President Ho, about his comrades and teammates from high-ranking leaders to soldiers and compatriots that he had met on his revolutionary path.

According to him, a great cause can only be successful if everyone in all positions and ranks fulfills their part. Therefore, he advised that while writing, one should not forget anything, no matter how small, or anyone who has contributed to the common cause, especially those who sacrificed for a greater cause.

He often reminded historians that when writing the history of war, they must tell the story of the enemy's defeat, but more importantly, they must tell about the victors and analyze why they won. The lessons of history are not just common pride but must be specific lessons, because as Lenin said, "What led us to victory in war will lead us to victory in peace."