Comrade Truong Chinh and the Vietnamese revolution
(Baonghean.vn) - Comrade Truong Chinh's real name is Dang Xuan Khu, born on February 9, 1907 in a patriotic intellectual family in Hanh Thien village, Xuan Hong commune, Xuan Truong district, Nam Dinh province.
At the age of 81, with more than 60 years of continuous revolutionary activities, he was assigned to hold many important positions in the Party and State. He is an outstanding leader of the Party and a great cultural figure of the nation.
Upholding the flag of national independence associated with socialism
At the 7th Central Conference (November 1940), comrade Truong Chinh was elected Acting General Secretary to replace comrade General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu (who was arrested and executed by the French colonialists in August 1940). At the 8th Central Conference (May 1941), comrade Truong Chinh was elected General Secretary of the Party.
The Vietnamese Cultural Outline was drafted by General Secretary Truong Chinh and approved at the Central Party Standing Committee Conference held in Vong La (Dong Anh, Phuc Yen) in February 1943. The Vietnamese Cultural Outline stated three major principles in the movement to build Vietnamese culture: nationalization (opposing all enslavement and colonial influences that would cause Vietnamese culture to develop independently), popularization (opposing all policies and actions that would make culture go against the masses or far from the masses) and scientization (opposing all that would make culture unscientific and anti-progressive). The Vietnamese Cultural Outline contributed to gathering culturalists and intellectuals to participate in the cause of national liberation. In 1943, the National Salvation Cultural Association was also born and joined the Viet Minh Front established by the Party to contribute to the victory of the August Revolution in 1945.
Next, at the Second National Cultural Conference held from July 16 to 20, 1948 in Dao Gia commune, Thanh Ba district, Phu Tho province, General Secretary Truong Chinh read an important report on Marxism and Vietnamese culture, clearly pointing out the revolutionary cultural stance in the world and in our country. The report on Marxism and Vietnamese culture pointed out the responsibilities of cultural soldiers: to be absolutely loyal to the Fatherland and the resistance; not to compromise with reactionary ideology and culture, not to be neutral, not to maintain an indifferent attitude; to love science, to take Marxist science as a compass for action, to know and do together, to combine theory and practice; to wholeheartedly serve the people; to be close to the masses of workers, farmers, and soldiers, to sympathize with the masses, to learn from the people, but to educate and guide the people. "That is the genuine attitude of our new cultural warriors, and also the secret to our success" - General Secretary Truong Chinh emphasized.
One of the great contributions of comrade Truong Chinh was to represent the Central Party Standing Committee to issue the Directive “Japan and France are fighting each other and our actions” (March 12, 1945), contributing to the victory of the August Revolution in 1945. The Directive proposed a High Movement to resist Japan and save the country as a premise for the general uprising. The Directive also clearly stated that wherever the comparison of forces was favorable for the revolution, the uprising would be carried out in parts, taking power in parts and being ready to switch to the form of a general uprising once the conditions were met[1].
The August Revolution of 1945 succeeded, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) was born. However, the French colonialists returned to invade our country. Thoroughly grasping the spirit of the Party's Directive on National Resistance dated December 12, 1946 for the entire Party, the entire army and the entire people, General Secretary Truong Chinh wrote a series of articles published in the newspaper Su That - the Party's Central mouthpiece from issue 70 (March 4, 1947) to issue 81 (August 1, 1947). These articles were published by Su That Publishing House as a book with the title "The Resistance Will Definitely Win". In this work, General Secretary Truong Chinh put forward arguments and developed the entire line of national resistance, comprehensive, long-term, self-reliant of our Party.
Faced with the new demands of the national liberation revolution, the Second National Congress of the Party took place from February 11 to 19, 1951 in Tuyen Quang. The political report presented by President Ho Chi Minh on the afternoon of February 11, 1951 affirmed that the Party's line of resistance against the French colonialists and American interventionists was correct and that our people's resistance against the French colonialists and American interventionists would definitely be victorious. The Congress elected President Ho Chi Minh as Party Chairman, and comrade Truong Chinh was re-elected as General Secretary of the Party Central Committee.
From July 1960 to July 1981, comrade Truong Chinh was re-elected as Chairman of the National Assembly. This was the period of building socialism in the North, fighting to liberate the South, and then the period of the whole country unifying and moving towards socialism.
Speaking about comrade Truong Chinh's contributions to the cause of national liberation and socialist construction, General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh assessed that: "The comrade's role was outstanding as one of the outstanding leaders who brought the August Revolution to success and the resistance war against French colonialism to final victory" and "the comrade made many great contributions to the collective leadership of the Party Central Committee during the years of resistance war against the US, liberating the South, and unifying the country"[2].
General Secretary of Innovation
Our country's economy had not yet recovered from the anti-American resistance war when it was hit by new war wounds at the northern and southwestern borders. In addition, hostile forces increasingly intensified their blockade and embargo on our country. In addition, inflation also caused people's lives to decline.
That situation affected all production activities and impacted the entire social life. Faced with that situation, comrade Truong Chinh struggled to think of a way to get the country out of the difficult situation.
From 1983 to 1986, comrade Truong Chinh, in his capacity as Politburo member and Chairman of the State Council, organized and directly participated in many field survey programs to nearly 20 provinces and cities across the country. In December 1982, comrade Truong Chinh also established a research group on the basic viewpoints of Marxism-Leninism and the basic content of Lenin's New Economic Policy to apply to Vietnam's reality in the new context.
On December 27, 1983, comrade Truong Chinh stated: “Here, it is necessary to emphasize the decisive role of the proletarian dictatorship in the issue of building new people. Historical experience shows that when the proletarian dictatorship is weakened, when the components of the proletarian dictatorship, such as the leadership role of the Party, the management function of the State and the mastery of the working people, the worker-peasant alliance... are violated, not only is the socialist regime at risk of degenerating, but many complex developments in thought and action also arise in people”[3].
"The ideological deviations and mistakes in the work of our cadres and party members up to now are often due to not fully studying Marxism-Leninism and not deeply imbuing the Party's guidelines and policies," Comrade Truong Chinh emphasized.
On July 14, 1986, after General Secretary Le Duan passed away, the Party Central Committee held a special session and unanimously elected comrade Truong Chinh as General Secretary.
At the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (held from December 15 to 18, 1986 in Hanoi), comrade Truong Chinh read the Political Report of the 5th Central Executive Committee presented to the 6th Congress. The political report affirmed: “For our country, innovation is an urgent requirement of the revolutionary cause, a matter of vital significance. For many years now, in our perception of socialism, there have been many outdated concepts, especially concepts about industrialization, about socialist transformation, about economic management mechanisms, about distribution, circulation... Therefore, we must innovate, first of all, innovate thinking, so that we can overcome difficulties and realize the goals set by the 6th Party Congress... Innovation in thinking does not mean denying the theoretical achievements that have been achieved, denying the correct path that has been determined, on the contrary, it is to supplement and develop those achievements”[4].
After the 6th Party Congress, Comrade Truong Chinh continued to contribute to the Party in the role of Advisor to the Party Central Committee. Comrade Truong Chinh paid special attention to the organization, deployment and implementation of the 6th Congress's Resolution on Renovation. Despite his old age and poor health, Comrade Truong Chinh visited and worked in many localities many times. At the places he visited, Comrade Truong Chinh reminded local leaders to see renovation as a continuous process, from low to high, from each aspect to comprehensive, urgent, bold but cautious.
The 13th National Congress of the Party (2021) emphasized: “After 35 years of carrying out the renovation process, 30 years of implementing the Platform for national construction in the transitional period to socialism, the theory on the renovation path, on socialism and the path to socialism in our country has been increasingly perfected and gradually realized. We have achieved great achievements of historical significance, developing more strongly and comprehensively than in the years before the renovation. With all modesty, we can still say that: Our country has never had such a foundation, potential, position and international prestige as today. Those achievements are the crystallization of creativity, the result of a process of persistent and continuous efforts over many terms of the entire Party, people and army; continuing to affirm that our path to socialism is correct, in accordance with objective laws and reality. Vietnam and the development trend of the times; our Party's renovation policy is correct and creative; the Party's leadership is the leading factor determining all victories of the Vietnamese revolution. The Party's political platform continues to be the ideological and theoretical flag that leads our nation to firmly continue to comprehensively and synchronously promote the renovation process; it is the foundation for our Party to perfect the policy of building and defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland in the new period"[5]
The 13th National Congress of the Party (2021) set the goal of developing the country by 2045 (the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) to become a developed, high-income country.
The renovation process has the significance of a revolution in the new era, affirming that our country's path to socialism is consistent with objective laws, with Vietnam's reality and the development trend of the times. The victory of the renovation process has affirmed the correctness of the renovation policy set forth by the 6th Party Congress, in which comrade Truong Chinh is the "General Secretary of renovation"[6].
References:
[1] Communist Party of Vietnam, Complete Party Documents, volume 7, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2000, p. 367
[2] Eulogy read by General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh at the memorial service for comrade Truong Chinh, October 5, 1988, see Truong Chinh - a great personality, an outstanding leader of the Vietnamese revolution, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2002, p. 16.
[3] See the article “On the ideological and cultural revolution (December 27, 1983)” in the book Truong Chinh Selected Works (1976 - 1986) - Volume III, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2009
[4] Communist Party of Vietnam: Documents of the 6th National Congress of Delegates, Truth Publishing House, Hanoi, 1987, p. 125
[5] Communist Party of Vietnam, Documents of the 13th National Congress of Delegates, Volume I, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2021, pp. 25 - 26
[6] Vo Van Kiet: “Comrade Truong Chinh - General Secretary of the renovation”. According to the book: Truong Chinh, a great personality, an outstanding leader of the Vietnamese revolution, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2002, p. 36.
