Important milestones in President Ho Chi Minh's journey to find a way to save the country

In search of the origin of Freedom - Equality - Fraternity

In 1965, President Ho Chi Minh recalled to American journalist Anna Louise Strong: “The Vietnamese people, including my father, often wondered who would help them escape from French rule. Some thought it would be England, others thought it would be America. I felt I had to go abroad to see for myself. After seeing how they were doing, I would return to help my people.”⁽*⁾.

In the article “Visiting a Communist Internationalist - Nguyen Ai Quoc” by Soviet writer Osip Mandelstam published in the magazine “Little Flame” (Ogoniok) No. 39, published on December 23, 1923, President Ho Chi Minh recalled: “When I was thirteen years old, I first heard three French words: Liberty - Equality - Fraternity. For us, all white people are French. The French said so. And from that time on, I really wanted to get acquainted with French civilization, wanted to find out what was hidden behind those words.”⁽*⁾.

The Admiral Latouche Treville (L'Admiral Latouche Treville), where Nguyen Tat Thanh worked as a kitchen assistant when he left the country to find a way to save the country (June 1911). Photo courtesy

Therefore, 110 years ago, on June 5, 1911, at Nha Rong Wharf, President Ho Chi Minh boarded the French ship L'Admiral Latouche Trévill, a large cargo and passenger ship of the French company Chargeurs Réunis, to work as a kitchen assistant to begin his great ideal. At that time, he was just over 20 years old. Later, he recalled a conversation between him and a friend in Saigon about going abroad to find a way to save the country. According to the book "Stories about the life of President Ho" by author Tran Dan Tien, at that time, he said: "I want to go out, see France and other countries. After seeing how they do, I will return to help our people"⁽*⁾.

Realizing the nature of capitalism

On the gojourney to find a way to save the countryHe went to the most advanced capitalist countries at that time, France, America, England... and the colonies in Africa, America, and Asia. He realized the nature of the capitalist regime: "Internally, it deprives workers and peasants, externally, it oppresses the colonies."⁽*⁾, "the capitalist revolution is a revolution that has not yet arrived"⁽*⁾and "in the struggle for independence, we must rely on our own strength to liberate ourselves, never hope to wait for the "favor" of the bourgeois government"⁽*⁾.

President Ho Chi Minh participated in founding the French Communist Party in 1920. Photo archive

In 1919, at the age of 29, in the capital of Paris, France, he joined the French Socialist Party and spent a lot of time going deep into areas with a large number of overseas Vietnamese, promoting patriotism, denouncing the crimes of the colonialists and imperialists, gradually gaining the love and trust of everyone and becoming the soul of the Association of Vietnamese Patriots in France. During a visit to watch his talk, French secret agent Paul Arnoux had to exclaim with a premonition: "This slender and energetic young man could be the one who will put an end to our rule in Indochina."⁽*⁾.

Coming to Leninism

In the article “The Path That Led Me to Leninism” (1960), President Ho Chi Minh recalled: “At first, it was patriotism, not communism, that led me to follow Lenin and believe in the Third International. Step by step, in the struggle, while studying Marxist-Leninist theory and doing practical work, I gradually understood that only socialism and communism can liberate oppressed peoples and workers around the world from slavery.”⁽*⁾.

In December 1920, at the age of 30, President Ho Chi Minh participated in founding the French Section of the Communist International. In response to the question of why he supported the Communist International, he clearly stated: “I clearly understand that the Third International pays great attention to the issue of colonial liberation. The Third International said it would help oppressed peoples regain their freedom and independence. Freedom for my compatriots, independence for my Fatherland, that is all I want; that is all I understand.”⁽*⁾After that, he and a number of comrades from French colonies such as Algeria, Tunisia, Madagascar... participated in founding the Union of Colonial Peoples (1921).

Nguyen Ai Quoc in the Soviet Union (1923 - 1924) (seated row, second left). Photo archive

In late 1923, at the age of 33, President Ho Chi Minh studied at the Communist University of the Workers of the Orient in the Soviet Union. In June 1924, at the Fifth Congress of the Communist International, he criticized the opinions that belittled the revolution in the colonies: “Comrades, please forgive my boldness, but I cannot help but tell you that, after listening to the speeches of comrades in the mother country, I have the impression that they want to kill the snake by the tail. All of you comrades know that at present the venom and vitality of the capitalist snake are more concentrated in the colonies than in the mother country. The colonies provide raw materials for factories; the colonies provide soldiers for the imperialist army. The colonies become the foundation of counter-revolutionary forces. Yet, when you talk about revolution, comrades, you despise the colonies.”⁽*⁾. Afterwards, he was elected as a member of the Eastern Department, in charge of the Southern Bureau of the Communist International.

Next, the Communist International sent President Ho Chi Minh to Guangzhou (China) to work in order to promote all conditions for building a communist organization in Indochina and helping revolutionary representatives in Southeast Asian countries. In 1925, when he was only 35 years old, President Ho Chi Minh, together with his comrades from China, India, Korea, Indonesia, Burma, etc., participated in founding the Association of Oppressed Nations (1925). In the same year, he founded the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association to spread Marxism-Leninism to Vietnam.

President Ho Chi Minh founded the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1930. Photo of a painting by artist Phi Hoanh of the National Museum of History.

At the age of 37, President Ho Chi Minh completed the work “The Revolutionary Path” as a teaching material for members of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association. In this work, he pointed out: “The Russian Revolution taught us that for the revolution to succeed, the people (workers and peasants) must be the foundation. We must have a strong party, we must be steadfast, we must sacrifice, we must be unified. In short, we must follow Marxism and Leninism.”⁽*⁾. That revolutionary party was founded by Him on February 3, 1930. It was the Communist Party of Vietnam. At that time, He was 40 years old.

On January 28, 1941, at the age of 51, after many years of revolutionary activities abroad, President Ho Chi Minh returned home.directly lead the Vietnamese revolution. In this year, he founded the Viet Minh Front. Then, at the age of 54, he founded the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, the predecessor of the Vietnam People's Army. At the age of 55, he led the entire Party and people to make the August Revolution in 1945 and he also, on behalf of the provisional revolutionary government, read the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the first worker-peasant state in Southeast Asia. Thus, up to this point, the path he found to save the country had been proven to be correct!

President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square (Hanoi) on September 2, 1945. Historical photo

Hue, May 31, 2021

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Document: Nhan Dan Newspaper, May 18, 1965.

Ho Chi Minh: Complete works, volume 1, National Political Publishing House.

Tran Dan Tien, Stories about the life and activities of President Ho.

Hong Ha, "Uncle Ho's Youth", Thanh Nien Publishing House.