Nguyen Ai Quoc: The difference in the way of finding a way to save the country

After several months of teaching at Duc Thanh School, Nguyen Tat Thanh left school for Saigon to fulfill his ambition: to go find a way to save the country.

To realize that ambition, on June 5, 1911, with the name Van Ba ​​written on the employee card of the ship Amiran Latuxu Trevin, Nguyen Tat Thanh left the Fatherland for France from Nha Rong Port, Saigon city (now Ho Chi Minh city).

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

Nearly 10 years later in mid and late 1920, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc found, had found the way to save the country: National independence associated with socialism.

And bythe path to national salvation(which we later called the only correct revolutionary path) our Fatherland regained independence and freedom, our people defeated two great empires, our country renewed itself so that Vietnam could have the foundation and position it has today.

Our Party and people have been, are, and will forever be steadfast in the only correct revolutionary path to reach the goal of a rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, and civilization.

With those meanings, June 5, 1911 is truly a historical day marking the beginning of many important historical days in the history of the Vietnamese nation, in the history of the Vietnamese revolution, in the Ho Chi Minh era.

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In the early years of the 20th century, not only Nguyen Tat Thanh but also a number of other patriots went to the West (mainly to France) to find a way to save the country. They were also very perceptive and intelligent. They also had a full set of knowledge from the quintessence of Vietnamese culture and the quintessence of Eastern culture.

However, only Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc soon found and found the way to save the country - the revolutionary path that the history of the Vietnamese people demanded and entrusted.

Nguyen Ai Quoc speaks at the Tours Congress of the French Socialist Party, 1920. Photo courtesy

Why so?

To find the answer to this question, in addition to the similarities between Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc and other patriots who went to the West to find a way to save the country, we must thoroughly consider the differences in the way they sought a way to save the country.Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quocwith other patriots of the time.

First difference:For nearly 10 years, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc lived entirely by labor, with all kinds of jobs, including the most difficult ones. He worked to live, lived to learn, lived to find "What is necessary for us"¹. “The path that sets us free”². In one person, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc, there are two common identities: a person who lost his country and an oppressed worker. This certainly gave Nguyen Tat Thanh a deeper awareness of the close connection between patriotism and love for the people, between national liberation and worker liberation.

Second difference:Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc not only went to France, lived in France but also went to England, America and some European countries. He also went to many other countries in Africa that had the same colonial status as Vietnam, "civilized" by Western civilization. Surely thanks to that, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc had a deep and thorough understanding of the so-called "Western civilization", of the status of his people and oppressed peoples all over the world. Going beyond the national vision, he rose to the vision of humanity.

Third difference:Not standing outside to observe, explore and learn, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc threw himself into the center of the struggle to liberate oppressed peoples all over the world, into the center of the struggle of the workers' movement right in the heart of capitalist Europe. Thanks to that, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc realized the relationship between the path of national salvation of the Vietnamese people and the cause of liberating oppressed peoples all over the world. In particular, he realized the relationship between the struggle for national liberation and the struggle for class liberation.

Nguyen Ai Quoc (second from left to right) with some African revolutionaries during his time in the Soviet Union. Photo courtesy

Realizing those relationships, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc deeply understood Lenin's slogan "Proletariat and oppressed peoples of the world unite".

And from that, for him, the struggle to regain independence for the nation could not “stand alone” but must be a part of the struggle of the national liberation movement. It was necessary to place the national liberation movement in the orbit of the world proletarian revolution.

Fourth difference:Learning from and in the practical struggle, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc especially excelled himself to learn theory from the works of theorists and revolutionaries that humanity had from the 18th century, the 19th century, the 20th century. He was not allergic to any revolutionary doctrine, but always sought reasonable nuclei from the doctrines to enrich his theoretical knowledge. He closely and skillfully combined learning from books with learning in the practical struggle.

Thanks to his perseverance and persistence in researching and learning theories like that, thanks to his scientific learning methods, Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc came to Marxism-Leninism, came to the scientific and revolutionary doctrine of the era. That was the theoretical foundation to raise from the traditional - national vision to the modern - international vision.

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There are many other explanations as to why and how Nguyen Tat Thanh - Nguyen Ai Quoc found the way to save the country - the revolutionary way for our people. We hope that scientists will continue to research and explain.

May 2021

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(1), (2) “Milestones in the journey of the famous person Ho Chi Minh” Labor Publishing House - 2000. Page 19.

Truong Cong Anh