The stature of the times and the significance of the August Revolution

The August Revolution was a national liberation revolution because it ended the nearly 100-year colonial regime of French colonialism and Japanese fascism. The August Revolution brought Vietnam from a place without a name on the world map to a free and independent country. The working people were liberated from the miserable life of slavery and became citizens of a free and independent country.

The birth of the revolutionary government led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, mastered by the people, put an end to the semi-colonial feudal regime in Vietnam. The Vietnamese people, from being slaves, became citizens of an independent country, masters of their own destiny. Vietnam, from a semi-feudal colony, became an independent, free and democratic country. The Communist Party of Vietnam became a ruling party. The country, society, people and people of Vietnam had a new position in the international arena. This was truly a revolution of the Vietnamese people, mobilizing the strength of the entire people to carry out the struggle for national liberation, partial uprisings, moving towards a general uprising and winning victory for the people.

The August Revolution was a people's democratic revolution, because it abolished the feudal regime that had been established for thousands of years in Vietnam, aiming to bring land to the peasants and democracy to the people. The last king of the feudal regime, Bao Dai, announced his resignation and handed over his seal and sword to the revolutionary government right in the boiling days of the August Revolution. It was the national and democratic goals that attracted all classes of Vietnamese people, including farmers, workers, intellectuals, soldiers, petty bourgeoisie, etc. to participate in the revolution, creating an extremely large force to bring the revolution to victory.

August Revolution - victory of Vietnamese intelligence. Photo archive

The victory of the August Revolution was the victory of Marxism-Leninism creatively applied to the specific circumstances of the Vietnamese revolution; the victory of Ho Chi Minh's thought and the revolutionary line of our Party linking national independence with socialism, linking national strength with the strength of the times; the first victory of the proletarian revolution taking place in a semi-feudal colonial country. The August Revolution was the first great victory of our people led by the Party. In the article on the August Revolution published in the book "The Vietnamese People's National Democratic Revolution", the late General Secretary Truong Chinh affirmed: "The victory of the August Revolution was largely due to the correct leadership of the Indochinese Communist Party... The leaders skillfully chose the moment to strike a fatal blow, skillfully chose the moment to launch the uprising... quickly, promptly, and broke out at the right time."

The victory of the August Revolution was the result of the Vietnamese people's long struggle against colonial imperialism. Photo: Archive

The victory of the August Revolution proved that President Ho Chi Minh and our Party had skillfully applied the art of "situation" and "time". The opportunity for the general uprising was when the Soviet Red Army defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army. If the general uprising had broken out earlier, when Japan had not yet surrendered to the Allies, it would have encountered more difficulties. Although the Japanese army had lost the battle, they still had enough forces to fiercely fight against the revolution, the revolution could have suffered losses and the general uprising could not have achieved victory across the country so quickly. The general uprising broke out when the Japanese army had lost all their spirit and fighting strength, so there was almost no response.

If the uprising had broken out later, when the Allied forces had entered our country (the Chiang Kai-shek army followed by the Viet Quoc and Viet Cach reactionaries in the North) and the British army followed by the French army in the South); they could have established a pro-Allied government, the revolution would have encountered many difficulties. The general uprising had succeeded, we had declared independence, established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a sovereign country and was ready to welcome the Allied forces to disarm the Japanese army.

The victory of the August Revolution was the result of the long struggle of the Vietnamese people against imperialism and colonialism, promoting the nation's tradition of patriotism against foreign invaders that had been formed over thousands of years of history; it was the pinnacle of the nation's indomitable will, the strength of community cohesion, the intellectual height of the nation combined with Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought and the trend of the times for peace, democracy and social progress, for national independence and socialism. The further back in time, the more clearly we see the great stature of the August Revolution, as President Ho Chi Minh affirmed:"Not only can the working class and the Vietnamese people be proud, but the working class and oppressed peoples all over the world can also be proud that: This is the first time in the revolutionary history of colonial peoples that a Party only 15 years old has successfully led the Revolution and taken power nationwide."

Panorama of Nam Dan town. Photo courtesy of Sach Nguyen

The victory of the August Revolution and the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam encouraged the national liberation movement in the colonies oppressed and dominated by imperialism. It affirmed that, in the conditions of the proletarian revolutionary trend, the revolution led by a party of the working class could not only succeed in an underdeveloped capitalist country, the weakest link of imperialism, but could also succeed in a backward semi-feudal colony to bring the whole nation up the path of socialism.

The August Revolution of 1945 in Vietnam was a rare combination between the struggle for independence of a colonial nation and the struggle of the world's people against fascism, especially with the Allied offensive to destroy fascism to end World War II.

A corner of Vinh city. Photo courtesy of Sach Nguyen

After nearly 35 years of implementing the "Doi Moi" policy, our country has achieved great achievements, maintained a high economic growth rate, becoming one of the fastest growing economies in the region and the world; the competitiveness, potential and scale of the economy have been improved; the material and spiritual life of the people has been enhanced; politics and society have been stable; national defense and security have been constantly consolidated, resolutely and persistently maintaining the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland; foreign relations and international integration have become increasingly deep and effective; Vietnam's prestige and position in the international arena have been enhanced... However, besides the favorable aspects, we are facing many challenges. The process of our country participating in international integration is also a fierce struggle not only in the economic, cultural and social fields but also in politics, national defense and security.

In the coming time, the world, regional and domestic situation will continue to develop in a complex and unpredictable manner, with opportunities and challenges intertwined. Peace, cooperation and development are still the dominant trends, governing political, economic and security relations in the world, but threats to peace, stability and development still exist. Globalization and international integration have become an inevitable trend, strongly affecting all countries and peoples, including Vietnam.

In the trend of globalization and international integration, the speed of world development is measured by the yardstick based on the real factors of developed countries, and therefore, changing to adapt is an extremely difficult but unavoidable task for developing and underdeveloped countries. In an environment of both cooperation and deep competition, if a nation has poor competitiveness, it will have fewer and fewer opportunities to develop. Thus, along with the opportunities that are opened, globalization and international integration also create fierce conflicts between developing countries and developed countries in the process of opening up and integrating.

In that context, Vietnam is facing many great opportunities, but also many challenges. The more difficult it is, the more we realize the great role and talented leadership of the Party; the more proud we are of the August Revolution. The significance and stature of the August Revolution still live forever, continuing to be the foundation, the torch guiding our people on the path to socialism. The lessons of the August Revolution still hold true for us in implementing the "Doi Moi" policy and participating in international integration today./.