In early 1945, World War II entered the final stage. The Soviet Red Army consecutively won decisive victories on the European battlefield, liberated a series of countries and advanced straight into the Nazi den in Berlin. On May 9, 1945, the Nazis surrendered unconditionally, and the war ended in Europe. According to the agreement of the Allies, after the Japanese fascist surrendered, the British and Chiang Kai-shek Armies would enter Indochina to disarm the Japanese Army. Meanwhile, the French colonialists stumbled upon their allies to restore their colonialism; the US imperialism was ready to intervene in Indochina; reactionary elements in the Japanese government were planning to change masters, countering the revolution.

Internally, through the exercises, by 1945, the revolutionary movement was high. Immediately after the Japanese fascists staged a coup to oust France, the extended Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee decided to launch a high revolutionary movement as a premise for the General Uprising. In March 1945, the Party Central Committee issued Directive “Japan - France conflict and our actions”. With that spirit, since April 1945 onwards, the high resistance movement against Japan for national salvation developed robustly. In August 1945, the Party's National Congress convened at Tan Trao (Tuyen Quang) affirmed: “A very good opportunity for us to gain independence has come” and decided to launch the entire people’s insurrection to gain power, with three principles, namely: focus, unity, and timeliness. At 23:00 on August 13, 1945, the Uprising Committee issued Military Order No. 1, calling for the entire people to join the Uprising. Under the leadership of the Party and Leader Ho Chi Minh, people all across the country rose up all at once, participated in the General Uprising to seize power. Within only two last weeks of August 1945, the General Uprising won completely; the government was brought to our people. On September 2, 1945, at the historic Ba Dinh Square, on behalf of the Provisional Government, President Ho Chi Minh solemnly read the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming to the nation and the world the establishment of the Vietnam Democratic Republic.

Meeting to celebrate the success of the August Revolution in front of the Hanoi Theatre in 1945 (A file photo)

The success of the August Revolution in 1945 was attributed to many reasons, in which the most important and decisive one was the right, wise and skillful leadership of the Party; the sound and creative application and development of Marxism-Leninism in our specific conditions. The Party adopted suitable and flexible revolutionary methods, tactics and strategies. It was aware of the opportunities, proactively and resolutely seized the opportunity, and conducted the General Uprising to take power throughout the country. That victory was also attributed to the patriotism, solidarity, strong will of the people, who resolutely refused to live in slavery and wholeheartedly followed the Party’s leadership to rise up for national independence. In addition, the General Uprising was conducted amid advantages of international context, namely: the defeat of Nazism and the growth of the world national liberation movement.

The success of the August Revolution in 1945 was the first great victory of our people since the Party was established, marking a great turning point in the history of the nation. Government brought to the hands of the people, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born - the first peasant state in Southeast Asia, ending the feudal monarchy in Vietnam and more than 80 years of colonialism and fascism. Our people stood up to take control of their own destiny and escaped from slavery. From a colonial, semi-feudal state, Vietnam has become an independent, free and democratic country. The Communist Party of Vietnam becomes a ruling party. This is also the inevitable development of the nation's history, the pinnacle of the indomitable spirit, the strength of community cohesion, the nation's intellectual height mixed with Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought and the trend of the time. The success of the August Revolution was also the driving force encouraging the oppressed peoples of the world to overthrow colonialism, feudalism, and build a new, prosperous and happy society. It affirmed that a one-party working-class revolution not only succeeds in an underdeveloped capitalist country, in the weakest link of imperialism, but also in a semi-feudalist backward country to bring the nation to the path of socialism.

Shortly after the success of the August Revolution, our country had to cope with numerous difficulties and challenges. Facing the situation of “a thousand pounds hung by a hair”, President Ho Chi Minh and our Party firmly steered the revolutionary boat, led our people to the resistance war against the second French colonial invasion with the motto “all-people, comprehensive, long-term, self-reliant”. Promoting the spirit of the August Revolution, we defeated the war plans of the French colonialists, culminating in the land-sliding historic Victory of Dien Bien Phu, which shook the world. This was also the strength for our people under the leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh to simultaneously carry out two revolutionary missions: the socialist revolution in the North and the national, democratic revolution in the South. Through 21 years (1954 - 1975) fighting heroically against the American imperialists and henchmen, our people defeated the enemy's brutal and cunning war strategies. Great victory in spring 1975 with the culmination of Ho Chi Minh Campaign completely liberated the South, reunified the country; brought our nation into the era of independence, unification, and socialism country-wide.

When the country was unified, the whole Party, people, and troops focused our mentality, worked hard to heal the wounds of the war, build a new life and perform two strategic tasks of building and defending the Fatherland. Through nearly 35 years of renewal, our country has gained great achievements of historical significance. The political system and the great national unity bloc were strengthened; social and political situations were stable. National defense and security have been strengthened, contributing to firmly protecting the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland; maintained a peaceful and stable environment for national development. Foreign relations have been expanded and deepened; taking advantage of opportunities, overcoming challenges, effectively implementing international integration in new conditions, continuing to improve Vietnam's status and reputation in the international arena. People's lives have been constantly improved; democratic atmosphere has been promoted, social culture has enjoyed developments. Vietnam has surpassed the threshold of a poor country to become a middle-income country. It is effectively implementing the target of controlling inflation, stabilizing the macro-economy, ensuring social security, maintaining growth at a reasonable rate. Doi Moi is truly a creative cause of our people; affirming that the path to socialism in our country is in line with Vietnamese reality and development trend of the history.

Celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the August Revolution and the National Day in the context of the entire Party, people and troops are striving for achievements to welcome the party congress at all levels to the 13^th National Congress of the Party, we, hereby, understand more about the value of the August Revolution. Today's generations should be fully aware of our responsibility in applying and developing the lessons learned from the August Revolution into the cause of innovation, national construction and defense, and international integration for the goal of rich people, strong, democratic, equal, and civilized country.

NATIONAL DEFENSE JOURNAL