This year, our entire Party, People, and Military solemnly commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national unification (30th April 1975 - 30th April 2025) - a glorious golden chapter in the history of the Vietnamese nation. It was a momentous event that realised our people’s dream of national independence and unity towards socialism as well as prosperity, civilisation, and happiness. However, despite that fact, somewhere there remain those who harbour resentment and hostile attitudes, deliberately putting forward distortions of our momentous event. Therefore, we must heighten our vigilance and resolutely strive to refute them.
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| Ho Chi Minh City is emerging as a top financial centre in Southeast Asia (photo: VNA) |
The Great 1975 Spring Victory was a glorious military feat, a great victory in our Military and people’s resistance war against the US for national salvation under our Party’s clear-sighted and shrewd leadership. In just 55 days and nights, we completely defeated the Saigon puppet army - numbering over one million soldiers, organised, trained, supported, and equipped by the US - and destroyed the US-backed puppet regime in the South. During their war in Vietnam (1954 - 1975), US imperialism spent $676 billion. Compared to World War I ($25 billion), World War II ($341 billion), and the Korean War ($54 billion), the US expenditure on the war in Vietnam represents a colossal sum. During nine years of US direct involvement in Vietnam, approximately 58,000 American soldiers lost their lives. This was indeed a huge defeat for US imperialism.
The Great 1975 Spring Victory concluded 30 years of heroic struggle (against colonialism and imperialist aggression) for national liberation and Fatherland protection; it possessed immense stature both militarily and politically, as well as in terms of scope and the forces involved. This profoundly demonstrates our Party’s strategic talent and exceptional art of military command in organising forces, establishing strategic disposition, creating and seizing opportunities, and making resolution for a decisive strategic campaign to achieve complete victory. Simultaneously, it reflects the extraordinary willpower of our Military and people, affirming our nation’s determination to liberate the South and unify the country. Our entire Party, people, and Military completely fulfilled the wish of President Ho Chi Minh expressed in his Testament: “Even though our people’s struggle against US aggression for national salvation may have to go through more hardships and sacrifices, we are bound to win total victory. This is a certainty”.
Assessing the stature and significance of this historical event, the 4th National Congress of the Party affirmed: “Years will pass, but the victory of our people in the resistance war against the US for national salvation will forever be inscribed in our nation’s history as one of its most glorious chapters. A shining symbol of the complete victory of revolutionary heroism and human intellect, it has gone down in world history as a great feat of the 20th century, an event of immense international importance and profound epochal significance”.
Since that great victory, over the past 50 years, our country has achieved outstanding development, reaching new heights, gradually rising and standing alongside world powers. That is an undeniable fact. And yet, deceitful, sinister, and insidious narratives continually emerge, aiming to distort the noble and momentous significance of the Great 1975 Spring Victory and our national unification. Typically, the essence of these vile narratives is the assertion that our resistance war against the US for national salvation was a mistake, leading to a “fratricidal war” between the North and the South. To support this fallacious narrative, they cite the examples of North and South Korea, and East and West Germany, suggesting these countries did not wage such wars yet still achieved stability and development. It must be stated that these narratives are by no means vague, naive, or muddled; rather, they represent an insidious intention by hostile forces, attempting to turn black into white. And of course, that brazen criticism fools no one. We have sufficient grounds to completely refute that wicked narrative, based on the following clear points.
The resistance war against the US for national salvation, liberating the South and unifying the country, was a just war, not a “fratricidal tragedy” as distorted by hostile forces.
After the victory in the resistance war against French colonialists (1954), implementing the Geneva Accords, our Party and President Ho Chi Minh advocated shifting our people’s struggle from a military one to a political one, wishing to maintain peace and move towards national unification through a general election scheduled for July 1956. However, American imperialists, with their malicious scheme to permanently divide our country, blatantly sabotaged the Geneva Accords, setting up the puppet Republic of Vietnam regime in the South, refusing the general election, vigorously suppressing our patriots. From 1965 to January 1973, the US conducted approximately 3 million troop deployments of American and vassal forces, along with enormous quantities of weapons and military equipment of the most modern kind, to directly participate in combat in South Vietnam, gradually expanding the war to the North. Simultaneously, they attempted to strengthen the puppet regime to carry out the scheme of turning South Vietnam into an American outpost in Southeast Asia.
Former French President F. Mitterrand, during his official visit to Vietnam in February 1993, in responding to journalists, remarked: “Mr Ho Chi Minh sought dialogue but found none. Although he greatly desired negotiations towards independence, Mr Ho Chi Minh was pushed into war”.
Thus, from a historical and legal perspective, the Vietnamese people’s resistance war against the US for national salvation was not a civil war, not a case of “fratricidal conflict” as propagandised and distorted by hostile forces; it was a just war of the Vietnamese people against foreign invaders. This is because it was precisely US imperialism that was the aggressor, while Vietnam merely exercised its legitimate right to self-defence. Just like the earlier resistance war against French colonialists, faced with the threat of aggression from US imperialism, Vietnamese people had no other choice but to rise up and fight to defend the Fatherland - not out of hatred, but out of the aspiration for independence and national unification.
There was no “fratricidal tragedy” between the North and the South
After the Geneva Accords, with the aim of ousting the French and gain sole control over South Vietnam, American imperialists set up the puppet regime of Ngo Dinh Diem as a tool for governing and suppressing our people. In mid-1956, Ngo Dinh Diem declared the establishment of the “Republic of Vietnam”. In reality, the so-called the “Republic of Vietnam” regime did not represent the will and aspirations of the people of South Vietnam. Indeed, the Southern people themselves were the core force in the resistance war against the US in South Vietnam, exemplified by the Đồng Khởi (Uprising) Movement of 1959 or the establishment of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam in 1960. These forces were built from the Southern people themselves, reflecting their aspirations for independence and freedom.
Furthermore, the puppet regime of Ngo Dinh Diem, as well as subsequent puppet administrations, was in essence merely an apparatus set up and nurtured by the US, serving the aggressive war of US imperialism. Historical reality demonstrates: after becoming the puppet president, Ngo Dinh Diem immediately implemented a policy of retaliation against former resistance fighters, launching “denounce communists” and “exterminate communists” campaigns with slogans, such as “eradicate communists to the root” and "better to kill by mistake than to miss an enemy".
In May 1959, Ngo Dinh Diem enacted the fascist 10/59 Act, ruthlessly killing countless patriotic soldiers and compatriots. Between late 1954 and 1959, they imprisoned 466,000 people and killed 68,000. A typical example is the Phu Loi massacre (December 1958): they poisoned 6,000 political prisoners, killing 1,000 people, leaving another 4,000 seriously poisoned. They also clamoured to “fill in the Ben Hai River”, “march towards the North”, “liberate the ancient capital”, and so on. The crimes of US imperialism and its lackeys - which neither heaven nor earth can forgive - were in the broad daylight, compelling us to rise up, to “kick out the American and topple the puppet”. How could this possibly be ‘fratricide’!
After the liberation of the South and national unification, in the spirit of “closing the past, looking towards the future,” our Party and State implemented a policy of national concord and reconciliation, creating favourable conditions for those who were once on the other side of the front line to integrate into society. Clause 2, Article 5, Chapter I of the 2013 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam clearly stipulates: “All the ethnicities are equal and unite with, respect and assist one another for mutual development; all acts of discrimination against and division of the ethnicities are prohibited”. This proves that our resistance war was not aimed at mutual destruction; it was aimed at national liberation and unification. Therefore, the narrative claiming that the Great 1975 Spring Victory was the victory in a war of “fratricide” between Vietnamese people themselves is a completely erroneous assertion and does not correctly reflect the true nature of the war.
The extraordinary achievements of the Great 1975 Spring Victory
The resistance war against the US for national salvation, culminating in the Great 1975 Spring Victory, was a struggle filled with sacrifice and hardship undertaken by our entire Party, people, and Military - a shining symbol of the courage, wisdom, and revolutionary heroism of Vietnam in the Ho Chi Minh era. The further time passes, along with changes in domestic and global realities, the more profoundly we understand the immense stature, significance, and enduring value of the Great 1975 Spring Victory. This has proven that our people’s resistance war against the US for national salvation was just, entirely righteous, and brought about great achievements.
The complete liberation of the South and the unification of the country. The 1975 Spring General Offensive and Uprising, culminating in the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, gloriously concluded the resistance war against the US for national salvation, which had lasted continuously for 21 years. It put a permanent end to the 117-year yoke of domination by colonialist and imperialist aggressors in our country, making our Fatherland completely independent and unified. Without victory in the resistance wars against colonialist and imperialist aggression, Vietnam might have remained divided, or even still suffered under the domination of neo-colonialism. The unification of the country has allowed our people to live in peace, to build and develop together, ushering the entire country into an era of national independence and socialism.
Paving the way for Vietnam’s development. After the war, despite facing many difficulties, yet thanks to national independence, sovereignty, and unity, Vietnam has gradually recovered, reformed, and developed. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, our country has successfully carried out the Đổi Mới (renovation) process, firmly defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland, fulfilling its international obligations. Through nearly 40 years of Đổi Mới, “our country has never had such fortune, potential, position, and international prestige as it does today”; the people enjoy an increasingly prosperous and happy life, creating a solid foundation for the country to enter an era of development, prosperity, and affluence.
Affirming Vietnam’s position on the international stage. Upholding the justice of our resistance war against the US for national salvation, along with a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, and creativity, our Party has strengthened international solidarity and friendship, mobilising material and spiritual support from progressive, peace-loving people worldwide, especially from fraternal socialist countries and even from American people. Vietnam’s complete victory in the resistance war affirmed its position on the international stage; it is a symbol of the national liberation movement worldwide. Many formerly colonised countries have taken Vietnam as a model in their own struggle for independence.
Vietnam - US relations today. After the Great 1975 Spring Victory, following a series of diplomatic efforts from Vietnam and the US, in July 1995, US President Bill Clinton officially announced the normalisation of diplomatic relations with Vietnam, laying a foundation for positive developments in the relations between the two countries. Subsequent visits by high-level leaders of the two sides have strongly promoted the development of Vietnam - US relations. Notably, on 10th September 2023, during a state visit to Vietnam by US President Joe Biden, Vietnam and the US announced the elevation of their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, once again marking an important milestone in the relations between the two countries. The fact that Vietnam and the US have established diplomatic relations and become Comprehensive Strategic Partners shows that the war did not stem from national hatred, but from the aspiration for independence, freedom, and self-reliance. Let us ask: if Vietnam’s resistance war was a “mistake,” could the US possibly respect and cooperate with Vietnam as it does today?
Historical reality has proven that Vietnam’s resistance war against the US for national salvation was entirely just, aimed at national independence and unification, not a case of “'fratricidal war” as distorted by hostile forces. The achievements brought about by the resistance war are undeniable, helping Vietnam attain the solid position it holds today. Therefore, all schemes to distort history aiming to deny the contributions of our people, sow national division, and undermine the awareness of the younger generation must be exposed and combated. We need to view history objectively, scientifically and remain vigilant against disinformation. Understanding the past correctly is not about stirring up hatred, but about cherishing more deeply the values of peace and independence today. It is so that we become more united, more determined, and continue to promote the spirit of the Great 1975 Spring Victory in building our country, making it ever more prosperous and beautiful as Uncle Ho always wished.
Prof. VU VAN HIEN, PhD