The victory of the August Revolution in 1945 opened a great turning point of Vietnam national history when our people freed ourselves to become an independent, free and democratic country and mastered our own destiny. However, hostile and reactionary forces, in order to sabotage out Party and State, have attentively distorted and denied the achievements of the Revolution, especially the values of democracy and freedom. Hence, it is vital to proactively identify and firmly struggle against it.

For a long time, annually, on the anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day of September 2^nd, the hostile and reactionary forces try to spread allegations distorting the historical truths and denying the achievements of the Revolution in order to depreciate the Vietnamese Communist Party’s prestige and leading role. Recently, when the allegations saying that the victory of the August Revolution was gained by “luck”, etc. have been rejected, there has appeared the one stating that “the August Revolution in 1945 fail to bring real democracy and freedom to the people”, etc. This is a wrong and ridiculous allegation which has distorted the history. However, in order to conceal such a ridiculousness, they have taken advantage of the existing “problems”; the shortcomings by several local governments in their management; the unlawful acts of some opportunists and reactionists disguising the “democrats” who have been legally punished, and especially the degradation of some cadres and party members, etc. to “prove” the above idea. Obviously, their plots and tricks against our revolution have been unchanged; and their sabotage has never based on the objective facts of the country to “raise their voice for democracy”, or to “protect the people” but to carry out their political plans focusing on dispersing the suspicions and undermining the people’s trust in the Party, State and the socialist regime. However, despite their intentional sabotage and distortion, they could not deny the great meanings and the real values of freedom and democracy brought about by the August Revolution in 1945 for the country and people of Vietnam.

Parade on Ha Noi streets in the General Uprising in 1945 (Photo credit: VNA)

The August Revolution in 1945 brings the real democracy to the people

Firstly, it is surely to confirm that the victory of the August Revolution in 1945 ended the feudal monarchy and the fascist colonial domination, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam – the first people’s democratic regime in the national history. This was the precondition to define that the political and governmental power belonged to the people, which was the milestone to establish the people’s democratic political system, making our country from a colonial, semi-feudal country to become an independent, free and democratic one; our people under the slavery, oppression and exploitation to be the masters deciding their destiny and future. This was the significant achievement of democracy brought about by the August Revolution in 1945 that no one could deny.

Secondly, one of the important aims of the August Revolution in 1945 and also the consistent viewpoint of the Vietnamese Communist Party was to totally eradicate the man-by-man exploitation, making favourable conditions to create the democracy, social justice, real equality between men and women, and between classes and nation. This viewpoint has been expressed thoroughly in all political Credos and documents of the Party’s congresses. The Credo on building the country in the transitional period to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011) confirmed: “Socialist democracy, which is the nature of our regime, is both the aim and the motivation of the country’s development. Building and gradually improving the socialist democracy and ensuring the democracy have been implemented in reality in each level and all fields. Democracy closely connects with discipline, discipline is institutionalised ensured by the laws”. On grasping this viewpoint, all Vietnamese State’s Constitutions stipulated that “The State power belongs to the people”, which has been written in many legal documents in order to create the political-legal basis for bringing into play the socialist democracy, ensuring the people's right to mastery such as the Ordinance No. 34/2007/PL-UBTVQH11, dated 20/4/2007 by the National Assembly Standing Committee on implementing the democracy in communes, wards and towns; the Joint Resolution No. 09/2008/NQLT - CP - UBTWMTTQVN, dated 17/4/ 2008 by the Government and Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee on guiding the implementation of Article 11, 14, 16, 22 and 26 of the Credo on implementing the democracy in communes, wards and towns. On 10/01/2022, Vietnam National Assembly approved the Law on the Implementation of Grassroots Democracy.

Thirdly, the people’s mastery has been expressed not only in the Constitutions, legal documents but also in daily life; set in the general mechanism of the political system, i.e. “the Party’s leadership, the State’s management and the people’s mastery” through the representative democracy, direct democracy and democracy at the grassroots under the motto of “people knowing, people discussing, people doing, people inspecting, people supervising and people benefiting”. Accordingly, in Vietnam, people are the subject of the state power, playing a decisive role in the existence of the state; all citizens have the right to join the social management directly or through their selected representatives; the state always create conditions, give spiritual and material support for them to carry out their socialist democratic rights. At the same time, they also raise the individual responsibility for the state and society, and continuously bring into play the people’s mastery. This is clearly expressed in elections of Congressmen and representatives of all-level People’s Councils when, recently, there have been high rates of poll, female representatives and the ones of ethnic minorities and religions in the Congresses. The renovation of the question-and-answer sessions of the Congress; the online dialogues by people with the President, Prime Minister, etc. and the meetings by the delegates with voters in preparation for the National elections are the evidence for the people’s mastery.

 The August Revolution in 1945 brings the real freedom for the people

Freedom is the basic right of all citizens, the great humanity values of the mankind, having a historical importance for each country and originating from the natural sacred and inalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, etc. Before 1945, Vietnamese people had almost none of these rights when having been miserable slaves, only when the August Revolution in 1945 was successful, did they have the rights of freedom and independence.

This was firstly described in the Abdication statement (on 30/8/1945) of the Bao Dai emperor – the last emperor of the Vietnamese feudal regime, who once uttered that “it is better to be a citizen of an independent country than an emperor of a slave country”. This was the most honest feeling by him at that time because he and many other emperors in Nguyen dynasty had suffered from the situation of “the emperor being like a statue and the people being like buffaloes” in a slave, dependent country which was not recognised in the world map. The victory of the August Revolution in 1945 revived the country of Vietnam and regained the freedom and independence that our nation should have received. Better than any others, he understood the true freedom that the August Revolution in 1945 brought for the country, nation, people and himself.

Secondly, Vietnamese people’s right of freedom has been recognised. Right after the victory of the August Revolution, on 02/9/1945, in Ba Dinh Square, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, solemnly declaring to the nation and the whole world that “Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country, and in fact it is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilise all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty”. This true freedom was the results of numerous struggles, gained with the sacrifice of generations of Vietnamese people. The French Government, in the Ho-Sainteny agreement on 06/3/1946, had to recognise the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union, having its government, parliament, army and finances. Although this freedom was not yet complete as we expected, it was the true freedom that the whole nation, under the Party’s leadership, had achieved through our enduring struggles. Worthily speaking, it was French colonialists who had trampled our country, turned it into their colony and our people into their slaves that had to acknowledge the freedom and independence. As President Ho Chi Minh once confirmed in the Declaration of Independence, i.e. “Those are undeniable truths”. It is firmly believed that when the reason is by our side, those sullyings and distortions could only make it more truthfully shining.

Thirdly, the reality in Vietnam has proved that since the victory of the August Revolution in 1945, our State has respected the citizens’ basic freedoms and considered it as the one of the principles in building the law which are included in the Constitution and ensured in reality. Citizens have rights to self-select and carry out these freedoms in accordance with the law without any limitation and prevention, i.e. all Vietnamese citizens are equal before the law, they have freedom of residing, trading, traveling, religiously believing, speech and press, researching, composing, selecting their jobs, getting married, etc. Moreover, in the period of renovation and international integration, in order to ensure the human rights, Vietnam has early joined, signed and so far taken part in most of international conventions on the human rights. At the same time, Vietnam has domestically legalised these conventions into the national legal system. This has received recognition and high appreciation from the international community.

The verifications from the historical witnesses and the reality of freedom in Vietnam have once again confirmed that the August Revolution in 1945 brought the real freedom for the people. The democracy and freedom have connected with the national independence and been the inevitable results of the national independence. It has definitely not a fake freedom. Presently, those values have been continuously shining in the flow of history of the nation and era. Neither any evil plots nor forces could deny the values of independence and freedom that the August Revolution in 1945 brought for the country and people of Vietnam.

Associate Professor, Dr. PHAN TRONG HAO, The Central Theoretical Council