On the night of December 19, 1946, the Voice of Vietnam aired President Ho Chi Minh's Appeal for national resistance war. Immediately, Hanoi's electric lights went out, and Lang and Xuan Tao fortresses in Hanoi opened fire, signaling the beginning of the national resistance war against the French invaders. That is the sacred proclamation calling on the armed forces and people countrywide to take up arms to protect the independence and freedom of the Fatherland to continue the heroic history of the nation.
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| Airing the Appeal for national resistance in Hanoi (file photo: VNA) |
When we wanted peace, but the enemy didn’t
In August 1945, under the leadership of the Party, the entire Vietnamese people stayed united and stood up to make a successful General Uprising, establishing the revolutionary government throughout the country. On September 2, 1945, at Ba Dinh Square, Hanoi, on behalf of the Provisional Government, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, declaring the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the first People’s democratic state in Southeast Asia. The whole Vietnam nation entered a new era - the era of independence, freedom and socialism. Upon gaining independence, Vietnamese people wholeheartedly want to devote all their efforts to the construction of a new society amid many difficulties, especially the three “enemies”, namely: “hunger”, “illiteracy”, and foreign invaders.
Peace, freedom and independence are more precious than gold. The Vietnamese people have already gained those golden things in hands. But, with the intention of invading our country once again, hiding behind the British troops, the cowardly French entered Vietnam in the name of disarming the Japanese troops from the 16th parallel southward, in order to reoccupy the South, establish the so-called “autonomous Cochinchina”, then spread out to retake the whole Vietnam, forcing our people to live in slavery again. Only 3 weeks after the Independence Day (September 23, 1945), our armed forces and people had to rise up against the French in the South. Under the leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, we persisted in protecting the South with the view that: “Southern compatriots are the Vietnamese people. Rivers may be shallow, mountains may be eroded, but the truth will never change!”, at the same time, we tried to find ways to avoid war in the whole country. Implementing that policy, President Ho Chi Minh on behalf of the Government signed with the representative of the French Government the Preliminary Agreement on March 6, 1946 and a modus vivendi on September 14, 1946, so that we could buy have more time before entering the resistance war against the French invaders that our Party and President Ho Chi Minh had anticipated.
To our expectation, we wanted peace but the enemy didn’t. We spared no resort to preserve the peace and avoid the possibility of war, take advantage of all opportunities to build friendship and cooperation between the Government and people of Vietnam and the Government and people of France, including making concessions as in the Appeal for National resistance war: “Out of love for peace we have made concessions. But the more concessions we made, the further the French colonialists went because they are resolved to invade our country once again”. The French colonialists continued to provoke. The blood of our people has shed in Hanoi and other localities. Our tolerance, which was undermined by the French colonialists, and in the last days of December 1946, could no longer last. Freedom and independence - the red line - has been seriously violated. And, this was “highlighted” in the appeal by President Ho Chi Minh for the defence of the independence and freedom of the Fatherland: “No! We would rather sacrifice everything than lose our country and return to slavery”.
The nation’s history has witnessed such sacred moments. At those moments, proclamations affirming national sovereignty were resounded, such as: Ly Thuong Kiet's poem of Nam Quoc Son Ha; Great King of Hung Dao, Tran Quoc Tuan's Encouragement to Soldiers; Cao Binh Ngo (Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Wu) of Nguyen Trai; Proclamation of Quang Trung Nguyen Hue; The oath of independence of Leader Ho Chi Minh on September 2, 1945 at historic Ba Dinh Square. His Appeal for national resistance war joined the flow of Vietnamese patriotic culture that has been molded for thousands of years, from the reign of Hung Kings, through Dai Viet, to the Ho Chi Minh era. Not to lose the country and not to live in slavery is the indomitable will, the immortal oath, the message passed down by generations of patriotic Vietnamese that our Party and President Ho Chi Minh continued to promote. We made concessions, did everything for peace, but still could not satisfy the greed of the invading colonialists. We could no longer concede, nor compromise anymore. The State Leader Ho Chi Minh ordered: “Compatriots! Rise up!”
Sound lines of resistance and the belief in victory
Our Party has determined the sound lines for the resistance war against the French colonialists as an all-people, all-round, long-term resistance war. This was clearly expressed in the appeal that: “Men and women, old and young, regardless of creeds, political parties, or nationalities, all the Vietnamese must stand up to fight the French colonialists to save the Fatherland. Those who have rifles will use their rifles. Those who have swords will use their swords. Those who have no swords will use their spades, hoes, and sticks. Everyone must endeavor to oppose the colonialists and save the country”. Our nation's history of fighting against foreign invaders has proved that at no time have our armed forces been larger and stronger than the enemy, but overall in terms of national strength, we are always ahead of them and basically victory belongs to us. This synergy comes from: patriotism, community cohesion, the great national unity combined with the strength of the times. Therefore, many foreign military experts, especially in France and the US, were very surprised about this when explaining the reasons for the failure of the French colonialists and the American imperialists in Vietnam. Some of them finally came to realise that, fighting in the battlefield Vietnam is not to confront the small and backward revolutionary armed forces but a thousand-year-old history nation and the whole Vietnamese people.
President Ho Chi Minh has aroused the greatest strength of the entire nation, armed forces, and Vietnamese patriots, regardless of gender, localities, religions, rich or poor. It is also his view of “man before arms”, the continuation of the tradition of “soldiers billeted in farms”, and easing of people's strength of Tran Dynasty. The appeal for the national resistance has passed on valuable lessons to our resistance war against the US to save the country in mobilising the strength of the entire people, to wage a people's war. It also showed the nation's belief in victory: “Despite the hardships of resistance, with determination to sacrifice, victory will certainly belong to us!”, which derived from the iron determination that President Ho Chi Minh expressed in his appeal: “Soldiers, self-defence guards, militiamen! The hour of national liberation has struck! We must sacrifice to our last drop of blood to save our country”.
The appeal has inspired the entire Party, troops and people, showed our righteousness, love for peace, and readiness to take up arms to protect our independence and freedom, not to lose the country, not to accept slavery!
Implications of the Appeal for today
Vietnam is currently facing great opportunities and challenges on the path of development to socialism. Building and defending the Vietnam socialist Fatherland are always stuck together. Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom is the truth stated by President Ho Chi Minh. The sound of his appeal on the night of December 19, 1946 still recalls. Independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland must always be respected in both domestic and foreign affairs. The Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress clearly stated the tasks of national defence, security and foreign affairs to protect the peaceful, rapid and sustainable development of the country. Should we never disregard the task of Fatherland protection. Instead, we must be ready to stand up in the spirit of the appeal.
In international relations, President Ho Chi Minh's appeal implies that national interests must be put on top, never make concessions on issues of principles. President Ho Chi Minh's appeal was deeply imbued with the motto and method of “Making invariables respond to numerous variables”. Independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity are the “invariables” among many “variables” in the current time. In particular, building the powerful armed forces, strengthening defence and security are essential conditions to ensure these “invariable” things.
More than ever, the great national unity bloc needs to be further built, consolidated and developed. The Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress emphasised the arousing of the aspiration for independence and freedom, and the aspiration to bring the Vietnam to prosperity on par with the Major Powers in the world. All victories of Vietnam’s revolution so far are attributed to the correct leadership and direction of the Party, and the great strength of national unity. President Ho Chi Minh's appeal also expressed those two elements. Therefore, we must continue to attach importance to the work of building and rectifying the Party and building the political system; continue to consider Party building as a key task to make the Party always pure and strong, meeting the requirements of leadership. The sound leadership of the Party has always been the key factor to the victory of the Vietnam’s revolution. At the same time, the strength of the great national unity is a regular determinant of the victory of the cause of building and defending the Vietnam socialist Fatherland. This has been proved very clearly in the current fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
President Ho Chi Minh’s appeal for national resistance was made 75 years ago, but still acts like a bugle call that urges the entire Party, people and troops to strive for victories in the cause of national construction and defence today. That is the great meaning of Ho Chi Minh proclamation expressed in his Appeal for national resistance.
Professor, Doctor MACH QUANG THANG