The viewpoint “all-people, comprehensive resistance war” is the centrepiece of Ho Chi Minh’s military thought. The correct and creative application of this viewpoint in practice was one of the most fundamental factors that led to the great victories in the two resistance wars against French colonialists and US imperialists. In the event of a war to protect the Fatherland (if war is to occur), this viewpoint still retains its value and needs to be studied and applied effectively to practice.

The viewpoint “all-people, comprehensive resistance war” in Ho Chi Minh’s military thought represents the development of military theory based on Marxism-Leninism; it selectively adopts the quintessential military values of the world and combines them with the experiences of our Party and our people throughout the Vietnamese revolutionary process. Grasping the principles of Marxism-Leninism regarding the role of the masses in history, deeply understanding the traditions and experiences of the nation’s struggle against foreign aggression: “The whole country is united to fight the enemy”, “every household is a soldier,” “when the enemy is at the door, even women will fight”, President Ho Chi Minh accurately identified the decisive role of the people in the struggle for state power as well as in the wars for Fatherland liberation, construction, and defence.

President Ho Chi Minh firmly believed that “the war of liberation or the war of defending the Fatherland of Viet Nam is a people’s war, a truly revolutionary war “of the people, by the people, and for the people””. He also pointed out that the all-people’s war must be linked with a comprehensive people’s war, recognising that modern warfare was no longer limited to traditional battlefields, such as on the ground or on the water but extended to various dimensions, including in the air, both on the front line and in the rear: “In the past, the fight was only on the military front, but today it is on all military, economic, political, and ideological fields, hence it is called a comprehensive war”. “…Modern warfare is complex and extremely difficult. Without utilising the full strength of the people in all aspects to respond, victory cannot be achieved”.

The application of President Ho Chi Minh’s viewpoint “all-people, comprehensive resistance war” in the people’s war to defend the Fatherland is clearly demonstrated in the Party’s guiding principles for conducting the war. These principles include fully embracing the strategic offensive mindset, conducting an all-people, comprehensive war on all fronts, engaging the enemy in various environments, focusing efforts on key strategic directions, areas, and regions, narrowing the space and shortening the duration of the war. The approach involves fighting the enemy and building the country simultaneously, relying primarily on our own strength, making the most of favourable international conditions in the new context, creating comprehensive strength, defeating the invasive will of the enemy, and ending the war under favourable conditions. Resolution of the 13^th Central Party Committee’s 8^th Plenum on the Strategy for safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation reaffirms the steadfastness in the path of people’s national defence and people’s war, recognising their invincibility against any force.

In the event of a war to defend the Fatherland (if war is to occur), we would likely have to confront an invading enemy of much greater military, economic, scientific, and technological capabilities together with their sophisticated and modern methods of warfare in all domains. Therefore, to possess comprehensive strength that surpasses the opponent’s and to achieve victory, we must rely on the people and promote the strength of the people. The all-people and comprehensive resistance war reflects the most fundamental and inclusive principle of achieving victory. It represents the most concentrated essence of organising, motivating, and cooperating with different forces, forms and methods of struggle, creating comprehensive strength greater than the enemy’s, daring to fight, being determined to defeat the enemy. The all-people and comprehensive resistance war inherits and promotes the tradition of the entire Vietnamese nation in fighting against invaders, embodying the spirit of “unity in the people’s strength, unity in the whole nation’s determination”. It is the art of creating comprehensive strength in defending the Fatherland.

Applying the viewpoint “all-people resistance war”

In reality and the foreseeable future, despite our country’s significant development, improved living standards, and enhanced national position and power, there still exists a considerable gap between Viet Nam and developed countries, especially major ones. In certain aspects, we even lag behind the regional and global averages. In such a context, if our country faces an invasion war, we still have to use the strategy of “taking the small to win the big” and “taking the few against the many”, relying on the strength of the entire people to defeat invading forces that are many times stronger than us.

That is the all-people resistance war in the new conditions of the country with many very favourable factors. The resistance force is the entire people, engaging in the struggle against the enemy using all available methods, in every field, territory, space, and time. An all-people fight prevents the enemy from establishing fixed fronts to confront our troops and people. Wherever there are Vietnamese people being enlightened about the revolution, whether inside or outside the country, there exists a front to combat the enemy, with the widespread participation of all social strata, organised in a scientific manner, with increasing levels of competence and capability in all aspects of the masses.

The all-people’s resistance war in the defence of the Fatherland today has seen new developments. First and foremost, we fight the enemy with the strength of a nation that has achieved national independence and unity, and is steadily progressing towards socialism. This encompasses the power of the entire people taking control of the country, with the strong three-category people’s armed forces as the core. Our nation’s position and power are continuously increasing and ours is a socialist-oriented market economy deeply integrated into the international community, etc. Those features create many favourable conditions for promoting the comprehensive strength of the entire people and all economic sectors to mobilise human resources and materials for the war.

However, the all-people’s resistance war to protect the Fatherland will have to confront a war of aggression during which the enemy will employ high-tech weapons, resulting in extremely fierce and complex military operations with great intensity and destructive power. These circumstances will strongly impact the thoughts and psychology of our soldiers and people. Therefore, all forces must be proactively, comprehensively, fully prepared to have sufficient strength to defeat the enemy in any situation.

Applying the viewpoint “comprehensive resistance war”

Indeed, war is a comprehensive challenge to the entire material and spiritual strength of a nation. Only by conducting a comprehensive resistance war can we bring into full play our forte and expertise in a just war, fighting the enemy on all fronts right on our soil and even at the enemy’s point of origin for their invasion. A comprehensive resistance war is carried out across various fields, including armed struggle, political struggle, ideological and cultural struggle, economic struggle, diplomatic struggle, etc. Among these, armed struggle and political struggle play a decisive role in the victory of the war.

Armed struggle is the fundamental form that holds the key to depleting and destroying the enemy’s forces. In the war to protect the Fatherland, armed struggle must inherit and promote the nation’s tradition and experiences, as well as the world’s military quintessence; especially the tradition and experiences gained in recent struggles for national liberation and protection in order to apply them creatively to the new conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the appropriate forms and methods of warfare, determine the scale, organisation, and use of forces accordingly. Armed struggle, in conjunction with the ones on other fronts, aims to achieve victory in the war while maximising political advantages to stabilise and rebuild the country after the war. Along with the task of annihilating the enemy’s military forces from the outside and quelling separatist riots from within, armed struggle also has the duty to firmly protect strategic targets, provide support for other fronts, and serve as a foundation for the people’s political struggle. It is crucial to tightly combine defensive operations with offensive and counterattack operations, with the former as the main and the latter as a significant component. Attention should be paid to combining small-scale and medium-scale operations with creating opportunities for major ones through various forms, means, and types of combat. It is also necessary to closely combine local people’s war with operations conducted by main units from the beginning and throughout the war. The armed forces must be adept, compact, strong, highly mobile with high combat power. When executing military operations, it is crucial to choose the correct direction of attack, especially the strategic offensive direction.

Political struggle is the fundamental form of class struggle and national struggle, and it is the method of struggle used by the vast unarmed masses. Political struggle holds a position of utmost importance; it is our forte and the enemy's fatal weakness because our war is a just war. It also serves as a means of attacking the enemy and the foundation for the development of armed struggle. Political struggle upholds the values of humanity and justice, exposes the unjust nature and crimes of the enemy’s aggression. By intensifyfing the struggle on the political front, we can dispel all distorted narratives, propaganda, deception, and division perpetuated by the enemy. Furthermore, it expands and consolidates the unity of the entire nation, isolates the enemy, and undermines their political strength, thus creating favourable conditions for the victory of armed struggle and other forms of struggle.

Modern warfare is increasingly intertwined with politics due to the advancements in hi-tech weaponry, which can create “super devastation” and exert pressure on various aspects, including politics, diplomacy, economy, finance, military affairs, and information. In today’s war to protect the Fatherland, it is necessary to enhance propagation and education to make the entire population understand the nature of the enemy’s war of aggression, exposing the facade of “freedom”, “democracy”, and “human rights” and their distortions. At the same time, it is essential to ignite within the people the indomitable tradition of resisting foreign aggression, the will for independence, resilience, self-reliance, as well as a deep-rooted hatred towards the enemy. To that end, it is imperative to strengthen the building of our Party, State, and political system to ensure their purity and strength, continuously consolidate and enhance the power of the great national unity block so as to make the entire people trust the Party, love the country, and commit to the socialist regime.

President Ho Chi Minh’s viewpoint “all-people, comprehensive resistance war” is an excellent continuation of the nation’s military tradition and the quintessence of humanity’s military wisdom. It has become the ideological foundation for the Party’s military guidelines and a guiding light for our people’s military operations and armed struggle to achieve glorious victories. Therefore, studying and applying this thought to the cause of Fatherland protection is an important and urgent topic.

Sr. Col., Dr NGUYEN PHI HUNG

Army Academy