In August 1945, under the leadership of the Party and leader Ho Chi Minh, our people conducted a General Uprising to smash the yoke of colonialism, fascism, and feudalism, establish the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and usher our nation into a new era - the era of national independence and socialism. In that great victory, our fledgling revolutionary armed forces played a core role in guiding and assisting the masses in rising up to seize power. Those historical lessons remain valuable in the Military’s building and fighting cause in general, the building of a modern Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) in particular.

A Liberation Army unit moved from Viet Bac towards Hanoi for a military parade on 28 August 1945 (photo: VNA)

Fully aware of the revolutionary armed forces’ important role, right in its Brief Political Platform (February 1930) and Political Thesis (October 1930), the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) pointed out the inevitability of organising a worker - peasant army capable of playing a core role in the masses’ struggle and violent revolution to seize power. Under the CPV’s lines, armed organisations led by the Party were founded, such as Red Self-Defence Force (1930 - 1931), Bac Son Guerrilla Team, Southern Guerrilla Team (1940), and National Salvation Army (1941). On 22 December 1944, Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team was established as the first main army of the CPV, marking a robust development of the revolutionary armed forces themselves. Since then, the armed forces played an increasingly significant role in conducting guerrilla warfare, building revolutionary bases, and developing political foundation within the masses.

In response to revolutionary requirements, in March 1945, the Party Central Committee Standing Board defined “the establishment of more guerrilla teams, war zones, and Vietnam National Salvation Army” as an urgent task. In April 1945, the Northern Revolutionary Military Conference stressed “the unification, consolidation, and development of liberation units”, demanding “the immediate organisation of self-defence teams, combat self-defence teams, and local military units”, regarding the organisation of those units as the key form at that time. The 15^th of May 1945 marked a new development of the revolutionary armed forces when the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Team, the National Salvation Army, and other armed organisations of the CPV were merged into Vietnam Liberation Army. Within localities, many units of the Liberation Army were founded, while self-defence and guerrilla teams were established alongside the National Salvation Army. Prior to the General Uprising, our CPV had built rather strong and extensive armed forces, including self-defence units within villages and communes, guerrilla teams within war zones and revolutionary bases, companies and platoons of the Liberation Army as the main force, and local military units within provinces and districts of liberated zones.

In early August 1945, the situation on global, regional, and domestic scales had rapid transformations, opening up “an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for the Vietnamese revolution. Fully aware that “In the struggle against the enemy of the class and the nation, it is necessary to use revolutionary violence against anti-revolutionary violence to seize power and protect revolutionary governments”, on 13 August 1945, the National Uprising Committee issued Military Order No.1 calling the people and armed forces of Vietnam to rise up and gain independence for the country; on 14 August 1945, the Viet Minh General Department made an appeal to Vietnamese citizens, national salvation organisations, and the Vietnam Liberation Army to rise up, regain national independence, fight Japanese fascists, and bring freedom and happiness to the people; within 2 days (14 and 15 August 1945), at Tan Trao (Tuyen Quang), the CPV’s National Conference decided to launch a National General Uprising. Under the direction of the Viet Minh General Department and the command of Central and local Uprising Committees, Liberation Army, guerrilla, and combat self-defence units in war zones and revolutionary bases quickly worked with the people to seize power within localities. Typically, a main armed unit moved from Tan Trao base to Thai Nguyen to fight the enemy, cooperated with the people to establish a revolutionary government, and then advanced towards Hanoi. In Lang Son, Liberation Army units coordinated with the people to attack Dong Mo post, forcing Japanese fascists to surrender. In Quang Ngai, Phan Dinh Phung and Hoang Hoa Tham guerrilla companies moved from Vinh Son and Nui Lon war zones to occupy enemy posts and liberate district capitals and then the province’s capital. At the same time, under the leadership of all-level party organisations and Uprising Committees, the armed forces of other localities together with the masses all rose up to seize power for the people. Typical examples included uprisings in Hanoi (19 August 1945), Hue (23 August 1945), and Saigon (25 August 1945). The revolutionary armed forces, with only about 5,000 Liberation Army troops, several tens of thousands of members of the self-defence force, and obsolete weapons, under the CPV’s leadership, proved their core, vanguard role in assisting the masses’ uprisings, greatly contributing to seizing power for the people across the country.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Defence Minister Phan Van Giang, and other representatives at the opening ceremony of Vietnam Defence Expo 2024 (photo: mod.gov.vn)

In fact, during the August General Uprising, although Japanese troops and their lackeys were demoralised, without suppression operations by armed units our people could not have seized power so quickly and with minimal bloodshed. That was then confirmed by our CPV: “If our Party had not built the armed forces or large bases for our political forces and struggles, and if our Party had not swiftly launched an armed uprising when the conditions were ripe, our revolution could not have quickly won victory”.

After the August Revolution, the revolutionary armed forces continued to affirm their core role in protecting the fruits of the General Uprising and the fledgling revolutionary government against plots and acts of sabotage by both internal and external enemies. Moreover, the role of the people’s armed forces, particularly the VPA, continued to be inherited, developed, and clearly affirmed in 30 years of revolutionary wars; together with the entire people, they conducted protracted resistance wars, defeating French colonialists and US imperialists, achieving victories that “resounded across the five continents and shook the globe”, successfully fulfilling the cause of national liberation and unification, firmly protecting the Fatherland’s independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, deserving to be a sharp violent instrument and reliable, absolutely loyal political and fighting forces of the CPV, State, and people.

Currently, our people’s Fatherland construction and protection cause under the Party’s leadership is entering a new development era with a lot of intertwined opportunities and challenges. On a global scale, peace, cooperation, and development remain a prevailing trend, but face new challenges. Major powers and centres of power continue to adjust their strategies, competing, cooperating, and compromising with one another simultaneously. Conflicts and wars take place in various regions and possibly spread. Disputes over territories, seas, and islands, including those in the East Sea continue to be complex. The 4^th industrial revolution continues witnessing robust developments and making profound impacts on all fields, including defence and security.

Domestically, after nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (renovation), our country’s fortune, potential, position, and international prestige have been raised as an important foundation for Vietnam’s national rise in the new era. The revolution to streamline the political system’s apparatus, breakthroughs in science - technology development, innovation, and digital transformation, private economy development, and international integration are creating historic opportunities for the country’s development in the new era. However, our country is confronted with even greater difficulties and challenges. Hostile forces continue stepping up their “peaceful evolution” strategy, promoting “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within, and plotting to “depoliticise” our VPA. Non-traditional security challenges, such as natural disasters, epidemics, and climate change become more complex. Our Party and State continue to make all-round investments in the VPA; however, higher requirements are being imposed on VPA building and Fatherland protection tasks, alongside intertwined opportunities, advantages, and challenges.  

Against that backdrop, further studying and applying lessons on promoting the armed forces’ role during the August 1945 General Uprising in the building of a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA capable of firmly protecting the Socialist Vietnamese Fatherland in the new era constitute a matter of importance.

First of all, remaining steadfast in the principle of building a politically strong VPA. This is a matter of utmost importance to laying a solid political foundation for building a modern VPA. Realities proved that if the revolutionary armed forces had not provided solid support for the masses’ struggle, the August General Uprising could not have won victory so quickly. Therefore, for the sake of building a modern VPA nowadays, it is necessary to be steadfast in the principle of building a politically strong VPA. To that end, all-level party organisations within the Military Party Organisation (MPO) and the entire Military should continue to grasp and adhere to the CPV’s absolute, direct, all-round leadership over the VPA. The entire Military should grasp and seriously implement the Party Central Committee’s lines and directions on Party building and rectification, with focus on building a strong MPO in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel, improving the MPO’s leadership capacity and combativeness, aligning the building of typically pure, strong party organisations with the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units, combining the building of a corps of party members with the building of a pool of cadres. It is important to keep raising the quality and effectiveness of ideological work, organisational work, policy work, mass mobilisation work, and internal political protection work, strengthen the VPA’s working-class, people-oriented, and national nature, and ensure that the VPA will always be a reliable, absolutely loyal political and fighting force of our Party, State, and people. Due regard should be paid to unmasking hostile forces’ distortions of the viewpoints and targets of modernising the VPA, thwarting the plot to “depoliticise” the VPA, and firmly protecting the Party’s ideological foundation within the VPA. In the short term, emphasis should be placed on preparing and successfully holding all-level party congresses and the 12^th Military Party Congress, and responsibly taking part in preparations for the 14^th National Party Congress. It is vital to closely implement decisions by the Politburo and the CPV’s Secretariat regarding party organisations and political agencies within the VPA, the Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Officers of the VPA, and the Project on “attracting and utilising talent for the VPA towards 2030, with a vision towards 2050”. The contingent of commanding and managerial cadres should be reviewed and consolidated in line with personnel planning for all-level party congresses (2025 - 2030 tenure), the 14^th Party Central Committee, and the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils (2026 - 2031 tenure). It is essential to strictly maintain regulations on grass-roots democracy, execute “clever mass mobilisation” emulation movement, build “good mass mobilisation units”, and effectively organise “paying debt of gratitude” activities to cement the close-knit bond between the Military and the people as the basis for building a modern VPA.

An illustrative photo (qdnd.vn)

Second, continuing to build adept, compact, strong forces as a solid prerequisite for building a modern VPA. Based on valuable lessons on building the armed forces for the August 1945 General Uprising, the Politburo’s Resolution 05-NQ/TW, dated 17 January 2022, and Resolution 230-NQ/QUTW, dated 2 April 2022, by the Central Military Commission (CMC) on leadership over the organisation of the VPA in the period of 2021 - 2030 and beyond, it is necessary to ensure a synchronised, proper structure of the VPA’s components and forces in accordance with the Party’s lines of all-people national defence and people’s war, Vietnam’s military art, and the resolution to defend the Socialist Vietnamese Fatherland; a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA must possess great synergy and combat power to play a core role in Fatherland protection in the new situation. Besides, the whole Military should well execute Conclusion 159-KL/TW, dated 29 May 2025, by the Politburo and the CPV’s Secretariat on the Project to organise “adept, compact, strong” local military agencies in the new situation in accordance with two-tier local government model. It is essential to quickly review, amend, and supplement relevant legal normative documents, design and issue regulations on functions, tasks, authority, and work relationships, with special importance attached to merged, newly-founded offices and units. Great weight should be added to completing the VPA’s organisational structures in peacetime and wartime, formulating plans on mobilising forces and organising a number of strategic reserve units with a high level of combat readiness, perfecting the development and amendment of defensive combat plans and combat projects relevant to the resolution for Fatherland protection and the requirements of combat tasks in the new situation. The VPA should continue giving advice to the Party and State on developing several new forces and units, designing and implementing strategies and programs on providing the Military with modern weapons and equipment to achieve a breakthrough in combat readiness and combat power and make the Military capable of preventing and defeating all wars of aggression and firmly protecting the Fatherland in any circumstances. 

Third, renewing and improving education and training work, making a huge positive change in regularity building and discipline management. To keep raising its synergy and combat power for Fatherland protection, the VPA should continue making a breakthrough in renewing and improving education and training work, considering this as the key to personnel “modernisation” - the deciding factor in modernising the Military. To that end, it is necessary to continue grasping and effectively executing the CMC’s Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, on raising the quality of training in the period of 2023 - 2030 and beyond, the CMC’s Resolution 1657-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, on renewing education and training work to meet the requirements of VPA building in the new situation. In the process, great value should be attached to developing new, effective guidelines and measures for training and combat readiness in accordance with the Party’s military - defence lines and the requirements of Fatherland protection in the new situation. The training motto of “basics, practicality, solidity” should be well implemented. Training courses should be comprehensive but specialised and focalised; modern warfare conditions should be set up to train troops; the task of protecting the Fatherland, socialist regime, and people’s lives and assets should be seen as the highest goal of educating and training troops. The content, programs, and methods of training and exercises should be renewed, standardised, and modernised to be relevant to combat realities, operational areas, the VPA’s structure and weaponry, and the development of Vietnam’s military art. Tasks-based, situations-based training and exercises should be intensified, while advances in the 4^th industrial revolution, artificial intelligence (AI), and simulation technology should be applied in training and education. Emphasis should be placed on training troops to master modern, hi-tech weapons and equipment, raising the quality of training and exercises on joint operations between services and corps as well as on military region defensive operations as the basis for improving the VPA’s combat capacity. It is vital to closely follow and effectively realise the motto: “the quality of schools is the combat readiness capacity of units”. Significance should be attached to providing cadets with work placement at grass-roots units and effectively executing projects on education and training. The entire VPA should step up the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong units and smart military schools capable of approaching the 4^th industrial revolution, strictly maintain the State’s laws and the VPA’s discipline, and remain vigilant and proactive in situational research and forecast to give timely advice to the Party and State on strategies to deal with complex, sensitive issues, prevent the risks of war and conflict early and from afar, and resolutely avoid falling into passivity.   

Fourth, making a breakthrough in military science - technology development and digital transformation, building a self-reliant, modern defence industry. The entire VPA should be fully aware that science - technology development, innovation, and digital transformation will be the key to building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA. Thus, it is necessary to continue grasping and executing the 13^th Politburo’s Resolution 57-NQ/TW, dated 22 December 2024, the Government’s Resolution 03/NQ-CP, dated 9 January 2025, the CMC’s Resolution 3488-NQ/QUTW, dated 29 January 2025, and Plan 536/KH-BQP, dated 31 January 2025, by the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on breakthroughs in science - technology development, innovation, and digital transformation within the Military. The whole VPA should step up the “Digital Literacy” movement, improve troops’ knowledge of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation, and turn troops into “digital soldiers”.

The VPA should continue effectively executing the Project on Digital Transformation within the MND towards 2025, with orientation towards 2030, making investments in digital infrastructures, human resources, and data, strategic technologies, and cyber security, combining administrative reform with digital transformation, handling difficulties in technological infrastructures, information safety, and data transmission networks so as to make a breakthrough in operations of offices, units, and the entire Military itself. Academies, schools, and research centres within the Military should adhere to guidelines set by the CPV, CMC, and MND, concentrate resources on developing hi-tech weapon systems and digital transformation, and apply AI to military - defence tasks. Additionally, it is essential to continue building and developing a self-reliant, dual-purpose, modern defence industry as a spearhead of national industry, capable of researching, designing, and manufacturing modern weapons and technical equipment, especially a number of strategic weapons to lay a solid foundation for building a modern VPA.

Fifth, attaching importance to summarising practice, developing Vietnam’s military art and the art of people’s war for Fatherland protection to meet the requirements of building a modern VPA and defending the Fatherland in the new situation. As an extremely important part of Vietnam’s military science, Vietnam’s military art is the crystallisation of lessons learned in thousands of years of the country’s national construction and protection. Currently, complex, unpredictable changes throughout the world and in the region, hostile forces’ sabotage efforts via the “peaceful evolution” strategy, and particularly the rapid development of military science and technology have been posing new challenges and creating new forms and methods of warfare, thus leading to an urgent need for developing Vietnam’s military art to meet the requirements of building a modern VPA and protecting the Fatherland. Hence, it is necessary to undertake researches into realities, especially recent conflicts and wars across the world, with the aim of developing Vietnam’s military art in accordance with military science, weapons, equipment, and Fatherland protection task in the new era. Great value should be attached to developing the art of people’s war for Fatherland protection; theories about the building of all-people national defence, posture of all-people national defence, and especially “posture of people’s hearts and minds”; theories about people’s war for border, sea, and island protection, strategic defensive operations, and cyber warfare; and the art of joint operations in modern warfare. More researches should be carried out to perfect mechanisms for the Party’s leadership and the State’s management in military - defence tasks in the new context; emphasis should be placed on mechanisms for leading and directing the building and operation of defensive zones, the building of all-people national defence and posture of all-people national defence associated with people’s security posture, and the building of strong people’s armed forces in accordance with the revolution to streamline the political system’s apparatus and the operation of a two-tier local government model.

Besides, the whole Military should be active and proactive in international integration and defence diplomacy to create advantages and resources for building a modern VPA and protecting the Fatherland early and from afar. Due attention should be paid to grasping and well implementing the 13^th Politburo’s Resolution 59-NQ/TW, dated 24 January 2025, on international integration in the new situation, and the 13^th Politburo’s Conclusion 53-KL/TW, dated 28 April 2023, on international integration and defence diplomacy towards 2030 and beyond. While promoting international integration, the VPA should raise the effectiveness of multilateral and bilateral defence relations. Cooperation in personnel training, defence industry, and transfer of technologies for manufacturing and modernising weapons and technical equipment should be encouraged to contribute to cementing trust, preventing and responding to non-traditional and traditional security challenges, maintaining peace and stability, and raising our VPA and country’s status and prestige in the international arena.

Taking a look back at the 80-year journey, we more clearly understand the great victory of the August Revolution, the CPV’s sound leadership, the nation’s strength, and the significant role of the revolutionary armed forces in the August General Uprising and the revolutionary cause of the Party and country. 80 years have elapsed, but the spirit of the August Revolution still exists within the Vietnamese nation, acting as a source of inspiration for the VPA to keep promoting its core role in consolidating national defence, protecting the Fatherland, and enabling the entire Party and people to firmly enter a new era - the era of peace, independence, democracy, prosperity, civilisation, happiness, and socialism.

Gen. PHAN VAN GIANG, PhD

Member of the Politburo

Deputy Secretary of the CMC

Minister of National Defence