Communist Web Tuesday 16th May 2000 9.30pm gmt Ho Chi Minh - The Invincible Banner and Spirit of the Wars of Resistance The Book 'Vietnam's Revolutionary Wars (1945-1975) -Victories and Lessons' was published on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the total liberation southern Vietnam and national reunification. Its conclusion deals with three areas: I. The Historic Significance and the Magnitude of the Resistance Wars; II. Ho Chi Minh: the Invincible Banner and the Spirit of the Wars of Resistance; III. From the Successful Resistance to National Construction and Defence in the New Stage of Development. Following is an extract from part II. The wars of resistance have been successful due primarily to the role played by President Ho Chi Minh and his ideology. It was pointed out at the 4th National Party Congress, "The great success of the war of resistance against the US for national salvation along with the glorious historic chapters of the Vietnamese revolution in the past half century, has always been associated with the name of Ho Chi Minh. He had devoted his whole life to national liberation and reunification, and to brightening the cause of the Party and the nation. His contributions remain an eternal heritage for the coming generations." Being the soul of the August Revolution, President Ho Chi Minh was also the driving force for the 30-year war of resistance. He initiated and worked out guidelines, revolutionary tasks and military strategies for the nation's resistance. President Ho Chi Minh, together with the Party Central Committee, upheld the banner of national independence closely linked with socialism, relevant to the historical conditions of the nation throughout different stages of the resistance. When the French colonialists attempted to stage a comeback, President Ho Chi Minh was the first to point out their attempt and joined the Party in identifying the political purpose of the resistance as well as preparing for a comprehensive protracted people's war. The resistance had to be carried out along with establishing a State aimed at fulfilling people's democratic and national tasks. This could be done by waging revolutionary battles and continuing the revolution while the war was still on. After the successful war of resistance against the French, President Ho Chi Minh and our Party, based themselves on the practical situation of the country which was divided into two parts. They planned to build socialism in the north of Vietnam and identified tasks for the whole country in the new stage of development. The motto of this period was, "Upholding the banner of national independence and socialism, carrying out the people's democratic national revolution in the south and the socialist revolution in the nrth." These two tasks had to be combined to reach the common goal of completing the people's democratic, national revolution on the national scale and obtaining national reunification, thus opening up a new path for the country to enter the transition to socialism. For the revolutionary tasks in South Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh and the Party identified objectives and clear sighted revolutionary methods along with creative strategies and tactics which were effective and relevant to each specific stage of development, winning partial victories before... http://www.billkath.demon.co.uk/cw/hochiminh/hochiminh.html
