80 years of the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - Dawn of national history: 'Independence for my Fatherland, freedom for my people' (Part 1)

We are living in the historical autumn days - 80 years of the successful August Revolution and National Day September 2. The August Revolution of 1945 was the most successful national liberation revolution in history. The birth of the Democratic Republic became the fundamental factor firmly ensuring the independence and freedom that our people always yearned for. From here, a new era in the history of the nation was opened: national independence. Since the historic moment of September 2, 1945, the Vietnamese people "rose from the mud and shone brightly" and the image of "doors still closed and lives locked in silence" completely changed. President Ho Chi Minh was the flag that encouraged the movement to fight for independence and he himself led our nation to "dispel the dark clouds" in the long night of slavery.

Báo Long An•10/08/2025

Lesson 1: “Independence for my Fatherland, freedom for my people”

Eight years after leaving Nha Rong port, in 1919, the young man Nguyen Tat Thanh was interviewed by an American reporter. The content proved that, from a very young age until the last moments of his life, President Ho Chi Minh 's goal and ideal remained unchanged: "independence for my Fatherland, freedom for my people".

Nguyen Ai Quoc, when he was active in France

Special interview

Over time, the greatest goal of Ho Chi Minh's life became clearer, especially after the success of the August Revolution and President Ho Chi Minh solemnly declared to his compatriots and the world the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. World researchers and scientists highly appreciated the noble goal of the August Revolution in 1945 of the Vietnamese people and the birth of the new Vietnam.

The original text of the reporter's interview with young man Nguyen Ai Quoc is as follows:

Question: What is your purpose in coming to France?

Answer: To demand freedom for the people of Annam

Q: How?

Answer: By working hard and always moving forward.

Q: But is the country ready? What are the current armed movements like?

Answer: The situation in Vietnam is really sad. Apart from us (only a few patriots) there is no preparation at all and the recent armed activities have been a complete failure and have not had any echo.

Question: Since coming to Paris, what results have you achieved?

A: Apart from the parliamentarians, I met all the people who were willing to help us. The Socialists thought that the French Government would never accept our requests, but they were still willing to help. And that was an important support for us. We also worked in other circles.”

In the book “The Vietnamese Revolution of 1945: Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh and de Gaulle in a World at War” published in 1991, Norwegian historian Stein Tonnesson (a prosperous country in Northern Europe) assessed that after the National Day, President Ho held a general election and established a legitimate government based on democratic freedom.

“The revolution in Vietnam in 1945 was a national liberation revolution, not only that, it was also a political revolution against the corrupt monarchy and a social revolution against landowners and tax collectors,” commented the historian from Northern Europe.

According to this Western historian, “the Vietnamese revolution is important and not only in the Vietnamese context. Vietnam’s 1945 Declaration of Independence was among the main inspirations for another major post-war struggle, the process of decolonization. Among communist revolutions, the Vietnamese revolution stands out as one of the most vital and disruptive.”

The first person to declare independence of a colony

French historian Alain Ruscio wrote: “Vietnam’s victory in 1945 was not only a surprising event, it was a logical necessity in the history of the Vietnamese people’s struggle movement. In particular, Vietnam was the first nation in the world under French colonial rule to succeed in its resistance. The victory of the August Revolution in 1945 had a great influence on the independence movement of colonial countries in the world at that time, especially those in Africa. At that time, President Ho Chi Minh played an important role, being the first person to declare the independence of a colonial country.”

The historian from the “home country” analyzed that after World War II, colonialism still existed, when 1/3 of the world's people had to live under the occupation of French, British and Portuguese colonialists. "In such a context, Vietnam is an example, a symbol of the struggle for independence, the colonized peoples need to speak up" - he analyzed.

Former US intelligence officer (in black) visits Uncle Ho's Mausoleum (Photo: vietnamnet.vn)

Also from France, the famous historian Charles Fourniau commented, the August Revolution was a very important revolution not only for Vietnam. This was a real revolution, with the consensus and joint efforts of the entire nation standing up to gain national independence.

Charles Fourniau recognized that the Vietnamese revolution had a great impact on the world, especially on the colonial countries at that time. The August Revolution of 1945 marked an important moment in the history of Vietnam, reflecting the just resistance of the Vietnamese people against the occupation of foreign invaders, and at the same time marking the transition to a new period of the Vietnamese revolution.

Not only that, the success of the August Revolution in Vietnam also had international significance, because this was one of the first national liberation movements in the world. For the revolutionary movement in Indochina as well as the world, the August Revolution in Vietnam played a particularly important role.

About 6 years ago, a diplomat who used to work at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly told the story on vietnamnet.vn that in 1982, just 7 years after the country was unified, an American, who was an intelligence officer, asked our country's leaders to visit President Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. At that time, the war had not ended long ago, so the decision to let a former American intelligence officer visit President Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum was not simple. It turned out that this former intelligence officer, by historical fate, was the one who was invited by Uncle Ho himself to attend the Declaration of Independence ceremony in Hanoi.

Before visiting Uncle Ho's Mausoleum, people asked him why he was visiting and he replied: "I'm going to see an old friend, to see my great friend". When he arrived in front of the mausoleum, he saw a line of words written in Vietnamese, but the former officer did not understand. The diplomatic officer translated it for him, saying "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom". After listening to the translation, the former American officer said that Uncle Ho's words are the common value of humanity, of course, including America./.

(to be continued)

Viet Dong

Lesson 2: No one is allowed to distort historical truth.

Source: https://baolongan.vn/80-years-of-birth-of-vietnam-democratic-cong-hoa-binh-minh-cua-lich-su-dan-toc-doc-lap-cho-to-quoc-toi-tu-do-cho-dong-bao-toi-bai-1--a200419.html