On the Northwest battlefieldseventy years ago, on March 13, 1954, under the leadership of the Party Central Committee, President Ho Chi Minh, and the General Military Commission, the Campaign Command and the revolutionary armed forces opened fire to begin the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. Following the call of the Party and Uncle Ho, the whole country gathered strength for the Dien Bien Phu front with the spirit of “All for the frontline, all for victory.” After 56 days and nights of hardships, our army and people completely destroyed the strongest base of the French colonialists in Indochina, creating a victory which “resounded throughout the five continents and was world-shaking.”
The Dien Bien Phu Victory has become a brilliant milestone in the country’s thousand-year history of national construction and defence, like the Bach Dang, Chi Lang,and Dong Da victories in the 20th century. The victory dealt a decisive blow to crush the last efforts of the French colonialists and American intervention. It forced the French colonialists to sign the Geneva Agreement to end the war and restore peace in Indochina, opening a new revolutionary period,transitioning the North towards socialism, and serving as a solid rear for the struggle to completely liberate the South and reunify the country. The victory also contributed to encouraging oppressed peoples around the world to rise up and fight for national independence and freedomand forced the French government to end its colonial rule policy and grant independence to many countries in Asia and Africa.
The Dien Bien Phu Victory was the combined strength of many factors in which the most important were the wise leadership and ingenious strategic direction of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh; patriotism, revolutionary spirit, the strength of the great national unity bloc the worker-peasant alliance, and the bravery and intelligence of the Vietnamese people; and the courage, the determination to fight and win, and the strength of the people's army and the people's armed forces of Vietnam. That was also the success of the close and faithful solidarity among the armies and peoples of the three Indochina countries as well as the great support from brotherly countries and international friends.
Over the past 70 years, following the heroic spirit of the historic Dien Bien Phu Victory in 1954, Vietnamese people have continued to write the brilliant epic of the Ho Chi Minh era as establishing glorious victories such as the “Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the Air” in 1972; the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975 which completely liberated the south and reunified the country; the whole country entering the work of building socialism; firmly protecting the country’s independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity; and fully and responsibly implement international obligations.
During nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal) under the Party's leadership, the country has achieved many great and historically significant achievements in socio-economic development, defence, security, foreign affairs, and party and political system building. The people’s trust in the Party, the State and the socialist regime has been increasingly consolidated and enhanced. The country has never before had such potential, position, and prestige in the international arena as it does today.
In 2024 and the coming years, the world and regional situation will continue to experience rapid, complex, and unpredictable changs. Besides opportunities and advantages, there will be many difficulties and complex challenges. The world economy will decline, while strategic competition, economic competition, and trade war continue to be fierce. The sea and island sovereignty disputes will be complicated. The Russia-Ukraine military conflict, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the US and Western sanctions against Russia may last longer, affecting geopolitics, geo-economics, energy security, and global supply chains.Science-technology and the fourth industrial revolution are also developing strongly; meanwhile, climate change, natural disasters, epidemics, and traditional and non-traditional security issues have been creating increasingly strong and multifaceted impacts that can seriously threaten stability and sustainable development.
Domestically, although Vietnam has achieved important and proud achievements, the country still faces many difficulties as severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and four risks that the Party identified still exist. Hostile forces are constantly increasing the implementation of "peaceful evolution", taking advantage of issues related to religion,ethnicity, democracy, and human rightsto sabotage the cause of Doi Moi of the Party, State, and people. The historical lessons and experiencesfrom the Dien Bien Phu Victory are still valuable and need to continue to be researched, applied, and promoted effectively in the current cause of national construction and defence.
Seventy years have passed, but the great stature and significance of the historic Dien Bien Phu Victory still shines brightly, forever acting as a source of pride and great strength to encourage all people to steadily step forward on the journey of carrying out the cause of Doi Moi (Renewal). Promoting the lessons and experiences, the courage, and the spirit of determination to fight and win from Dien Bien Phu Victory, the whole Party, people, and army uphold the patriotism and self-reliance, proactively seize opportunities, overcome all difficulties and challenges, and strive to successfully implement the goals and tasks of socio-economic development in 2024, resolutions of party congresses at all levels,and resolutions and conclusions of the Party Central Committee, towards promoting the spirit of Dien Bien Phu in the cause of national construction and defence in the new era.
