The life of President Ho Chi Minh was a pure and noble life of a great communist, an outstanding national hero, and a brilliant internationalist. He tirelessly fought and dedicated his entire life to the Fatherland, to the People, to the communist ideal, to the independence and freedom of nations, and to peace and justice in the world .
President Ho Chi Minh, whose childhood name was Nguyen Sinh Cung, and his school name was Nguyen Tat Thanh, used the name Nguyen Ai Quoc and many other pseudonyms and pen names during his revolutionary activities. He was born on May 19, 1890, in Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An province; he died on September 2, 1969, in Hanoi .
Sen Village, located in Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district (Nghe An province), is the birthplace of President Ho Chi Minh and also his childhood home. It still preserves his charming, simple thatched house, lotus pond, and sacred memories associated with his family and childhood.
Born into a patriotic scholarly family, he grew up in a region with a tradition of heroic resistance against foreign invaders. Living under French colonial rule, his childhood and youth witnessed the suffering of his compatriots and the anti-colonial movements. He soon aspired to expel the colonialists, win independence for his country, and bring freedom and happiness to his people.
On June 5, 1911, from Nha Rong Port, the patriotic young man Nguyen Tat Thanh boarded the ship Amiral Latouche Tréville, beginning his journey to find a path to national liberation and the liberation of his country.
1911
Driven by boundless patriotism and love for his people, in 1911, he left his homeland for the West to seek a path to national liberation.
The old Nha Rong Port, where the patriotic young man Nguyen Tat Thanh departed to find a way to save the country.
From 1912 to 1917
From 1912 to 1917, Nguyen Tat Thanh traveled to many countries in Asia, Europe, America, and Africa, living among the working people. He deeply sympathized with the hardships of the working people and colonial nations, as well as their sacred aspirations. He soon realized that the Vietnamese people's struggle for national liberation was a part of the common struggle of the world's people. He actively worked to unite the peoples of all nations in their fight for freedom and independence.
At the end of 1917 , he returned to France from England to continue his activities in the Vietnamese diaspora movement and the French workers' movement. In 1919, under the name Nguyen Ai Quoc, he represented patriotic Vietnamese in France and sent a petition to the Versailles Conference demanding freedom for the Vietnamese people and also freedom for the people of colonial countries.
Nguyen Ai Quoc attended and spoke at the 18th National Congress of the French Socialist Party in Tours, December 26, 1920. Photo: Archival material/VNA
December 1920
Influenced by the 1917 Russian October Revolution and Lenin's Thesis on the National and Colonial Question, in December 1920, Nguyen Ai Quoc attended the 18th Congress of the French Socialist Party and voted in favor of the Party joining the Third International, the Communist International, becoming one of the founders of the French Communist Party. From a patriot to a communist, he affirmed that the revolutionary path to national liberation in the new era was the path of Marxism-Leninism and the great Russian October Revolution.
1921
In 1921, together with several patriots from French colonies, Nguyen Ai Quoc founded the Union of Colonial Peoples. In April 1922, the Union launched the newspaper "Le Paria" (The Pariah) to unite, organize, and guide the national liberation movement in the colonies. Many of his articles were included in the work "The Condemnation of the French Colonial Regime," published in 1925. This was a research work on the nature of colonialism, awakening and encouraging the people of colonial countries to rise up and liberate themselves.
1923
In June 1923, Nguyen Ai Quoc traveled from France to the Soviet Union. He worked within the Communist International. In October 1923, at the First International Peasant Congress, Nguyen Ai Quoc was elected to the Council of the International Peasant Congress. He was the only representative of colonial peasants elected to the Presidium of the Council. He attended the Fifth Congress of the Communist International, the Fourth Congress of the Communist Youth International, and the Congress of the Red International of Trade Unions. He steadfastly defended and creatively developed Lenin's ideas on the national and colonial question, directing the attention of the Communist International towards the national liberation movement. Nguyen Ai Quoc was a permanent member of the Eastern Bureau, directly in charge of the Southern Bureau of the Communist International.
November 1924
In November 1924, Nguyen Ai Quoc returned to Guangzhou (China) and selected a number of patriotic Vietnamese youths living there to directly open a training class for Vietnamese cadres. His lectures were compiled and printed into the book "The Revolutionary Path" - an important theoretical document that laid the ideological foundation for the Vietnamese revolutionary path.
"Thanh Nien" - Vietnam's first revolutionary newspaper.
1925
In 1925, he founded the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association and launched the newspaper "Thanh Nien" (Youth), the first revolutionary newspaper in Vietnam, to spread Marxism-Leninism in Vietnam and prepare for the establishment of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
May 1927
In May 1927, Nguyen Ai Quoc left Guangzhou for Moscow (Soviet Union), then went to Berlin (Germany), and Brussels (Belgium) to attend the expanded session of the General Assembly of the League Against Imperialist War, after which he went to Italy and from there returned to Asia.
1928-1929
From July 1928 to November 1929, he was active in the patriotic Vietnamese expatriate movement in Thailand, continuing to prepare for the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The founding conference of the Communist Party of Vietnam on February 3, 1930. (Painting by artist Phi Hoanh at the National Historical Museum)
1930
In the spring of 1930, he presided over the Party Founding Conference, held in Kowloon near Hong Kong, which adopted the Brief Political Program, Brief Strategy, and Brief Regulations of the Communist Party of Vietnam (the Party Conference in October 1930 renamed it the Communist Party of Indochina), the vanguard of the working class and the entire Vietnamese nation, leading the Vietnamese people in carrying out the national liberation revolution. Immediately after its founding, the Communist Party of Vietnam led the revolutionary high tide of 1930-1931, culminating in the Nghe Tinh Soviet, the first general rehearsal for the August Revolution of 1945.
Victoria Prison, where Tong Van So (Nguyen Ai Quoc) was imprisoned, 1931. (Photo source: baotanglichsu.vn)
June 1931
In June 1931, Nguyen Ai Quoc was arrested by the British authorities in Hong Kong. This was a turbulent period in Nguyen Ai Quoc's revolutionary life. In the spring of 1933, he was released.
October 1938
In October 1938, he left the Soviet Union for China to make contact with the Party organization and prepare for his return to Vietnam.
1941
On January 28, 1941, he returned to Vietnam after more than 30 years away from his homeland. After so many years of longing and waiting, he was deeply moved as he crossed the border.
President Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam on January 28, 1941. Illustration: Trinh Phong/qdnd.vn
In May 1941, he convened the Eighth Conference of the Central Executive Committee of the Party, deciding on the national salvation strategy for the new era, establishing the Vietnam Independence League (Viet Minh). He organized the armed liberation forces and built revolutionary base areas.
1942-1943
In August 1942, under the name Ho Chi Minh, representing the Viet Minh Front and the Vietnamese branch of the International Anti-Aggression Association, he traveled to China to seek an international alliance and coordinate anti-fascist actions in the Pacific theater. He was arrested by Chiang Kai-shek's local authorities and imprisoned in Guangxi province. During his 13 months in prison, he wrote the poetry collection "Prison Diary," containing 133 poems in Chinese characters. In September 1943, he was released.
September 1944
In September 1944, he returned to his base in Cao Bang. In December 1944, he instructed the establishment of the Vietnam Propaganda and Liberation Army - the predecessor of the Vietnam People's Army.
Lán Nà Lừa, Tân Lập village, Tân Trào commune, Sơn Dương district, Tuyên Quang province, where President Ho Chi Minh stayed and worked during the National Conference of the Party and the National Congress (1945). Photo: hochiminh.vn
May 1945
World War II entered its final stages with victories for the Soviet Union and its allies. In May 1945, Ho Chi Minh left Cao Bang and returned to Tan Trao (Tuyen Quang). There, at his suggestion, the National Conference of the Party and the National Congress of the People met and decided on a general uprising. The National Congress elected the Vietnam National Liberation Committee (i.e., the Provisional Government) with Ho Chi Minh as its Chairman.
President Ho Chi Minh reading the "Declaration of Independence" at the historic Ba Dinh Square. (Archival photo)
August 1945
In August 1945, he led the people in an uprising to seize power throughout the country. On September 2, 1945, at the historic Ba Dinh Square, he read the "Declaration of Independence," proclaiming the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He became the first President of independent Vietnam.
Shortly afterwards, the French colonialists waged war, plotting to invade Vietnam once again. Faced with foreign invasion, President Ho Chi Minh called on the entire nation to rise up to defend the independence and freedom of the Fatherland with the spirit: "We would rather sacrifice everything than lose our country, than be enslaved." He initiated the patriotic emulation movement, and together with the Central Party Committee, led the Vietnamese people in conducting a comprehensive, protracted, and all-encompassing resistance war, relying primarily on their own strength, and gradually achieving victory.
The Second National Congress of the Party (1951). Archival photo.
At the Second Congress of the Party (1951), he was elected Chairman of the Vietnam Labor Party. Under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, the sacred resistance war of the Vietnamese people against the French colonial invaders achieved great victories, culminating gloriously in the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu (1954), completely liberating the North.
Farmers in Thai Binh province transport rice to pay taxes to the state at the Hoa Binh town's main warehouse, December 1960. Photo: VNA.
From 1954, together with the Central Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party, he led the people in building socialism in the North and fighting for the liberation of the South and the reunification of the Fatherland.
President Ho Chi Minh delivering the opening speech at the Third National Congress of the Vietnam Workers' Party on September 5, 1960, in Hanoi. (Archival photo)
At the Third Congress of the Vietnam Workers' Party, held in September 1960, he affirmed: "This Congress is a Congress for building socialism in the North and for the peaceful struggle for national reunification." At the Congress, he was re-elected as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Party.
1964
In 1964, the US imperialists launched an air war of destruction against North Vietnam. He encouraged the entire Vietnamese people to overcome difficulties and hardships, determined to defeat the invading American enemy.
President Ho Chi Minh visited several units, facilities, and localities with outstanding achievements in labor and production. In the photo: President Ho Chi Minh visits the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Complex on the occasion of the first batch of pig iron produced by blast furnace No. 1 (January 1, 1964). Photo: Archival material/VNA
The speaker said: “The war may last 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, or even longer. Hanoi, Hai Phong, and some cities and factories may be destroyed. But the Vietnamese people are not afraid! Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom! On the day of victory, our people will rebuild our country in a more dignified and beautiful way.”
1965 - 1969
From 1965 to 1969, together with the Central Committee of the Party, he continued to lead the Vietnamese people in carrying out the revolutionary cause under conditions of war throughout the country, building and defending the North, fighting for the liberation of the South, and achieving national reunification.
On September 2, 1969 , he passed away at the age of 79. Before his death, President Ho Chi Minh left the Vietnamese people a historic testament. He wrote: “My last wish is: that the entire Party and all the people of Vietnam unite and strive to build a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic, and prosperous Vietnam, and make a worthy contribution to the world revolutionary cause.”
In fulfillment of his will, the entire Vietnamese people united as one, defeating the B52 bombing campaign waged by the American imperialists, forcing the US government to sign the Paris Agreement on January 27, 1973, ending the war of aggression and withdrawing all US and allied troops from South Vietnam.
Tanks of the Liberation Army rammed through the gates and entered the Independence Palace at noon on April 30, 1975. (Archival photo)
In the spring of 1975, with the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, the Vietnamese people completed the liberation of the South, reunified the country, and fulfilled the sacred wish of President Ho Chi Minh.
President Ho Chi Minh was the great leader of the Vietnamese nation. He creatively applied and developed Marxism-Leninism to the specific conditions of our country, founded the Marxist-Leninist Party in Vietnam, founded the Vietnam National United Front, founded the Vietnam People's Armed Forces, and founded the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam). He always closely combined the Vietnamese revolution with the common struggle of the world's people for peace, national independence, democracy, and social progress. He was a shining example of high moral character, embodying diligence, frugality, integrity, impartiality, selflessness, and utmost humility and simplicity.
In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized Ho Chi Minh as a national liberation hero and outstanding cultural figure (HO CHI MINH VIETNAMESE HERO OF NATIONAL LIBERATION AND GREAT MAN OF CULTURE).
Today, in the process of national renewal and integration with the world, Ho Chi Minh Thought is a great spiritual asset of our Party and nation, forever guiding the Vietnamese people's struggle to successfully achieve the goal of advancing the country towards socialism.
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