Russian Revolution and President Ho Chi Minh

Learning Marxism-Leninism

Under the leadership of Vladimir I. Lenin and the revolutionary Bolshevik Party, on November 7, 1917, the Russian working class and people overthrew the centuries-old Tsarist regime and established the world's first proletarian state. The revolution opened a new chapter in the human history -  the transition from capitalism to socialism, and helped expand Marxism-Leninism to many countries worldwide.

In the end of 1917, Nguyen Ai Quoc left the United Kingdom for  France where he received the first information on the Russian Revolution. He said that an unprecedented event took place in the world: A nation overturned the oppressors and managed their all state affairs without governor generals. Nguyen Ai Quoc wrote that, at that time, his support for the Russian Revolution was only dictated through feeling. He did not fully understood the event’s historic meaning and position. He just loved Lenin because the Bolshevik Party leader was a great patriot, who led the people to liberate the country from the oppression. Nguyen Ai Quoc had not read any Lenin’s books before.

Gradually from his practical experience, broad political knowledge and ability of scientific analysis, Nguyen Ai Quoc-Ho Chi Minh found great values of the Russian Revolution and Marxism-Leninism, and he was determined to follow the revolution. In 1920, after reading the first draft thesis on national and colonial issues written by V.I. Lenin and published in the L’Humanité (Humanitarian) Newspaper, an organ of the French Socialist Party, Nguyen Ai Quoc found the “miraculous guide” for the national salvation cause. 

Nguyen Ai Quoc remembered that the theses written by Lenin made him very touched. He was moved to tears and realized that the theses were the very liberation path for his fatherland. Thence, Nguyen Ai Quoc wholly believed in Lenin and the Communist International (Comintern).

Lighthouse for Vietnam’s revolutionary cause

After studying the Russian Revolution to popularize Marxism and Leninism to Vietnamese young patriots in the 1925-1927 period, in his work “Duong Kach menh” (Revolutionary Path), President Ho Chi Minh reviewed the role of the Russian Revolution and affirmed that it was the only thorough revolution, and that the theory of Marxism-Leninism and lessons of the revolution would enlighten Vietnam’s revolutionary cause.

President Ho Chi Minh wrote: “From experiences of the Russian Revolution, in order to make a revolution a success, we should have the people (working class and farmers) as the root of the cause, a strong political party, strong will, sacrifice and unanimity.” He pointed out that the urgent matter was to have a communist party. A strong party will make the cause a success, and a strong party should have had a core doctrine. Then, he concluded: “At present, there are many doctrines and theories, but the most authentic and solid one is Leninism.”

Alongside his activities in the international communist movement, Nguyen Ai Quoc further spread Marxism-Leninism and his own theory on the national salvation cause to Vietnam. He actively prepared conditions for forming a Communist Party to lead the Vietnamese revolution. In early 1941, Nguyen Ai Quoc returned to Vietnam and led Vietnam’s revolution.

Accordingly, all decisions of the Party to the success of the August General Uprising in 1945 bore the hallmark of President Ho Chi Minh. They included the Party’s guidelines and strategies, the establishment of the Viet Minh Front, the construction of the Viet Bac revolutionary base, the establishment of the Vietnam Armed Information Unit for National Liberation - the predecessor of the Vietnam People’s Army, meetings of the Party Central Committee, and the Tan Trao National People's Congress, to name but a few.

The success of the August General Uprising in 1945, under the sound leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, also encouraged national liberation movements in all over the world.

Following the Russian Revolution, Vietnam defeated powerful invaders of France, Japan and the US in the wars for national independence and freedom, enabling the Vietnamese people to steadily advance towards socialism and contributing to the revolutionary cause of other nations worldwide.

A century has elapsed since the victory of the Russian Revolution; though the global socio-political life has been deeply changed, the significant values of the revolution still exist in the life of progressive mankind. President Ho Chi Minh underlined that the Russian Revolution was like the Sun to light up the world and wake up millions of exploited and oppressed people on earth to liberate themselves. The history of mankind has not experienced such a great revolution like the Russian Revolution.

Translated by Van Hieu