Forty-five years have gone by; however, the victory is still resounding and continues to leave invaluable lessons to the current generations, showing the high determination to fight and to win foreign enemies of the Party, people and military.
Party leadership - decisive role for the victory of Vietnam’s revolution
After the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, the power balance in the Southern theater saw significant changes. The liberation zone increased while the Saigon Government continued to weaken due to the fight for political power within itself and the cut in aid from the U.S. At the same time, the political scandal of Watergate made it hard for U.S. troops to respond to the war in Vietnam.
From September 30 to October 8, 1974, the Politburo convened meetings to analyze the situation and agreed with the two-year strategic plan submitted by the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army. Implementing the Politburo’s decision, the whole people and armed forces seized the strategic opportunity and waged the General Offensive and Uprising, which gradually disintegrated the Saigon military and government.
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Liberation Army’s tank storms Independence Palace, April 30, 1975. File photo |
The victory of the Central Highlands Operation in March 1975 broke the strategic defensive line of the enemy, rocking the entire Southern theater. After just over one month of offensive, three fourths of the area with nearly half of the population of the South was liberated. On April 26, 1975, five wings of the Liberation Army swiftly and daringly advanced towards Saigon in the opening of the strategic campaign named after President Ho Chi Minh. At 11:30 on April 30, 1975, the liberation flag was raised on top of the Independence Palace.
Strong determination to fight and to win
To liberate the South, the liberation army focused on developing regular forces shown in the building of strong regular army corps. After Army Corps 1, founded in 1973, Army Corps 2, 3, and 4 were formed, one after another, creating synergy and overwhelming power. In the General Offensive and Uprising in Spring 1975, especially in the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, the four regular army corps and Corps 232 (equivalent to an army corps) together with other arms and services conducted joint operations that led to the final victory. That resulted from the strong determination of the Central Party Committee, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defense in building regular and active armed forces for the resistance war against the U.S invaders and for the salvation of the nation.
Another factor showing the determined-to-win spirit in the General Offensive and Uprising in Spring 1975 is the logistic supplies. The strategic Ho Chi Minh Trail with a total length of nearly 20,000 km was built and expanded. Along that strategic transport line, the liberation force used more than 10,000 automobiles to transport and gather more than 113,000 tons of weapons, ammunition, daily supplies and more than 145,000 troops from the North to the South.
On the Southern theater, on-site supplies were particularly important. The people of the South actively promoted the production of reserves of food and commodities to serve the general offensive and uprising. Political bases were built widely, forming a strong people’s war disposition throughout the South.
Support from international friends
During the resistance war, Vietnam received great support from the socialist bloc and people around the world. The support was sent to Vietnam because the resistance war was a just war based on the aspiration for independence and freedom of the Vietnamese people. That was also the aspiration of all oppressed peoples in the world.
The determination of the whole Party, the whole military and the whole people in the Resistance War against the U.S. invasion served as the basis for the building of solidarity and an alliance among the three countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The armed forces of the three countries stood side by side, sharing both joys and difficulties and becoming comrades and close brothers in arms to defeat all operations and raids conducted by the U.S. and Saigon troops. Strategic support lines for the battlefields of the three countries were maintained. The solidarity among the three countries was further nurtured for independence, freedom and prosperity of each country and the region.
Promoting determination in dealing with non-traditional security issues
In recent years, non-traditional security issues have emerged with widespread and deep impacts on each individual country and the whole world. Issues such as climate change, environmental pollution, and water resource depletion, have caused floods, droughts, saline intrusion, forest fires, and earthquakes all over the world. In the long run, those non-traditional security issues have a negative effect on global socio-economic development. Therefore, it is urgent for countries to find thorough solutions to those issues. Together with training and combat readiness tasks, the military must proactively deal with and successfully handle those non-traditional security issues to maintain peace and stability and provide stable conditions for the country to develop. In order to effectively deal with those issues, the entire military must continue to promote the spirit of determination from the General Offensive and Uprising in 1975. To do that, the military must focus on performing the following tasks:
First, the military must actively do research and release precise forecasts, make proper proposals to higher levels, and respond promptly and effectively to any situations.
This is a very important and decisive factor in dealing with non-traditional security issues better. If the military closely grasps situations and makes precise forecasts, proper solutions for the issues will be devised. In the recent prevention and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the whole military has actively grasped the situation and forecast precisely, contributing to the country’s success in COVID-19 prevention and control, highly appreciated by the international community.
Second, the military must be well-prepared with facilities, training, and response options, ready to deal successfully with any non-traditional security issues.
Handling non-traditional security issues requires human and material resources. Therefore, personnel, facilities, equipment and vehicles must be prepared in a thorough manner. In the General Offensive and Uprising in 1975, supplies were effectively prepared, contributing significantly to the overall victory. Recently, the entire military has done the same thorough preparation concerning human resources, facilities, and equipment for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, making important contributions to the success. This has shown that preparation of facilities and equipment for every task and every situation is important and essential.
Third, the military must effectively carry out the dissemination of information and education activities to raise troops’ and people’s awareness of non-traditional security issues and how to deal with them.
The impacts of non-traditional security issues on material and spiritual life within the community are enormous. Therefore, it is very important to raise troops’ and people’s awareness of appropriate actions to take during adverse circumstances.
In providing information and education, it is important to fight against wrongful points-of-view and violations of law, helping strengthen the people’s trust in the Party and the State.
Fourth, the military must closely follow the chain-of-command from the Government to localities and sectors, creating a uniform method of handling non-traditional security issues.
Non-traditional security issues always occur on a large and multi-dimensional scale, related to many aspects of social life and leave heavy consequences. Therefore, it is essential for all sectors to joint hands in dealing with the issues to create the necessary synergy for solving problems as they arise.
Fifth, the Vietnam People’s Army must strengthen its cooperation with other countries’ armed forces to effectively respond to any non-traditional security issues in the region and the world.
In fact, non-traditional security issues pose big challenges to any countries in the region and the world. No single country can solve the problems on its own. Therefore, there must be close and concerted cooperation among countries in coping and thoroughly handling the impacts of non-traditional security issues. The recent COVID-19 pandemic is an example proving that fact.
In the coming weeks and months, the entire military must continue to strictly implement the foreign policy of the Party and State. That is the military must promote international integration and defense cooperation with countries in the region and the world so as to share information, issue early warnings, and make forecasts concerning non-traditional security issues.
The victory of the General Offensive and Uprising in Spring 1975 was a great historical milestone in Vietnam and an important international event. Time will surely pass, but the lessons learned from this victory are still invaluable. Promoting the spirit of the Great Victory in 1975, the entire Party, people and military will continue to stay united and strive to successfully develop a more prosperous Vietnam as President Ho Chi Minh once wished.
Translated by Huu Duong