How Vietnam defeated U.S. imperialism

On April 30, 2005, Vietnam celebrated the 30th anniversary of liberation and reunification after a war that itself lasted more than 30 years. In Ho Chi Minh City—formerly known as Saigon—and all over the country, mass events saluted the millions who fought and died to free their country from foreign domination. How did the Vietnamese Revolution emerge victorious? How did the national liberation movement in a relatively small country manage to defeat not one but two of the major imperialist powers—France and the United States? In many respects, Vietnam’s triumph stands among the most remarkable feats in human history. It required a fierce determination and willingness to sacrifice on the part of millions of people. It involved economic and military support from the Soviet Union, China and other socialist countries, as well as solidarity from a worldwide movement. The most fundamental and irreplaceable element, though, was the existence of a highly organized revolutionary party, deeply rooted in the oppressed classes of Vietnamese society both in the north and south. That party was the Vietnam Workers Party, today known as the Communist Party of Vietnam. The party was led by a dedicated group of revolutionaries, many of whom had organized together, fought together and been imprisoned together in the struggle against French colonialism between 1930 and 1954. The primary leader of the party from its formation in 1930 until his death in 1969 was the renowned Ho Chi Minh. Other outstanding leaders included Truong Chinh, Le Duan, Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, Pham Van Dong, Nguyen Thi Binh and Le Duc Tho. The fact that the party possessed a truly collective leadership was proved by the fact that the victory over U.S. imperialism came six years after its principal leader’s death. The Party was the central organizer of the Vietnamese struggle in every sphere of activity. It led the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the north since the liberation of that part of the country from French domination in 1954. It also led the National Liberation Front (NLF) and its People’s Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF) in the south. After 1954, the Workers Party became the ruling party in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, north of the 17th parallel, in what was supposed to be a temporary division of the country. In the south, the party continued to lead the revolutionary movement against the United States and its newly installed puppet regime under Ngo Dinh Diem. Read the full article: https://www.liberationnews.org/how-vietnam-defeated-u-s-imperialism/