Being both a witness and a revolutionary during Vietnam’s long battles against the invasions of the French and later American soldiers, former vice president of the State, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh, recalled and honored the strength of Vietnamese national unity.

The leader said, “along with many other comrades, I took part in the anti-French resistance war from the beginning to the end. I joined other lawyers like Nguyen Huu Tho, Trinh Dinh Thao, and professor Pham Huy Thong in the peace movements to push for the Geneva Accord.

However, on August 1st 1954, after the Geneva Accord was signed, the former Saigon regime brutally suppressed mass demonstrations acclaiming the signature of the agreement.

From 1954 to 1959, the former Saigon regime under President Ngo Dinh Diem, backed by the U.S. repressed demonstrations in the south of Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem promulgated Law 10/59 which stiffened penalties for communist affiliations, and permitted trial of accused by special military tribunals.

The repression served to unify the people of Vietnam into a common cause against foreign aggressors, and strengthen their resolve for unity and liberation.

National unity

The Communist Party of Vietnam then put forward a basic task to liberate the southern region, with one of the short-term duties to struggle against the invasion of American imperialists, and to overturn the local puppet regime.

The move aimed at setting up a democratic national conjugate administration to lead Vietnam’s southern region, with a strategic guideline of elevating the political struggling and armed forces to prepare for a general uprising and reclaim power for national liberation.

Historical experience pushed the establishment of unify forces for the battle, and as a result, the National Liberation Front of Southern Vietnam (NLFSV) was established on December 20, 1960 led by president Nguyen Huu Tho.

The NLFSV took on a political mandate of working toward national independence, peace and democracy with a neutral point-of-view. Those targets helped revolutionary movements in the south of Vietnam attract more local and foreign allies and segregate the enemy.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh recalled she was appointed to take part in the Central Committee of the NLFSV and later served in the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam.

With the establishment of the NLFSV, people in the southern area were unified under a common cause to fight against foreign invaders. Other entities united under the same cause, including laborers, students, and women. Political struggles expanded and received the support of religious followers and nationalists in the Saigon administration.

Victory of national unity

After the general uprising in 1968, a coalition of national and democratic forces was established and led by lawyer Trinh Dinh Thao. This created the conduit for the expansion of the NLFSV.

With the political and military growth of the NLFSV, the American government was forced to recognize the movement and come to the negotiating table with the NLFSV and the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam to sign Paris Accord in 1973 to end Vietnam War and American involvement in Vietnam.

The political victory led to the establishment a Council for National Reconciliation and Concorde. From this point of time, Saigon saw the establishment of a ‘third party’ including political organizations and movements involving masses of people. In particular, they were the Self-Determination National Movement led by lawyer Nguyen Long, the Movement for Protecting Women’s Rights and Dignity led by Ngo Ba Thanh, the Force of National Culture Protection led by professor Le Van Giap, a committee to recognize political prisoners’ human rights, the National Reconciliation Force, as well as other organizations to push toward the signing of the Paris Accord.

The press also played an important role at the time for the cause of national liberation.

The NLSVF, with its flag of a half green and a half red centered by a yellow star promoted its role in the cause of national liberation locally and abroad. Therefore, it won support from many countries in the world to stand with Vietnam against war. It also won support of anti-war movements among American people in the United States of America, which caused considerable impact on aggressors in American government then.

In conclusion, the policy of national unification launched by the Communist Party of Vietnam, with the participation of the masses, championed the strength necessary to achieve both political and military victory.

Victory in the anti-American resistance war is also a victory toward the struggle against foreign invasion. In this war, only the invaders were defeated. Vietnam regained its national independence and reunification.

A lesson drawn from the war is that only a policy for extensive national unification and concord is the right and glorious way for national liberation and construction. That is the way chosen and put forward by the Communist Party of Vietnam to sink and eradicate invasion as well as unite people to construct the country.

Translated by Minh Phat