VietNamNet Bridge – Since its establishment, the Communist Party of Viet Nam has held 10 Congresses. Each Congress is considered an important historical milestone in recognising the Vietnamese revolution's victories, achievements and lessons.

Part 2: Congresses mark Party milestones

 Here is an introduction to each Congress as summarised by Vietnam News Agency.

This was an event of historical significance as the Congress establishing the Communist Party of Viet Nam.

The conference passed the Party's Brief Political Platform, Brief Policy and Brief Statutes and outlined guidelines for national liberation and the advance towards socialism.

The first plenum of the Party Central Committee, which was held in Hong Kong from October 14-31, 1930, decided to rename the Communist Party of Viet Nam the Communist Party of Indochina and adopted the political programme and important resolutions on urgent tasks to mobilise particular groups of the masses. The meeting elected the official Party Central Committee with Tran Phu being the General Secretary.

First National Party Congress: consolidating and developing forces to lead the whole nation to fight imperialism and wars.

Immediately after its establishment, the Party led the movement for national liberation to initial victories, with the Soviet-Nghe Tinh movement (1930-1931) being the peak.

Following these victories, the French colonialists suppressed the patriotism movement. Party General Secretary Tran Phu and many other communists were arrested.

Following the direction of the Communist International, the Overseas Directing Bureau (Overseas Bureau) of the Communist Party of Indochina was established in early 1934 with Le Hong Phong as the secretary. The bureau played a leading role and restructured the Party Central Committee.

The first National Party Congress took place in Macau, China, from March 27-31, 1935, with the participation of 13 delegates from domestic Party committees as well as overseas Party organisations. The Congress was presided over by Ha Huy Tap.

It reviewed the restoration of the Party organisation and the people's movement, and mentioned three key tasks: consolidating and developing the Party, intensifying mass mobilisation and increasing public awareness of the anti-imperialism and anti-war cause.

The Congress elected the 13-member Party Central Committee. Leader Nguyen Ai Quoc was nominated the Party representative to the Communist International. Le Hong Phong was elected as Party General Secretary.

The first National Party Congress was an important historical event, marking the fundamental victory of the struggle to preserve and restore the organisational system of the Party from the central to grassroots levels.

A meeting of the Party Central Committee was held in Shanghai, China, in July 1936 to identify the Party's new guidelines on revolutionary strategy and tactics in Indochina. The meeting elected Ha Huy Tap as the General Secretary.

In March 1938, the Party Central Committee met and decided to expand the Indochina Democratic United Front. At the meeting, Nguyen Van Cu was elected to the Party Central Committee's Standing Board and then the General Secretary.

The Party Central Committee meeting chaired by Cu in November 1939 decided to adjust the strategic directions of the Indochinese revolution making them suitable for the new situation. After that time, the revolutionary movement saw huge support throughout the country, leading the way for the General Uprising.

A brief introduction of past National Party Congresses

Second National Party Congress: the Party leads the whole nation in resistance and nation building

Right after the victorious August Revolution, the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam was founded. Our country and Government had to face life-threatening challenges: the armed forces of Jiang Jie Shi overflowed northern Viet Nam together with reactionary parties; and supported by British forces, the French armies returned to occupy the South, aiming to quell the first, young state of workers and peasants in South-east Asia.

At the same time, the country had to cope with three difficulties, outside and inside enemies as well as the negative impacts from 80 years of suffering from severe oppression and exploitation by feudalism and colonialism with the hardest consequence coming from the famine in 1945 that killed more than 2 million people.

Amid the precarious situation, the Party Central Committee, the Government and President Ho Chi Minh focused on leading a resistance movement, cleverly eliminating enemies and preparing conditions and forces for a long-lasting resistance war.

President Ho Chi Minh launched a campaign against hunger, illiteracy, and invaders and he encouraged all the people to increase production; organised the General Election; elected the first National Assembly; established the Government; and promulgated the 1946 Constitution.

To defend peace and national independence, we were patient for negotiations with the French colonialists. However, the colonialists determined to reconquer our country. They provoked incidents in Lang Son, Hai Phong and then in Ha Noi. The more concessions we made, the more seriously the French colonialists encroached upon our rights, forcing the nation to fight.

On December 19, President Ho Chi Minh called for a national resistance saying with determination: "We would rather endure and sacrifice than lose independence and be slaves."

In order to further develop guidelines for resistance and nation building, the Party Central Committee decided to summon the second National Party Congress.

The congress took place in Chiem Hoa District's Vinh Quang Commune in the northern province of Tuyen Quang from February 11-19, 1951, with the participation of 158 official delegates and 53 alternate delegates, who represented more than 760,000 Party members. The congress was also attended by delegates from the Communist Parties of China and Thailand.

The congress passed a resolution deciding that the Party would go public and renamed it "the Viet Nam Workers' Party" and approved the Party's Political Platform and its new Political Platform Declaration and Statutes.

The congress elected the Party Central Committee that consisted of 19 official members and 10 alternate members. Ho Chi Minh was elected as the President of the Party Central Committee and Truong Chinh was re-elected as the General Secretary.

The second National Party Congress was an event of great significance, marking a new step-forward for the Party and prepared for a successful resistance war against the French colonialists.

The third National Party Congress: Building socialism in the north and struggling for liberation in the South.

The resistance war against French colonialists ended successfully. The Party directed the people in the northern region to restore the economy and build socialism along with strengthening the armed forces to defend the North and give assistance to the South.

Southern people continued to cope with US invaders, who established a dictatorial regime with a plot to turn southern Viet Nam into a neo-colonial state and an imperialistic military base for the US, and to partition the country.

With Law 10/59, the nepotistic regime of Ngo Dinh Diem dragged the guillotine across the South and brutally massacred patriots.

While the revolution in southern Viet Nam was facing various difficulties, Le Duan in his capacity as a member of the Party Politburo and Secretary of the Nam Bo (Southern region)'s Party Committee wrote The Path of Revolution in the South, which says:

"There is no other path for the people of the South but the path of revolution."

The resolution of the 15th Party Central Committee conference (January 1959) clearly defined guidelines of the revolution in the South, which combined political struggle with armed struggle alongside boosting the resistance movement of the people in the southern region.

The resolution created a considerable breakthrough for the revolutionary cause of the people nationwide, helping perfect the Party's guidelines for the resistance war against US aggressors and national salvation.

From that point, the resistance movement of the people in the southern region spread out, particularly the "general uprising" for destroying the enemy's grip and seizing power.

The development of the northern and southern regions' revolution resulted in positive changes for the entire nation. The Party held the third National Congress from September 5-10, 1960 which was attended by 525 official delegates and 51 alternate delegates who represented more than 500,000 Party members.

Addressing the congress's opening ceremony, President Ho Chi Minh said: "This congress is the congress for building socialism in the North and struggling for peace and national reunification."

The congress elected a Central Committee that consisted of 47 official members and 31 alternate members. President Ho Chi Minh was re-elected as the Party's President (he held the position until he passed away in September 1969); and Le Duan was elected as First Secretary of the Party Central Committee.

With the Party's sound revolutionary guidelines, coupled with great sacrifice of the heroic Vietnamese people, the nation's revolution gained great victories.

The fourth National Party Congress: a summary of the resistance war against the US imperialists for national salvation and advancing the nation toward socialism

By the 1975 Spring General Offensive and Uprising with the Ho Chi Minh historical campaign at its peak, under the leadership of the Party, the Vietnamese people achieved a great victory by completely liberating the South and reuniting the nation. Viet Nam's revolution progressed into a new stage. For the first time, in a peaceful, independent and unified country, people from all regions were eager to join in the general election, electing a common National Assembly for the entire nation.

In an exciting and reliable atmosphere, the fourth National Party Congress was held in Ha Noi from December 14-20, 1976. As many as 1,008 delegates representing more than 1.55 million Party members nationwide, and 29 international delegations attended the congress.

The congress provided a summation of the people's anti-US resistance war for national salvation, put forth major lessons that covered a wide range of diverse, abundant and profound content, and affirmed the entire nation's revolutionary path toward socialism. Guidelines and policies throughout this period focused on implementing national reconciliation policies; healing the wounds from the war; gradually restoring and developing the economy, society, culture and education sectors; building a socialist infrastructure; intensifying national defence, maintaining political security and social order; and strengthening the Party to enhance the Party's leadership and capacity during the new period. The congress dedicated itself to developing an industrial infrastructure for the period of transition to socialism.

The congress renamed the Viet Nam Workers' Party to the Communist Party of Viet Nam and adopted the Party's new Statutes. The congress changed the post of First Secretary to the General Secretary and elected a Central Committee, consisting of 101 official and 32 alternate members. The Political Bureau was comprised of 14 official and three alternate members. Le Duan was elected General Secretary.

The fourth National Party Congress was of important significance: it was the first congress after the nation was liberated and reunified, and it commenced the process of constructing a socialist society.

The fifth National Party Congress: All for the socialist motherland and the people's happiness.

During the years between the fourth and the fifth National Party Congress, the Vietnamese revolution shifted to a new stage and the reunified nation began the construction and protection of socialist Viet Nam. In the light of the fourth National Party Congress's Resolution, the entire Party, people and army spared no efforts to restore, reform and develop the economy.

The Resolution adopted at the sixth meeting of the Party Central Committee (fourth tenure) a plan for the development of the agriculture, forestry, fishery and consumer goods sectors. Instruction 10, which was issued by the Party Central Committee's Secretariat in October 1981, regarding the products-based payments for groups and labourers in agricultural co-operatives initially created momentum in production.

The fifth National Party Congress convened in Ha Noi from March 27-31, 1982. A total of 1,033 delegates representing more than 1.72 million Party members from across the country, and 47 international delegations attended the congress.

The congress heard a Political Report from the Party Central Committee and many other important reports. The congress pointed out objective and subjective reasons that explained the existing difficulties and weaknesses. On that basis, the congress outlined major socio-economic directions, tasks and targets for the 1981-85 period, and set out two strategic tasks: building socialism and firmly protecting socialist Viet Nam.

The congress ratified the Party's Statutes (revised) and elected a Central Committee, which included 116 official and 36 alternate members; Le Duan was re-elected General Secretary by the Central Committee.

After the congress, the economic situation, especially the market and price situation, continued to worsen and people's salaries kept falling. The 8th meeting of the Party Central Committee discussed and decided to make one-step reform on price, salary, finance and currency to abolish red tape by shifting to a socialist-oriented economic model that would help step up production and business.

On July 10, 1986, General Secretary Le Duan passed away. The Party Central Committee convened an extraordinary meeting on July 14 and re-elected Truong Chinh to the post of General Secretary. (to be continued)

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