Dien Bien Phu Victory and Invaluable Lessons for Today

The Dien Bien Phu victory on May 7, 1954 - a brilliant golden milestone of history - "was recorded in national history as a Bach Dang, a Chi Lang or a Dong Da in the 20th century, and entered world history as a brilliant feat of breaking through the stronghold of the colonial slavery system of imperialism" [1]. Seven decades have passed, but the valuable lessons that the Dien Bien Phu victory "famous in five continents, shaking the earth" left behind still retain profound theoretical and practical value.

At 5:30 p.m. on March 13, 1954, General and Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap ordered the attack on the Dien Bien Phu stronghold. Photo: VNA

First, the lesson on planning a correct, creative, independent, and autonomous resistance strategy

Our Party and President Ho Chi Minh, with their vision, courage and intelligence, correctly assessed the situation and the strength of us and the enemy, to plan a correct and creative resistance line - the People's War line, the resistance of the entire people: "Each citizen is a soldier. Each village is a trench", on the military, economic, political and cultural fronts; with the long-term motto, relying mainly on our own strength: the enemy wants to "fight quickly, win quickly", so we "use short weapons to control long battles", implementing "long-term fighting", in the high-level thinking of the art of war of the era: "To control fire, we must use water. The enemy wants to fight quickly, win quickly. We use long-term resistance to control them, then the enemy will definitely lose, we will definitely win" [2].

The Dien Bien Phu campaign vividly demonstrated the way of promoting the combined strength of the People's, all-people, all-round war, which made us fight stronger and stronger, fight more and more firmly and surely win, and finally gain complete victory. It was a revolutionary and scientific resistance line, at the height of art and strategy, later praised by the world as "one of the most perfect fighting lines of our time" [3].

Second, the lesson of promoting the spirit of patriotism, determination, determination to fight and win of a civilized and heroic nation.

To defeat the French colonialist war of aggression, we must first promote patriotism, have a very high determination and persevere in that determination. We entered the resistance war against the French in a very unequal comparison of forces, especially "in terms of organization and technical equipment, this is an epochal gap" [4]. France had a famous professional invasion army, with modern naval, land and air forces, and was assisted by the United States. With a large number of troops, modern weapons and equipment, strong firepower and a solid fortification system, French and American generals boastfully declared Dien Bien Phu as an "impregnable fortress", a "Viet Minh meat grinder"...

Faced with the enemy's plots and tricks, the Politburo decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu campaign, approved the operational plan of the General Military Commission and established the Command and Party Committee of the front; the Government established the Front Supply Council. Uncle Ho repeatedly sent letters of praise, encouragement and motivation to our army and people, and awarded the flag of "Determination to Fight - Determination to Win" to the Dien Bien soldiers. The whole country went to battle.

The Vietnamese people's patriotism, indomitable will, determination to fight and win were brought to the peak in the campaign, even in each fierce battle of wits and strength between us and the enemy to fight for every inch of land, every trench. Countless examples of sacrifices in combat, self-sacrifice for the country are immortal symbols of the spirit and people of Vietnam such as: Phan Dinh Giot used his body to fill the loophole; Be Van Dan used his body as a gun mount; To Vinh Dien used his body to block artillery... Those were wounded drivers who did not let go of the steering wheel, engineering soldiers struggling with bombs waiting to explode, medical soldiers rolling in the smoke and fire to transport the wounded, information soldiers who sacrificed themselves to protect the communication lines... and countless examples of frontline workers in 56 days and nights of fighting and serving in combat, contributing to the great victory of the nation, very admirable and proud:

Three thousand days of resistance

There is no night like tonight

Historic night. Dien Bien shines brightly.

In the country, like a medal on the chest

Our people, heroic people...

Third, the lesson on promoting Vietnamese intelligence and mettle

Dien Bien Phu was a strategic decisive battle, the most comprehensive and fiercest confrontation between us and the enemy. Therefore, it required us, in addition to patriotism and determination, to have courage and intelligence to lead the resistance to victory.

The Dien Bien Phu campaign demonstrated the combination of the correct, talented, and wise leadership of the Party headed by President Ho Chi Minh; the strategic talent of the Supreme Commander along with many intelligent and creative fighting methods of the officers and soldiers. That is, from studying and correctly assessing the situation, comparing the battle situation, the correlation of our and the enemy's forces on the battlefield, the Command and the Party Committee of the front headed by General Vo Nguyen Giap carefully considered and made the historic decision to switch from "fighting quickly, solving quickly" to "fighting firmly, advancing firmly", in order to ensure "sure victory" according to the instructions of President Ho Chi Minh. Or, with extremely subjective calculations, the French army thought that our army could not open the way to move artillery into the Dien Bien Phu battlefield, but we did it miraculously. Relying on their large army, modern weapons, solid battlefields, and flat terrain that could be exploited, they thought that our army could not approach the stronghold without being destroyed. Contrary to that prediction, after 56 days and nights of "digging mountains, sleeping in tunnels, in constant rain, eating rice balls. Blood mixed with mud, unflinching courage, unwearied will", with 3 fierce attacks, our army and people won completely. For example, our army and people had very unique ways of transporting campaign logistics supplies using "one-of-a-kind" bicycles, which greatly surprised the enemy. This was the "largest military operation" of the whole country since the beginning of the war. Giuyn Roa, a former French Air Force Colonel, had to admit: “Although tons of bombs were dropped on the traffic routes, the Viet Minh's supply lines were never cut off. It was not Chinese aid that helped the Viet Minh defeat General Nava, but the Peugeot brand bicycles carrying 200 to 300 kg of goods driven by hungry laborers who slept on the ground under plastic sheets. General Nava was defeated not by the means of war but by the intelligence and determination to win of the opponent” [5].

The lesson of promoting Vietnamese intelligence and capacity has become a precious value for our Party and People to apply and creatively develop in the renovation process, creating the foundation, potential, position and prestige of the country as it is today.

Fourth, the lesson of both resistance and nation building, building the rear, bases and a solid people's position.

Our outstanding success during the Dien Bien Phu campaign was to successfully resolve the task of both fighting and nurturing and developing our forces in all aspects to achieve victory. The Party determined that "Due to the long and arduous resistance war, we must strive to expand the economy and finance to nurture the people's strength and provide for the army's needs" [6]. Our people have strived to increase production and save to ensure the supply of necessary resources for life and for the resistance war; built a solid rear and base - especially "the base of the people's hearts". Nurtured the people's strength through implementing rent and interest reduction, and initially reformed land in free and newly liberated areas, and areas behind enemy lines to mobilize the people's strength and "warm the hearts" of soldiers on the front lines. This is a valuable lesson on "leniency and relaxation for the people to create a plan that is deep-rooted and durable" drawn from the practice of resistance and continued to be inherited and developed by the Party in the period of renovation, on the foundation of "People are the root", the people are the subject, the center of the renovation cause, the source of all victories.

Fifth, the lesson of national solidarity, combining national and international strength

The Dien Bien Phu Campaign fully demonstrated the spirit and strength of national solidarity, combining national and international strength, promoting national strength with the strength of the times, creating a combined strength for the resistance war against the French to victory.

That victory was a brilliant symbol of the close and effective coordination between the fighting alliance with the Lao and Cambodian people and the international support. In the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring campaign, the Pathet Lao liberation army and the Vietnamese volunteer army coordinated to win important victories, causing heavy losses to the enemy, liberating large areas, creating favorable conditions for our army to destroy the enemy on the main battlefield of Dien Bien Phu. The people of the Soviet Union, China and socialist countries supported and encouraged our people's fight. The oppressed, progressive, peace-loving peoples of the world also followed the just fight of the Vietnamese people with deep sympathy, considering the Dien Bien Phu victory as their own victory. This is a lesson of practical significance for the renovation process, in the trend of international integration, combining internal and external forces to build and develop the country today.

The scale of victory and the historical lessons of the resistance war against the French colonialists, culminating in the Dien Bien Phu victory, will forever be invaluable lessons for the Vietnamese revolution. “The thunder of Dien Bien Phu will forever resound. Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh - Dien Bien Phu! (...) The words have entered the languages of the peoples. The words resound with pride” [7]. The historic Dien Bien Phu victory will forever add great spiritual motivation to the aspiration to successfully build a rich, strong, democratic, civilized, prosperous, and happy Vietnam.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Xuan Tuat

Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh Institute

and the Party leaders

[1] Le Duan: Under the glorious flag of the Party, for independence, freedom, for socialism, move forward to gain new victories, Truth Publishing House, Hanoi 1970, p. 90.

[2] Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, vol. 5, pp. 55-56.

[3] Editorial of the Fighting newspaper, People's Republic of Congo, September 12, 1969 issue.

[4] Vo Nguyen Giap: Fighting in the siege, People's Army Publishing House - Youth Publishing House, Hanoi 1995, p.35.

[5] Giuyn Roa: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Giulia Publishing House, Paris, 1964, pp. 357-358.

[6] Complete Party Documents, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 2001, Vol. 12, p. 511.

[7] General Vo Nguyen Giap and the Dien Bien Phu campaign, People's Army Publishing House, Hanoi 2014, p.560.

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