Architects of Modern Vietnam

Introduction

In history, when we look toward Vietnam, their visionaries and thinkers were more inclined toward the communist ideas which helped their nation function and free them from the colonial powers.

Every nation has a national leader who worked for his country and dedicated his life’s work for the emancipation of his birth country and fought for his people’s rights. But have you heard of such a leader from Vietnam? Vietnam doesn’t have one such influencer but it has 3 major nationalist leaders.

Phan Chu Trinh and his Works (1872 - 1926)

Phan Chu Trinh born in 1872 was a nationalist leader who designed an independent Vietnam, expel the French, and restructure Vietnam society. He was trained in military skills and fought in battles against the French.

Phan Chu Trinh believed in the gradual development of an autonomous state by giving strong emphasis on economy and industrial development, he was an ardent follower of modernization which he believed Vietnam would follow later. He started his project by starting a small business enterprise to spread propaganda empowering local industries and spread of modern education for all Vietnamese.

• He pressured the French to undertake reform measures like replacing mandarin civil service with vocational schools and commercial firms.

• He propagated about minimizing dependence on foreign countries.

• His ideology was that a progressive person must skilled so one can be self - sufficient leading to self- reliance.

Phan Chau Trinh is one of the most remarkable figures in Vietnamese history and culture in the 20th century. As a man of great vision, he understood the wicked problems that the country had to solve. That is why his main thought is to train people of the new age to be curious to know, to never stop learning, to have a risk-taking and self-reliance spirit, and to be wholeheartedly willing to serve the country

Phan Boi Chau and His works (1867-1940)

Phan Boi Chau had a sigma personality and he was a part of early Vietnamese resistance with his impassioned writings he earned the respect of his people as one of the greatest idols in Vietnam’s freedom struggle.

Luu Cau Huyet le tan Thu (“Ryukyu’s Bitter Tears”), which Phan Boi Chau wrote in 1903 was an allegory explaining Japan’s sourness at the loss of the Ryukyu Islands with the Vietnamese deprivation of independence.

• Then he moved his fight to japan and met Sun Yat Sen who was one of the major Chinese revolutionaries.

• He created the Vietnam Restoration Society which was used to launch to murder the French governor- general of Indo-China but failed to do so.

• In 1925 he was captured and taken to Hanoi in the custody of the French but hundreds of civilians went against the arrest which made the French pardon and he was given an opportunity in civil service which he refused.

Hochi Minh and his Achievements (1872 – 1926)

Nguyen Ali Qua also known as Hochi Minh was the one who established the Indo-China Communist party and its aftermath Viet–Minh, he also became the President of the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam from 1945-1969. He was the major influencer of anti -colonies movements in Asia and influenced Communist leaders At the Versailles Peace Conference, Hochi Minh addressed 8-points petition to be represented to the great powers that ended World War 1.

• He demanded to the French to grant equal rights to its subjects with the rulers.

• He was someone who went to Moscow and Beijing (1955) and came to New Delhi and Jakarta (1958), tactically striking a balance between his powerful communist allies and even, at the time of his journey to Moscow in 1960, acting as a mediator between them.

• He wages the longest and costliest battles against the colonial system and it gave a great crisis to the mightiest power U.S.

• He Stood with Tito, a Yugoslavian national leader as a protagonist of national communism that developed in 1960, and with communist china Mao Zedong in emphasizing the role of the peasantry in revolutionary struggle.

• In 1925, Ho organized the Fellowship of Revolutionary Youth of Vietnam from ex isting communist groups in Vietnam. Under his leadership, Vietnam’s communist organizations were united in the Communist Party of Indochina in 1930.

Conclusion

The victory of Vietnam over the U.S. reminds us of the grit and tactical warfare that the Vietnamese put forward during the war even though they were behind in terms of military weapons and personnel. When we analyse the contribution of Ho Chi Minh and other visionaries of Vietnam it can be concluded that the traditions and heritage of the country were the main driving force behind these leaders to fight and free their country from the colonial power.

FAQs

Qns 1. Mention some interesting facts about Le’ Duan.

Ans. He was the most important leader in the history of Vietnam and his main contribution was organizing the underground Communist party during the Vietnam division in 1954. In the 1960s he was designated as general secretary of the worker’s party of Vietnam where he worked toward the party’s main agendas and this made him the second most important and second highest position bearer only preceded by Ho chi Minh the chairman of the party. His coming years were also filled with important positions and eventually succeeded HO chi Minh, as the leader of North Vietnam upon his death in 1969.

Qns 2. Mention some interesting facts about Hochi Minh?

Ans.

• Ho Chi Minh is highly praised by the communist parties but what many don’t know is that he was also recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

• He was widely celebrated around the world which is evident from the various statues of him erected in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. He has also been a beacon of hope and inspiration for many artists and revolutionaries.

• HO Chi Minh is the most celebrated political leader and political thinker of the 20th century and he was a proud follower of the Marxist- Leninist political movement.

• Ho Chi Minh is that he was a politically motivated and active person from a young age and he dies as the most needed President of Vietnam. “Ho Chi Minh thought” was adopted by the Vietnam communist party in 1991 which as the name suggests was the idealogy and beliefs of Ho Chi Minh which was not connected to his thoughts but was more leaned toward Stalinist communism.

• If we search for lasting monuments of Ho Chi Minh, there will be many but the most famous of those would be the renaming of Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City. This city is the largest in the whole of Vietnam with a population of around 6.2 million people residing there. This city was renamed by the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 when the communist north took control over the city. It is also at times referred to as Saigon in conversations and this tradition of renaming cities after important people is common in Vietnam.