Live TV programme highlights Vietnam’s heroic history

In Hanoi, History Professor Dinh Xuan Lam recounted President Ho Chi Minh’s long journey to liberate his country, which spanned more than 30 years and included travels to five continents. He finally found a way to national independence in Marxism-Leninism.

Ho Chi Minh’s patriotism and experience helped him adapt the principles of Marxism-Leninism to Vietnam’s conditions, leading to ultimate victory.

The programme depicted the difficult early stage of the revolution in Pac Bo (Cao Bang), the cradle of Vietnam’s revolution. This is the place where the Viet Minh Front and the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, today the Vietnam People's Army, were founded. Under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s revolution saw a dramatic growth in just four years (1941-1945).

Tan Trao (Tuyen Quang) has been closely connected to many important national events. It is where a National People’s Congress ratified the general uprising order and ten policies of the Viet Minh, adopted the national flag and national anthem, and elected the National Committee for Liberation of Vietnam (the provisional government) with Ho Chi Minh as its President.

On August 19, 1945, the General Uprising broke out in Hanoi and was joined by tens of thousands of Hanoians.  This overwhelming show of unity led to an easy victory without bloodshed.

The programme segment from Ho Chi Minh City portrayed the joy of southern Vietnamese people at the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

In the central city of Hue, the programme depicted Vietnam’s last feudal dynasty, quoting King Bao Dai’s famous saying: “I'd rather be a citizen of an independent country than a king of an oppressed one”.

Following the August Revolution, on September 2, 1945, at Hanoi’s Ba Dinh Square, Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.