Commemorating Vietnam’s historic victory over imperialism

On the 50th anniversary of the epic victory of the people of Vietnam over the mightiest military force on earth at the time, the US military, on April 30th, 1975, the Communist Party of Canada pays tribute to the heroic struggle that the people of Vietnam successfully waged.

Following the defeat in 1954 of the French forces which had colonized Vietnam in 1887, the country was divided into two regions along the 17th parallel. The two parts were to be reunited following an election to be held within two years of the Geneva Accords, which formalized the victory of the Vietnamese resistance, led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, over the French at Dien Bien Phu. That election was never held, according to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, because “the North would have won”. To halt that eventuality, the United States began its military efforts to thwart the independence of Vietnam and defeat the “threat of communism”. For twenty more years the Vietnamese people suffered and fought. They survived an onslaught that included carpet bombing with the total tonnage of bombs more than double that which had been used in World War II; the use of napalm, which horrified the world with its unspeakable consequences; and chemical herbicides which caused birth defects then and continue to cause them now, while also curtailing agriculture today.

The defeat of this overwhelming military force of imperialism by the Vietnamese was of historic significance, lighting the flame of hope in progressive, anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist forces around the world that imperialism was on the wane, that it could be defeated because it had been defeated, defeated soundly, embarrassingly so, by the people of Vietnam under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The struggle of the Vietnamese people had the support of progressive humanity around the world. First and foremost, the aid of the Soviet Union and the countries of the socialist world provided much needed material support. Unions in various countries mobilized to stop shipments of arms for the army of aggression. Political and moral support developed around the world as increasing numbers of people opposed U.S. imperialism’s brutal war against a small nation fighting for its right to decide its own future. Like communist parties around the world, the Communist Party of Canada is proud to have played a role in the solidarity movement, working always to increase awareness of the injustice of the war and to unite the broadest possible sections of Canadian society against it.

To this day, the victory of the Vietnamese people with its defeat of imperialist aggression is a landmark in history. It continues to offer the world the hope that a better future can be had, a future free of imperialism, free of imperialism’s brutality and exploitation.

Long live the victory of the Vietnamese people! Long live the Communist Party of Vietnam! Long live Vietnam!

Central Committee, Communist Party of Canada