(VOVworld)- 68 years ago today, following the great victory of the August Revolution, President Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The revolutionary spirit of the August Revolution and National Day September 2, 1945, remain vital today. Freedom and justice are always desire of every nation in the world.
Assessing the historic significance of the August Revolution, international friends agree that not only Vietnamese people but working classes and oppressed people around the world were inspired that for the first time in the revolutionary history of colonial and semi-colonial countries, a young Communist Party made a successful revolution. The victory of the 1945 August Revolution made history not only for Vietnam but also for the world, representing the desire for freedom and justice of colonial countries and setting an example for them to rise up to wrest back independence and put an end to colonialism.
86 million Vietnamese people in Vietnam, 4 million overseas Vietnamese and many other people throughout the world celebrate Vietnam’s National Day every year. US Professor of History Douglas Jardin is a lecturer at Hanoi National University: “I think it’s the birthday of the Vietnamese nation. I think that’s the primary meaning for Vietnamese. More than that Vietnam was the first country really to decolonize, to become free from colonialism and I think that Vietnamese people feel a special pride for that because they accomplished this before any other country in this area after World War II”.
Over the past 68 years, Vietnam has understood the value of independence and freedom better than any other nation in the world. To preserve the fruits of the revolution, in the last 68 years, millions of Vietnamese people sacrificed their lives to unify the country and wrest back independence and freedom. President Ho Chi Minh, in the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence read at Ba Dinh square in 1945, stated that Vietnam has the right to be free and independent and all the Vietnamese people are determined to enlist all their physical and mental strength, and if necessary sacrifice their lives and property, in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.
Rising up from the dark nights of centuries of slavery and living through two struggles against foreign invaders is not an easy task for any nation. That’s why Vietnam’s achievements of the last 68 years including 27 years of renovation are so remarkable. For the first time in its history, Vietnam began to rise out of poverty with poverty rates falling sharply year after year. Vietnam was one of the first countries to implement the UN Millennium Development Goals. The Secretary General of the Mozambique Friendship Organization for Peace and Solidarity Maria Fatina says: “You’ve met many problems in the past and today the situation has moving. You have made good changes and your people are living better. You don’t have any more illiteracy people. You have witnessed progresses in the health care since the early of the 80s. In my country, Vietnamese working with us and explaining what happened in Vietnam and how you are coping with the situation in the new era”.
Improvements of Vietnam’s human development index and its position on the world political map have been internationally recognized. Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 180 countries, and trade relations with 230 countries and territories, and is an active member of more than 70 regional and global organizations. Palestinian Ambassador to Vietnam Saadi Altumaizi told VOV: Vietnam is striving to become a modern industrial country by 2020. I believe that Vietnam’s achievements over the past few years will serve as a firm foundation for the country to develop further. Vietnam is capable of realizing its target of becoming an industrial country by 2020. Palestine follows Vietnam’s development with keen interest and considers its achievements ours because Palestine always supports and identifies with Vietnamese people in their struggle for justice.
Becoming an industrial country by 2020 is the keen desire of all Vietnamese people. In the current context of complications in Vietnam and the world, particularly territorial disputes, the significance of National Day is all the deeper. Over the past 68 years, the words “National Day” have continued to