68th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 - May 7, 2022): A source of great encouragement

On the afternoon of May 7, 1954, the "Determination to Fight - Determination to Win" flag of the Vietnam People's Army flew on the roof of General De Castries' bunker, marking the complete victory of the historic Dien Bien Phu Campaign.

1.In the early years of the 1946-1954 period against French colonialism, we gradually defeated all plots and tricks of the enemy; constantly growing in both position and strength. In September 1953, the Politburo decided to launch the Winter-Spring strategic offensive to wear down the enemy's strength, expand the liberated areas, focusing on attacking the enemy in Central Laos, Upper Laos, Lai Chau... In the face of the above situation, on November 20, 1953, the enemy launched an operation to capture Dien Bien Phu, gradually turning it into the strongest stronghold in Indochina with the goal of blocking our army's advance. On December 3, 1953, Henri Navarre - Commander-in-Chief of the French expeditionary force in Indochina instructed his subordinates to officially choose Dien Bien Phu as the strategic decisive battle point to destroy the main force of the Viet Minh army.

Faced with that situation, on December 6, 1953, the Politburo decided to launch the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. The campaign command and the front Party Committee were led by General Vo Nguyen Giap as Commander and Secretary. Given the special importance of the campaign, the Politburo and the General Military Commission decided to concentrate 4 infantry divisions and 1 artillery division with a total strength of over 40,000 men. The main army units quickly assembled, day and night clearing forests, cutting mountains to open roads, hauling artillery, building battlefields, and preparing to attack the enemy.

With the motto of “fight firmly, advance firmly”, the strategic battle of Dien Bien Phu was extremely fierce, lasting 3 phases from March 13 to May 7, 1954. At 5:30 p.m. on May 7, 1954, we captured the enemy’s command post, General De Castries and the entire General Staff and soldiers of the Dien Bien Phu stronghold had to surrender. The “Determined to fight, determined to win” flag of our army flew on the roof of the enemy’s command bunker. That same night, our army continued to attack the Southern sector, and the enemy fled to Upper Laos.

After 55 days and nights of brave, resourceful, and creative fighting, our army and people crushed the entire Dien Bien Phu stronghold. The historic victory of Dien Bien Phu dealt a decisive blow, crushing the last efforts of French colonialism and American intervention, directly leading to the signing of the Geneva Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina. Half of the country was liberated, opening a new revolutionary period, bringing the North to transition to socialism, creating a solid rear for the cause of liberating the South and unifying the Fatherland.

Panorama painting recreating the Dien Bien victory at the Dien Bien Phu Historical Victory Museum (Dien Bien Phu City, Dien Bien Province)

2. The Dien Bien Phu victory has become a precious spiritual heritage. Following this historic victory, our nation continued to write a brilliant heroic epic in the Ho Chi Minh era, establishing the glorious feat of "Dien Bien Phu in the air" in 1972; the Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975, completely liberating the South, reunifying the country, and leading the whole country to socialism.

Currently, the world and regional situation is changing. Major countries continue to increase their involvement and compete for influence at different scales in different regions. Local wars, armed conflicts, ethnic and religious conflicts, terrorist activities, and non-traditional security are taking place in a complicated manner that can cause instability in the region and many places in the world.

After 36 years of renovation, our country's position and strength have grown, but besides the basic advantages, opportunities and challenges are still intertwined. Hostile forces are increasingly carrying out plots of "peaceful evolution", riots and overthrow, taking advantage of religious, ethnic, democratic, human rights issues, etc. to interfere in our country's internal affairs. That situation requires the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army to constantly heighten vigilance, promote internal strength; promote the strength of the great national unity bloc under the leadership of the Party; maintain and strengthen the solidarity between the army and the people; combine the strength of the times, create opportunities, overcome challenges, and successfully carry out the task of building and defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

Time continues to pass, the history of the Vietnamese nation will certainly continue to be written on an endless journey. The previous generations did not accept being slaves, they promoted revolutionary heroism, bravery and creativity to defeat all invaders, gloriously completing the cause of national liberation. Today's generations are determined to promote the spirit of Dien Bien Phu, dare to think, dare to do, be proactive and creative in the cause of innovation, creating new miracles in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. That is to continue to build and consolidate a strong national defense, build a solid defense and security posture, and enhance national defense potential. Closely combine defense, security, economy and foreign affairs. Focus on building economic-defense zones on the border, remote and isolated areas, creating a defense and security posture to protect the Fatherland, develop the socio-economy, improve people's lives, eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, and build a solid "people's hearts posture" in key areas.

The historic victory of Dien Bien Phu will forever be a source of pride and a source of strength to encourage our entire Party, people and army to strive to successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, for the goal of a rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness and civilization.

Dien Bien Phu - Special Impressions (Source: VNA)