80 years of "The soul and lifeblood of the Revolutionary Army"

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On November 5, in Hanoi, the People's Army Newspaper (General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army) organized a discussion with the theme: 80 years of "The soul and lifeblood of the Revolutionary Army".

Attending the event were delegates from former leaders of the Army; leaders and former leaders of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, generals, scientists ; representatives of a number of ministries, departments, branches, central organizations and agencies and units throughout the army.

Delegates attending the discussion.

The seminar is an activity organized to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - December 12, 2024), the 35th anniversary of National Defense Day (December 22, 1989 - December 22, 2024), and the 80th anniversary of the Traditional Day of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - December 22, 2024).

On December 22, 1944, implementing the Directive of leader Ho Chi Minh, in the forest between the two communes of Hoang Hoa Tham and Tran Hung Dao, Nguyen Binh district (now Nguyen Binh district, Cao Bang province), the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army - the first main force, the predecessor of today's Vietnam People's Army was established. In the Directive to establish the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army, leader Ho Chi Minh stated: "The name of the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army means that politics is more important than military ". Immediately after that, the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army developed into a company with 3 platoons. The company had a Political Work Committee - the first political agency of the Vietnam People's Army, and Party and political work activities were also established.

In his opening speech and introduction to the discussion, Major General Doan Xuan Bo, Editor-in-Chief of the People's Army Newspaper, affirmed that over the past 80 years, despite going through different names, by July 1950, when the current name was established, the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army has always thoroughly grasped and creatively applied Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought, the Party's guidelines and policies into practice, promptly advised and proposed to the Politburo, the Secretariat, and directly the Central Military Commission to build, consolidate and perfect the leadership mechanism, contributing to maintaining and strengthening the Party's absolute and direct leadership in all aspects over the Army.

Major General Doan Xuan Bo, Party Secretary and Editor-in-Chief of the People's Army Newspaper, delivered the opening speech and introduced the discussion.

The General Department of Politics is the strategic advisory body of the Party, the State, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defense; directly putting party work and political work into order, truly being the "soul, lifeblood" - the decisive factor in the nature of the working class, the people's character and the national character of our Army, making our Army truly an Army of the people, by the people and for the people, constantly striving, sacrificing, together with the entire nation to establish glorious feats in the cause of national liberation, national unification as well as the cause of building and defending the Fatherland today. The General Department of Politics is also the agency with the highest responsibility before the Party, the State, the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense and the people for building political qualities for the Army so that our Army is always worthy of the noble title "Uncle Ho's Soldiers" that the people trust and love to bestow upon it.

According to Major General Doan Xuan Bo, currently, the task of building the Army in the context of the world, regional and domestic situation has many advantages, but also many difficulties and challenges. Hostile forces continue to step up activities to sabotage our country's revolution with many sophisticated and cunning plots and tricks; including the plot to "depoliticize"https://dangcongsan.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/,"civilize" the Army, promote "self-evolution"https://dangcongsan.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/,"self-transformation" within the Army. The organizational structure, staffing and tasks of the Army have new developments in the direction of being lean, compact, strong, and advancing towards modernity. That situation requires party work (CTĐ) and political work (CTCT) to pay special attention to building a politically elite army, sharp in synthesizing, analyzing, evaluating, forecasting the situation, promptly detecting, correctly and effectively resolving arising issues. Identifying and distinguishing objects and partners in each specific relationship, gradually perfecting the content and methods of CTĐ and CTCT activities, effectively promoting the human factor in accordance with the organization, staffing, equipment and actual conditions of each force, ensuring sufficient "immunity", neutralizing all plots and sabotage tricks of hostile forces is a task that is both fundamental and urgent in the long term for the entire political system and all party members, especially the political responsibility of the General Department of Politics, political agencies and political cadres.

Speaking at the seminar, Senior Lieutenant General Pham Thanh Ngan, former Politburo member and former Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, said that with its position and role as the Party's strategic advisory body in building the Army politically, generations of cadres, employees and soldiers of the General Department of Politics have always demonstrated steadfast political will, absolute loyalty to the Fatherland, the Party, the State and the people; building a glorious tradition.

Senior Lieutenant General Pham Thanh Ngan, former member of the Politburo, former Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, spoke at the seminar.

"It is necessary to continue to thoroughly grasp President Ho Chi Minh's viewpoint of "people first, guns later" in building the Army, focusing on building a contingent of cadres and Party members with political mettle, steadfast and steadfast ideological stance; high solidarity and unity, ready to receive and strive to fulfill assigned tasks well. At the same time, it is necessary to continue to innovate and improve the quality of forecasting and strategic advice on Party and political work," Senior Lieutenant General Pham Thanh Ngan emphasized.

Affirming that politics is the soul and the decisive factor in the strength of our Army, Senior Lieutenant General, Academician, Doctor, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Nguyen Huy Hieu, former member of the Party Central Committee, former Deputy Minister of National Defense, stated that the Vietnam People's Army always keeps in mind the teachings of President Ho Chi Minh: "Military without politics is like a tree without roots, useless and harmful...". Thanks to adhering to this basic issue, over the past 80 years, our Army has not only created a comprehensive fighting strength, defeated all invaders, but also made an important contribution to the cause of building and firmly protecting the Fatherland.

Delegates take photos at the seminar.

At the Seminar, delegates discussed and clarified the position, role, function and great contributions of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army to the cause of building, fighting and winning of the Vietnam People's Army over the past 80 years. With the motto: Where there are soldiers, there are party work and political work, the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army always proactively leads, directs, and enhances the effectiveness of the Party's leadership over the Army and ensures that party work and political work are always the soul and lifeblood of our Army.

In addition, many opinions have affirmed the role, characteristics and traditions of cultural, artistic and press activities in the Army over the past 80 years. From the practical process of building, fighting and growing of the Army, along with the excellent completion of the three functions of a combat army, a working army and a production labor army, the Army has formed and developed a unique characteristic, which is a "cultural army". This army has devoted itself like soldiers directly holding guns, contributing to building the personality of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" - a cultural symbol of the Ho Chi Minh era...../.

Source: https://dangcongsan.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/80-nam-linh-hon-mach-song-cua-quan-doi-cach-mang-682324.html