Lessons From Vietnam

 The 1930s-1940s proved to be a period of intense social upheaval and proletarian action in colonial Vietnam. Faced with the Stalinist class-collaborationists of the Viet Minh, and the colonial empire of France, the proletariat in Vietnam tried to forge its own communist path. Proletarian elements grouped around the League of Internationalist Communists tried to push this path along, and help the proletariat realize it’s force as a distinct class. Although the struggle ended in victory for the bourgeoisie, and the League had most of its members liquidated by the Viet Minh, drawing lessons from the period is still crucial. That is what we have set out to do in this piece.

The Proletariat as the Revolutionary Class

The most immediate lesson one can draw from the period is that the proletariat is the only revolutionary class in the capitalist epoch. It was the industrial and rural parts of the proletariat which formed the embryos of a dictatorship of the proletariat. Notable among these embryos were the peasant soviets in Nghe An in 1930, the workers councils of the Hongai-Campa coal mine in 1945, the Go Vap streetcar workers’ militia in 1945, and the several People’s Committees that had sprung up across Cochinchina in 1945. Among countless others.

This lesson is also reflected in the non-communist factions of the struggle. Outside the Viet Minh, (whose embryo the Indochinese Communist Party sometimes refused to agitate against the French and occasionally supported their regime, see below) there were the religious and bandit factions. The religious faction, mostly grouped in the syncretist Cao Dai and the buddhist Hoa Hao, and the bandit faction, mostly grouped around the Binh Xuyen pirates, were not really revolutionary at all. The reason? A distinct absence of proletarian leadership. The Cao Dai and Hoa Hao were dominated by religious leaders, whereas the Pirates were mostly just foot soldiers of gang leaders and criminals. Both ended up siding with the Viet Minh, throwing away any revolutionary potential left.

The Role of the Revolutionary Party

Although the League never formed a communist party, maintaining itself as a revolutionary organization, it’s role within the Hongai-Campa miner council, Go Vap militia, and People’s Committees typified the theorized and practiced role of the Party in other left-communist organizations. That is: the Party and it’s militants should push the struggle forward and guide it along the correct path, but it should never co-opt the struggle and turn the Dictatorship of the Proletariat into a Dictatorship of the Party. In fact in one of the proletarian organs of power the League was working with, the delegates there issued a declaration which affirmed this, specifically:

“[The committee] affirmed their independence from the political parties and resolutely condemned any attempt to restrict the autonomy of the decisions taken by workers and peasants.”

The League had no qualms with this declaration. Rightly so.

Anti-Fascism? No, Anti-Capitalism!

One of the more important lessons concerns anti-fascism. Prior to and during the Japanese occupation of Vietnam, the Indochinese Communist Party shifted it’s priorities from holding a thin veil of communism over itself to openly supporting the French colonial administration over the fascist Japanese Empire. In regards to military policy, including the drafting of Vietnamese into the French military, an official I.C.P. source stated:

“The covetous glance Japan is casting toward the island of Hainan directly threatens the security of Indochina. In the face of these fascists’ territorial designs, the Indochinese Communist Party approves of the measures taken [by the government].” 

Although the position was later retracted, it was due to unpopularity rather than any commitment to turn the imperialist war into a civil war. The I.C.P. maintained that: 

“If we don’t [support the government], our position will be confused with that of the Trotskyists, who protest against the strengthening of our country’s defenses.”

Later, following Japan’s surrender and the possibility of independence opening up, an official I.C.P. pamphlet stated that:

“The Vietminh has collaborated closely with the Allies in the fight against the [Vichy] French and the Japanese. We will thus be in a good position to negotiate.”

The League of Internationalist Communist, however, had no illusions about choosing to fight either Colonialism or Fascism. It knew the enemy was both. In fact it was during Japanese occupation that the League was reconstituted (it had existed earlier as an organization in the Trotskyist milieu, see below) as it’s members saw the need for communist action. It would later reinvigorate it’s fight against the French with the Go Vap workers’ militia, following Japan’s surrender.

The Tactic of the United Front

The most glaring mistake of the contemporary Trotskyists in Vietnam, specifically the group La Lutte (The Struggle), was the tactic of fronting with the enemy, in their case the Stalinists. The front put together by La Lutte and the I.C.P. covered mainly two elements:

• Printed media. La Lutte and the I.C.P. collaborated together to print and distribute an underground newspaper in Vietnam (also named La Lutte).

• Elections. La Lutte and the I.C.P. would field candidates in local elections within the colony. 

Unfortunately, this front did little for the movement as a whole. The conditions of the proletariat were hardly raised if at all. Actually the colonial administration continued to fight against them, lashing out at any action that was organized. In tandem with this, it also served to weaken the Trotskyists, who endured some splits due to differing tactics. From this split came the League of Internationalist Communists for the Construction of the Fourth International, the precursor organization to the League of Internationalist Communists. (Perhaps the one good thing to come out of it!)

Conclusion

It is crucial that Communists read about and absorb these lessons. The theories of the class struggle are always being improved upon, and we cannot lag behind with old theories and old practices. Education also helps one learn about the conditions of other countries and the movement’s conditions there. This is perhaps one of the more important dimensions of Internationalism.