The successful October Revolution under the leadership of Lenin opened a new era - the era of transition from capitalism to socialism on a global scale. The International Communist movement - an organization playing a significant role in establishing Communist Parties and promoting revolutionary movements in many colonial countries - is closely associated with Lenin's name. Lenin initiated a truly revolutionary era in colonial countries; he is the father of the proletarian revolution and the national liberation revolution.
The most genuine, sure, and revolutionary ideology
The era of imperialism coincided with the advent of the proletarian revolution under the light of Leninism. By applying and creatively developing the Marxist methodology, analyzing the essence of imperialism, Lenin introduced new arguments, such as the possibility of the proletariat's victory in a country with average capitalist development, signifying the weakest link in the global chain of imperialism. Proletarians of the world and oppressed peoples, unite!
President Ho Chi Minh pointed out that "nowadays, there are many theories, many ideologies, but the most genuine, sure, and revolutionary ideology is Leninism." With the triumph of the Great October Revolution, Marxist-Leninist ideology gradually spread to Vietnam. Vietnamese revolutionaries absorbed the vibrant influence of the October Revolution and Marxist-Leninist ideology, "like a thirsty traveler finding water, like a hungry person finding food." Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people have achieved victory after victory, gradually transitioning towards socialism.
The socialist October Revolution erupted due to the objective movement of history. However, as the revolution occurred in a relatively backward country, the period of transition had both common and unique aspects. The commonality lies in the presence of elements, sectors, and fragments of both capitalist and socialist ideologies. The specificity lies in Russia entering the transition period from a low starting point in terms of economic and cultural development, with the majority of the population being small farmers and the working class constituting a low proportion.
Therefore, according to Lenin, Russia entered a prolonged transition period within the transition period, meaning a relatively long transition period with small transitional steps, intermediate economic forms. This was deemed necessary and feasible to utilize the market economy and capitalism to build socialism.
Lenin's viewpoints and their application by our Party
The New Economic Policy (NEP) is a resounding testament to a scientific and revolutionary theory. Lenin was entirely correct in guiding Russia through the path of state capitalism to socialism. He utilized capitalism, directing it towards state capitalism as an intermediate link between petty production and socialism, as a means and path to enhance productive forces. To achieve this, Lenin emphasized the leadership role of the Communist Party, the determination of the Soviet government to carry out the transition, and the direction towards socialism.
Thus, according to Lenin's perspective, the transition period to socialism would undergo a long historical process. During this time, the basic components of the transitional economy such as private capitalism, state capitalism, and socialist economy would coexist. The socialist state has a role and responsibility to make the socialist economy increasingly dominant.
Lenin's viewpoints dispelled a long-standing misconception prevalent among communists, that commodity-money relations were identical to capitalist relations, and therefore incompatible with socialism. Applying Lenin's creative theory of the transition period, Ho Chi Minh led the Vietnamese people to build socialism according to Vietnam's characteristics. He pointed out that "we cannot be like the Soviet Union, because the Soviet Union has different customs, habits, history, and geography. We can take a different path towards socialism."
Based on the reality of Vietnam, he argued that "if we want rapid industrialization, it would be subjective. Therefore, agriculture must be prioritized in the plan. This is contrary to the Soviet Union, but it is also Marxist... We prioritize agriculture, then move on to handicrafts, and then heavy industry."
In the renovation process, our Party clearly stated that "in leadership, the Party also sometimes makes mistakes, deficiencies, serious mistakes, due to dogmatism, subjectivity, willfulness, and violation of objective laws" (Party Platform 2011). Our Party and nation are determined to build the country along the socialist path on the foundation of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's ideology. One of the great lessons our Party has drawn from the renovation era is "to proceed from reality, respect and act according to objective laws."
Under the light of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, the Platform for Building Socialism in the Transition Period (supplemented and developed in 2011) states that "building socialism in Vietnam is a profound, thorough revolutionary process, a complex struggle between the old and the new to create qualitative changes in all areas of social life, inevitably undergoing a long transitional period with many stages of development, many intertwined economic and social organizational forms."
We continue to innovate comprehensively, systematically, with appropriate steps; respect objective laws, proceed from reality, closely adhere to reality, emphasize practical summation, theoretical research, and focus on timely solving the problems posed by reality.
The great historical achievements on the path of building socialism and defending the socialist homeland over more than 30 years of renovation demonstrate the scientific and revolutionary significance of the renovation, a profound, comprehensive, and thorough process of transformation, marking the all-round development of our Party, especially the correct choice of the path to socialism and the understanding of the transition period to socialism in our country, in line with Vietnam's reality and the development trend of the world.
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Đông Xanh - Media Collaborator, University of Information Technology
English version: Phan Huy Hoang
