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Marxism and the Subsidy Period in Vietnam (1975-1986)



Author(s)

Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa (Mei hua Ruan); Shu Yuan Zhao

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2018.08.011

School of Marxism, Hunan University, Hunan, China Institute of Philosophy, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Ha noi, VietNam; School of Marxism, Hunan University, Hunan, China

Marxism was spread into Vietnam by patriotic intellectuals from the 20s of the 20th century and still exists until today. The presence of Marxism in Vietnam through such a long history is enough to prove its importance and strong influence in the socio-political life of Vietnam. First of all, Marxism is closely related to the movement of national liberation revolutions in Vietnam from the 20s to the mid 70s of the 20th century: Marxism, with its outright revolutionary nature, had most adequately and effectively met the urgent needs of national liberation revolutions in Vietnam at that time, and at the same time evoked the fierce belief of patriotic revolutionists in a noble ideal—the ideal of communist society, and encouraged them to devote themselves to national liberation revolutions. It can be said that Marxism has become the soul of national liberation revolutions in Vietnam; hence, the victory of such revolutions in the mid 70s of the 20th century is also the victory of Marxism in an Eastern country that was very obsolete then. Furthermore, Marxism is also associated with the reforming of old society and building of new society—the socialist society in Vietnam: after winning national independence and unification for the country in the mid-70s of the 20th century, Vietnamese patriotic revolutionists posed the question of “What new model of society should be built in Vietnam to match the country’s history context?” This question is not only related to the fate of of everyone, but also related to the fate of Vietnamese people as a whole. Marxism had brought to patriotic revolutionists and all Vietnamese people a very clear answer: the socialist society (the first phase of communist society), where there will no longer be capitalist ownership, no people exploiting people, no rich and poor, from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs, all resources are of common ownership, etc. Thus, from 1975 to 1986 (the subsidy period in Vietnam), the Communist Party of Vietnam had led the people to begin reforming the old society and building new one nationwide with a very happy attitude and a strong belief in the future of socialist society. However, only when embarking on the construction of a new society did our party notice that the realization of an ideal model of society according to Marxism in an obsolete country which had just been out of war like Vietnam (without any initial material premises, except a political party of the working class and labor population—the Communist Party of Vietnam) is a very difficult job. Therefore, the construction of socialist society in Vietnam in the early stage, from 1975 to 1986, ended in a severe social-economic crisis. Thus, Marxism had capitalized on its strengths in national liberation revolutions in Vietnam, helping Vietnamese people to be free from the domination of colonial countries and empires, but it also had adverse impacts on the reforming of old society and building of new society, which was reflected in the socioeconomic crisis in Vietnam during the 1975-1986 period. Here, the questions to be posed are, “Has Marxism ended its historic mission for Vietnamese people?”, or “How should Marxism be adjusted to be appropriate to the new historical context of Vietnam?” and “If such adjustments are needed, what will the prospects of Marxism in Vietnam be like?” This article will focus on answering those questions.

Marxism, VietNam, Philosophy, Planned economy period