The Complete Works of the National Assembly, Volume 1 (1945-1960) - the important activities of National Assembly acccording to archives

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VNƯ Journal of Science, Social Sciences and H um anities 23, No.5E (2007) 10-14

The Complete Works of the National Assembly,

Volume 1 (1945-1960) - the im portant activities of

National Assembly acccording to archives

Nguyen Van Ham*

College of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU

336 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam

R ece iv ed 20 Jan u a ry 2007

A b stra ct For th e first tim e in h isto ry , th e C o m p le te W orks of th e N a tio n a l A ssem b ly , V o lu m e 1

(1945-1960) shall disclo se w id e ly th e d o c u m e n ts p ro d u c e d by th e N a tio n a l A ssem b ly a n d the

S ta n d in g C o m m itte e of th e N a tio n al A ssem b ly d u rin g th e pro cess of ex c rcisin g its fu n c tio n as the

h ig h e st elected b o d y o f S tate p o w e r of th e D em ocratic R ep u b lic of V ietn am M ost of the

d o c u m e n ts d isclo sed in V o lu m e 1 a re o rig in al ones w h ic h h a v e b e e n collcctcd a n d selected from

th e N a tio n al A ssem b ly A rc h iv es m a in ta in e d at th e N a tio n al A rc h iv es C e n te r III T h ese d o c u m e n ts

constitute a v a lu a b le s o u rc e of h isto ric lite ra tu re th a t g re a tly facilitates th e s tu d y on th eo rie s of

b u ild in g a n e w -m o d e l sta te in V ietnam

To im plem ent R esolution N o 731/ NQ-

UBTVQH11 d ated O ctober 6, 2004 of

V ietnam 's S tanding C om m ittee of the

N ational A ssem bly on disclosing the

C om plete W orks of the N ational A ssem bly

tin d er the gu id an ce of the publication

Council, including N ational A ssem bly

leaders and N ational A ssem bly C om m ittees,

the N ational Political P ublishers released the

2006 publication w hich has been highly

respected by readers Because this is the first

tim e the S tanding C om m ittee of the N ational

A ssem bly has decided to pu b lish the

C om plete W orks of the N ational A ssem bly

w hich is a com plete system of the N ational

‘ ĐT.: 84-4-6362438

E-mail: hamnv@vnu.edu.vn

A ssem bly d o cu m en ts over the last 60 years The p u rp o se of p u b lish in g the C om plete

W orks of the N atio n al A ssem bly is to reflect objectively and honestly the process of org an izatio n and o p e ra tio n of the N ational

A ssem bly and its o rg an s from 1946, reflecting

o u r n a tio n 's proccss of construction and dev elopm ent, and p ro v id in g historical

d o cu m en tatio n precisely an d system atically for the s tu d y on theories, com piling the history of the N atio n al A ssem bly,

p ro p a g a n d iz in g and cu ltiv atin g the traditions

of V ietn am 's N atio n al A ssem bly for cadres,

P arty m em bers an d people, especially young gen eratio n s [1, p 7]

As is know n, only 4 m o n th s after

P resid en t H o Chi M inh h a d proclaim ed the

D eclaration of In d e p e n d en c e in Ba D inh

Nguyen Van Ham / V N U Journal of Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No.5E (2007) Í0 -Ĩ4 11

S quare on Septem ber 2nd, 1945 to found a new

V ietnam , the general election w as organized

successfully in o rd e r to select o u r n atio n 's

first N ational A ssem bly [2, p.33-34] It w as

the first N ational A ssem bly of the D em ocratic

R epublic of V ietnam The first N ational

A ssem bly m ainly o p erated in the condition of

V ietn am 's W ar of R esistance against the

French C olonists (1946 -1954) an d several

y ears after the restoration of peace until the

second N ational A ssem bly election on M ay

8th, 1960 W ith an over 14 year term , the first

N atio n al A ssem bly h eld 12 sessions and

p ro m u lg a te d h u n d re d s of do cu m en ts in

o rd e r to im p lem en t its functions, tasks and

p o w er of the h ig h est elected b o d y of State

p o w er of the D em ocratic Republic of Vietnam

The C om plete W orks of the N ational

A ssem bly, V olum e 1 (1945 -1960) are the

d o cu m en ts p ro m u lg a te d by the first N ational

A ssem bly (except 12 d o cu m en ts of the

N atio n al C ongress in Tan T rao in 1945, w hich

w ere considered as the p recu rso r of the

N atio n al A ssem bly) so as to carry o u t the

w o rk assigned by the v o ters nationw ide Of

366 d o cu m en ts p u b lish ed in the C om plete

W orks of the N atio n al A ssem bly, V olum e 1,

308 d o cu m en ts are collected and chosen from

the N ational A rchives C en tre N o III and the

rest are collected from the C om plete W orks of

the V ietnam C o m m u n ist P arty, the C om plete

W orks of H o Chi M inh an d the V ietnam

N ew s pub lish ed in the past These d o cu m en ts

are also collected from the A rchives of

V ietnam C o m m u n ist P arty a n d State

T he first N atio n al A ssem bly m ainly

existed an d o p erated d u rin g the W ar of

resistance ag ain st th e French Colonists,

Therefore, the con d itio n s a n d the m eans to

p ro d u c e an d m ain tain d o cu m en ts w ere so

difficult M ore th a n 300 d o cu m en ts

m ain tain ed in the archives are collected and chosen to disclose in the C om plete W orks of the N ational A ssem bly, V olum e 1 (1945 - 1960) A lthough the n u m b er of d ocum ents is

m odest, they are precise and lively historical

m arks ab o u t the activities of V ietnam 's

N ational A ssem bly in the first term The

do cu m en ts disclosed in V olum e 1, m ost of

w hich w ere collected and so u g h t for from the archives an d are first chosen for w ide publication in o rd er to m eet different social dem ands

First of all, it is a source of historic literatu re w hich have high reliability so as to stu d y the history of the form ation and

d ev elo p m en t of the h ighest elected body of State p o w er in p artic u la r an d the history of

b u ild in g and d ev elo p m en t of a new -m odel state in V ietnam in general In the opening speech an d the rep o rt by P resid en t H o Chi

M inh in the first session of the first N ational

A ssem bly on M arch 2nd, 1946, he said, "This

N ational C ongress is the first tim e in

V ietnam 's history It is the resu lt of the

G eneral Election on Jan u ary 6th, 1946 an d the general election is the resu lt of o u r ancestors' sacrifice and struggles, it is the consequence

of V ietnam ese p eo p le's solidarity, fortitude and stru g g le " [1, p.41] Also in this session, the N ational A ssem bly fo u n d ed the w artim e coalition g o v ern m en t to "be d eterm in ed to lead the peo p le to carry o u t a w a r of resistance ag ain st the French colonists, to

im p lem en t the D em ocratic R epublic of

V ietnam , a n d to b rin g ab o u t freedom and

h ap p in ess for the n atio n " [1, p.40] This is really the State of the people, by the people

a n d for the people as P resid en t H o Chi M inh

h ad stressed m an y tim es

The situ atio n of the w a r w as so a rd u o u s

a n d fierce, so m ost activities of the first

12 N guyen Van Ham / V N U Journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No.5E (2007) 10-14

N ational A ssem bly w ere m ainly th ro u g h the

S tanding C om m ittee of the N ational

Assem bly This is rep resen ted in the

docum ents of the N ational A ssem bly and the

S tanding C om m ittee of the N ational

A ssem bly disclosed every year For exam ple,

all 26 d ocum ents w ere p ro m u lg ated in 1946,

b u t 13 d ocum ents w ere p ro m u lg ated by the

Standing C om m ittee of the N ational

Assem bly in 1947, and only 5 d ocum ents

w ere p ro m u lg ated by the S tanding

Com m ittee of the N ational A ssem bly in 1952

In general, from 1946 to 1954 before the

restoration of peace, the total of disclosed

docurr.ents w ere 146, m ost of w hich w ere by

the S tanding C om m ittee of the N ational

A ssem bly because d u rin g the nine-year w ar

of resistance against the French C olonists

(1946 - 1954), the N ational A ssem bly held

only three sessions in M arch, N ovem ber 1946

and D ecem ber 1953 The m ajor tasks of the

N ational A ssem bly w ere solved by the

S tanding C om m ittee of the N ational

A ssem bly in o rd er to im p lem en t its focus in

this period on consolidating the g o v ern m en t

and speeding u p the w a r of resistance against

the French C olonists to com plete success

After the restoration of peace, from 1955

to the term ination of its term in m id I960, the

first N ational A ssem bly held nine sessions

m ore regularly The n u m b e r of d ocum ents

p ro d u ced to serve the w o rk of the N ational

A ssem bly increased considerably and

am o u n ted to 208 d o cu m en ts disclosed in

V olum e 1, in w hich th ere are such im p o rtan t

docum ents as law on press regulations, law

on regulating the freedom of gathering, law

on g u aran teein g the freedom rights of bod y

an d the im prescriptible rights of houses,

objects, letters of people, law on lab o u r union,

law on the o rganization of local go v ern m en ts

an d especially the C o n stitu tio n of the

D em ocratic R epublic of V ietnam in 1959

In this period, the m ission of struggling to

im p lem en t seriously the G eneva A greem ent

an d the general election for the national unity

w as rep resen ted in su ch d ocum ents as

R esolutions, D eclarations a n d A ppeals of the

N ational A ssem bly for com patriots

n atio n w id e as w ell as peace-loving people in the w orld, etc A t the sam e tim e, the m issions

of b u ild in g the D em ocratic state of people, restoring the econom ic developm ent, com pleting the land reform and correcting the faults, ex p an d in g relations w ith foreign nations, etc w ere rep resen ted in m any

d o cu m en ted p rin te d in this V olum e 1

M ost of the d o cu m en ts disclosed in the

C om plete W orks of the N atio n al Assem bly,

V olum e 1 (1945 - 1960) w ere collected and chosen from the archives w h ich are first or sparsely disclosed in the d aily n ew sp ap ers or

in oth er d o cu m en ts (such as the V ietnam

N ew s, the C om plete W orks of the Vietnam

C o m m u n ist Party, the C o m p lete W orks of H o Chi M inh) They are the original ones w hich the Editorial C ouncil take into consideration and choose carefully, especially the

do cu m en ts w hich are d im m ed and lost their

w o rd s because of tim e or p rim itiv e prin tin g Technical errors M any old an d difficult w ords are clearly n o ted for users

Of 354 d o cu m en ts, 308 docum ents collected from the N atio n al A chieves C entre

N o 3 are ed ited an d disclosed in the

C om plete W orks of the N atio n al A ssem bly,

V olum e 1 They are n o t only a valuable source of historic literatu re b u t also im p o rtan t

d o cu m en ts for stu d y a n d su m m arizin g experience in b u ild in g a new -m o d el state in

V ietnam in the im p lem en tatio n of the tasks of the N ational a n d D em ocratic R evolution and

N guyen Van Ham Ị V N U Journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No.5E (2007) 10-14 13

u n d e rd e v e lo p e d ag ricu ltu ral n atio n as

V ietnam This will certainly co n trib u te to

en rich in g the tre asu re of genera] theories of

the M arxism and Leninism

For the disclose of g reat docum ents, the

w ritin g of the research tools to h elp u sers so

th at th ey will n o t hav e to look for other

d o cu m en ts w hile still u n d e rsta n d in g

correctly and precisely the disclosed

d o cu m en ts is extrem ely im p o rtan t The

in tro d u ctio n of the p u b lish in g house, notes,

g u id an ce p ap er of p ro p e r nam es and the table

co n ten t of the V olum e 1 of the C om plete

W orks of the N ational A ssem bly are useful

and co n v en ien t for readers T h ro u g h these

research tools, u sers can u n d e rsta n d the m ain

p u rp o se of the disclosed d o cu m en ts and

w h ere they are collected a n d chosen from ,

w h a t their degree of accuracy is, etc

H ow ever, the research tools of the C om plete

W orks of the N atio n al A ssem bly, V olum e 1

h a v e n 't satisfied re a d e rs' expectation For

exam ple, there are only 16 notes related to

som e org an izatio n s (a p a rt from notes of

p ro p e r nam es, nouns, etc in the final page)

are incom plete because m an y o rg an izatio n s

an d events sh o u ld be clearly n o ted so th at

p eo p le w h o d id n 't go th ro u g h this historical

p erio d can u n d e rsta n d them W e can take the

follow ings as exam ples: V ietnam C atholic

U n io n in the S outh (p 192), C hina A dvisory

B oard of Political N eg o tiatio n (p.241),

C am b o d ia N ational L iberation C om m ittee

(p.370), etc For the d o c u m e n ts w ith o u t date,

they can 't be n o te d b ecau se "th e originals

w ere not d a te d " (p 143, 199, 293, 308, etc.),

b u t they need verifying T he g u id an ce p ap e r

of p ro p e r n am es is a b it too little

O f 354 d o c u m en te d collected a n d chosen

to disclose in the C o m p lete W orks of the

N ational A ssem bly, 308 do cu m en ts collected from the N ational A rchives C entre N o 3 and are no ted "A chieved in the N ational A rchives

C entre N o 3" are n ot com plete and practical

w h en w e n eed to check an d com pare w ith the original ones In principle, w hen disclosing stored d ocum ents, w e m u st in stru ct clearly

"the a d d ress", including the follow ing inform ation:

- N am e of the sto reh o u se in A rchives

- N am e in A rchives

- N am e o r Index of files

- Pieces of disclosed do cu m en ts Indicating clearly the ad d ress of

do cu m en ts w ill help read ers check and com pare quickly and precisely the disclosed

do cu m en ts w ith the original ones in the record w h en necessary

If the chronology of events is com piled additionally, the C om plete W orks of the

N ational A ssem bly, V olum e 1 disclosed this tim e w ill becom e m ore co n v en ien t for users

In term s of time, the gu id an ce p ap er system atically p resen ts the m ain events of the

N ational A ssem bly (including the N ational

C ongress in Tan Trao) consisting of three

m ain factors as follows: tim e - ev en t - page

N o (the ev en ts of the disclosed docum ents) This is the an n als w hich read ers p ay special atten tio n s to w hen g ettin g access to great volum es of d o cu m en ts th a t contain m any historical ev en ts such as the C om plete W orks

of the N ational A ssem bly, V olum e 1

For the first tim e it p resen ts itself before readers, the C om plete W orks of the N ational

A ssem bly, V olum e 1 (1945 - 1960) is really a valuable b o o k because these m aterials w hich are sto red w ith strict security precautions in the N ational A rchives C entre are w idely disclosed to serve the historical research,

su m m arize theories and educate the

14 Nguyen Van Ham / V N U Journal o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 23, No.5E (2007) 10-14

traditions of revolution for V ietnam ese

generations at p resen t an d in the future O n

the other h an d , disclosing this book also

satisfies the rights of being inform ed of the

o peration of the h ig h est elected b o d y for

citizens in particular and o u r nation in general

References

[1] Văn kiện Quốc hội toàn tập, tậ p 1 (1945 - I960),

NXB C h ín h trị Q u ố c gia, H à Nội, 2006.

[2] 60 năm Quốc hội Việt Nam, NXB C h ín h trị Q uốc

gia, H à N ội, 2005.