Appeal To Compatriots To Carry Out Destruction, To Wage Resistance War

Ho Chi Minh

February 6, 1947

Compatriots who love our country,

Why must we wage the Resistance war?

— Because if we do not wage the Resistance war, the French will occupy our country once more. They will enslave our people once more. They will force our people to be their coolies and soldiers, and to pay them every kind of taxes. They will suppress all our democratic freedoms. They will plunder all our land and property. They will terrorize and massacre our brothers, sisters, and relatives. They will burn down or destroy our houses, pagodas and temples. You will realise this by seeing what they have done in Hanoi and Haiphong.

— Because we do not want to be buffaloes and horses to the French, because we must protect our country, we must fight the French colonialists.

To fight we must carry out destruction. If we do not do so, the French will. If our houses are solid enough to be used as bases, they will mobilize tanks and vessels to attack us, and they will burn or plunder all our property. This is why we must carry out destruction before the French can make use of our property. Suppose we want to keep sluices, roads and houses for our own use, we can’t, because the French will occupy all or destroy all.

Now we must carry out destruction to stop them, to prevent them from advancing, and from using our roads and houses.

For the sake of the Fatherland we must make sacrifices and endure hardships for a certain time. When the Resistance comes out victorious, we will pool our forces for construction and repair work and this will not be difficult at all.

On the battlefront the fighters are sacrificing their lives for the Fatherland without regret; why do we regret a section of road, a sluice or a house which the French can use to attack our Fatherland?

You all love your country, no doubt you will have no heart to regret so.

Therefore, I earnestly call on you to exert all your efforts to carry out destruction work. We must destroy roads widely and deeply so that the French cannot use them. A pick stroke into the roads has the value of a bullet shot by our soldiers at the enemy.

I solemnly promise to you that after victory, I will endeavour to repair everything with you. We will build more beautiful roads, bridges and sluices and better houses worthy of a free and independent nation.

Long live our victorious Resistance war!

Long live independent Viet Nam!