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*

<i>College of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU </i>
<i>336 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam</i>

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

<b>constitute </b>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:

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].

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

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

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.

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

the Socialist R evolution in an

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.

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

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.

<b>References</b>

<i>[1] Văn kiện Quốc hội toàn tập, tậ p 1 (1945 - I960), </i>
NXB C h ín h trị Q u ố c gia, H à Nội, 2006.

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