The Struggle- New and Improved

1946 Constitution of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils


Article One


Chapter 1- The Government of Workers and Peasants

1. The Vietnamese Republic of Councils is a free socialist society of all the working people of Vietnam. The entire power, within the boundaries of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils, belongs to all the working people of Vietnam, united in urban and rural councils.

2. The Vietnamese Republic of Councils is declared to be an independent republic of the Councils (or Soviets) of Workers’, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. All central and local power and local power belongs to these councils. The supreme power of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils belongs to the Congress of Councils, and, in periods between the convocation of the congress, to the Central Executive Committee.

3. In order to defend the power of the toilers, they are to be armed in militias controlled by the Peoples’ Committees, while the exploiters are to be disarmed. In order to eliminate the possibility of counter- revolution and invasion by imperialist capitalism a Red Army shall be formed. The Vietnamese Red Army has no officer caste, and all commanders are to be elected by the soldiers.

4. The exploiters should not hold a position in any branch of the Council Government. The power must belong entirely to the toiling masses and to their representatives- the Councils of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies.


5. The Laboring Classes have the right and duty to revolt against any government that attempts to usurp their political or social rule.

Chapter 2-Socialization of the Economy

1. The establishment of a Supreme Council of National Economy is hereby confirmed. The Supreme Council of National Economy is to be composed of delegates from trade unions, and specialists are to be admitted in a consultative degree only.

2. All factories, mills, mines, railways, and other means of production and transportation are declared to be the property of all the toilers. The commanding heights of the economy are to be governed by an executive board, composed of delegates of the Supreme Council of National Economy and the delegates of the particular trade unions, the proportion of which in each case to be decided by the Central Executive Committee, which is also authorized to decree the representation of additional bodies to specific executive boards.

3. For the purpose of attaining the socialization of land, all private property in land is abolished, and the entire land is declared to be national property and is to be apportioned among agriculturists without compensation of the former owners, to the measure of each one's ability to till it.

4. All forests, treasures of the earth, and waters of general public utility, all equipment whether animate or inanimate, model farms and agricultural enterprises, are declared to be national property.

5. In order to free the masses from the yoke of capital, all banks are to be nationalized and the state shall have a monopoly on foreign trade.

6. Universal obligation to work is introduced for the purpose of eliminating the parasitic strata of society and organizing the economic life of the country.

Article Two

Chapter 3- Declaration on the Rights of Toilers

1. The right to freedom of expression is affirmed. For the purpose of securing freedom of expression to the toiling masses, the Vietnamese Republic of Councils abolishes all dependence of the Press upon capital, and turns over to the working people and the poorest peasantry all technical and material means for the publication of newspapers, pamphlets, books, etc., and guarantees their free circulation throughout the country.

2. The right to freedom of assembly is affirmed. For the purpose of enabling the workers to hold free meetings, the Vietnamese Republic of Councils offers to the toilers furnished halls, and takes care of their heating and lighting appliances

3. The right to freedom of organization is affirmed. The Vietnamese Republic of Councils offers assistance, material and other, to the toilers in their effort to unite and organize. The right to strike and form trade unions is affirmed.

4. For the purpose of guaranteeing to the workers real access to knowledge, the Vietnamese Republic of Councils sets itself the task of furnishing full and general free education to the toilers.

5. The Vietnamese Republic of Councils offers shelter to all foreigners who seek refuge from political, national, racial or religious persecution.

6. In consequence of the solidarity of the workers of all nations, the Vietnamese Republic of Councils grants all political rights of Vietnamese citizens to foreigners who live in the territory of Vietnam and are engaged in work and who belong to the working class. The Vietnamese Republic of Councils also recognizes the right of local councils to grant citizenship to such foreigners without complicated formality.

7. The right to a trial by a jury to all is affirmed. Only the toilers have the right to take part in a jury.

8. The Vietnamese Republic of Councils, recognizing the equal rights of all citizens, irrespective of their racial or national connections, proclaims all privileges on this ground, as well as oppression of national minorities, to be contrary to the fundamental laws of the Republic.


Article Three

Chapter 4- The Peoples’ Committees’

1. Peoples’ Committees’ represent one large village or several small villages. The Peoples’ Committees are elected directly in a conference of the whole people once every three months, in which the people shall also ratify the decisions of the previous Peoples’ Committee and decide on all important matters.
2. Parties are not allowed to intervene in the Peoples’ Committees’.
3. The Peoples’ Committees’ are to be composed of no more than 10 members. They are not to be paid by the public treasury and shall continue their previous employment, but exceptional cases may be admitted by the Provincial or City Councils.
4. The Peoples’ Committees’ are to be convoked at least once a week.

Chapter 5- Elections

1. In order to allow democratic debate between the people before elections and prevent the atomized voting of bourgeois democracy, all direct elections are to be held in a conference of the people of the same kind the Peoples’ Committees’ are elected. A secret ballot may be held on the demand of no less than fifteen- percent of the electorate.
2. The right to vote is guaranteed to all citizens and non-citizens mentioned in Chapter 3 Section 6.
3. Election takes place in the presence of an election committee, chosen by the Peoples’ Committee, and a representative of the council to which the elections are held.
4. Minutes of the proceedings and result of elections are to be compiled and signed by the members of the election committee and the representative of the council.
5. Any attempt to threaten voters or members of the election committee, or to falsify the results of the elections in any way, are to be met with a harsh punishment.

Chapter 6- Members of the Council

1. Members of the councils enjoy immunity from persecution on any vote cast or speech held in the councils.
2. In order to allow all toilers to be elected, members of the councils will be compensated for work lost and travel expenses due to meetings of the councils.
3. All elected delegates may be recalled at all time. A new elections will be held at the request of one- fifth of the voters, or upon the decision of the majority of the electing council
4. Members of the Executive Committee of the Councils will be paid the average wage of the people they represent.

A. The Local Councils

Chapter 7- The Rural Councils

1. The levels of local government are composed as follows:
a. County Councils: represents a rural area. The County Councils are elected by directly by the people, at least once a year.
b. Provincial Councils: represents a rural province. Are elected by the County Councils.

2. Congresses of the councils are convoked by the respective executive committees upon their own initiative, or upon request of local councils or Peoples’ Committees’ comprising not less than one-third of the entire population of the given district. In any case they are convoked at least once a month in the counties and twice a month in the provinces.

3. Every congress of councils elects its executive organ- an executive committee the membership of which shall not exceed 40 for communal councils, 20 for county councils and 10 for Peoples’ Committees. Members of the Executive Committees of communes and counties, but not of Peoples’ Committees’, shall not hold another job and are to be paid from the public treasury the average wage of the people they represent.

4. In the boundaries of the respective territories the congress is the supreme power; during intervals between the convocations of the congress, the executive committee is the supreme power.

5. One or more Provincial Councils of a distinct national character may at the approval of the Congress of Councils form a self-governing Autonomous Region

Chapter 8- The Urban Councils

1. Settlements must have at least 100,000 inhabitants in order to be considered as cities.

2. Urban Councils are formed of one deputy for each 500 inhabitants; the total to be not less than 200 and not more than 1,000 members.

3. The Urban Councils elect an executive committee, composed of one member for twenty members of the Urban Council.

4. The Urban Council is convoked by the executive committee upon its own initiative, or upon the request of not less than one third of the membership of the council, or one fourth of the voters; in any case at least once a week.

B. The Central Power

Chapter 9- The Vietnamese Congress of Workers’, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Councils

1. The Congress of Councils is the supreme power of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.

2. The Congress of Councils is composed of representatives of urban councils (one delegate for 5,000 voters), and of representatives of the provincial councils (one delegate for 25,000). The number of delegates per voters may be changed by decision of the Congress of Councils.

3. The Congress of Councils is convoked by the Central Executive Committee at least three times a year.

4. A special Congress of Councils is convoked by the Central Executive Committee upon its own initiative, or upon the request of local councils having not less than one-third of the entire population of the Republic.

5. The Congress of Councils elects a Central Executive Committee of not more than 200 members.

6. The Central Executive Committee is entirely responsible to the Congress of Councils.

7. In the periods between the convocation of the congresses, the Central Executive Committee is the supreme power of the Republic.

Chapter 10- The Central Executive Committee of the Congress of the Councils

1. The Central Executive Committee is the supreme legislative, executive and controlling organ of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.

2. The Central Executive Committee directs in a general way the activity of the Workers' and Peasants' Government and of all organs of councils’ authority in the country, and it coordinates and regulates the operation of the constitution and of the resolutions of the congresses and of the central organs of the council power.

3. The Central Executive Committee considers and enacts all measures and proposals introduced by the Council of People's Commissars or by the various departments, and it also issues its own decrees and regulations.

4. The Central Executive Committee convokes the Congress of Council, at which time the Executive Committee reports on its activity and on general questions.

5. The Central Executive Committee forms a Council of People's Commissars for the purpose of general management of the affairs of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils, and it also forms departments (People's Commissariats) for the purpose of conducting various branches.

6. The members of the Central Executive Committee work in the various departments (People's Commissariats) or execute special orders of the Central Executive Committee.

Chapter 11- The Council People’s Commissars

1. The Council of People's Commissars is entrusted with the general management of the affairs of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.

2. For the accomplishment of this task the Council of People's Commissars issues decrees, resolutions, orders, and, in general, takes all steps necessary for the proper and rapid conduct of governmental affairs.

3. The Council of People's Commissars notifies immediately the Central Executive Committee of all its orders and resolutions.

4. The Central Executive Committee has the right to revoke or suspend all orders and resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars.

5. All orders and resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of great political significance are referred for consideration and final approval to the Central Executive Committee. Measures requiring immediate execution may be enacted directly by the Council of People's Commissariats.

6. The members of the Council of People's Commissars stand at the head of the various People's Commissariats.

7. There are fifteen People's Commissars: Foreign Affairs; Defense; Interior; Justice; Labor; Social Welfare; Education; Transportation; Finances; Communication; Agriculture; Commerce; Industry; National Supplies; Public Health.

8. Every commissar has a committee of which he is the president, and the members of which are appointed by the Council of People's Commissars.

9. There are two bodies equivalent to the People’s Commissariats: The Supreme Council of National Economy (as mentioned in Chapter 2 Section 1) and The People’s Auditing Committee, an independent body chosen once every two years by the Congress of Councils. The presidents of these bodies are full members of the Council of People’s Commissars

10. A People's Commissar has the individual right to decide on all questions under the jurisdiction of his commissariat, and he is to report on his decision to the committee. If the committee does not agree with the commissar on some decisions, the former may, without stopping the execution of the decision, complain of it to the executive members of the Council of People's Commissars or to the Central Executive Committee. Individual members of the committee have this right also.

11. The Council of People's Commissars is entirely responsible to the Congress of Councils and the Central Executive Committee.

12. The People's Commissars and the committee of the People's Commissariats are entirely responsible to the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Executive Committee.

13. The Congress of Councils and the Central Executive Committee deal with the questions of state, such as:

a. General direction of the entire interior and foreign policy of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.
b. Establishing and changing boundaries, also ceding territory belonging to the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.
c. Admission of new members to the Vietnamese Republic of Councils, and recognition of the secession of any parts of it.
d. The general administrative division of the territory of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils and the approval of regional unions.
e. Establishing and changing weights, measures, and money denominations in the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.
f. Foreign relations.
g. Making loans, signing commercial treaties and financial agreements.
h. Working out a basis and a general plan for the national economy and for its various branches in the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.
i. Approval of the budget of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.
j. Levying taxes and establishing the duties of citizens to the state.
k. Establishing the bases for the organization of armed forces.
l. State legislation, judicial organization and procedure, civil and criminal legislation, etc.
m. Appointment and dismissal of the individual People's Commissars or the entire council, also approval of the president of the Council of People's Commissars

14. The following questions are solely under the jurisdiction of the Congress of Councils:
a. Amendment of the fundamental principles of the Constitution.
b. Establishing and changing boundaries, also ceding territory belonging to the Vietnamese Republic of Councils.
c. Declaration of war.
d. Ratification of peace treaties.

Chapter 12- Presidium of the Congress of Councils


1. The Presidium of the Congress of Councils is elected by the Congress of Councils.

2. The Presidium of the Congress of Councils oversees the administrative aspects of the work of the Congress of Councils and the Central Executive Committee.

3. The Presidium of the Congress of Councils has the right to pardon.

4. The Presidium of the Congress of Councils approves the election of high ranking military commanders.

5. The Presidium of the Congress of Councils has the right to award military and civilian medals.

Article of Four

Chapter 13- Symbols of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils
1. The coat of arms of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils consists of a red background, on which a yellow disk is placed, inside of which a red hammer and sickle, inscribed:

Vietnamese Republic of Councils
Workers of the World Unite!


2. The civil, naval and military flag of the Vietnamese Republic of Councils, consists of a red cloth, at the center of which is a yellow disk inside of which a red hammer and sickle.

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Interesting to see they retain the "no secret ballot" aspect of things. Although the bar could be low enough it's default procedure backdoor. But it seems like the goal of having voting be a process where there's a large public forum debating the points and candidates seems reasonable alongside that secret ballot. You could even have it coincide oth a day off work and local festivals.
 
Interesting to see they retain the "no secret ballot" aspect of things. Although the bar could be low enough it's default procedure backdoor. But it seems like the goal of having voting be a process where there's a large public forum debating the points and candidates seems reasonable alongside that secret ballot. You could even have it coincide oth a day off work and local festivals.

The purpose of the secret ballot is to protect the voters from the ruling power, and it is seen as superfluous in a workers' state. That being said, the secret ballot will be used in the early period of Vietnamese Soviet Republic in every elections where the control of the soviet is under dispute and the winner isn't clear from the start. However, as times go one a secret ballot will used less and less, as voter intimidation becomes a taboo. The open ballot is surprisingly beneficial for minority parties, since each voter doesn't need to guess what others will vote, thus eliminating tactical voting. A party expected to lose can gain momentum during the ballot, since voters can see that the party they prefer but is expected to lose is actually more popular than they thought.

And obviously, while it's not mentioned in the constitution, election day will be a day off, as the election process is quite long and it is not rare for it to take up a whole working day and sometimes even more.
 
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The purpose of the secret ballot is to protect the voters from the ruling power, and it is seen as superfluous in a workers' state. That being said, the secret ballot will be used in the early period of Vietnamese Soviet Republic in every elections where the control of the soviet is under dispute and the winner isn't clear from the start. However, as times go one a secret ballot will used less and less, as voter intimidation becomes a taboo. The open ballot is surprisingly beneficial for minority parties, since each voter doesn't need to guess what others will vote, thus eliminating tactical voting. A party expected to lose can gain momentum during the ballot, since voters can see that the party they prefer but is expected to lose is actually more popular than they thought.

I know that justification, I'm a Trotskyist and have enough experience to know Trotskyist leaders are absolutely allergic to serious protections of minority opinion. Id just have hoped that they could be adopted because I consider it to be a major impediment to the growth of Trotskyist parties. It's why they have the same tendency towards internal splits that marks Stalinist and Maoist parties, they all have to greater or lesser extents the same flaws of internal organizing that promotes a culture of constant internal faction war.
 
I will also say though that I'd probably have way too much fun on a Vietnamese Election Day. It sounds like exactly my way of holding an election. Just a straight full day of arguing about shit.
 
I know that justification, I'm a Trotskyist and have enough experience to know Trotskyist leaders are absolutely allergic to serious protections of minority opinion. Id just have hoped that they could be adopted because I consider it to be a major impediment to the growth of Trotskyist parties. It's why they have the same tendency towards internal splits that marks Stalinist and Maoist parties, they all have to greater or lesser extents the same flaws of internal organizing that promotes a culture of constant internal faction war.

I don't want to get to much into this, since I don't want to turn this thread into a political debate thread. I will say this, as it pretains to both real life and TTL: politics preceed organization. The problem of splits in the left is not caused by bad organizational models, and there is no perfect organization that would pervent splits. Splits occur in the left generally due to either bad politics or to demoralization.

How is this connected to the TL? Just remember that the Stalin Constitution instituted a secret ballot, and was much more democratic on paper than the constitution of 1918. But as I said, politics preceed organization, whether in parties or in countries. Voter intimidation can occur with a secret ballot, and free elections can occur under an open ballot.

To be more concrete, there is no denying that to be a "dissident" in Vietnam isn't a very nice experience. But the "Dictatorship of Proletariat" isn't just a phrase, it is a dictatorship, and it will continue to be so as long as the Vietnamese Soviet Republic is under the threat of counter- revolution from imperialist interventions and from the peasentry.
 
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The First Congress of Soviets

The elections to the Soviets proved favorable to the Trotskyists. The United National Front almost collapsed as the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao religions which stood behind the UNF bled adherents at an amazing rate, due to the anti- religious campaign of the Trotskyists but mainly due to the improving economic situation. Many voters of the Vietnamese Communist Organization defected to the Trotskyists, the VCO being saved by former UNF supporters. The February 22 elections resulted in Red Front majorities in most soviets, and overwhelming majorities in all the cities of Vietnam. In Saigon the Trotskyists won a little more than ninety percent of the votes. After the elections the soviets had to elect their own delegates to the Congress of Soviets. While the constitution did not define how the soviets should elect their delegates to the Congress, the Trotskyists and Nationalists informally agree to do it on a proportional basis.

The Congress of Soviets was quite busy, as it had to lay the basis for the socialist state. The first decision was a declaration that briefly described the post- war world situation, blaming capitalism for fascism and the Second World War, and calling the oppressed peoples of the colonial nations and the western working class to rise up against capitalism and imperialism. It also called for the workers in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe to overthrow the Stalinist parasitic bureaucracy, and ended with a call to all the oppressed and exploited to rally under the banner of the Fourth International. This document is often considered one of the founding document of Vietnam, and is regularly attached to copies of the constitution.

Afterwards the congress formally approved the Phnom Phen Treaty and legislated many laws that would form the judicial bedrock of the Vietnamese Soviet Republic. One area that was noticeably untouched, both by the constitution and by the First Congress of Soviets, was the issue of the justice system. To put it quite simply, no one really knew how the justice system should look like. Militias and revolutionary courts based on the People’s Committees and the factory committees were currently doing an able job in keeping the peace, but it was done in a disorganized and rather arbitrary manner. Several proposals were raised during the Congress, but they were all rejected. In the end it was decided to allow the People’s Commissariat for Justice to devise a plan that would be accepted or rejected in the next congress.

The Congress of Soviets then turned its attention to the issue of economics. It was decided to divide enterprises into three levels; small producers, cooperatives and trusts. Small producers included artisans, peasants, family businesses, small cooperatives and artists’ collectives. The small producers operated in a largely free market economy. Cooperatives included a wide range of enterprises, from collective farms to small factories. They are largely managed by their own factory committees but are integrated into the planned economy and do not operate in a free market environment. The trusts are the commanding heights of the economy, the large factories that formed the backbone of industrial economy, they are organized nationally (i.e. the “National Steel Trust”, the “National Textile Trust”, “Vietnamese Railways”). The factories are managed by factory committees chosen by the workers, while the trust is managed by an executive board composed of representatives of the factory committees, the Supreme Council for National Economy, and other relevant bodies, for example the “Vietnamese Arms Manufacturing Trust”, which has a monopoly on all military production from firearms to tanks, battleships and military aircraft, is managed by an executive board which has a majority to representatives of the People’s Commissariat for Defense.

The Supreme Council of National Economy is chosen from amongst the members of the factory committees by the Congress of Soviets. Each year one half of the Supreme Council for National Economy is replaced, and one can only serve once in a lifetime in the council, thus ensuring both continuity and experience and preventing the emergence of careerism and bureaucratic control.

There is one main trade union center in Vietnam, the “Trade Union Federation of Vietnam”, or the “Fédération syndicale” which was created on the basis of the “Fédération syndicale du Name Ky”, organized by the Trotskyists in southern Vietnam in 1937 and recreated after the war. While the VCO and the Nationalists tried to maintain competing Trade Union centers, they quickly collapsed. The “Fédération syndicale” is an Industrial Union, with each union in it organized based on industry. The leadership of the unions are chosen by the factory committees of each union. The unions have the duty to protect the economical and political rights of their membership, and also to care for their general welfare. The unions also have the constitutionally guaranteed right to strike.

During the last days of the Congress of Soviets the Central Executive Committee, the People’s Auditing Committee, the Supreme Council for National Economy and the Presidium of the Congress of Soviets were chosen. The People’s Auditing Committee was generally a- political, filled largely with accountants and not with politicians. The Presidium included ten members of the SWP, five members of the ICL and two Nationalists. The Central Executive Committee was composed of 120 members of the SWP, 60 members of the ICL and 20 Nationalists. The Central Executive Committee nominated the Council of People’s Commissars, which was approved by the First Congress of Soviets in its last day.

The Council of People’s Commissars:

Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars: Ta Thu Thau

People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs: Tran Van Thach

People’s Commissar for Defense: Huynh Van Phuong

People’s Commissar for Interior Affairs: Ho Huu Tuong

People’s Commissar for Justice: Nguyen Van Tien

People’s Commissar for Labor: Nguyen Van Ky

People’s Commissar for Social Welfare: Nguyen Van So

People’s Commissar for Education: Phanh Van Chanh

People’s Commissar for Transportation: Tran Dinh Minh

People’s Commissar for Finances: Nguyen Thi Toi

People’s Commissar for Communication: Hinh Thai Thong

People’s Commissar for Agriculture: Le Van Vung

People’s Commissar for Commerce: Le Ngoe

People’s Commissar for Industry: Phan Van Hum

People’s Commissar for National Supplies: Huynh Van Phuong

People’s Commissar for Public Health: Ho Vinh Ky
 
Second World Congress of the Fourth International

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The Second World War crippled the Fourth International. France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Greece, which had some of the most important sections of the Fourth International, came under Nazi occupation, and hundreds of Trotskyist activists were killed. In the ‘free and democratic’ USA the leadership of the SWP (US), the most important section of the Fourth International which already suffered from a major split, was jailed under the “Smith Act”. The loss of connection between sections meant that the “Fourth International” ceased to exist as an international body.

Even after the war the “Fourth International”, or more accurately, the parties proclaiming adherence to the phantom “Fourth International” suffered from splits and despair as the expected post- war revolutions in Europe and the colonial world failed to materialize, with one important exception.

After the Vietnamese Republic of Councils established and secured itself from invasion, counter- revolution and famine it turned its eyes to international affairs. Since they were no longer under the immediate threat of invasion the Trotskyist leadership of Vietnam could start working on rebuilding the International. On the last days of February 1946 invitations to a “Second World Congress” were sent to all the Trotskyist parties, along with appeals to unity. The People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Tran Van Thach, was sent to Mexico, officially to sign trade deals and pay his respect on Trotsky’s tomb, but in secret he met with leaders of the SWP (US) and the breakaway “Workers’ Part”, to arbitrate a reunification. Following the example of the WP their international co- thinkers united with the majority Trotskyist parties.

By mid-March delegates started to trickle in from all across the world. The first to arrive were from the Lanka Sama Samaja Party of Ceylon. Of all the countries of the world, it was clear that Ceylon was the closest to socialist revolution having great popular discontent and a mass- Trotskyist party, and along with the delegates of the LSSP were many cadres who came to Vietnam for both political and military training. Next arrived the delegation of the “Bolshevik- Leninist Party of India”. While India was more stable than Ceylon, with a popular left- leaning government, right wing communalist forces were constantly conspiring against the new Indian state.

In late March the delegates from North America arrived, carrying with them the coffin of Leon Trotsky. The real reason his bones were moved from Mexico was a closely guarded secret: The Soviet Union and the US saw Mexico as too close to Vietnam, and the Mexican President Manuel Camacho insisted that the bones of Trotsky would be removed from Mexico. It seems that even in death Trotsky became an exile for one more time. Nevertheless Mexico remained in relatively good terms with Vietnam, and for the next couple of years it will be one of its main trading partners. The surviving members of the Trotsky family moved to Vietnam, while the famous house in Coyocán was gifted to Vietnamese Soviet Republic as an embassy.

By early April all delegates arrived to Saigon. They were housed in the fancy Rex Hotel, one of the fanciest of Saigon, though otherwise accommodations were very modest. The Congress opened to much celebrations. The delegates were given a tour across Saigon culminating in a march for their honor. Once the pleasantries were done with the work of rebuilding the International began.

The theoretical discussions, which up to so recently threatened to cause the Fourth International to collapse, took the second stage to the more urgent discussions. In the face of a successful socialist revolution the class nature of the Soviet Union seemed not quite as important, and it was “agreed to disagree” on this issue. A more contentious discussion was whether capitalism is heading into a deeper crisis or to a resurgence, a discussion which was narrowly won by those of the latter opinion.

The most important political discussion was about the question of “entryism” into mass social democratic parties. It was decided that the resurgence of capitalism and the building of welfare states meant that the economic situation of western workers will be improved and their revolutionary class consciousness temporarily dulled, which meant that entryism will led to the drowning of the Trotskyist parties in the prevailing reformism of the western proletariat, and so Trotskyists should organize independently. There were exceptions, historically the most important one would be the small group sympathetic to the Fourth International inside the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, the social-democratic party that led the independence movement of Burma.

The discussion on the organization of the Fourth International was quite consensual. The world congress is to be convoked once every three to four years, and it had supreme authority on all political and organizational matters. An extraordinary congress can be called by each of the national parties, or by the Executive Committee, which is elected by the world congress. The Executive Committee is in charge of political matters between congresses, while the Secretariat, which is composed of one member of each of the national parties, handles organizational matters. Various other committees and bodies were created, including a committee coordinating the work of Trotskyists in trade unions and on various other issues, a publishing house and an “International Aid Organization”, which provides aid to political, national, religious and racial persecuted people.

The delegates to the Second World Congress of the Fourth International were already packing when shocking news came; Mark Zborowski, respected member of the Fourth International and editor of the Russian edition of the “Bulletin of the Opposition” has been discovered to be a Stalinist spy, possibly responsible for the murder of Lev Sedov, Trotsky’s son and a prominent leader of the Fourth International by his own right, in 1938. He was also played a part in the assassination of Leon Trotsky himself. This revelation was a reminder that the Fourth International could quite possibly be, in the words of Trotsky, “the most persecuted movement in world history”. This persecution could only increase after the Vietnamese Revolution. And so the “Security Agency of the Fourth International” (SAFI) was created, to protect the Fourth International from infiltration by the GPU and by the various western intelligence agencies. Two years later Mark Zborowski disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him.

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Please tell me what you think of the latest update, I would love to get feedback so I can improve. The next posts will focus on various aspects of Vietnamese society in the first years, until 1948.
 
The most important political discussion was about the question of “entryism” into mass social democratic parties. It was decided that the resurgence of capitalism and the building of welfare states meant that the economic situation of western workers will be improved and their revolutionary class consciousness temporarily dulled, which meant that entryism will led to the drowning of the Trotskyist parties in the prevailing reformism of the western proletariat, and so Trotskyists should organize independently. There were exceptions, historically the most important one would be the small group sympathetic to the Fourth International inside the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, the social-democratic party that led the independence movement.

THIS is great. Entryism was the dumbest idea that the Trotskyists of the world ever embraced. And we've adopted some dumb things.
 
Please tell me what you think of the latest update, I would love to get feedback so I can improve. The next posts will focus on various aspects of Vietnamese society in the first years, until 1948.

I like where things are going and I find it very well set up so far.
 
The Military

To call the “Vietnamese Red Army” in its early years an “army” is an exaggeration. Nevertheless the framework of an army was being created. The Red Army was created by the First Congress of Soviets, the backbone of which being the Trotskyist militias which won the Vietnamese Civil War. Soldiers were conscripted for two years from age 18 for between two and four years. Women were conscripted only from the cities, because conscripting peasant women would have angered the conservative peasantry. Draft dodging was rife amongst the peasantry but was almost entirely ignored, as the VRA (“Vietnamese Red Army”) had more soldiers than rifles.

At first the VRA used a wide variety of weapons, taken ad- hoc from colonial troops and garrisons and donated by the population. In 1947 the first major small- arms factory was founded in Biên Hòa, a suburb of Vietnam which was soon to become a major center for weapons manufacturing. At first Vietnam just manufactured French weaponry, though in a couple of years Vietnam would switch to the FAV- 49 (Fusil Automatique Vietnamien, or Vietnamese Automatic Rifle, model 49) a modified version of the AK- 47, which can only fire semi- automatically.

The Vietnamese Red Fleet, which is a branch of the Vietnamese Red Army, at the time consisted of small boats, mainly converted civilian ships. It was mainly used to prevent smuggling, though if the need arises, converted merchant ships could be used to transport troops.

The uniform of the VRA was largely identical to that of the western armies, only more utilitarian. There is no difference between battle and ceremonial dress, and there are no berets or any other fancy and useless headdress. A distinguishing feature of the VRA is a red handkerchief worn around the neck, a legacy from the civil war. The edges of the handkerchief are embroidered with the colors of the unit.

There is only one rank in the Vietnamese Red Army, “RedArmyMan/Woman”. Commanders are referred to by their positions, starting with the “SquadCommander” to the “ArmyCommander”. All the commanders are elected by the commanders below them, though any commander above them can veto the elections. The “Committee of the People’s Commissariat for Defense” can veto any election, and its explicit approval is required for the election of “BrigadeCommander” and any rank higher. The General Staff is called the “Revolutionary Military Council”, and is elected by and accountable to the “Committee of the People’s Commissariat for Defense”. Civilian control over the military is a fundamental principle of the VRA, and while the Army is far from non- political, indeed one of its declared purposes is to further the cause of socialism in Vietnam and in the world, it is non- partisan, and political parties are forbidden from influencing the elections of commanders. The main HQ of the Vietnamese Red Army and of the People’s Commissariat for Defense are in “Barricade Street” in Saigon, and over the years “The Barricade” in Vietnam will come to mean the same as the “The Pentagon” in the USA.
 
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The Justice System

The force in charge of keeping order in Vietnam are the Militias of the People’s Committees. Every man (and in the cities women too) must undergo periodic military training after his military service, and are considered part of the militias, though only a minority actively serves in the militias. In times of peace the militias are under the control of the People’s Committees and are directed by the People’s Commissariat for Justice while in times of war the militias are mobilized and they are under the control of the Soviets and are directed by the People’s Commissariat for Defense. Some of militiamen/women volunteer to the “Investigative Sections of the Militias”. They are the only full time members of the militias and are under strict supervision of the People’s Committees.

There are two kind of courts in Vietnam: The People’s Court and the Revolutionary Tribunals. The People’s Courts have three tiers: The People’s Court are the courts of first instance for most cases and are composed of a tribunal of four jurors appointed by the People’s Committees who undergo basic legal training after their appointments and a judge. The People’s Court of Appeals is composed of three judges and six jurors appointed by the urban or provincial soviets. The Supreme People’s Court is composed of seven judges and fourteen jurors elected by the People’s Commissariat for Justice.

The Revolutionary Tribunals deal with treason, profiteering, corruption, abuse of power and other crimes of a political nature. They are divided into Soviet and National Revolutionary Tribunals, as well as a Revolutionary Tribunal of Appeals, which hears cases from both Soviet and National Tribunals.

The legal system works on an inquisitorial basis i.e. the purpose of the courts is to establish the truth and not to uphold legal procedures. Every defendant has the right for a defense lawyer provided for free by the state.
 
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The Economy

Vietnam was mostly an agricultural country, with a ninety percent rural population. After the revolutionary land reform, the countryside was divided into supposedly equal sized family plots, each one largely self- sufficient. The Trotskyist wanted the small farms to consolidate into large, industrial co- ops, but had neither the desire nor the power to force it. The latter half of 1946 saw the birth of a new agricultural policy. Only peasants that agreed to form cooperatives were given, for free, agricultural machinery and modern fertilizers. The agricultural supplies industry was developed and given precedence second only to the military industry.

At first the results of this policy were abysmal, despite a large scale propaganda campaign. But in December 1946 the Council of People’s Commissars decided on a drastic measure; the state used what little money it had to import food for the cities from neighboring counties, thus drastically reducing food prices and forcing many peasants, who operated in a free market and were not supported by the state, to the brink of bankruptcy. This forced many of the peasants to agree to consolidate their holdings. After several months this policy was rescinded, due to peasant opposition and due to the state not being able to pay for food imports anymore. But although only a small minority of peasant lands were collectivized, it was an important start for collectivized agriculture in Vietnam.

June 1947 the policy of “socialist primitive accumulation” was announced. This policy, not be confused with the Stalinist policy of simple robbery from the peasants and the liquidation of the kulaks, was based on the ideas of Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, the “economist” of the Russian Left Opposition, and stipulated that the state should use its monopoly on foreign trade and price fixing to transfer resources from the private peasant farms to the cities without angering the peasants with high taxation. This policy offered a major incentive to collectivize land and did a great deal to aid Industrialization.
The main engine of industrialization in Vietnam were the mines. Vietnam had an extensive mining industry developed by the French, and a large part of the Vietnamese proletariat was in the mining industry. There was rise in commodity prices as industry worldwide recovered from the war. The largest importer of Vietnamese commodities was Japan, which was starved for resources. Socialist Vietnam had no moral qualms on helping Japan, which occupied Vietnam for six years, to redevelop its capitalist industry. Japan was also the main importer of what Vietnamese foodstuff.

Between 1945 and 1948 the urban population increased by around twenty percent. This had several causes, from refugees fleeing the brutal Civil War that was mainly waged in the countryside, peasants who lost their livelihoods, and there were even quite a few young people who got infected with the revolutionary spirit and decided to join the urban proletariat. However while Vietnamese industry was booming, it was not booming fast enough. Many strategic industries kept running 24/7, and a whole sub- culture developed out of the night- shift workers, mainly young people and students.

The economy of Vietnam was badly hurt by the world war and the civil war, but in a couple of years it recovered and even grew.
 
So, what becomes of the split in the fourt international between those in favor of entryism, and this in favor of building independent parties. I'm unsure what the victory in Vietnam means for that.
 
Culture

Vietnamese society between 1945 and 1948 was quite spartan. However it will be a mistake to say that it was cultureless. Vietnamese culture flowered after the revolution, but Vietnam was too poor to afford “pure art”. As a matter of necessity art had to mobilized in favor of the new society being built. Most artists earned their bread by working for the government, but the government was careful not to interfere in matters of artistic taste. A new style emerged, a combination of Vietnamese traditional art, Western avant-garde and early Soviet art, especially constructivism and futurism.

The relative lack of artists and architects meant that foreign influences were often completely copied, reflecting the Vietnamese’s utter disregard for copyright, both in culture and in industry. Many of the new buildings in Saigon were built according to almost unaltered plans of constructivist buildings built in early Soviet Russia. Murals became very popular at the time as workers painted their streets and their factories, inside and outside, with some murals based on new designs and some based on existing ones. Mexican muralism had a very important influence on the Vietnam, and Diego Rivera’s “Man, Controller of the Universe” was undoubtedly the most painted mural at the time. The main square of Saigon had a gigantic version of this mural, and almost every factory had that mural painted on one of its inner walls.
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Man, Controller of the Universe

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The Revolution Spreads

It was clear to the leaders of Vietnam that the Vietnamese revolution will not be able to survive isolated for long. It had to spread, or it will strangulate. However Vietnam was not Russia, not in size, not in level of development and not in its place in the world stage. While the revolution in Vietnam elicited great sympathy from many workers in the west, nobody thought Vietnam could inspire a revolutionary upheaval in Europe like the Russian Revolution did. But nearer to home, a small country called Ceylon had the perfect conditions for a revolution; an unpopular government at the head of a newly formed and not yet stable state, and a Trotskyist party with mass following, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). Both the rulers of Vietnam and of Ceylon knew that the island was the first target of the Fourth International for further expansion of the Revolution.

Ceylon was given “independence” in 1948, after the leaders of the United National Party (UNP) convinced the British that they would do a better a job of staving off a revolution than a direct colonial administration would. But it was a very limited independence. The state bureaucracy largely remained in the hands of British officials, and the British armed forces retained bases in Ceylon. The UNP won the first elections in Ceylon, but there were widespread allegations of irregularities in the elections, and the Indian Tamils, Tamils who came to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries and were about 11% of the population, were not allowed to vote. The supporters of the LSSP, urban workers, rural plantation workers and others were sure that if the elections were conducted fairly and the Indian Tamils allowed to vote then they would have won. While not true, this belief had immense power.

In order to win the elections the UNP made some extravagant promises, and after a while it became clear that it was not able to keep them. In the second of August 1949 a “Hartal”, or a general strike, was declared. The UNP government met in a British warship and placed the country under martial law. This was just what the LSSP needed. They had been secretly receiving weapons from Vietnam in the last couple of years, and during the Hartal the LSSP armed the striking workers and provided them with basic training, in preparation for armed confrontation with the army. Such confrontation never came, as the new Ceylonese Army broke and the soldiers went over to the strikers. In the morning of August 8 armed workers under the command of the LSSP marched to Parliament and dissolved it. In the evening the leader of the LSSP, Colvin R. de Silva, declared the establishment of the “Soviet Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka”.

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New Flag of Sri Lanka

Historically the revolution in Sri Lanka is much less important in itself, and much more important as a stepping stone of the revolution towards India.

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Are Sri Lanka's constitution and economic policies largely based on their Vietnamese counterparts? Are there any major differences between them?

Also: does Sri Lanka have any major opposition parties ITTL?

EDIT: edited as the questions were badly phrased.
 
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The constitution and econony of Sri Lanka are largely based on that of Vietnam in theory, but in practice the Sri Lankan state is much more bureaucratic than the Vietnamese state, though still far from the eastern bloc. There are no real opposition parties in Sri Lankan, and while there are factions in the LSSP they are based mainly on the personal ambitions of politicians and not really on ideological diffrences. The LSSP leadership also later becomes much more "moderate" than the rest of the Fourth International. Eventually the LSSP is even suspended from the Fourth International.
 
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