The Voice of Vietnam Radio broadcast President Ho Chi Minh's appeal for national resistance to compatriots and soldiers nationwide on the morning of December 20, 1946, from Tram Cave, Chuong My district, Hanoi. In the photo: People in Hanoi listen to the appeal for national resistance through a loudspeaker, December 1946. (Archives photo: VNA)

On December 18 and 19, 1946, President Ho Chi Minh chaired the extended meeting of the Party Central Committee in Van Phuc village, now in Hanoi’s Ha Dong district, deciding to launch the resistance war nationwide. The meeting endorsed guidelines of the resistance and approved the National Call for Resistance drafted by President Ho Chi Minh.

He on behalf of the Party Central Committee and the Government wrote the appeal to rally all people to stand up against the French. At 8pm on December 19, 1946, the sound of cannons from Lang fortress signaled a nationwide resistance, which then spread across the country.

President Ho Chi Minh wrote: "Any man, woman, old or young, regardless of religion, party, or ethnicity. If you are a Vietnamese, you must stand up and fight against the French to save the country."

More than 75 years have passed, the appeal for national resistance has reminded everyone of a difficult but heroic historical moment. That call is especially meaningful at this time, when the whole country is struggling to overcome difficulties, fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and recovering and developing the economy.

The whole army and people are actively responding to the call of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong with the spirit of "fighting the pandemic like fighting the enemy", protecting people’s lives and health first and stabilizing life and production for economic development.