In September 1939, with Hitler’s attack on Poland World War II began. In June 1940, Nazi troops attacked France. The French government led by Petain surrendered to the Third Reich.

Taking the opportunity, in September 1940, in the Asia-Pacific region, Japanese fascists from China’s territory invaded Vietnam and other countries of Southeast Asia. The French colonial government in Vietnam and Indochina quickly surrendered to the Japanese. Japanese fascists controlled the ruling apparatus of the French system, forcing the French and the Nguyen dynasty to follow Japanese orders. This was a special situation, when two enemies compromised to rule Vietnam. The domination of Japan and France (September 1940 to March 1945) and Japanese fascists (March to August 1945) radically changed the military, political, economic and social situation in Vietnam, making the people even poorer.

The military sphere. After the invasion of Vietnam, Japanese fascists quickly deployed military forces in the North, Central and South to prepare for the opening of the Asia-Pacific front. The French colonial government was to provide funds for the war to the Japanese army.

Political sphere. The Japanese fascists had a dual policy. On the one hand, they conspired with France to raise funds for the war, to suppress the Vietnamese people. On the other hand, they extended their control over Vietnamese society. Japan organized and created conditions for the activities of pro-Japanese organizations in Vietnam, such as the Democratic Party Dai Viet, the Nazi Dai Viet, the Vietnamese Youth Patriotic Movement, the Youth Movement for the Revival of the Motherland. They actively promoted the ideas of the "Great East Asian sphere of collective prosperity". By March 9, 1945, realizing that the German Nazis would soon lose completely in Europe, the Japanese fascists carried out a coup to eliminate the domination of French colonizers in Vietnam and Indochina. They established total control in this strategically important region by creating a pro-Japanese government headed by Prime Minister Chang Trong Kim to control Vietnam.

The economic sphere. Fascist Japan utilized vehicles available in Vietnam and controlled roads, rail and sea routes. From 1940 to 1945, the French colonial government was to contribute 723,786,000 Vietnamese dongs to Japan’s budget. It was Vietnamese taxpayers' money. By 1941, Japanese capital accounted for almost 50% of foreign investment in major Indochina mining industries such as manganese, iron, phosphate, chrome ore, etc. In addition, Japan demanded that the French government allocate 50% of the import and 15% of the export of Indochina to Japanese trading companies. Thus, most of Indochina’s exports in 1942−1943 — coal, zinc, rubber, cement — were exported to Japan.

The management, exploitation of natural resources, collection of high taxes and militarization of the French-Japanese rulers seriously affected the economy and life of the Vietnamese people. The war between Japanese fascists and the Allies led to an increase in Japan’s demand for fuel — coal, oil, electricity. They used corn, sesame, peanuts and even rice to produce fuel; they forced farmers to eradicate rice in order to grow jute, and to sell rice at low prices in order to bring it to Japan.

It was the worst famine in Vietnamese history, the most devastating consequence of the policies of domination, exploitation and war by the Japanese-French fascists and their mercenaries.

The victory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and allied countries over fascist Germany in Europe and Japanese fascism in Asia was indeed a great victory. Nazism was annihilated. The Second World War was over. Nazi Germany had to sign an act of unconditional surrender to the Allies on May 9, 1945. The Soviet people and progressive mankind around the world celebrate this day as the Day of Victory over fascism.

Vietnamese patriots and revolutionaries were clearly aware that this is a fierce struggle of the forces of peace, democracy and progress against the threat of fascism, for the life of humanity. Several Vietnamese military men took part in the battles near Moscow, defending the Soviet capital from the offensive of fascists. In Vietnam, the Front of Vietnam, led by the Communist Party, actively coordinated the Allies' actions in the fight against Japanese militarists. The USSR declared war on Japanese fascists and within a few days the Red Army defeated the main Japanese army in Manchuria, which forced the Japanese Emperor to surrender to the Allies.

Taking advantage of this unique opportunity, the Communist Party of Indochina — now the Communist Party of Vietnam — led by President Ho Chi Minh immediately raised all the people to a general victorious uprising for power, resulting in the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945, liberating the nation from the yoke of slavery of French colonizers and Japanese militarists.

Assessing the role of the Soviet Union in World War II, we can say that the USSR played a decisive role in the victory over fascism. This is confirmed by the following:

First, on June 22, 1941, fascist Germany suddenly attacked the Soviet Union across the border. World War II had passed to a new stage. The Soviet-German front became the main theater of military operations in Europe. The Second Front, which was opened by the Allies with the landing in Normandy in northern France on June 6, 1944, played only an important auxiliary role, as it was clear that the German troops had already suffered defeats on the Soviet-German front. The Red Army completely liberated the Soviet territory from the Nazis in January 1945 and continued to pursue the Germans to their den. It is the Red Army that rose the banner of Victory over the Reichstag in Berlin on April 30, 1945. On the Soviet-German front, a total of 607 German divisions were destroyed and defeated, 10 million German soldiers were killed and captured, representing 74.6% of the German army’s losses. The Soviet people lost 27 million people during the Great Patriotic War, tens of thousands of cities, villages, factories, social and economic facilities were destroyed.

Secondly, after the victory over Nazi Germany, the Red Army declared war on the Japanese fascists in the Asia-Pacific Military Theater on August 9, 1945 and immediately defeated the Kwantung Army with hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers. Before that, the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. These events forced Japan to unconditionally surrender on August 15, 1945. It is worth mentioning here that tens of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians were killed as a result of atomic bombings in the last days of the war. The question is, was this necessary when the defeat of the Japanese army already became apparent? According to our research, such an action helped accelerate the surrender of Japanese fascists.

The Soviet Union stood at the forefront in this extremely difficult battle. The victory over fascism was forever a milestone in human history.

Over the past few years, however, voices have emerged demanding a "rewrite of history" and distorting the truth in order to diminish the significance of the victory over fascism and to deny the role of the Soviet Union (present-day Russia) in the victory over fascism.

These false arguments have been repeatedly denied by historians and leaders in many countries. President Vladimir Putin said on January 26, 2015: "Any attempt to rewrite history, to review the contribution of our country to the great victory actually means justifying the crimes of Nazism, opens the way for the revival of its deadly ideology." The Vietnamese people fully agree with the statement of the Russian President.

The Vietnamese proverb says: "Drink water, remember about the source". Vietnam always remembers and gratefully acknowledges the great merits and losses of the peoples, including the Soviet army and the Soviet people, thanks to whom the Great Victory over fascism was won, which saved mankind from the threat of destruction. Like other peoples who suffered from foreign oppression and occupation and suffered huge losses as a result of the war, Vietnam, more than any other country, is aware of the importance and value of peace and always wants to maintain peace. Therefore, the Vietnamese people will always strive together with other countries and peace-loving peoples throughout the world to create sustainable peace, friendship and development for all humankind.

World War II ended three quarters of a century ago, but the terrible memories of the crimes of fascism still remain in the memory of the vast majority of people in the world. Everyone understands that it is necessary to prevent the revival of the ghost of fascism by all means.

Here are only a few examples.

In Greece, extremists call on and recruit disgruntled and unsettled people, criminals to join racist and xenophobic ideological groups. Many websites, magazines, blogs, books, radio stations, clothing manufacturers and music shops disseminate and encourage neo-Nazi ideology. The Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar is home to the neo-Nazi group Tsagaan Hass (White Swastika). In India, 100,000 copies of Hitler’s "Mein Kampf" have been sold over the past decade. In Israel, there is a surge of radicalism, even though it was the Jewish people who were systematically destroyed by the Nazis. According to a survey by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Germany, 13% of the Germans expect a new fascist leader to come and 14.9% support anti-Semitism. "There has been an increase in right-wing extremism in Europe," said Nora Langenbacher, head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Berlin project "Countering Right Extremism".

The works of Institute of Race Relations in England warn of the "underground revival of neo-Nazism and ultra-right terrorism" throughout Europe. The results of recent elections in France and Austria show that far-right populist parties continue to receive relatively strong support from voters. This development reflects the significant political power of extreme right parties in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, Latvia, Slovakia and the European Parliament. In some countries, far-right parties are the second or third largest party and are important for maintaining the power of the ruling coalition conservative government.

Neo-Nazism and extremist ideologies pose great risks to peace and stability in today’s world for the following reasons.

First, fascism is synonymous with racism, which is contrary to the values and right to an equal life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. These are natural rights granted to humanity, so discrimination and assertions supporting the status of civilized, higher nations and poor, lower nations in human society are unacceptable.

Secondly, fascism does not accept democracy. Supporters of fascist ideology openly declare that they want to establish dictatorship, totalitarianism and abolition of all human freedoms and democracy, including freedom of religion.

Thirdly, fascism is often accompanied by war and is a source of conflicts between people, between different races, between social groups that can lead to war.

Fourthly, fascism is essentially ultra-nationalism in the form of national selfishness, extreme right-wing ideas, populism, xenophobia against migrants and the rejection of international cooperation to address contemporary global challenges such as climate change, terrorism, the epidemic, drugs and smuggling.

In order to overcome the development and revival of a new fascism, all people, all peoples and countries in the world should unite and jointly apply the following measures and actions:

 — Regularly inform people about the dangers and consequences of fascism in peoples' lives.

 — National leaders, international organizations and historians should regularly remind people about the tragic lessons of history learned from the events of World War II. Fascism leads only to national hatred, war, conflicts and terrorism. If research on the use of nuclear and biological weapons were to fall into the hands of extremists, they would threaten global security and could even cause world war.

 — Exchanges of contacts and cooperation should be developed to enhance understanding between nations and ethnic groups in order to reduce misunderstandings and prevent the risk of conflict at the local, regional and global levels.

 — The role and effectiveness of the UN, the largest international organization in the world, established immediately after the Second World War to prevent the risks of war and to protect peace, should be maintained and improved. It is also the organization that plays a central role in coordinating international relations based on compliance with international law in order to combat manifestations of "politics of force", hegemony and nationalism in the system of international relations.