Lessons on the Party's leadership capacity

(Baonghean) - Nghe An Newspaper talked with Associate Professor, Doctor, Meritorious Teacher (PGS.TS.NGUT) Nguyen Cong Khanh, Former Head of the History Department of Vinh University about the historical lessons and practical significance of the Soviet High Tide of 1930 - 1931.

Reporter:Dear Associate Professor Nguyen Cong Khanh, the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement left many valuable historical lessons. In your opinion, which historical lessons are most closely linked to reality at present?

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Cong Khanh:In my opinion, the biggest lesson is the affirmation of our Party's leadership rights and capacity.

When the Yen Bai uprising was suppressed and failed on February 9, 1930, the bourgeoisie abandoned the flag of leadership of the patriotic movement. At the same time, our Party, which had just been born, took up that flag and led the revolution to liberate our nation. When the masses were asleep, with the Brief Platform, Brief Strategy, appeals, and propaganda documents... the Party awakened the masses, led them to the historical political stage to fight, and Party members were the first to take the lead. When the enemy dropped bombs and fired machine guns to suppress them, Party members were also the first to sacrifice themselves. The Party clearly affirmed not only the right but also the leadership capacity in practice so that the masses could believe in the Party. Therefore, the lesson on leadership capacity demonstrated through practice is extremely important.

The second lesson is about the issue of government. Now, Vietnamese people are very familiar with the word "Soviet", which in Russian means "Council". During the 1905-1907 revolutionary movement of Russian workers at the beginning of the 20th century, workers on the Moscow barricades established "Soviets", a form of self-governing council, which later revived in the new-style bourgeois democratic revolution of February 1917. VI Lenin's April Theses of 1917 affirmed that this was the form of government that the working class and peasants needed after overthrowing the oppression of the bourgeoisie and rich peasants.

In mid-1930, when the uprising to overthrow the feudal colonial government, in Nghe An and Ha Tinh, the form of management was in the style of "commune peasants", "village peasants". According to the ideology and name of the October Revolution, it was a Soviet, so the communist leaders of the movement called it a Soviet. Although that form of early government only existed for about 5 months, that model did things that demonstrated the future of the worker-peasant dictatorship. Therefore, the Nghe Tinh Soviet is a meaningful lesson in establishing a government model and government management that the August Revolution later needed.

Another issue is the lesson of the worker-peasant alliance. Anyone who passes through the “Red Address” Ben Thuy Intersection will see a very beautiful monument, erected at the site of the event on May 1, 1930, when hundreds of workers of the Sawmill Match Factory and thousands of farmers gathered to fight. This monument, along with the second lesson mentioned above, also has the meaning of reminding us of the lesson of the worker-peasant alliance, that we must know how to come up with policies that benefit the people, first and foremost the farmers.

Nghe An is experiencing a rapid urbanization rate, with the economic structure shifting rapidly towards industry and services. In recent times, Nghe An has been a locality that has implemented the national target program on new rural construction quite strongly. The lives and incomes of workers are relatively stable. That is also the lesson of caring for and valuing the masses, and valuing the alliance of revolutionary forces.

High School in the Soviet homeland of Hung Nguyen. Photo: Sy Minh

Reporter:Dear Associate Professor, in your opinion, what was the reason that the 1930-1931 Movement reached its peak in the Nghe Tinh Soviet, mainly in Nghe An, and not elsewhere?

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Cong Khanh:There have been many studies investigating the objective and subjective causes of this movement. This was the time when the world economic crisis of 1929 - 1933 took place and the French colonialists put the burden on the people of the colonies, including Vietnam. The oppression and exploitation of the colonialists and feudalists weighed heavily, along with the white terror after the Yen Bai uprising, the Vietnamese people were oppressed to the core. On February 3, 1930, the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, our Party was the one steering the revolutionary boat of which the 1930 - 1931 Movement, the peak of which was the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement, was the first rapids.

The 1930-1931 movement developed throughout the country but flared up strongly and reached its peak in Nghe An and Ha Tinh, because the people of Nghe An have a rich tradition of patriotism and revolution. Nghe An is the homeland of many outstanding sons of the nation from the past to the present, especially the leader Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh. In Nghe An, there were many revolutionary organizations, especially the leadership of the Regional Party Committee and the first communist cells of the Party. Along with that, Vinh Town at that time had Truong Thi and Ben Thuy, where many early industrial establishments appeared, with a large and concentrated workforce. When the Party called for struggle, Nghe An was the first to wave the flag. That was a historical fact and also a historical choice.

Reporter:Could you please tell us about the relationship between the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement and the August Revolution of 1945?

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Cong Khanh:According to the founders of Marxism, "the fundamental problem of revolution is the problem of power". The Party's preparation for the August Revolution took place over 15 years, through many rehearsals. The lesson of preparation and "rehearsal" is of utmost importance. First of all, it is necessary to rehearse the Party's leadership role, to have the right method, to identify opportunities and how to seize opportunities, and to organize and lead the movement. That is the rehearsal of forming a worker-peasant alliance to fight together, the rehearsal of forming a united front to fight, the lesson of the problem of revolutionary opportunities... Therefore, the 1930-1931 movement, the peak of which was the Nghe Tinh Soviet, deserves to be the first comprehensive rehearsal.

Reporter:As a world history researcher, can you tell us what public opinion and international researchers think about the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement?

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Cong Khanh:The Nghe Tinh Soviet period took place right at the time of the decline of the revolution in Europe. On the contrary, in Asia, the region where colonialism intensified exploitation, class and national conflicts increased, leading to climaxes in some places. Modern world history researchers (taking 1917 as the starting point), especially researchers from the Soviet Union (now the Russian Federation), paid close attention to the pioneers who spread Lenin's ideology to Vietnam, who were from Nghe An. More noteworthy was Nguyen Ai Quoc - the first Vietnamese to encounter Lenin's Theses and consider this the path of the Vietnamese revolution. Then in a remote, backward country with poor transportation and communication, a revolutionary movement broke out and took the name Soviet to name its new form of government.

We recall that when it was first established, our Party was not officially recognized by the Communist International. Only when the Nghe Tinh Soviet took place did the Communist International immediately recognize our Party as one of its branches.

For historians with capitalist ideology, including researchers in France, they raised the issue of why the colonial network and the Hue court had to mobilize large-scale, modern forces and use airplanes to suppress the movement. Along with that, through the first articles of Nguyen Ai Quoc, the information and significance of the event became more clearly known to the world. And it became clearer and clearer through research activities, exchanges, and interactions with historians at home and abroad. At the same time, through actual research, through the system of artifacts preserved at the Soviet Museum and the system of historical relics, the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement is a research object of interest.

The Nghe Tinh Soviet has entered the history of the nation and humanity. We are familiar with the phrases “Soviet homeland”, “Nghe Tinh Soviet spirit”, “Soviet drumbeat”… that shows that the Nghe Tinh Soviet spirit is immortal and everlasting. When the Party was born and called for struggle, the people of Nghe An raised the flag first. In the context of international integration, we need to continue to uphold that spirit.

Reporter:Thank you very much, Associate Professor!

Ngo Kien(Perform)