Party's newspapers, propaganda leaflets and agitation leaflets in Nghe An during the period 1930-1931
The Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum is currently preserving, conserving and displaying many newspapers, propaganda leaflets and agitation leaflets of the Party in Nghe An from 1930 - 1931. The above documents are a vivid and valuable source of information about the difficult but heroic period of activities of the entire Party and people of Nghe An.
Dang Huyen Trang
The revolutionary high tide of 1930 - 1931, which culminated in the Nghe Tinh Soviet, was a brilliant milestone in the history of our country since the establishment of the Party. Although not yet successful, the movement encouraged, created the premise and left many lessons for the national democratic revolution to achieve final victory. To create the unique "Nghe Tinh Soviet", we must mention the great contribution of our Party's timely propaganda and agitation work. That has been shown in the collection of newspapers and agitation leaflets currently being preserved and displayed at the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum.
After the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, in March 1930, the Provisional Central Branch in Central Vietnam(1)was established, with two headquarters, one in Vinh and one in Da Nang. The Central Branch appointed two provisional Executive Committees of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Nghe An, namely Vinh Provincial Committee and Nghe An Provincial Committee.
In order to promptly encourage the people's struggle movement, and at the same time demonstrate the Party's leadership role in the Vietnamese revolution, from the period after the Provincial Committee was established until May 1930, in Nghe An, propaganda work was assigned to the concurrent Secretary of the Provincial Committee: "Nghe An: The Party Committee has 611 comrades. Organization: Provincial Party Committee of 5 people: 1 Secretary and propagandist, 1 trainer and agitator, 1 inspector and organizer, 2 in charge of the masses"(2). The press and leaflets of this period were the voice of the Party to propagate and encourage people of all walks of life to join revolutionary organizations such as the Trade Union, Farmers' Association, Student Association, Red Soldier Association; at the same time, they welcomed the unification of communist organizations into the Communist Party of Vietnam; and called on party members and the masses to eliminate all old prejudices and unite within the Party and mass organizations. With the motto "slow and steady wins the race", leaflets were often hidden by comrades in bags or at the bottom of shoulder poles, with all kinds of vegetables and fruits on top, disguised as people going to the market. At crowded gathering places, village roads, alleys, when they had lost the spy's tail, the comrades immediately took out leaflets to spread. Every time they picked up leaflets, the masses secretly read them and passed them on to each other. People mobilized people. The brothers, sisters, and relatives, after being enlightened, continued to propagate to other brothers, sisters, and relatives. Thanks to that, the ideological transformation among the masses increased day by day, and the Party's leadership role was increasingly promoted in the revolutionary movement in Nghe An.
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The Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum is currently preserving and displaying many leaflets of the Communist Party of Vietnam during this period, such as: Leaflets calling on farmers to stand up and fight against high taxes and levies:
"Farmer brothers
The French imperialists have already harmed us so much! They have levied high taxes, exploited us in every way. Now they force us to work hard, to work hard, and to form a labor union like that. Why is that? That is one of their ways, to eliminate the Communist Party, the party that defends our rights, to prevent the peasant movement, what a way to force peasants to kill peasants! How cruel! So you must stand up and protest:
1. Don't force farmers to kill farmers.
2. Do not form a porter group.
3. Must abolish the practice of patrolling(3).
On March 13, 1930, the French colonialists and the Southern feudal dynasties executed the death sentence on two officials of the Nghe An Farmers' Association, Phan Hoang Than and Nguyen Duu (from Anh Son).(4). Leaflets protesting the actions of French colonialism were spread everywhere, further inciting hatred of the enemy among the people of Nghe An.
"Farmers!
1. Oppose tax increases
2. Protest the killing of Mr. Than and Mr. Diu, who were members of the Nghe An General Farmers' Association.(5).
To guide the masses to fight effectively, with the motto "Print leaflets cleanly and clearly, distribute leaflets in large quantities so that many people read and comment on them"; "Propaganda terminology must be understood by the vast majority of the masses"(6), March 18, 1930, implementing the policy of the Central Region Branch, the comrades in the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee directed their comrades to actively organize the printing and distribution of documents and leaflets to appeal. During this period, there were two ways to print documents and leaflets: lithography on stone tables and lithography, but mainly the comrades used lithography. This method has the advantage of being simple, easy to operate, and can use everyday household items such as tea trays, copper trays, wooden trays, or wax bases, clay molds, etc. to make printing molds.
On the occasion of International Labor Day 1/5, Anti-Imperialist War Day 1/8, commemoration of the Russian October Revolution 7/11, Guangzhou Commune..., the Party Central Committee advocated launching widespread struggle movements nationwide. In Nghe An, the work of propagating and encouraging the people's struggle movement was increasingly organized urgently and hastily. Implementing the Party Central Committee's directive "Always propagandize, propagate more, always have talks and more talks to encourage and motivate the masses to sacrifice for the common cause"(7)In addition to leaflets, press publications of the Provincial Party Committee and District Party Committee were published one after another, secretly spreading to all classes of people. Nghe An Provincial Party Committee published the newspaper "Tien Len", district Party Committees also published their own propaganda newspapers and circulated widely: Anh Son District Party Committee published the newspaper "Guong Vo Lan", Quynh Luu District Party Committee with the newspaper "Lao Dong", Thanh Chuong District Party Committee had the newspaper "Nha Que", Nam Dan District had the newspaper "Giac Ngo", "San Nghiep", Nghi Loc District had the newspaper "Dan Khoe"...
The content of the Party's leaflets during this period aimed to arouse hatred for imperialism and feudalism, at the same time calling on and mobilizing the masses regardless of class or region to fight for their rights, informing the people about the developments and achievements of the struggles, educating the spirit of proletarian internationalism, supporting the Soviet Union, and strengthening solidarity within the ethnic community of the Indochina peninsula.
Leaflet calling for struggle to celebrate International Labor Day with 24 articles of the Communist Party of Vietnam:
“ International Labor Day May 1st.
Protest
1. Protest against wage reduction and fines for workers
…
7. Oppose imperialism's increase in taxes, forcing new taxes, and opposing the opening of national debt;
...
9. Protest against the village guard ceremony;
10. Oppose imperialist capital's use of obscure methods to recruit workers to go to the New World and to the plantations in Cochinchina;
11. Protest against the fines on soldiers' salaries and other brutal punishments for soldiers;
12. Oppose the decree on ways to punish students…”(8)
...
The leaflet called on all exploited classes to unite and fight, to avoid the conspiracy of genocide:
“Brothers and sisters, workers, farmers, soldiers, youth, students! You are oppressed and exploited!
The Annamese people are being forced to live a miserable life and die a miserable death under the French imperialists' terror policy...
Brothers and sisters! We have suffered enough! Should we let the imperialists kill our revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives to defend us?
Brothers and sisters! Whoever is exploited and oppressed, whoever is suffering, please stand up with the Communist Party to fight against the brutal terror of the French imperialists. Only with the strength of brothers and sisters can we stop the blood-sucking and murderous imperialists today.
1. Overthrow the policy of terrorism!
2. Overthrow the Criminal Council!
…
8. Abolish the crop tax, salt tax, market tax and public tax!
9. Provide rice for the hungry!
10. Take land from big landlords to give to poor people!
11. Workers work 8 hours, raise salary!”
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Leaflet calling on students to join the struggle:
“Student slogan
1. Freedom to read books and newspapers
2. Freedom of association
3. Freedom to strike
4. Freedom to study abroad
5. Protest against beating and scolding students
6. Unreasonable objection to expelling students
7. Oppose the requirement for students to have a guarantor
8. Oppose interference in students' actions outside of school"(9)
Responding to the call of the Party Central Committee, Party cells at all levels, Nghe An people enthusiastically stood up to start a movement of demonstrations, strikes, and struggles for rights. On May 1, 1930, under the leadership of the Central Party Committee, Vinh - Ben Thuy Provincial Party Committee, headed by comrade Le Mao, about 1,200 farmers from Yen Dung, Loc Da, Duc Thinh, An Hau, and Duc Hau villages gathered in Vinh provincial capital to coordinate with factory workers to demand France to fulfill their demands. French colonialists and their henchmen opened fire on the crowd, killing 6 people and injuring 18 others. Some soldiers received orders but pointed their guns into the sky and did not shoot at their fellow countrymen. It can be said that this was "the first time in the history of our country's revolution that workers, farmers, and soldiers joined hands on the front line"(10).
On August 1, 1930, workers in the Vinh - Ben Thuy industrial zone went on general strike, marking a new era, a period of fierce struggle. In harmony with the workers' movement, Nghe - Tinh farmers organized many armed self-defense demonstrations in the district offices: Nam Dan on August 6 and 30, Nghi Loc on August 29, Thanh Chuong on September 1 and spread to almost all districts in the whole province.
Revolutionary leaflets and newspapers became ideological and theoretical weapons of revolutionary organizations in Vietnam in general and Nghe An in particular, contributing to raising patriotism and political awareness of the masses, launching political movements. Thanks to the strong propaganda and agitation of leaflets and articles, patriotism and hatred for the enemy became increasingly intense, and the struggle movement of the people of Nghe An broke out more and more strongly. By September 1930, the struggle movement reached its peak. On September 1, 1930, about 20,000 farmers in Thanh Chuong district protested to demand tax abolition and the release of political prisoners. French soldiers opened fire, but the protesters still marched in to burn the district office, burn records and books, destroy prisons, and release prisoners. On September 12, 1930, about 8,000 farmers in Hung Nguyen and Nam Dan districts fought with slogans such as "Down with imperialism! Down with feudalism". The protesters lined up in a long line and marched towards Vinh city. The French colonialists used bombers to fire machine guns at the protesters, killing 217 people, injuring 125, and burning 177 houses. The two villages of Loc Chau and Loc Hai were completely burned down. However, that did not stop the peasants' struggle, but instead made the struggle more intense, making the colonial government extremely afraid. Before the collapse of the colonial and feudal government in Nghe - Tinh, the Party cells and the Red Peasant Associations managed and operated all activities in the villages and communes, establishing the Soviet government - the first worker-peasant government in Vietnam.
News of the Nghe An people's protests and struggles through leaflets and newspapers contributed to urging other localities to stand up to "support Red Nghe Tinh". In order to promptly serve the propaganda work, leaflets and newspapers of our Party during this period also used the lithographic printing method. This is a printing method on a smooth stone surface, although the disadvantage is that the tools used are large, heavy, and easily exposed if searched. But in terms of advantages, this method can print a large number of newspapers and leaflets at once, so it is often used at the printing facilities of the Regional Party Committee and Provincial Party Committee. The leaflets and newspapers printed in large quantities, with a high amount of current information, were distributed internally, spread and posted everywhere, contributing to promoting and encouraging the fighting spirit, arousing strong belief in the final victory of the revolution among the people, and at the same time making the enemy tremble.
From mid-1931, the French colonialists and their feudal court puppets intensified the policy of white terror, using tricks to deceive and entice the people in an attempt to suppress the rising revolutionary movement. In Nghe An, by early 1932, 6,681 people were arrested and nearly 1,500 were killed. In the face of such a complicated and tense situation, the Central Region Party Committee and Nghe An Provincial Party Committee mobilized and guided Party committees and mass organizations at all levels to temporarily retreat into the mountains and forests to operate secretly. Despite many difficulties, the Party's propaganda and agitation work was still maintained by comrades.
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The Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum currently preserves and displays many newspapers, propaganda leaflets, and agitation leaflets of the Party in Nghe An during the period 1930-1931. These include: leaflets of the Indochinese Communist Party calling on soldiers to unite and expose the plot of "French imperialism in alliance with the King of Siam to destroy the Vietnamese revolution"; leaflets of the Indochinese Communist Party calling on workers in Vinh - Ben Thuy to stand up to protest and strike against feudal imperialism on the occasion of International Labor Day on May 1, 1931; leaflets calling on workers and peasants to stand up to fight and overthrow the white terror of "Commemorating the Nghe An Soviet" of the Indochinese Communist Party on September 10, 1931...
The newspapers were the mouthpieces of the Regional Party Committee, Provincial Party Committee, and District Party Committee such as: Lao Kho Newspaper No. 13, supplement dated September 23, 1930 of the Central Party Committee, reporting "Be careful not to fall into the trap"; Chi Dao Newspaper No. 3 dated August 17, 1931, proposed methods of propaganda and agitation for the masses to fight from the Party cell up: "We are now at a time when the imperialists are carrying out brutal terror, and the masses are tired. In this special period, we must do our best to expand propaganda and struggle to regain the spirit of the masses"; Buoc Toi Newspaper No. 25 dated February 5, 1931; Proletarian Mirror No. 4 of the Anh Son Party Committee with the article "Resolutely fight against the communists"...
The documents in the above collection of leaflets and newspapers are a vivid and valuable source of information about the difficult but heroic period of the entire Party and people of Nghe An. With the content of propaganda and agitation that is both diverse, rich, and close, and full of educational and topical nature, guiding the people to fight against the French colonialists and their lackeys, we can affirm the important position and role of propaganda work in the Vietnamese revolutionary process. Through newspapers and leaflets, the Party has gradually enhanced its leadership role, concentrated the revolutionary masses, built a solid worker-peasant alliance, and encouraged and motivated the people's belief and fighting spirit, contributing to the revolutionary climax of 1930 - 1931, the peak of which was the Nghe Tinh Soviet - the first general rehearsal for the August 1945 general uprising to take place successfully throughout the country.
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Note:
(1): In mid-1930, the Provisional Central Branch held a meeting to elect an official Executive Committee and changed the name of the Central Branch of Central Vietnam to the Central Region Party Committee. The Central Region Party Committee was headed by the Regional Party Committee. In December 1930, the first Central Conference was held in Hong Kong, China, and the Central Branch was transformed into the Central Region Party Committee.
(2): The report of the Central Committee of the 1930 conference is kept at the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee Office.
(3): The Party's leaflet calling on farmers to protest is kept at the XVNT Museum's warehouse.
(4): Some documents record Hoang Van Than and Nguyen Van Dieu (Dao or Diu).
(5)(8)(9): Party leaflets kept at the XVNT Museum Warehouse.
(6) (7): Complete Party Documents, volume 2, pp. 64, 66, National Political Publishing House, 1998.
(10) Party Documents, Volume 1, p.51, Hanoi Publishing House, 1977.
