August Revolution 1945 - Symbol of strength of great national unity

On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of this important event, we respectfully introduce the article: "August Revolution 1945 - Symbol of the strength of the great national unity bloc" by Major, Doctor Tran Huu Huy - Institute of Military History (Ministry of National Defense).

General Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap rejoices with soldiers at the victory celebration held at the Command Headquarters in Muong Phang during the Dien Bien Phu Campaign that “resounded throughout the five continents and shook the world”. Photo: VNA

The Party's correct and creative line of great national unity

In 1858, French colonialists opened fire to invade Vietnam. The Nguyen Dynasty feudal court fell into crisis and powerlessness, suffered defeat and surrendered (signed the Giáp Thân Treaty in 1884), accepting to be the enemy's lackey. From then on, to serve the purpose of colonial enslavement and long-term exploitation, French colonialists implemented an extremely vicious policy of "divide and rule". The people lived in a state of "lost country, broken home", a life of misery and hardship.

Although the heroic struggles of many generations of Vietnamese people continued to take place, typically the Can Vuong movement (late 19th century), the peasant uprising (late 19th century, early 20th century), the national movement following the bourgeois democratic tendency (early 20th century)... were all "drowned in a sea of ​​blood" by the enemy. One of the most fundamental reasons leading to that failure was that the patriotic movements had not yet promoted the strength of great national unity due to a lack of theoretical basis, means and appropriate strategies.

After a process of active mobilization, on February 3, 1930, the Communist Party of Vietnam - the political party of the proletariat (workers) class was established (in October 1930, it was renamed the Indochinese Communist Party), affirming that the inevitable development path of the Vietnamese revolution was the path of combining and raising high the flag of national independence and socialism ("advocating for bourgeois democratic revolution and land revolution to move towards a communist society").

On August 19, 1945, after a rally at the Opera House Square, the people of the capital occupied the Bac Bo Palace, the headquarters of the French puppet government in the North. The August Revolution was a historical lesson, opening a new era in Vietnam, the era when the Vietnamese people were masters of the country and their own destiny. Photo: VNA file

To achieve that strategic goal, the Communist Party of Vietnam has put forward a very correct policy of great national unity, which is: The Party advocates gathering the majority of the working class, making the working class lead the masses, must win over the majority of peasants and must rely on the poor peasants, build a solid worker-peasant alliance; at the same time, "must make every effort to contact the petty bourgeoisie, intellectuals, middle peasants... to pull them into the proletarian class. As for the rich peasants, middle and small landlords and capitalists of Annam whose counter-revolutionary nature is not yet clear, we must take advantage of them, and after a while make them stand neutral. Any group that has openly opposed the revolution... must be overthrown". That scientific and correct policy and revolutionary policy is the most important premise leading to all victories of the Vietnamese revolution.

After its establishment, based on the world context and domestic situation at different historical periods, the Party continued to shift its strategic and tactical direction to gather all patriotic forces in a united national front under the Party's leadership. Accordingly, the work of mobilizing and organizing the masses had many innovative forms, such as the establishment of:

Anti-Imperialist Alliance (November 1930 - March 1935), Anti-Imperialist Alliance (March 1935 - October 1936), Indochinese Anti-Imperialist People's United Front (October 1936 - March 1938), Indochinese Democratic Front (March 1938 - November 1940), Anti-Imperialist National United Front (November 1940 - May 1941), Viet Minh Front (from May 1941). Through that, the Party built and educated a political army of millions of people, and the strength of great solidarity was constantly consolidated and strengthened.

In particular, the 8th Central Committee Conference (from May 10 to 19, 1941) held in Pac Bo (Cao Bang), chaired by leader Nguyen Ai Quoc, continued to affirm that national liberation was the top priority of the revolution, deciding to solve the problem of national liberation within the scope of each Indochinese country. Each Indochinese country established a separate national united front. In Vietnam, the Vietnam Independence League (abbreviated as the Viet Minh Front) would be established, consisting of mass organizations named "national salvation association".

On May 19, 1941, the Viet Minh Front was officially born. In October 1941, the Viet Minh Front announced its Manifesto, Program and Charter, affirming the policy of "uniting all classes of people regardless of religion, party, political tendency, or class, to unite and fight to expel the French and Japanese to gain independence for the country".

After its establishment, the Viet Minh Front stepped up propaganda work, developed both its organization and forces, and formed a system from the central to the grassroots level. By mid-1945, the Viet Minh had about 5 million members. At this point, the great solidarity bloc was expanded, gradually developing to the highest level, ready to promote its great strength to rise up and seize power when the opportunity was ripe!

Promoting the strength of great solidarity, carrying out a successful general uprising

In early 1945, World War II was coming to an end. Fascism was facing the risk of being completely destroyed. In that difficult situation, Japanese fascists carried out a coup to overthrow France (March 9, 1945) to monopolize Indochina.

Immediately after the Japanese coup against the French, the Central Party Standing Committee held an expanded meeting in Dinh Bang (Bac Ninh), issued the directive "Japan and France are fighting each other and our actions" (March 12, 1945), clearly identifying the only immediate specific enemy of the people of Indochina at this time as Japanese fascists. The conference decided to launch a strong "Resist Japanese and save the country" movement as a premise for the general uprising. The armed struggle movement and partial uprisings took place continuously in many localities, pushing the Japanese army and the puppet government into a serious crisis.

On August 13, 1945, the Imperial Japanese Government had to declare unconditional surrender to the Allies. News of the surrender quickly spread across all fronts. The Japanese army in Indochina was paralyzed and demoralized, and the puppet government was extremely confused. The revolutionary atmosphere was boiling throughout the country.

According to the agreement of the victorious Allied countries, Chiang Kai-shek's army (Republic of China) would enter North Vietnam, the British and French armies would enter South Vietnam (divided by the 16th parallel) with the task of disarming the Japanese army, but in reality, they both wanted to carry out the intention of destroying the revolutionary forces and the Indochinese Communist Party, establishing a puppet government to serve the plot of ruling.

Faced with the rapid change of the situation, the Party convened a National Conference (from August 13 to 15, 1945) in Tan Trao (Tuyen Quang), determined that the opportunity had come, and decided to launch a general uprising to seize power throughout the country before the Allied forces entered. The Conference decided to establish a National Uprising Committee to promptly direct and unify the uprising movement in localities.

On August 16, 1945, the National Congress held in Tan Trao approved the "10 major policies of the Viet Minh"; approved the "General Uprising Order"; stipulated the National Flag and National Anthem; established the Central National Liberation Committee, namely the Provisional Government with comrade Ho Chi Minh as Chairman. In the photo: Tan Trao Communal House, Son Duong District (Tuyen Quang), where the National Congress convened by the Viet Minh took place on August 16, 1945. Photo: VNA

Immediately afterwards, the National Congress also met in Tan Trao (August 16, 1945), including delegates from three regions (Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) representing all classes, organizations, and ethnic groups, representing the will and aspirations of the entire people. The Congress unanimously approved the decision to launch a general uprising, elected the Vietnam National Liberation Committee (Provisional Government) headed by President Ho Chi Minh, and approved a number of important policies of the Viet Minh Front.

Responding to the General Uprising order, the people of the whole country rose up in a seething spirit to seize power. On August 19, 1945, the General Uprising was victorious in Hanoi. On August 23, Thua Thien - Hue seized power. On August 25, the people of Saigon - Gia Dinh seized power... The "earth-shattering" uprising power of millions of people created an overwhelming advantage, dealing a decisive blow to all the central organs of the puppet government, paralyzing all resistance of hostile forces, leaving them unable to react.

The August Revolution achieved great success throughout the country on August 28, 1945. On August 30, 1945, Bao Dai - the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty announced his abdication, handing over the golden seal and jewel-encrusted sword to the Viet Minh representative. For the first time in the history of the Vietnamese nation, the entire country's power belonged to the people.

On September 2, 1945, at the historic Ba Dinh Square, in front of hundreds of thousands of compatriots, President Ho Chi Minh, on behalf of the provisional revolutionary government, read the “Declaration of Independence” giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the first worker-peasant state in Southeast Asia. In that sacred and important moment, he continued to affirm the strength of national unity as the fundamental factor to protect the great revolutionary achievements that had just been won: “Vietnam has the right to enjoy freedom and independence, and in fact has become a free and independent country. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to devote all their spirit and strength, their lives and property to maintain that freedom and independence.”

Saigon people responded to the Call for General Uprising by the Party Central Committee and President Ho Chi Minh. Photo: VNA

The August Revolution of 1945 is truly a symbol of the strength of the great national unity. That strength originates first of all from the ardent patriotism of every Vietnamese citizen, nurtured and passed down through thousands of years of history, and continues to be multiplied and highly promoted by the Party's scientific, correct, and creative revolutionary line.

On the basis of the great victory just achieved, the Party promptly drew valuable lessons, including the lesson on promoting the strength of the great national unity bloc, the specific content of which is: Correctly assessing and knowing how to gather and organize the forces of the revolutionary classes, in which the worker-peasant alliance is the foundation. On that basis, knowing how to arouse the national spirit in all classes of people, gather all progressive patriotic forces in a broad national united front, highly differentiate and isolate the enemy, seize the opportunity to advance and defeat them. This lesson was distilled by the Party, creatively applied to the next revolutionary stages.

Nearly 80 years have passed, but the August Revolution of 1945 still retains its stature and historical value, a source of pride urging our entire Party, army and people to continue promoting the tradition of great solidarity, overcoming all difficulties, successfully implementing the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Party, for the goal of "A rich people, a strong country, democracy, fairness and civilization".