Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement

Keeping the Soviet flame alive in the resilient “Red City”

Thanh Quynh • DNUM_DBZBAZCACE 22:18

Vinh City is known as the Red City - a name associated with the tradition of patriotism and the spirit of indomitable revolutionary struggle throughout history. Especially, during the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, this was even more clearly demonstrated. Over the years, continuing the tradition of the previous generations, the people here have always strived to build the Red City into a modern, civilized, youthful and livable urban area.

Thanh Quynh • October 31, 2024 22:18

Vinh City is known as the Red City - a name associated with the tradition of patriotism and the spirit of indomitable revolutionary struggle throughout history. Especially, during the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, this was even more clearly demonstrated. Over the years, continuing the tradition of the previous generations, the people here have always strived to build the Red City into a modern, civilized, youthful and livable urban area.

Glorious past

"Behold Ben Thuy stood up first.

Thanh Chuong stood up next.

Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen,

Mr. Son, Ha Tinh woke up…”

Those touching verses in "Revolutionary Song" by comrade Dang Chanh Ky have been typed and hung solemnly in the grounds of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum for many years. The poem is like a hyphen that brings visitors back to a heroic historical period of Nghe An in general and Vinh city in particular.

Having been associated with the museum for many years, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thuy - Former Director of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum has always had a great affection for research works related to the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement. And in the system of documents that he has painstakingly collected and researched, it has shown a spirit of "taking the lead" of the Party Committee and people of Vinh city during the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement. That spirit contributed to a earth-shaking revolution, creating a heroic Red Nghe Tinh.

According to the archives of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum, since 1900, during the colonial exploitation process, the French colonialists planned Vinh City as an industrial center in the North Central region. They built many factories in the Ben Thuy area: Lao Xien Sawmill, Match Factory, Train Repair Factory, Shipbuilding Factory... here formed a large number of workers, living in concentration. This was one of the key forces of the movement to fight for the new trend.

With the characteristics of being the economic, political and social center of the North Central region, Vinh city is the cradle of many typical patriotic and revolutionary organizations. During the process of campaigning to establish the Party from 1925-1930, many patriotic and revolutionary organizations were established such as: Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association, Indochinese Communist Party branches, mass organizations of the Party such as Labor Association, Farmers Association, Student Association, etc.

Especially the birth of the Central Region Party Committee (March 1930) and the Vinh-Ben Thuy Provincial Party Committee (March 1930), Nghe An Provincial Party Committee (October 1930), Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee (March 1930)...

Like other villages, people in Vinh city were heavily exploited by hundreds of taxes such as salt tax, market tax, poll tax, etc. Workers in factories were beaten and had their wages cut. At Ben Thuy Match Factory, children and women had to work hard under the whips of the bosses from 12 to 17 hours a day but still did not have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. Therefore, they allied with farmers to rise up and fight.

The struggle considered to be the opening of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement was the struggle on the morning of May 1, on the occasion of International Labor Day, of workers and farmers in Vinh - Ben Thuy.

Under the leadership of comrades Hoang Trong Tri, Nguyen Loi, Nguyen Phuc, 1,200 farmers from Yen Dung, Loc Da, Duc Thinh, An Hau, Song Loc villages marched into the city in neat rows, coordinating with workers to demand wage increases, tax reductions, and rent reductions. At Quan Lau intersection, the enemy mobilized 10 cars filled with soldiers in blue uniforms to suppress. The masses, barehanded, repelled the enemy's bayonets and gun butts and marched straight to Ben Thuy area. Workers in factories quit their jobs and poured out the gates to coordinate with the farmers in the struggle. Frightened by the strong fighting spirit of the masses, the French guards turned their guns on the protesters, killing 7 people, injuring 18, and arresting 97 people.

The demonstration on May 1, 1930 was the opening event of the 1930-1931 revolutionary movement in Nghe Tinh. "For the first time in the history of our country's revolution, workers, farmers and soldiers joined hands on the front line."

On July 13, 1930, the Lao Kho Newspaper of the Central Region Party Committee published news of the victory of the protests in Nghe Tinh, including the following paragraph:"….Since June 1930, the French colonial government in Central Vietnam and Nghe Tinh has made concessions to implement some demands of workers and peasants such as: abolishing the patrol system, banning beatings of workers, increasing wages for workers, releasing women arrested during protests...".

In particular, after the massacre on September 12, 1930 in Hung Nguyen, workers in factories in Vinh - Ben Thuy went on strike to protest against the French colonialists' massacre of the people. The rally of 300 unemployed workers in La-pic on September 18, the demonstration of 100 workers at the Lao-Xie Sawmill... The struggle movement not only developed strongly in factories but also spread to schools in Vinh.

In 1931, while the movement in some districts temporarily subsided, the movement in Vinh city continued to develop. Later on, the workers' movement coordinated more closely with the peasants' movement, supporting each other to fight against the enemy's fierce terror.

Typical examples are the struggles of more than 500 workers in Vinh city, protesting against the French colonialists' massacre of the people of Quang Cu village in My Thanh (Yen Thanh) and the struggles to support farmers in Tan Hop and Song Loc villages (Nghi Loc) on January 4, and on January 15, the people of Vinh - Ben Thuy celebrated the Red Week...

Under the direction of the Central Region Party Committee, directly under the Vinh Provincial Party Committee, the people of Vinh city continuously organized rallies and demonstrations calling on the masses to fight against the exploitation and terror policies of the French colonialists. In the Vinh-Ben Thuy area, there was a resilient and indomitable Red Yen Dung village that stood firm against the enemy's lair, where the provincial government headquarters of the feudal colonialists were concentrated. That is why Vinh city was called "Red City" by the people of the whole country. That was to engrave the tradition of "Behold Ben Thuy standing first" in the glorious revolutionary cause of the nation.

Reaching out in the flow of time

If in the past, when thinking of Vinh city, people often remembered an indomitable revolutionary spirit, a seething spirit in difficult historical periods. Now, on every road leading to the city's communes and wards, people can easily feel the extremely bustling atmosphere of labor and production.

Vinh City is now known as the city of businesses when in 2023 alone, 3,048 new businesses and business households were established and the city also established its own "Business Association".

To demonstrate the strong rise of businesses in the area, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Vice President of the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Nghe An province led us to Phan Boi Chau street of Vinh city, to visit the garment company of a young man born in 1995, Nguyen Van Tai.

Despite his young age, Tai has been honored as one of the top 100 outstanding young entrepreneurs in Vietnam in 2023, along with many awards from the Provincial Young Entrepreneurs Association, the Provincial Youth Union and the Central Vietnam Youth Union. Studying, working and living in Vinh city has helped Tai access a vibrant market to realize his dream of starting a business. From nothing, he is now the business owner of a company with more than 50 regular employees, with a net profit of hundreds of millions of VND each year. Together with Tai, hundreds of large and small businesses in Vinh city are growing together, joining hands to contribute to the comprehensive development of their homeland and country.

Promoting historical, cultural and revolutionary values, over the years, the city's Party Committee and government have unanimously made Vinh City's appearance more and more spacious and modern. The city's transport infrastructure has been designed in a systematic, scientific manner, with high synchronization with stations, ports, international airports... creating great convenience for the movement and circulation of goods.

With a clear orientation for service and tourism development, in recent years, the system of hotels, restaurants, entertainment centers, and commercial centers in the city has been invested in to become more and more modern and luxurious, meeting the needs of tourists. Thanks to that, the number of tourists coming to the city every year reaches about 1.9 million, of which about 1.5 million stay overnight, tourism service revenue reaches more than 1,000 billion VND.

Along with the implementation of phase 2 of the smart urban model and the construction of the City of Light Project, Vinh also strives to be a green city and adapt to climate change. In addition, after a period of preparation, from 2024, the Vinh urban infrastructure upgrade project phase 2 will begin to be implemented, aiming to contribute to improving and upgrading the urban infrastructure in the Southeast of Vinh city to a new level.

Walking around the city, coming back to Ben Thuy Intersection, we can see that this has become the intersection of the past and the present. To commemorate the glorious revolutionary period of 1930-1931, Nghe An province built a majestic monument of workers and farmers here. Even happier, on November 16, 1988, the Ministry of Culture issued Decision No. 1288-VH/QD recognizing Ben Thuy Intersection as a historical and cultural relic for long-term preservation and development of revolutionary traditions.

Since then, this has always been a “red address” for the city’s children and visitors from near and far to return to, expressing gratitude and pride for a glorious past. It can be said that the Soviet spirit is still present intact on the land of Vinh city, a fire that adds strength to the people to overcome all obstacles, step by step building the city to become more and more prosperous.