That day, by the Lam River

In May 1929, the National Congress of the Youth Association in Hong Kong (China) was split. The delegates from the North left and established the Indochinese Communist Party. Immediately after that, on June 17, 1929, the Central Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party sent comrades Tran Van Cung and Nguyen Phong Sac to Nghe An, met with comrade Vo Mai, and established the Indochinese Communist Party Branch in Central Vietnam, headquartered in Vinh. The Branch sent comrades Phan Thai At and Tran Huu Thieu to contact the Youth Association base in Hanh Lam and La Mac, and established the first Indochinese Communist Party Branch in Thanh Chuong, consisting of 7 party members, with comrade Nguyen Dinh Song as Secretary.

The Party cell was very active. In October 1929, revolutionary bases distributed leaflets calling on people to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the October Revolution (November 7, 1917 - November 7, 1929).

Thuong village communal house, Hanh Lam commune. Photo: Huy Thu

In early 1930, the Xuan Tuong Party Cell was established, with comrade Nguyen Van Dong as Secretary. Meanwhile, the Tan Viet Sub-group in Vo Liet was very sensitive to the situation, sending comrade Ton Thi Que to Vinh, through comrade Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, to contact the Indochina Communist Party. Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac - Secretary of the Central Region Committee went to Thanh Chuong to inspect, guide, select,... to establish the Vo Liet Party Cell with 7 party members, with comrade Hoang Thuat as Secretary.

Thus, before the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, in Thanh Chuong there were 3 branches of the Indochina Communist Party - a predecessor organization of the Party.

On March 20, 1930, under the direction of the Central Region Party Committee, at Tien Son Temple - now in Thanh Long Commune, the Conference of delegates of Thanh Chuong Communist Party Cells elected the provisional Executive Committee of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, comrade Ton Gia Tinh was appointed as Secretary. The Indochina Communist Party Cells in the district were converted into Party Cells of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Nghe An Provincial Party Committee operated secretly for many years in Xuan Tuong and Thanh Phong communes and directly directed the movement.

On April 24, 1930, the Provincial Party Committee met to review the Party building work and discuss plans to mobilize the masses to fight in celebration of International Labor Day on May 1. Thanh Chuong District Party Committee accepted the policy and secretly held a meeting to discuss and disseminate it to Party cells for implementation.

On May 1, 1930, thousands of slogans and leaflets were distributed in Di Luan, Xuan Tuong, Nguyet Bong, Dai Dinh, Cat Ngan, Hanh Lam, La Mac,...

In particular, while in Vinh there was a demonstration of workers and farmers in Truong Thi - Ben Thuy, in Thanh Chuong there was a demonstration, 3,000 farmers, under the leadership of the Party Cell, destroyed Ky Vien plantation in Hanh Lam commune; at the French - Vietnamese Primary School (Vo Liet), comrade Hoang Thuyet - District Party Committee member, comrade Dinh Xuan Giai, a party member in the school led and organized a rally, demonstration to demonstrate power through the district road,...

Painting of the Nghe-Tinh Soviet climax by author Nguyen Duc Nung.

Mass movement against oppression and exploitation, tyranny spread in the districts of the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. This situation pushed the French colonialists and the feudalists of the Southern Dynasty into a passive and confused situation. Thanh Chuong District Party Committee met to discuss the implementation of the Provincial Party Committee's policy, to organize a struggle at a higher level and on a larger scale. The conference decided to organize a general demonstration in the whole district on September 1, 1930.

The District Party Committee assigned cadres to the grassroots to organize the opening ceremony; the printing agency worked around the clock; traffic officers (running around) urgently delivered instructions and leaflets to the grassroots; the grassroots prepared banners, flags, knives, swords, sticks,... for self-defense; the secret ferry terminals prepared boats,... to take people across the river when ordered,...

On the night of August 31, 1930, the Red Guards guarded the roads and ferry terminals, isolating the District Office from the communes. The Xuan Lam Guards destroyed Rao Gang Bridge, cut off the road from Vinh up, then surrounded and suppressed the village chiefs. The Dai Dong General Guards destroyed Cho Lat Bridge, cut off the road from Do Luong down. The Vo Liet General Guards arrested 11 suspected spies. Red flags were hung high on old trees, on the roads,... The French caught wind of it, so they sent a group of soldiers from Thanh Qua station down to protect the District Office; gathered all the boats on the river toward Ro wharf to prevent people from crossing the river.

From 1 a.m. on September 1, the drums of command were sounded throughout the communes in the district. The whole Thanh Chuong was bustling with the sounds of drums, gongs, wooden fish, and cheers. Groups of people, protected by the Red Guards, rushed to the District Office; the momentum was like a rising tide or a pouring waterfall.

Ro ferry (Minh Duc hamlet, Vo Liet commune, Thanh Chuong district). Photo: Huy Thu

At Ro wharf, thousands of people were struggling to find a boat to cross the river. The station chief, Congdominat, and the Don team frantically ordered their soldiers to shoot at Nguyet Bong wharf. Nguyen Cong Thuong was killed. Like adding fuel to fire, the masses found their own means of crossing the river and rushed into the District Office. The district chief, his staff, and soldiers fled to Thanh Qua station. The people burned documents, broke down prisons, freed political prisoners, and smashed the Fonten liquor store... They went to the district chief's house to smash things...

Around 4 pm, a group of soldiers in blue uniforms from Vinh marched up and were surrounded by the crowd. The soldiers surrendered. The demonstration ended in an unexpected victory.

The historic general demonstration on September 1, 1930 in Thanh Chuong is considered the opening milestone, marking the birth of the Soviet Government in Nghe - Tinh, one of the peaks ofNghe-Tinh Soviet climax1930 - 1931 nationwide. Nghe An Provincial Party Committee assessed:This fierce demonstration, never seen before in Annam, brought the workers and peasants to a new period, a period of fierce struggle against imperialist capitalism and feudal landlords, a period when workers and peasants had to sacrifice for the revolution to demand the right to live and freedom.

After this demonstration, the colonial and feudal government apparatus in Thanh Chuong was completely paralyzed and disintegrated. The enemy posts were "immobile". Of the 76 village chiefs, 1 escaped, 1 committed suicide, 36 brought their books and seals to the commune agricultural department, 11 were punished by the masses, some progressive people followed the revolution, and were assigned by the Red Farmers' Association to divide public land and rice money among the people. The Nguoi Lao Kho newspaper of the Central Region Party Committee wrote:In Thanh Chuong and Nam Dan, no one paid market tax and no one dared to collect it. No one patrolled, no soldiers came to guard. Imperialism arrested and persecuted, no one enforced it. The brothers pardoned the national criminals, and divided the Ky Vien plantation and the land of the landlord class to the poor. They freely formed associations and demonstrated. Thus, the imperialist laws were shattered.Although the organization and activities were still very primitive and childish, the Soviet Union was truly a desire and a belief of enslaved people reaching for a bright horizon.

More than 90 years have passed, the sound of the drums of 1930 by the Lam River that day still echoes today!

Thanh Chuong district center. Photo courtesy: Nguyen Book