Young people of the 20th century: A revolutionary awakening for the nation.

The two great scholars of the Phan family and the awakening of the nation.

Entering the 20th century, after conquering Vietnam, the French colonialists began exploiting the Vietnamese colony. To serve their exploitation efforts, France was forced to build industrial facilities, plantations, and expand transportation and services. Capitalist modes of production began to enter the Vietnamese economy. The traditional Han-style education system was abolished… These changes profoundly transformed the social structure. The working class and the bourgeoisie began to form. A new type of intellectual class emerged.

However, ethnic contradictions persisted. The Vietnamese people still yearned for and were determined to achieve national independence. But feudal ideology and the intellectual class were powerless in the face of this immense and difficult task. The responsibility fell on the shoulders of new forces: the working class, intellectuals, and the national bourgeoisie.

Two prominent scholars, Phan Boi Chau (left) and Phan Chu Trinh. Archival photo.

The transition to a new era demanded a shift in thinking about the path to national salvation. Phan Boi Chau and Phan Chu Trinh were pivotal figures in this shift in perception. They were the first to gather, lead, and guide a new national salvation movement. However, each made a different choice. Phan Boi Chau founded the Duy Tan Society, advocating armed rebellion and preparing forces for national restoration through a "Eastern journey" to Japan, a newly emerging capitalist empire with a shared culture and ethnicity. Phan Chu Trinh, on the other hand, advocated for a Duy Tan movement to save the nation through the path of: "Enlightening the people's minds, uplifting their spirits, and improving their lives."

Regardless of which of these two leaders it was, their main force was still the youth. The more than 200 students who followed Phan Boi Chau to Japan were all young people. The students of the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc schools, who participated in the Duy Tan movement following Phan Chu Trinh's ideology, were also young people. The two Phan patriots were the ones who "revived the national spirit" (Phan Boi Chau), gathering patriotic youth for the national salvation cause in the first decades of the 20th century to "renew the nation" (Phan Chu Trinh).

In the early years of the 20th century, Vietnamese youth embraced "new books and new literature" and developed a new and different understanding of the path to national salvation compared to their predecessors. They possessed both the heroic spirit of patriots and the rational political thinking of the new era.

The movement demanding the release of Phan Boi Chau and mourning the death of Phan Chu Trinh was a gathering and demonstration of the strength of patriotic youth throughout the country. From this movement, new patriotic organizations emerged, with the core force still being young people. These included the Phuc Viet Party (1925), the Hung Nam Association, the Vietnam Revolutionary Comrades Association, and the Tan Viet Party, founded in Vinh (Nghe An) by former political prisoners, teachers, students, and young people such as Tran Mong Bach, Tran Phu, Ha Huy Tap, Ton Quang Phiệt, Dang Thai Mai, Dao Duy Anh, etc. The main objective of these organizations was to...Overthrow imperialism, build an equal and fraternal society...". It is the National Party (1927) founded by Nguyen Thai Hoc and his young student friends with the aim of: “To carry out a national revolution, using military force to overthrow the colonial and feudal regime, in order to establish a new Vietnam.DindependentcrepublicAt the same time, it helped oppressed peoples in their struggle for independence, especially neighboring countries: Laos and Cambodia.

Some students participating in the Dong Du movement (Eastern Studies movement). Archival photo: National Archives Center I.

From another perspective,After the failed Đông Du (Eastern Journey) to Japan, several key figures of the Duy Tân Society, represented by Đặng Thúc Hứa, sought refuge in Siam (Thailand), and from there, in China. In Siam, they organized a farming camp – a production and livelihood organization for revolutionary activities. From 1909, they welcomed hundreds of young people from Nghệ Tĩnh to train them before sending them to Guangzhou.

Young men from Siam who came to Guangzhou, notably Ho Tung Mau and Le Hong Son, founded Tam Tam Society (Tan Viet Youth Group - 1923) with the aim of..."A union of all intellectuals in Vietnam, regardless of boundaries or political affiliations, as long as they are determined to sacrifice all personal opinions and interests, and dedicate all their efforts to restoring the human rights of Vietnamese people.""

Another path to going abroad was taken by young people to study in France. They were exposed to French bourgeois revolutionary culture and ideology, as well as Marxism, gradually becoming enlightened and organizing patriotic activities. Notable figures include: Nguyen An Ninh, Phan Van Truong, Nguyen The Truyen, Ta Thu Thau, Duong Bach Mai, Nguyen Van Tao…

Nguyen Tat Thanh, a patriotic young man from Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district (Nghe An province), also went to France and other European and American countries, not to study, but to actively dedicate himself to hard work in order to find a way to save the country. Nguyen Tat Thanh contacted Phan Chu Trinh and a group of patriotic young people studying in France and soon began to coordinate actions.

On June 19, 1919, Phan Chu Trinh, along with Phan Van Truong, Nguyen The Truyen, and Nguyen Tat Thanh, drafted the "Demands of the Annamese People" and submitted it to the Versailles Conference, signing it collectively as "Nguyen Ai Quoc".

Nguyen Ai Quoc and the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League

Following the presentation of the "Demands of the Annamite People" to the Versailles Conference, Nguyen Tat Thanh, under the new name Nguyen Ai Quoc, joined the French Socialist Party and later became a founding member of the French Communist Party. He then went to the Soviet Union and worked for the Third Communist International. From a young man seeking a path to national salvation, Nguyen Ai Quoc transformed into an international communist fighter. In 1925, he returned to Guangzhou (China) to organize and lead the Vietnamese proletarian revolution.

Nguyen Ai Quoc at the Tours Congress in 1920. Archival photo.

Upon arriving in Guangzhou, under the pseudonym Ly Thuy, Nguyen Ai Quoc contacted Phan Boi Chau and members of the Tam Tam Society, propagating the proletarian revolutionary ideology and establishing the Communist Youth League, which consisted of nine members. He also recruited five probationary communist party members, including Ho Tung Mau, Le Hong Son, and Le Hong Phong. Simultaneously, he organized a patriotic youth group of eight, mainly sent by Dang Thuc Hua from Trai Cay - Phi Chit (Siam). All members of this youth group bore the surname Ly, the same surname as Ly Thuy – the pseudonym of President Ho Chi Minh at the time.

After a period of training, from these core members, in June 1925, Nguyen Ai Quoc founded the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League, abbreviated as the Youth League. The League's guiding principles and objectives were:The goal was to win over the vast majority of workers, peasants, and soldiers, leading these suffering masses to unite with the world proletariat in order to, on the one hand, overthrow French imperialism.feudalOn the one hand, participating in the world revolutionary struggle against communism.capitalismthe whole world to implementcommunism".

After its establishment, the Association sent people back to Vietnam to recruit individuals for training courses in Guangzhou or to study at the University of the East (Soviet Union). At the same time, the Association established branches at various levels within the country and published a newspaper.Adolescent,Revolutionary soldiers;Recruiting people to attend military training in the Soviet Union or Whampoa.

House No. 13/1 (now No. 248-250), Van Minh Street, Guangzhou City (China) - the headquarters of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League, where Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh) opened training classes to educate cadres for the Vietnamese revolution during the years 1925-1927. Thanh Nien Newspaper - the propaganda organ of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League.

In 1927, the regional branches were fully established. In 1929, the Youth League organization was established and developed throughout the country, playing an important role in disseminating Marxism-Leninism and becoming the leading nucleus of the anti-French struggle movement.

(To be continued)