August Revolution – a turning point in the history of the Vietnamese nation

(Baonghean.vn) - The August Revolution was one of the most important and glorious events of the Vietnamese people in the 20th century. In a short period of time, with an unprecedented and surging revolutionary spirit, our people under the leadership of the Party rose up to seize power throughout the country.

Since the end of the 19th century, the French colonialists have carried out an extremely brutal policy of domination. They divided our country, erased the name of Vietnam from the world map, brutally killed patriots, seized our land and resources, exploited our people to the bone, implemented a policy of keeping people ignorant, used opium and alcohol to weaken our race. When the Japanese fascists invaded Indochina, the French colonialists knelt down and surrendered, our people suffered from two levels of oppression: Japanese militarists and French colonialists. In late 1944 and early 1945, more than 2 million of our compatriots died of tragic starvation.

The Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army (the predecessor of the Vietnam People's Army) was established on December 22, 1944.

Continuing the nation's indomitable tradition of fighting against foreign invaders, countless loyalists rose up to fight against French colonialism to gain independence, but all failed because they did not have a correct path to save the country. President Ho Chi Minh was the first Vietnamese to absorb Marxism-Leninism - the advanced revolutionary theory of the time - found the correct path to save the country and founded the Communist Party of Vietnam. Under the leadership of the Party, our people carried out revolutionary movements, overcame many sacrifices and losses to gain victory in the August Revolution, bringing about unprecedented social change and creating a great turning point in the history of the nation.

On June 1, 1945, the Vanguard Youth Organization was born in the South. This was a youth movement operating under the Party's direction, playing an active role in the process of mobilizing and gathering youth forces to prepare for the August 1945 General Uprising.

The August Revolution has left us with valuable historical experiences that will forever illuminate the stages of the Vietnamese revolution. These are lessons in raising high the flag of national independence and socialism; correctly identifying and combining strategic tasks in each revolutionary period; lessons in mobilizing the strength of the entire nation, taking the strength of the main worker-peasant army as the core; lessons in thoroughly implementing the motto "making more friends and fewer enemies"; lessons in the art of uprising, the art of creating and seizing opportunities; lessons in building a Marxist-Leninist party with steadfast political will, clear-sighted intelligence, constantly strong in politics, ideology and organization, closely attached to the people, with a contingent of cadres and party members who are pioneers, exemplary, fighting and sacrificing for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, for the happiness of the people...

With 261,153 laborers mobilized, our army and people successfully transported all military equipment, weapons and 25,056 tons of rice to serve the campaign leading to the world-shaking Dien Bien Phu victory.

The August Revolution succeeded, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born, bringing confidence in self-liberation, strongly encouraging the struggle of oppressed peoples against the yoke of imperialism, opening a period of disintegration of colonialism around the world. Assessing the historical significance of the August Revolution, President Ho Chi Minh pointed out: "Not only the working class and the Vietnamese people can be proud, but the working class and oppressed peoples elsewhere can also be proud that: This is the first time in the history of revolutions of colonial and semi-colonial peoples, a Party only 15 years old has led a successful revolution, has taken power nationwide".

Soldiers of the 308th Division - Vanguard Army Corps wearing the "Dien Bien Phu Soldier" badge on their chests bravely paraded through the streets of Hanoi.

71 years ago, the August Revolution liberated the people from the domination and exploitation of the feudal colonial regime, giving all Vietnamese people the right to live, the right to freedom, and the right to pursue happiness. Independence, freedom, and happiness have always been the consistent goals of the new regime. Today, our Party, State, and people continue to strive for that noble humanistic goal.

At the time of the August Revolution in 1945, our country's position in the international arena was still low, but our Party and President Ho Chi Minh always firmly grasped and correctly predicted the world situation, took advantage of opportunities, coordinated actions, transformed the comparison of position and strength between us and the enemy, creating a combined strength that overwhelmed the enemy. Today, we have more opportunities to combine national strength with the strength of the times, taking self-reliance and self-reliance as the main thing, while at the same time making the most of favorable international conditions to strengthen national strength and combine with international strength to successfully carry out the task of building and defending the Fatherland.

The armed forces and people of Hanoi captured the Bac Bo Palace, taking power into the hands of the people in the August Revolution in 1945.

Leading the entire people in the August General Uprising, our Party at that time had only 5,000 members and had to operate secretly, the communication conditions to lead and direct the nationwide movement were extremely difficult. However, thanks to the correct guidelines of the Party and Uncle Ho, the initiative and creativity of the Party organization, mass organizations and people in the localities, the uprising broke out simultaneously and had coordination in each region, each area and nationwide. That was an extremely valuable lesson about the leadership of the Party and Party building in any revolutionary period.

People from the suburbs with pointed bamboo poles entered the city to participate in the General Uprising in Saigon, 1945.

The success of the August Revolution in 1945 was the first great victory of our people since the Party's leadership, opening a great turning point in the history of the Vietnamese nation. The government was in the hands of the people, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born - the first worker-peasant state in Southeast Asia; ending the feudal monarchy in Vietnam; ending more than 80 years of our people under the yoke of colonialism and fascism. The Vietnamese people changed from being slaves to being citizens of an independent country, masters of their own destiny. Vietnam changed from a semi-feudal colony to an independent, free and democratic country. The Communist Party of Vietnam became a ruling party. From here, the country, society, people and people of Vietnam entered a new era, an era of national independence associated with socialism.

Within just 15 days at the end of August 1945, the August Revolution achieved complete victory, transforming our country from a semi-feudal colony into an independent and democratic country. (Photo: On August 30, 1945, the parade of the Liberation Army and the City Self-Defense Force was held at the Hanoi Opera House Square amid the joy and excitement of the people of the whole country).

For our national history, the August Revolution of 1945 was the beginning of the next stages of successful development of the Vietnamese Revolution. The indomitable spirit and will, along with the great lessons from the August Revolution, continue to guide and encourage our entire Party, people and army to overcome countless difficulties and challenges, gain great victories of historical significance in the cause of national renewal, create great and profound changes in social life, and bring the country steadily into the period of accelerated industrialization and modernization.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Ba Dinh Square to listen to President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

71 years have passed, every year on the occasion of the August Revolution anniversary, all levels, sectors and localities solemnly celebrate. Among the people, there are old men and women over eighty or ninety years old who still sing the songs: “How many heroic soldiers”, “August 19th is the day of the national uprising, flags fly everywhere…”, we seem to be reliving the heroic years of the nation. The Revolution is truly a festival of the masses.

Peace

(Synthetic)