Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac and the revolutionary movement of Nghe Tinh
Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac was born in 1902, grew up and participated in revolutionary activities in the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association, then the Indochina Communist Party in Hanoi. From mid-1929, he was assigned to work in Vinh, from then on, he was involved in the Soviet movement.
Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac heroically sacrificed himself before the enemy's guns in May 1931, that year he was only 29 years old, still very young. So, Mr. Nguyen Phong Sac had two hometowns: Hanoi, where he grew up and Nghe An, where he returned to eternity. Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac's life was short but very beautiful, especially the period of his life associated with the revolutionary movement in Nghe Tinh.
Mr. Nguyen Phong Sac left his family and hometown Hanoi to work in Vinh under the direction of a political organization that had just been established in June 1929 in Hanoi - the Indochinese Communist Party. Accompanying him was a native of Nghe An, Mr. Tran Van Cung, probably the intention of the organization was to help him feel less bewildered in a strange land. And he stayed in Nghe An from then until his death. Why was he assigned to work in Vinh when the Indochinese Communist Party had just been established?
As we know, after the campaign to establish the Communist Party at the 1st Youth Congress failed, the radical elements in the Northern Youth Committee, including Nguyen Phong Sac, met at 312 Kham Thien Street (Hanoi) on the night of June 17, 1929, and announced the establishment of the Indochinese Communist Party. The conference passed important documents of fundamental nature such as the Manifesto, Charter, established propaganda agencies, including the Hammer and Sickle Newspaper, elected the provisional Central Executive Committee of which he was a member, and sent people to Central and Southern Vietnam to develop the Party's base. Nguyen Phong Sac and Tran Van Cung went to Vinh, Ngo Gia Tu and Tran Tu Chinh went to Saigon as part of the general policy of the Party's founding conference.
The fact that the Indochinese Communist Party sent two delegations to Vinh and Saigon to develop the Party's base meant that the process of Bolshevization of the Youth had developed from a region (North) to a national scale. That was a correct policy of the Indochinese Communist Party. In that historical context, Nguyen Phong Sac came to Vinh as a messenger carrying the message about the existence of a long-awaited Communist Party to the workers of the Vinh - Ben Thuy industrial park and the working people of Nghe Tinh. Moreover, he became the first proponent and grassroots Party organization here. It must also be said that Nghe Tinh was not only active in the Youth, but it was also an important area of activity for Tan Viet in the process of "left-leaning" under the influence of the Youth.
With the active activities of these pioneers, many Party cells were established in factories and worker villages of the Vinh - Ben Thuy industrial zone. Those activities dissolved the entire Thanh Nien base in Central Vietnam, a part of Cochinchina, and moreover, attracted the left wing of the Tan Viet party. The Indochina secret police reported the results of the propaganda of the Indochinese Communist Party as follows: “The very enthusiastic propaganda of this new party not only resulted in the disintegration of Thanh Nien influence in North Vietnam and North Central Vietnam, but Thanh Nien in Cochinchina also lost many areas. That propaganda made other political parties such as Nguyen An Ninh's Secret Society in Cochinchina and Tan Viet in Central Vietnam actually turn to communism”.
After the unification of the Party, especially after the Indochinese Communist League joined the Communist Party of Vietnam, the number of Party cells and Party members increased, requiring the Central Region Party Committee to perfect its organization, first of all the Central Region Party Committee. A joint conference consisting of the Central Region Party Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the leaders of the Indochinese Communist Party in Central Vietnam was held and elected the Provisional Executive Committee of the Central Region of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Central Vietnam, consisting of 3 comrades: Nguyen Phong Sac, from the Indochinese Communist Party, Le Mao and Le Viet Thuat, from the Indochinese Communist League, with comrade Nguyen Phong Sac as Secretary (by mid-1930, the Branch was changed to the Central Region Party Committee and in October 1930, Nguyen Duc Canh from the Northern Region Party Committee was added).
The Central Region Party Committee headed by Secretary Nguyen Phong Sac carried out many activities and achieved many miracles in Nghe Tinh, especially during the Soviet period. Because the scope of a presentation at a scientific conference is limited by time, I will only focus on the two most important activities that played a great role for Nguyen Phong Sac.
1. The person who initiated and closely directed the revolutionary movement
With the experience accumulated during the 12th anniversary of the November 1929 Revolution, after the birth of Communist Indochina, Nguyen Phong Sac and the leaders of the Central Region Party Committee, Vinh - Ben Thuy Provincial Party Committee, and Nghe An Provincial Party Committee carefully prepared for the march of workers and peasants on International Labor Day, May 1, 1930.
On April 20, 1930, at a location in Yen Dung Ha village, Nguyen Phong Sac convened a meeting to discuss the plan to mobilize the masses to protest, the protest slogans and the leaders. According to the scenario outlined from that conference, on the morning of May 1, 1930, more than 1,200 farmers from Hung Nguyen and Nghi Loc lined up in neat rows along many routes to Vinh, along with workers from factories in Vinh - Ben Thuy industrial park, forming a giant demonstration, holding high the hammer and sickle flags, banners with slogans of struggle, singing the Internationale, opening the struggle on Nghe Tinh land.
That peaceful demonstration was suppressed by the French colonialists and the drunkards, drowning them in a sea of blood. "The warden, the police chief, and the chief of secret police all pointed their guns and fired machine guns. Colabi also stood in the factory and fired. So the imperialists and bourgeoisie brutally killed the peasants and workers... The demonstration had to be dispersed, leaving 6 dead and 18 injured" (The Laborer newspaper was published on May 2, 1930).
In the history of the Nghe Tinh Soviet, the struggle of workers and peasants in Vinh - Ben Thuy was recorded as the beginning, like "standing up first", and then "Thanh Chuong followed suit, Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Anh Son, Ha Tinh rose up at once". (Dang Chanh Ky - Revolutionary Song).
The successive struggles with great momentum on Nghe Tinh land combined into a tsunami that swept away the enemy government in a number of villages, communes, and districts, and on that traditional land spontaneously formed a new type of government that had never before existed with revolutionary armies - the Soviet government.
It can be said that, as Secretary of the Central Region Party Committee, Nguyen Phong Sac initiated the movement to its peak and finally contributed to the discussion of solutions to fight the enemy and protect the revolutionary government until he was captured by the enemy and secretly executed at Song Loc station, Cua Hoi.
2. The person who initiated and maintained the revolutionary press in Nghe Tinh
Never before in Nghe Tinh have there been so many newspapers as in the Soviet era, from the Central Region Party Committee's newspapers, the provincial Party Committee's newspapers, the district Party Committee's newspapers and various circles, for example, the Central Region Party Committee had the newspapers: Lao Kho, Nguoi Lao Kho, Cong Nong Binh, Chi Dao, Vo San, Tranh Dau; Nghe An Provincial Party Committee had the newspaper Tien Len; Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee had the newspapers: Bonse Vich, Buoc Toi; Hung Nguyen District Party Committee had the newspaper: San Nghiep; Nam Dan had the newspaper Giac Ngo; Thanh Chuong had the newspaper Nha Que; Anh Son had the newspaper Guong Vo San; Quynh Luu had the newspapers Tia Sang and Lao Dong; Nghi Loc had the newspaper Dan Kho; Can Loc had the newspaper Tu Cuu; Thanh Ha had Tieng Goi; Cam Xuyen had the newspaper Buoc Toi, Xich Sinh of the Nghe An General Student Association, and then the newspaper Co Dong...
See, the Soviet period was a period of flourishing revolutionary journalism in a small area. And so, we can imagine that the press activities in the Soviet period in Nghe Tinh were very rich, diverse and vibrant.
Here are some newspaper examples:
The Lao Kho newspaper, published on July 13, 1930, wrote: “The French colonialists ruthlessly exploited you. They were very cruel, but you knew how to fight, so they were afraid. Only by fighting can you claim your rights. Only the Communist Party can defend your interests. Only the Communist Party is your Party.”
The newspaper “Nguoi Lao Kho” published on September 6, 1930 described the people’s excitement when the Soviet government was established in the villages: “No one paid market taxes and no one dared to collect them, no one patrolled, no soldiers guarded, the imperialists arrested and destroyed them, no one enforced them. We forgave the national criminals ourselves, and divided the Ky Vien plantation (in Thanh Chuong) and the landlords’ land to the poor peasants. We were free to practice and demonstrate. Thus, the imperialist laws were shattered.”
The Tien Len newspaper of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, published in June 1931, praised the heroic spirit of Anh Son's militia: "On May 28, 1931, in Yen Phuc commune, General Dang Son held a speech. On the morning of the 29th, they marched to show their power to capture a spy and kill him at Yen Phuc market. Dong Cho Dua heard the news and rode down with 4 soldiers to suppress him. The militia ambushed and attacked 2 of them. While Don was riding his bicycle, a militiaman hit him in the face and made him fall down. He got up and tried to run, but was stabbed in the back by a spear from another person. Don used one hand to protect his face and the other to take off his shirt and run away. The militia chased him to the top of the hill next to him. He was exhausted and fell down, panting heavily... While killing Don, the sound of drums and cheers was very noisy, the 4 soldiers, who were a kilometer apart, were so scared that they had to run away."
Thus, the Soviet press was truly the breath of the times, a true mirror reflecting the vibrant life and the heroic struggle to build a new life.
The first credit for having such a press team belongs to the initiator, Secretary of the Central Region Party Committee Nguyen Phong Sac, followed by Nguyen Duc Canh, Standing Member of the Regional Party Committee, in charge of propaganda work, who had a lot of experience in secret work during the Thanh Nien and Indochina Communist Party in the North.
What I have presented above more or less helps us identify the great contributions of comrade Nguyen Phong Sac to the Nghe Tinh revolutionary movement.