President Ho Chi Minh's preface at the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum
Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum - a place to preserve the heroic tradition of Nghe Tinh Soviet 1930-1931
Hong Nhung • October 28, 2024
In our country today, there are only two museums commemorating the nation's important historical events: the Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum and the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum. Located in the system of Vietnamese museums, the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum was established in the midst of the resistance war against the US to save the country with the mission of collecting, preserving and promoting the legacies of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement in 1930-1931. The Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum is also honored to be one of the only two museums in our country to have the honor of having President Ho Chi Minh sign the preface.
After 64 years of construction and growth, the Museum has truly become a Red address - a place to educate about patriotic and revolutionary traditions, a local tourist destination with special appeal to visitors and researchers who want to learn about the history of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement 1930 - 1931.
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Before the Soviet Nghe Tinh Museum was established, since 1958, the whole country was embarking on two strategic tasks: focusing on building socialism in the North and fighting for national unification in the South. In the North, people enthusiastically competed in labor production, rebuilding half of the country in peaceful conditions. Many factories, enterprises, and forestry farms sprung up everywhere, not only in cities and towns but also in rural and mountainous areas. Agricultural and handicraft cooperatives have built many advanced models, large-scale production such as inter-village cooperatives and commune-wide cooperatives.
In the South, the war situation had many increasingly complicated developments. The puppet government of Ngo Dinh Diem, with the help of its American masters, brutally suppressed the uprising forces of our people. With Law 10/59, they dragged the guillotine everywhere, launched a campaign to denounce communists and secede from communism to hunt down, arrest, and massacre our revolutionary cadres, typical examples were the bloody massacres at Phu Loi prison, My Son, Vinh Trinh dam... The battlefield situation in the South had entered a new phase. In 1960, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam was born, leading the political struggle movement combined with armed struggle, winning resounding victories, forcing the enemy to retreat and change the strategy and tactics of the war.
In the North, the people's cultural and spiritual life has gradually improved. Under the light of the Party's resolutions on culture and arts, many types of culture have been born and developed to serve the people's needs in the new historical conditions. Based on Decree No. 65/SL-TN signed by President Ho Chi Minh on November 23, 1945 on the preservation of cultural heritage, many large museums in our country have been established such as: Vietnam Military History Museum (1956); Vietnam History Museum, now the Vietnam National History Museum (1958), Vietnam Revolution Museum, now the Vietnam National History Museum (1959)... And in almost all the Northern provinces, there are conservation rooms and museums in the Departments and Services of Culture.
Immediately after the establishment of the major National Museums, clearly recognizing the position and significance of the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931, which culminated in the Nghe Tinh Soviet, and to honor this event, with the consensus of the Central Party Secretariat and the Government, on January 15, 1960, the Party - Youth Union of the Ministry of Culture - Information issued Decision No. 106-QD/VH to build the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum and place it under the direct leadership of the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. At that time, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and many other provinces in the Central region almost did not have museums. The Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum at that time, as a new cultural institution, had the function and task of researching, collecting, preserving, displaying, and introducing the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement to educate traditions, arouse national pride, and contribute to creating internal strength to promote the two regions to simultaneously carry out two strategic tasks: building Socialism in the North and liberating the South and unifying the country. The presence of the Museum in the homeland of Nghe An - the cradle of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement was a bold, wise and correct decision. That decision both expressed the Party's will and the will of the entire people, of the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. The birth of the Museum was to pay tribute to the great contributions of the Nghe Tinh Soviet soldiers who sacrificed for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland and to honor the value of the Nghe Tinh Soviet cultural heritage, while also serving the task of educating revolutionary traditions in the homeland of beloved Uncle Ho.
In early 1963, the Standing Committee of Nghe An - Ha Tinh provinces wished to have the preface and Uncle Ho's handwriting for a museum commemorating a typical revolutionary historical event in Nghe An, which was the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum. At that time, comrade Vo Thuc Dong was the Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, who had participated in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement (1930-1931), and was trusted by the leaders of the two provinces to go to Hanoi to report and ask for Uncle Ho's opinion. The exciting thing was that the above wish was unanimously supported by the leaders of the Ministry of Culture and comrades at the Central level such as comrade Nguyen Duy Trinh - Minister of Foreign Affairs; comrade Tran Quoc Hoan - Minister of Public Security; comrade To Huu - Head of the Central Propaganda Department... Finally, comrade Vo Thuc Dong met Uncle Ho directly, and Uncle Ho happily accepted.
The leaders of Nghe - Tinh provinces saw this as a great honor for their homeland, so they were very careful in drafting the content of the preface. After discussion, they reached a consensus on the requirement of a specific outline, a preface for Uncle Ho to sign for the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum, must have concise but succinct content... Comrade Vo Thuc Dong once again took on the task of making an outline and writing the initial draft...
At the end of January 1964, the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh received a telegram from the Office of the President informing them that the two provinces would send representatives to Hanoi to witness Uncle Ho sign the preface for the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum at the Presidential Palace. The historic moment when Uncle Ho signed was exactly on February 3, 1964 (on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the Party's founding). After receiving the preface, comrade Nguyen Xuan Linh and comrade Nguyen Van Minh, on behalf of the Party Committee and people of the two provinces, promised Uncle Ho to encourage party members, union members, youth and people to resolutely carry out Uncle Ho's instructions recorded in the preface.
In the Preface, Uncle Ho highly appreciated the great significance of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement: "In 1930-1931, when our Party was first born, a strong revolutionary movement arose throughout the country, the peak of which was the Nghe Tinh Soviet..
The Nghe Tinh Soviet was the first revolutionary government of workers and peasants, which overthrew the reactionary imperialist and feudal regimes in several places in the two provinces of Nghe Tinh..
Although the French imperialists and feudalists temporarily drowned the revolutionary movement in a sea of blood, the glorious tradition of the Nghe Tinh Soviets pushed the revolutionary movement throughout the country forward and led to the brilliant success of the August Revolution..."
At the same time, Uncle Ho reminded the Party Committee and people of the two provinces to forever promote their traditions in the revolutionary cause.“... xBuild Nghe An and Ha Tinh into two exemplary provinces, worthy of being the homeland of the heroic Nghe Tinh Soviets".
The event of Uncle Ho signing the Preface is an honor and pride for the Party Committee and people of Nghe Tinh in general and the staff of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum in particular. That speaks to the historical significance of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement and the important role of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum in preserving and promoting the values of the Nghe Tinh Soviet, contributing to the good work of political and ideological education for the people, especially the young generation.
Nearly 65 years of construction and development, the Soviet Nghe Tinh Museum has always received special attention from leaders of the Central Ministries, Departments and Branches as well as leaders of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. The Museum was honored to welcome Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, President Truong Chinh, General Secretary Do Muoi and generations of Party and State leaders to visit and plant souvenir trees in the Museum's campus.
Worthy of the attention of all levels and sectors, the Museum has constantly strived and trained to fulfill its political tasks, operating regularly and effectively in all areas of conservation and museum work. The Museum has collected, preserved and promoted the value of over 16,000 documents and artifacts, serving tens of millions of visitors, inventoried 250 relics, compiled records to rank 47 national relics; successfully organized many seminars, symposiums, and researched scientific topics at all levels... Through professional stages such as scientific research, collection, inventory, preservation, display, propaganda, and education, the Museum has become a special cultural institution indispensable in social life. With many diverse, rich and practical forms of activities such as mobile exhibitions, traditional talks, and cultural exchanges, the Museum has brought Soviet Nghe Tinh to a wide audience in all regions of the country and abroad.
Through many adjustments and upgrades, the display system as well as the display aesthetics of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum have partly met the needs of visitors nationwide and the people of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. People inside and outside the province, especially the young generation, still pay special attention to the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum. Every year, about 15,000 visitors come to the Museum to visit, study, experience and research.
For students who regularly visit the Museum, through extracurricular activities, they have been provided with useful historical knowledge through on-site tour guides in a lively, authentic and attractive way. At the same time, the Museum has also actively strengthened the connection to bring Nghe Tinh Soviets into schools in many different forms such as: organizing cultural exchanges, traditional talks, mobile exhibitions, golden bell competitions, competitions to introduce Nghe Tinh Soviet heritage to students in localities, innovating and creating experiential activities... Therefore, Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum deserves to be a good school of revolutionary history, a center for research and education of patriotic traditions, arousing national pride for the young generation in the heroic Soviet homeland in particular and the whole country in general.
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In addition, the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum is also a place where many families who are relatives of people with revolutionary contributions who have devoted and sacrificed for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland are entrusted with the trust. Thanks to the activities of exploiting records and documents about comrades who participated in revolutionary activities and were captured and imprisoned by the enemy in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, which are being stored at the Security Records Department - Ministry of Public Security of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum, it has brought joy and happiness, contributing to changing the lives of thousands of relatives of families with revolutionary contributions in Nghe Tinh. This is one of the most meaningful and practical activities and also the honor and pride of the Museum when it can contribute a part of its efforts to the work of gratitude and repayment that the Party and State are increasingly promoting and expanding.
In Decision No. 4249/QD-BVHTTDL, dated December 29, 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved the Project "Innovation, improvement of quality and efficiency of museum activities in the period 2024-2026". Accordingly, the scope and subjects of application of the Project are public and non-public museums nationwide. The goal is to create a change in both awareness and action in the process of organizing activities so that museums can catch up with the development trend of society; truly become a center for regular education on patriotic traditions, the spirit of bravery and resilience in fighting to protect the Fatherland, awareness of preserving and honoring national cultural identity; be a priority choice in forms of discovery, entertainment, attractive enough to attract a large public, contributing to promoting the image of the country, Vietnamese people and developing tourism.
According to the project, by 2026, museums are expected to innovate both in content and form of operation, focusing on improving the quality of exhibitions, promoting digital transformation, diversifying educational activities, experiences, services for visitors and enhancing tourism promotion. The number of museum visitors increases by an average of 10% annually, with priority given to developing student visitors.
To effectively implement the project of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Soviet Nghe Tinh Museum needs to upgrade its facilities, renew its degraded and outdated content and art display structure, and invest in modern technological equipment to meet new requirements, new needs as well as new awareness of the Museum's operations in the current context.
