August in the revolutionary homeland

(Baonghean.vn) -Nam Thanh Commune (formerly known as Thanh Thuy Commune), Nam Dan District, was the first locality in Nghe An to gain power in the August Revolution. These days, the revolutionary homeland of Nam Thanh is glowing with the red flag with a yellow star. The people here are upholding the tradition of “standing at the forefront, rising first” in the revolution to escape poverty and become rich in this difficult land.

Nam Thanh Commune is located in the North of Nam Dan District, bordering Do Luong and Nghi Loc Districts. Historically, this trapezoidal strip of land, resting on Dai Hue Mountain, had different names such as Thanh Tuyen (during the reign of King Le Thanh Tong), Thanh Thuy (during the Nguyen Dynasty), Thanh Van, etc. This is a land with a revolutionary tradition and rich cultural traditions.

When the French colonialists invaded and ruled our country, Thanh Thuy commune was the base of the uprising against the French colonialists by Tran Tan and Dang Nhu Mai, and the place where patriotic scholars such as Phan Boi Chau and Dang Thai Than operated in the anti-French movements. In particular, Mr. Dang Thai Than (alias Ngu Hai) got married and started a family with a girl from Thanh Thuy village. Currently, in the rice field of the commune, there is still the stone tomb of patriot Dang Thai Than.

In the spring of 1930, nearly two months after the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, the first Party cell was established in Thanh Thuy commune, leading the local revolutionary movement. In June 1945, at Vien Quang pagoda, the Viet Minh Front Committee of Thanh Thuy commune was established with the task of propagating and mobilizing the masses to participate in the revolution.

On August 14, 1945, the Viet Minh Front of Thanh Thuy commune received an order from the Nghe Tinh Inter-Provincial Uprising Committee, conveyed by comrade Vo Mai, the representative of the Nghe Tinh Inter-Provincial Viet Minh Front to Nam Dan: "Immediately arrange the seizure of power, establish a revolutionary People's Committee in the village... regardless of whether the village comes first or the district comes first".

On August 15, 1945, the Viet Minh Front of Thanh Thuy commune held a secret meeting and concluded that the time for revolution was ripe, and the system of the district governors, village chiefs, and local leaders were in extreme confusion. The people of Thanh Thuy, who had long suffered from a double yoke, had been exploited to the bone marrow, and deeply hated the feudal and imperialist regimes. Mass organizations such as youth, farmers, women, suicide guerrillas, and armed propaganda were carefully organized and ready to act when ordered.

The opportunity to seize power had come, but this had only happened in a few other localities in the country. In Nghe An and Ha Tinh, no locality had seized power. Seizing power in such circumstances would be dangerous, but if successful, it would create a fuse, promoting the revolutionary movement in the commune, district and province. The decision to seize power was ordered by the Viet Minh Front.

Mr. Bui Danh Ba, the person who directly seized power in the past, still remembers clearly the boiling revolutionary atmosphere of his homeland.

“That whole night, the people of Thanh Thuy did not sleep, a seething atmosphere rose to every village and alley. People poured into the streets to protest, shouting slogans such as “Destroy Fascism”, “Down with feudalism”, “Long live the revolution”. On the afternoon of August 16, under the leadership of the Viet Minh Front, the people of Thanh Thuy enthusiastically went to seize power with weapons such as 12 long-handled knives, 2 swords, 2 daggers and 1 pistol. Very quickly, the power was in the hands of the people, the reactionary feudalists did not have any reaction”, Mr. Bui Danh Ba (91 years old), who directly participated in leading the seizure of power that year, recalled the exciting, seething revolutionary atmosphere of the people of Thanh Thuy.

After becoming the first locality in Nghe An province to gain power, the Viet Minh Front of Thanh Thuy commune decided to establish the Thanh Thuy Commune Uprising Committee, headquartered at Duc Nam communal house, with Mr. Nguyen Huu Thai as chairman, Mr. Bui Danh Cu as vice chairman and other members in charge of finance, land administration, treasurer, military commissioner, etc.

Not long after Thanh Thuy seized power, the atmosphere of the August Revolution rose throughout the province. On August 17, the people of Yen Dung and Loc Da rose up to seize power, on August 18, Quynh Luu district, on August 21, Vinh city and Dien Chau district, and on August 23, Nam Dan district also rose up to seize the feudal imperial power into the hands of the revolution.

By 1952, Thanh Thuy commune was renamed Nam Thanh commune as it is today.

As a locality that “stood up first” in the movement to seize power, when the country was unified, the people of Nam Thanh also promoted their homeland’s revolutionary tradition. In 1998, the Party Committee, government and people of Nam Thanh were awarded the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces by the State.

As a purely agricultural commune, Nam Thanh determined to boldly shift the structure of plants and animals reasonably, apply science and technology to production, try to take advantage of natural advantages, repair 3 irrigation dams and send people to reclaim the fertile Dai Hue mountain area. Up to now, 3 large dams, Rao Bang, Hung Coc, Da Han, have become the source of irrigation for the entire system of fields stretching as far as the eye can see in the commune. The foot of Dai Hue mountain has become a fertile land with green tea hills, forests of raw materials ready for harvest, and large-scale, high-income livestock farms, etc.

The road to Nam Thanh today

Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Thanh Commune, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung, said that over the years, the people of Nam Thanh have always been proud of being a revolutionary land and have promoted that spirit in the current economic and social development. From a poor commune, Nam Thanh has now become a fairly well-off locality of Nam Dan District with an average income per capita of more than 18 million VND/year. Cultural and social institutions have been built synchronously and basically, all 17 hamlets have spacious cultural houses, sports grounds, the commune is also building a high-rise primary school and gradually striving to meet the criteria in building new rural areas.

During these historic August days, the land and people of Nam Thanh are bustling, throughout the village roads and alleys, red flags with yellow stars are fluttering, a joyful and excited atmosphere covers this land rich in tradition. Everywhere, people happily discuss the construction of new rural areas, production plans after land consolidation and plot exchange; talk about their children passing the university and college entrance exams in the recent exam period,...

In the autumn weather of August, the eyes and smiles of the people of Nam Thanh are radiant with faith and pride in the revolutionary land.

Nguyen Khoa