Nghe An Youth in the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement: Devoting all their courage and determination to sacrifice

STAND UP FIRST

Looking back at the pages of history about the difficult and challenging period of our country's revolution 91 years ago, we can see that right from the beginning, the forceNghe An youthquickly stood up first. In the late 20s and early 30s of the 20th century, the national worker-peasant struggle movement flared up strongly. In Nghe An alone, from the end of 1929 to April 1930, 15 struggles broke out in the whole province.

Painting of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Movement.

Right at the demonstration in Vinh - Ben Thuy on May 1, 1930 of about 1,200 workers and farmers, the event that opened the revolutionary movement of 1930 - 1931 in Nghe An, a young man named Tran Canh Binh bravely held the flag at the forefront. On the same day at the French - Vietnamese Primary School in Thanh Chuong, more than 100 students gathered at Ngu Phuc restaurant (Vo Liet) to organize a rally on International Labor Day and then marched around the district capital, passing through Thanh Chuong district road.

The history of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union also records that, inNghe Tinh Soviet climax, although the authorities at that time used many methods of repression, there were many strikes and demonstrations organized by young people and students, most of whom came from the petty bourgeoisie and the working class, to express their opinions. For example, on September 24, 1930, 500 students from Vinh High School were expelled for organizing a demonstration in response to the Soviet villages.

On September 28 and 30, 1930, there were two demonstrations by working youth in Thanh Chuong and Nam Dan against reactionaries. On October 25, 1930, Nghi Loc students participated in a demonstration by farmers. In December 1930, in Ngu Phuc and Cao Dien (Thanh Chuong), young people were at the forefront of demonstrations. Many schools in Vinh, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Nghi Loc... were paralyzed and had to close because students participated in patriotic activities. At that time, there were up to 130 students, both male and female, and teachers were imprisoned by the enemy...

A street in Vinh in the 1920s. Photo courtesy of Flickr

In many Soviet regions, children were also organized into the Dong Tu Quan teams, typically in Trung Can village, now Trung Phuc Cuong commune (Nam Dan). They used signals to communicate with the Commune Department of Agriculture or to signal when the enemy entered the village to terrorize.

The revolutionary movement of 1930 - 1931 attracted a large number of young people and union members to participate; according to statistics that leader Nguyen Ai Quoc wrote in a letter to the Central Executive Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party on April 20, 1931, in Nam Dan there were 641 union members, Thanh Chuong had 78 union members, Anh Son had 35 union members... The Central Region Party Committee also reported that by May 1931, in Nghe An there were 2,356 union members and communist youth.

FALL DOWN FOR THE IDEAL

In Nghe An, the Youth Union developed most strongly during the period of the enemy's frenzied terror during the revolutionary climax of 1930 - 1931. Accordingly, implementing the Resolution of the expanded Conference of the Central Region Party Committee, the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, comrade Phan Dinh Dong was appointed as Secretary of the Provincial Youth Union and comrade Nguyen Gia Tuong was appointed as the first Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Youth Union of Nghe An in 1931.

Portrait of comrade Le Mao - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of Vinh - Ben Thuy Provincial Party Committee (left photo) and comrade Nguyen Tiem - Secretary of Nghe An General Student Association, first Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, Standing Member of Central Region Party Committee. Photo archive

Amidst the thorny and challenging circumstances, many outstanding young people have matured and played an important role in the revolutionary movement. Many have heroically sacrificed for the communist ideal, including leaders of the Regional and Provincial Party Committees such as: Le Mao - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of Vinh - Ben Thuy Provincial Party Committee, who sacrificed his life at the age of 26;Nguyen Tiem- Secretary of the Nghe An General Student Association, the first Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, Standing Committee member of the Central Region Party Committee sacrificed at the age of 21; Hoang Van Tam - Secretary of the Nghi Loc District Party Committee sacrificed at the age of 27; Cao Xuan Que - a communist youth union member and a member of the Red Self-Defense Force in Linh Son commune (Anh Son) heroically sacrificed at the age of 17;...

During the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931, which culminated in the Nghe Tinh Soviet, the patriotic youth force played a very important role. Under the leadership of the Party, generations of young people stood up to fight for the revolutionary cause, in line with the spirit of the propaganda article with the theme "Talking to the youth" by comrade Dang Chinh Ky - Officer in charge of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, first Secretary of the Nam Dan Party Committee in 1930. "... Look, the flag of struggle is fluttering in the middle of the world. There, the wave of civil rights has spread across the four seas. I ask you, young people, to quickly stand up! With all your courage, with all your determination to sacrifice. Shed blood to reclaim your rights, wave the red flag to repair the social foundation...", comrade Dang Chinh Ky wrote.

The Nghe Tinh Soviet is a brilliant mark in the golden history of our Party. Although it was drowned in blood and fire, through the climax it trained and rehearsed the revolutionary forces, contributing to the victory of the August Revolution in 1945. The youth of Nghe An are extremely proud to have contributed their efforts and blood in the first general rehearsal of the Vietnamese revolution under the leadership of the Indochinese Communist Party.

Workers working in a factory in Ben Thuy in the 1920s, mostly young people. This was the main force for the revolutionary struggles. Photo courtesy of Flickr

And until now, although more than 9 decades have passed, the sound of the Soviet drums of 1930 - 1931 still echoes on the land of Nghe An, especially every September. In particular, the example of the first generation of revolutionary youth who did not hesitate to sacrifice their blood and bones for the people and the country 91 years ago is still the driving force urging generations of Nghe An youth to live a worthy life. For many months now, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic having a profound impact on every corner of economic and social life, we have witnessed the image of many Nghe An youth directly sacrificing themselves on the front lines against the epidemic. This shows that, although the context of the country and society has changed a lot, the red thread from the generation of Soviet Nghe Tinh youth still continues to the generation of Nghe An youth today. They have lived worthy of the qualities of children "born in Hong Lam land - of Au Viet origin".