Soviet Red Guards - the predecessor of the Vietnamese People's Armed Forces

Red Guard Team of Phuc Son Commune (Anh Son). Photo: Document

The Red Guard (also known as the Red Guard in some places) is one of the forces organized and tightly led by the Communist Party of Vietnam. Although there is no systematic organizational structure from top to bottom, in most communes, villages, and hamlets, the Red Guard has been established.

On the night of April 30, early May 1, 1930, the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement broke out when tens of thousands of workers and farmers in Vinh - Ben Thuy took to the streets to start a struggle with the French colonial government and the feudal regime to demand increased wages, reduced working hours, and reductions in taxes...

Typical Red Self-Defense soldiers in this period include: Chu Huy Man, Hoang Trong Tri, Tran Canh Binh (Vinh City); Nguyen Cong Thuong (Thanh Chuong); Nguyen Huu Sinh (Yen Thanh)... The history of the struggle in the Vinh - Ben Thuy area recorded: On the morning of May 1, 1930, the captain of the Red Self-Defense team in the Loc Da - Duc Thinh area, Hoang Trong Tri, and hundreds of other self-defense soldiers bravely held the hammer and sickle flag and led the demonstration, singing the Internationale and shouting slogans, encouraging the masses to move forward firmly. The enemy came to block the way and suppress them, the self-defense soldiers formed a block to protect the masses.

At Ben Thuy intersection, the history of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement recorded the heroic sacrifice of soldier Nguyen Don Nhoan when he bravely rushed forward to seize the enemy's gun to prevent them from shooting at the demonstrators; soldier Tran Canh Binh was killed by the enemy when he climbed up a lamppost, raising the hammer and sickle flag to encourage the fighting spirit of workers and farmers. In this first struggle, 7 red self-defense soldiers sacrificed their lives, 18 were injured, and more than 100 others were captured and brutally tortured by the enemy.

As seething as the Vinh - Ben Thuy area, the Red Self-Defense Force of Hanh Lam (Thanh Chuong district) protected 3,000 people fighting to destroy Ky Vien's plantation. On September 1, 1930, the Red Self-Defense Forces in Thanh Chuong district attacked Rao Gang post, arrested the village chiefs of Xuan Bang, Tu Vien, Xuan Tuong, Phong Nam, Nguyet Bong villages... The Red Self-Defense Force in Dai Dong district destroyed the Lat market bridge to block the enemy from Do Luong. The Vo Liet district Self-Defense Force (Thanh Chuong) arrested 11 village chiefs and those suspected of being spies.

On September 12, 1930, 8,000 Hung Nguyen farmers gathered at Yen Xuan Station to protest. The Red Self-Defense Force surrounded the station and arrested the station master. The French sent bombers to stop the protest in Thai Lao, killing and injuring many people, but they could not extinguish the fighting spirit and the pioneering role of the Nghe Tinh Red Self-Defense Force.

Comrade Vo Nguyen Giap read the speech establishing the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army in Tran Hung Dao forest on December 22, 1944. Photo: Archive

In October 1930, realizing that the Soviet movement was rising like a storm, the Party Central Committee issued a Resolution stating: “From now on, the Party must organize the Party Military Department to: Provide military training for Party members. Help workers and peasants associations organize self-defense teams. Mobilize in the enemy's army…”.

Implementing the direction of the Central and Central Region Party Committee, in a short time, the Red Self-Defense Force was organized and consolidated. By October 1930, in the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, there were 411 Red Self-Defense teams with 9,148 team members. Including the two years 1930 - 1931, through the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, 436 Red Self-Defense teams with 15,434 team members were born. Of which, Thanh Chuong district had the largest number of teams with 128 teams, Anh Son district had 94 teams, Dien Chau had 58 teams...

The Red Guards had in fact become the only armed force of the Soviet government. In the letter from the Party Central Committee to the Central Committee of the Central Region, the Red Guards' mission at this time was to "conduct military training, find ways to capture enemy guns, maintain strict order in the villages, and advise the people to plow and work normally."

After the Soviet government was established, the French colonialists and their henchmen returned to suppress the revolutionary movement. Following the Party's instructions, the Red Self-Defense Force not only protected the Soviet government but also mobilized and encouraged the people to fight against white terror and the enemy's tricks. The Red Self-Defense Teams of Hung Dung - Vinh, Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Nam Dan, Mon Son (Con Cuong)... with their brave spirit protected the Party's leaders at the grassroots level, successfully protected the first Congress of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, and kept secret the activities of the Central Region Party Committee.

Not only that, the grassroots party committees combined with the Red Self-Defense Force to launch a struggle movement in many forms such as: Distributing leaflets warning the henchmen, surrounding enemy posts, ambushing to prevent patrols, punishing evil henchmen. Typical events include: Nghi Loc District Red Self-Defense Force punished the district chief Ton That Hoan; Yen Thanh District Red Self-Defense Force broke up the plot to carry the yellow flag and issue surrender cards of the French colonialists and their henchmen at Trang Ke; Phuc Son Red Self-Defense Force (Anh Son District) eliminated the French post chief Pierre and 11 henchmen...

After 2 years of revolutionary struggle, from just shock troops hanging red flags and distributing leaflets, the Red Self-Defense Force developed into an important force in the revolutionary movement of 1930 - 1931.

The growth of the Red Self-Defense Forces in Nghe An and Ha Tinh was one of the bases for the First Party Congress (March 1935) held in Macau (China) to issue a separate Resolution on revolutionary violence methods, affirming: "The stronger the Red Self-Defense Forces are, the more favorable the conditions are for later organizing guerrilla warfare and armed violence."

The Congress advocated the establishment of a permanent worker-peasant self-defense force as the core of armed violent movements to seize power. Based on this strategy, from the Red Self-Defense forces formed during the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement of 1930-1931, the Party built and trained the predecessor armies of the Vietnamese people's armed forces. These were the Bac Son, Vu Nhai, Cao Bang, Do Luong, and Nam Ky guerrilla forces; the National Salvation Self-Defense Force, the National Salvation Army, etc.