Nghe Tinh Soviet - the peak of the revolutionary movement 1930-1931
Nghe Tinh, a land of outstanding people, where the sacred soul of mountains and rivers is nurtured and the heroic revolutionary spirit of the Vietnamese people shines brightly. Over thousands of years of building and defending the country, Nghe Tinh has always held an important strategic position, considered as the "fence" of the country. The people of Nghe Tinh are also known for their tradition of patriotism, indomitability and steadfastness in fighting against foreign invaders.
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On February 3, 1930, the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam became an extremely important political event, a historical milestone that determined the development process of the Vietnamese revolution. As soon as it was born, the Party led the large-scale struggle of workers and peasants nationwide, culminating in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement.
In March 1930, the Provisional Central Branch in Central Vietnam was established with comrade Nguyen Phong Sac as Secretary. The Central Branch successively appointed Provisional Provincial Executive Committees in Nghe An, including Vinh Provincial Committee and Nghe An Provincial Committee. During this time, the Provisional Provincial Party Committee of Ha Tinh was also established.
After its establishment, the Provincial Party Committee members met and decided to step up propaganda and mobilize the establishment of Party cells in Nghe Tinh. Thanks to the prestige and tireless efforts of the comrades, after a short time, the Party organization system was built systematically from the district, commune to village and commune levels. Along with the Party organization, patriotic mass organizations such as the Red Farmers' Association, Red Self-Defense Force, Youth Union, Women's Union... were also established, creating a solid revolutionary network.
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The Nghe Tinh Soviet movement was initiated by the struggle of workers and peasants in Vinh - Ben Thuy on May 1, 1930. Under the leadership of comrades Hoang Trong Tri, Nguyen Phuc, Nguyen Loi, more than 1,200 peasants from Duc Hau, An Hau villages (former Nghi Loc district), Yen Dung, Loc Da, Duc Thinh (former Hung Nguyen district) marched into Vinh - Ben Thuy city (formerly) to coordinate with factory workers to demand that the French owners implement demands such as: salary increase, 8-hour work day, tax reduction...
The demonstrators were not armed, only carrying hammer and sickle flags and banners, and singing the Internationale as they marched. When the French guards ordered the soldiers to fire on the demonstrators, the soldiers pointed their guns into the sky. The struggle was evaluated as “For the first time in the history of our country's revolution, workers, farmers and soldiers joined hands on the front line.
On the same day, in Thanh Chuong district (old), two struggles took place that caused great resonance: a rally of more than 3,000 farmers from Hanh Lam, La Mac, Duc Nhuan, Yen Lac villages... marching to Ky Vien plantation to reclaim their land and a rally and march of more than 100 students from Thanh Chuong French-Vietnamese Primary School to celebrate International Labor Day.
The struggles of the people of Nghe Tinh continued to take place more and more strongly and densely. From May to August 1930, in Nghe Tinh there were 97 strikes and demonstrations of workers and farmers. That wave continued to develop in the following months. From political struggles, the masses continued to demonstrate with primitive weapons.
The beginning of the armed struggle period was a demonstration of about 3,000 farmers in Nam Dan on August 30, 1930, forcing the District Chief to sign the people's petition. On September 1, 1930, in Thanh Chuong, a large-scale demonstration of over 20,000 farmers in 5 communes broke out, forcing District Chief Phan Si Bang, his officials, and soldiers to abandon their work and flee.
In Can Loc - Ha Tinh, on the morning of September 7, 1930, more than 1,000 farmers from the five communes of Phu Luu, Noi Ngoai, Doai, Nga Khe, Lai Thach, under the direction of the District Party Committee and Party cell, carried hammer and sickle flags, chanted slogans, and marched from all directions to the district capital. When the protest groups reached the district office, the District Chief and the local officials were terrified and fled. Taking advantage of the victory, the masses stormed the district office, burned books and papers, and opened prisons to free the prisoners. The struggle was victorious, temporarily paralyzing the enemy government.
In Hung Nguyen, Nghe An, on the morning of September 12, 1930, about 8,000 farmers from 3 communes: Phu Long, Thong Lang (former Hung Nguyen district) and Nam Kim (former Nam Dan district), under the leadership of comrades Nguyen Ngoc Ngoan and Le Doan Suu, raised high the red flag of hammer and sickle, with spears, sticks, and 3-pronged forks, marched to Yen Xuan station, tied up the station master, and cut off the enemy's communication lines. At the gate of Phu Xa - Hung Nguyen temple, comrade Nguyen Thi Phia gave a speech denouncing the crimes of colonialism and feudalism, calling on the masses to follow the Party. The French colonialists twice used planes to drop bombs on the protesters, killing 217 people and injuring 125.
From September onwards, the mass struggle movement changed beyond the expectations of the Party committees at all levels. Demonstrations with primitive weapons supported by the Red Guards, farmers from many districts in Nghe Tinh attacked the district office. Faced with the revolutionary storm of the masses, the ruling government was in turmoil and worried because: “In just a few weeks, communism spread from place to place, almost to every village in the Ca River valley and the Ha Tinh plain.”1. NewspaperPublic OpinionThe September 20, 1930 issue wrote: “In the villages, village chiefs and canton chiefs have no power and no control over their lives and property.”2.
The fighting strength of the Nghe Tinh people completely shook and collapsed the enemy's ruling apparatus. The Red Peasant Executive Committees (Commune Farmers' Associations) took charge of managing the communes and villages, similar to the Soviet government during the October Revolution in Russia.
Write down your dreams aboutgovernment of the people, by the people and for the people
On November 5, 1930, in a letter to the International Peasants' Union, presenting about the national peasants and the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement, comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc wrote:“… At present, in some Red Villages, Peasant Soviets have been established…”.
From its inception, the Soviet government implemented rights for working people.About politics: The Soviet Union did not recognize the colonial and feudal government apparatus and the laws they set up to suppress and exploit the people, to implement freedoms and democracy for the people such as freedom of assembly, freedom to go to school, gender equality..., to suppress reactionaries who were lackeys of the French colonialists, to assign the task of maintaining order and security and protecting the revolution to the Red Self-Defense Forces...Economically, not paying taxes to France and forcing the mandarins to return to the people the collected taxes, forcing landowners and the rich to reduce rent, postpone debts and abolish additional land rents for farmers, re-regulating wages for hired workers to redistribute public land... some places even used public land to organize collective production for the people in the form of agricultural cooperatives.About culture - society: Eliminate backward customs, prohibit opium smoking, drinking alcohol, gambling...
The policies and measures implemented by the Soviet government created a new atmosphere in the countryside. The people's trust in the Party and the revolution was clearly demonstrated. The words "communist" and "socialist" contained sacred meanings, and were both ideals and slogans for the people. They were ready to sacrifice their lives and property to fight against the French colonialists' terror policy and protect the achievements of the revolution.
Although still young, the Soviet government in Nghe Tinh performed the functions of a revolutionary government. The Nghe Tinh Soviet movement made the dream of the people of Nghe Tinh come true. That was the dream of a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Unyielding
Frightened by the people's fighting power, the French colonialists and their puppet government implemented many policies to suppress and extinguish the revolutionary movement in the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, such as: strengthening the local ruling apparatus, bringing many experienced secret police officials from Hue and other provinces to Nghe Tinh, setting up military posts from village to commune, expanding and establishing more prisons; using newspapers, posting notices, organizing "yellow flag processions" and "issuing surrender cards" to divide and isolate the revolutionary forces among the masses.
When the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement in the lowland districts was brutally suppressed by the French colonialists, in order to maintain and develop the Party's base, the Central Region Party Committee and Nghe An Provincial Party Committee advocated developing the movement to the mountainous districts.
In April 1931, the Mon Son Party Cell was established at the house of comrade Vi Van Khang, Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district. Party members actively propagated the revolution, distributed leaflets and mobilized the masses to fight. A typical example was the struggle of 300 ethnic minority farmers in Con Cuong who participated in the demonstration on August 9, 1931, surrounding the house of the Ba Uong delegation, forcing the family to hand over their property to the revolution.
However, the white terror policy of the French colonialists caused serious losses to the revolutionary movement in Nghe Tinh. The number of party members and patriotic masses arrested and imprisoned in Vinh Prison and Ha Tinh Prison increased day by day, the cells were packed with prisoners, including hundreds of steadfast communist soldiers. By early 1932, Nghe An alone had 6,681 people arrested, nearly 1,500 people were killed.
During this sweep, despite facing losses and dangers, the people of Nghe Tinh still kept their faith in the revolution, secretly sheltering, protecting, and hiding many cadres and party members until the movement temporarily subsided and they retreated into secret activities.
“Although the French imperialists suppressed the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement in a sea of blood, the Nghe Tinh Soviet demonstrated the heroic spirit and revolutionary capacity of the Vietnamese working people. Although the movement failed, it trained the forces for the later victorious August Revolution.”.
The revolutionary high tide of 1930-1931, with the peak of the Nghe Tinh Soviet, left many valuable lessons for our country's revolution. These are lessons about the cadres, party members and people who were trained in the fierce struggle against the enemy; about the solidly built worker-peasant alliance; lessons about using forms and methods of revolutionary struggle appropriate to each specific historical situation; lessons about seizing revolutionary opportunities; lessons about combining forms of struggle. The Nghe Tinh Soviet high tide built and consolidated the belief that our people, under the leadership of the Party, were capable of overthrowing the domination of imperialism and feudalism and building a new society.
The Nghe Tinh Soviet was a major event in the nation's history in the 20th century, the first rehearsal of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the masses in preparation for the August 1945 General Uprising. Although it existed in its rudimentary form, the Nghe Tinh Soviet left a good impression of a model of a worker-peasant state of the people, by the people and for the people.
95 springs have passed, but the Soviet spirit and spirit still exist forever with the history of the nation. The tradition of our ancestors will contribute to lighting the flame of pride, enthusiasm, and determination to help the Party Committee and people of Nghe An - Ha Tinh provinces overcome difficulties and challenges to promote advantages, create new breakthroughs in all aspects, contribute to building and bringing the country into a new era, an era of national development.
1 Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (1989),History of Vietnam, Social Sciences Publishing House, Volume II, p. 224
2 Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee of Nghe An province,History of Nghe An, volume 1, from the beginning to the August Revolution of 1945,National Political Publishing House, page 832
