In a short period, with their strong revolutionary mettle under the clear-sighted leadership of the Party, the Vietnamese people brought the August Revolution to success in
1945, putting an end to the thousand-year-old feudal regime, the nearly 100 years of French colonial rule and the five-year occupation by Japanese Fascists and leading to national unification.
This Report recounts the evolution of Revolution :
1 / The Situation and conditions of The Revolution :
September 1940 witnessed the occupation of Hanoi by the Japanese fascists. The people of Hanoi started a new historical stage, life and struggle under the dual Franco-Japanese yoke.
Despite all the efforts by the French to distract the current struggle, such as the setting up of the Duy Roi Youth and the opening of new colleges, they could not disguise the poverty of the people, the rise in the prices, the abolishment of rice crops for jute planting and the imposition of new taxes. Many pro-Japanese parties were formed in Hanoi, which had a bad impact on the situation. They tried to encourage political moves, but they could not mislead the Vietnamese people whose hearts were with the communist party.
Then the Viet Minh (short for Viet Nam Doc lap Dong minh Hoi - League for Vietnamese Independence) was founded. This involved various organisations (of workers, peasants, youth, women and guerilla units) operating in Hanoi, putting up stiff resistance to the French and the Japanese: for example workers’ strikes, seizure of rice stores and the establishment of "tự vệ" (small armed groups).
2/ Prepare For Action in the summer of 1945:
On 9 March 1945 the Japanese troops disarmed the French. The revolutionary movement was seething.
In the summer of 1945, popular discontent reached a climax and revolutionary action involving both political and armed struggle proliferated throughout the country, from north to south, in villages and cities, and among the ethnic minorities in the mountainous regions.
The decisive factor was the Viet Minh Front which led and coordinated all the actions nationwide.
3/ In August 1945:
On August 13, following the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army by the Soviet Army and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, Japan surrendered.
After 15 August 1945 Japan surrendered to the Allies.
With the Communist Party of Indochina, it is not unexpected , Ho Chi Minh City has correctly predicted.
In these circumstances it is quite a decision whether we stood up for an uprising or waited for the Liberation Army. If we hesitated, there was a danger that a late uprising would be defeated.
The same day, the Communist Party of Indochina, met at a national congress and decided to adopt the following slogans:
- End foreign aggression;
- Seize back national independence; and
- Found the people's power.
Orders were given to combine political and military action to agitate and to demoralize the enemy, to force them to surrender before an attack, and to focus on the most important targets.
On August 16, the Viet Minh convened a National Congress bringing together delegates from many parties, organizations, and ethnic and religious groups. The congress decided on the following resolution:
"To seize power from the hands of the Japanese and puppet government before the arrival of Allied troops in Indochina and receive in our capacity, as masters of the country, the troops which come to disarm the Japanese".
The problem was pre-emptying the "Allies" (Chiang Kai-shek, British, French and American) who all wanted to occupy Indochina in their own interests.
The Congress adopted a 10-point program:
- Seize power and found the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on the basis of total independence; Arm the people. Strengthen the Liberation Army;
- Confiscate the property of the imperialists and traitors, and depending on circumstances, nationalize it or share it out among the poor;
- Abolish the taxes imposed by the French and Japanese, and replace them with a just and non-punitive budget system;
- Guarantee the fundamental rights of the people:
+ Human rights,
+ Right to private ownership,
+ Civil rights : universal suffrage, democratic freedoms, equality among ethnic groups, and between men and women
- Share out communal land fairly, reduce land rent and loan interest rates, postpone repayment of debts, and provide relief to victims of natural disasters;
- Introduce labour legislation : an eight-hour workday, minimum salary, national insurance;
- Build in independent national economy, develop agriculture, and set up a national bank;
- Develop a national education system : fight illiteracy, and introduce compulsory elementary education. Build a new culture;
- Establish friendly relations with the Allies and countries struggling for independence.
- A National Committee for Liberation was elected, with the functions of at provisional government, headed by Ho Chi Minh. He soon made a moving appeal to the nation:
"This hour is a decisive one for our nation's destiny. Let us all stand up and fight tenaciously for our own liberation. Many peoples of the world are rising up to regain their independence. We cannot lag behind. Forward! Under the Viet Minh banner, let us march courageously forward"
The Revolution happened in a very short time :
The Liberation Army promptly liberated the town of Thai Nguyen ( the "central" province of North West). Everywhere mass organizations and guerrilla and self defense units swung into action. A tidal wave swept the country; in every village and every town between August 14 and 25, large crowds backed by armed groups laid siege to administrative offices. The local authorities fled or handed power over to the revolutionaries. Most of the garrisons of demoralized Japanese or puppet troops allowed themselves to be disarmed. Only a few cities remained under occupation : Lai Chau, then occupied by a large French column returning from China where it had taken refuge during the Japanese putsch of March 9, 1945, and Mong Cai, Ha Giang and Lao Cai on the Sino-Vietnamese border, then occupied by Chiang Kai-slick's troops.
In the three major cities of Hanoi, Hue and Saigon, the swift victory won by the uprising was of paramount importance.
Thus, the Hanoi Communist Party Section, based themselves on the Central Committee’s Guidelines and decided to set up a committee for uprising.
On August 17, a rally called by the Federation of Functionaries in support of the puppet government was turned into a huge demonstration in favour of the Viet Minh by an enthusiastic crowd. A general strike was launched
Most of the pro-Japanese offices in Hanoi were made powerless.
On August 18 a mass meeting was held in the Town Hall Square, which then turned into a huge demonstration in favour of the Viet Minh.
On August 19, more than 100,000 people demonstrated in the streets, and the puppet government was forced to resign and hand over power to the revolutionaries.
Hue was the royal capital and seat of the pro-Japanese puppet government. The Viet Minh, to avoid bloodshed, tried to persuade Bao Dai to abdicate and his prime minister, Tran Trong Kim to resign. The reactionaries, wanting to hang on to power, were planning to ask the Japanese command for a 5,000 strong guard, but in order to prevent this, the people of Hue and surrounding villages, accompanied by armed groups, took to the streets to demonstrate and occupy various ministries. On August 23, Bao Dai agreed to abdicate, and the Tran Trong Kim government collapsed. On the 25th, a delegation from the people's government in Hanoi led by Tran Huy Lieu received the dynastic seal and sword, the symbols of royal power, from Bao Dai. Bao Dai became citizens Vinh Thuy.
In Cochinchina, on August 14, pro-Japanese elements formed a united National Front. The king's envoy from Hue, Nguyen Van Sam, asked the Japanese to arm the members of this front. However, he was enable to withstand popular pressure. On August 25, one million people from Saigon and neighbouring areas, protected by armed groups, marched through the city and established the revolutionary power.
The insurrection had won complete victory throughout the country.
On 2 September 1945, in Ba Đinh Square President Ho Chi Minh proclaimed to the world the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
This Report recounts the evolution of Revolution :
1 / The Situation and conditions of The Revolution :
September 1940 witnessed the occupation of Hanoi by the Japanese fascists. The people of Hanoi started a new historical stage, life and struggle under the dual Franco-Japanese yoke.
Despite all the efforts by the French to distract the current struggle, such as the setting up of the Duy Roi Youth and the opening of new colleges, they could not disguise the poverty of the people, the rise in the prices, the abolishment of rice crops for jute planting and the imposition of new taxes. Many pro-Japanese parties were formed in Hanoi, which had a bad impact on the situation. They tried to encourage political moves, but they could not mislead the Vietnamese people whose hearts were with the communist party.
Then the Viet Minh (short for Viet Nam Doc lap Dong minh Hoi - League for Vietnamese Independence) was founded. This involved various organisations (of workers, peasants, youth, women and guerilla units) operating in Hanoi, putting up stiff resistance to the French and the Japanese: for example workers’ strikes, seizure of rice stores and the establishment of "tự vệ" (small armed groups).
2/ Prepare For Action in the summer of 1945:
On 9 March 1945 the Japanese troops disarmed the French. The revolutionary movement was seething.
In the summer of 1945, popular discontent reached a climax and revolutionary action involving both political and armed struggle proliferated throughout the country, from north to south, in villages and cities, and among the ethnic minorities in the mountainous regions.
The decisive factor was the Viet Minh Front which led and coordinated all the actions nationwide.
3/ In August 1945:
On August 13, following the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army by the Soviet Army and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, Japan surrendered.
After 15 August 1945 Japan surrendered to the Allies.
With the Communist Party of Indochina, it is not unexpected , Ho Chi Minh City has correctly predicted.
In these circumstances it is quite a decision whether we stood up for an uprising or waited for the Liberation Army. If we hesitated, there was a danger that a late uprising would be defeated.
The same day, the Communist Party of Indochina, met at a national congress and decided to adopt the following slogans:
- End foreign aggression;
- Seize back national independence; and
- Found the people's power.
Orders were given to combine political and military action to agitate and to demoralize the enemy, to force them to surrender before an attack, and to focus on the most important targets.
On August 16, the Viet Minh convened a National Congress bringing together delegates from many parties, organizations, and ethnic and religious groups. The congress decided on the following resolution:
"To seize power from the hands of the Japanese and puppet government before the arrival of Allied troops in Indochina and receive in our capacity, as masters of the country, the troops which come to disarm the Japanese".
The problem was pre-emptying the "Allies" (Chiang Kai-shek, British, French and American) who all wanted to occupy Indochina in their own interests.
The Congress adopted a 10-point program:
- Seize power and found the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on the basis of total independence; Arm the people. Strengthen the Liberation Army;
- Confiscate the property of the imperialists and traitors, and depending on circumstances, nationalize it or share it out among the poor;
- Abolish the taxes imposed by the French and Japanese, and replace them with a just and non-punitive budget system;
- Guarantee the fundamental rights of the people:
+ Human rights,
+ Right to private ownership,
+ Civil rights : universal suffrage, democratic freedoms, equality among ethnic groups, and between men and women
- Share out communal land fairly, reduce land rent and loan interest rates, postpone repayment of debts, and provide relief to victims of natural disasters;
- Introduce labour legislation : an eight-hour workday, minimum salary, national insurance;
- Build in independent national economy, develop agriculture, and set up a national bank;
- Develop a national education system : fight illiteracy, and introduce compulsory elementary education. Build a new culture;
- Establish friendly relations with the Allies and countries struggling for independence.
- A National Committee for Liberation was elected, with the functions of at provisional government, headed by Ho Chi Minh. He soon made a moving appeal to the nation:
"This hour is a decisive one for our nation's destiny. Let us all stand up and fight tenaciously for our own liberation. Many peoples of the world are rising up to regain their independence. We cannot lag behind. Forward! Under the Viet Minh banner, let us march courageously forward"
The Revolution happened in a very short time :
The Liberation Army promptly liberated the town of Thai Nguyen ( the "central" province of North West). Everywhere mass organizations and guerrilla and self defense units swung into action. A tidal wave swept the country; in every village and every town between August 14 and 25, large crowds backed by armed groups laid siege to administrative offices. The local authorities fled or handed power over to the revolutionaries. Most of the garrisons of demoralized Japanese or puppet troops allowed themselves to be disarmed. Only a few cities remained under occupation : Lai Chau, then occupied by a large French column returning from China where it had taken refuge during the Japanese putsch of March 9, 1945, and Mong Cai, Ha Giang and Lao Cai on the Sino-Vietnamese border, then occupied by Chiang Kai-slick's troops.
In the three major cities of Hanoi, Hue and Saigon, the swift victory won by the uprising was of paramount importance.
Thus, the Hanoi Communist Party Section, based themselves on the Central Committee’s Guidelines and decided to set up a committee for uprising.
On August 17, a rally called by the Federation of Functionaries in support of the puppet government was turned into a huge demonstration in favour of the Viet Minh by an enthusiastic crowd. A general strike was launched
Most of the pro-Japanese offices in Hanoi were made powerless.
On August 18 a mass meeting was held in the Town Hall Square, which then turned into a huge demonstration in favour of the Viet Minh.
On August 19, more than 100,000 people demonstrated in the streets, and the puppet government was forced to resign and hand over power to the revolutionaries.
Hue was the royal capital and seat of the pro-Japanese puppet government. The Viet Minh, to avoid bloodshed, tried to persuade Bao Dai to abdicate and his prime minister, Tran Trong Kim to resign. The reactionaries, wanting to hang on to power, were planning to ask the Japanese command for a 5,000 strong guard, but in order to prevent this, the people of Hue and surrounding villages, accompanied by armed groups, took to the streets to demonstrate and occupy various ministries. On August 23, Bao Dai agreed to abdicate, and the Tran Trong Kim government collapsed. On the 25th, a delegation from the people's government in Hanoi led by Tran Huy Lieu received the dynastic seal and sword, the symbols of royal power, from Bao Dai. Bao Dai became citizens Vinh Thuy.
In Cochinchina, on August 14, pro-Japanese elements formed a united National Front. The king's envoy from Hue, Nguyen Van Sam, asked the Japanese to arm the members of this front. However, he was enable to withstand popular pressure. On August 25, one million people from Saigon and neighbouring areas, protected by armed groups, marched through the city and established the revolutionary power.
The insurrection had won complete victory throughout the country.
On 2 September 1945, in Ba Đinh Square President Ho Chi Minh proclaimed to the world the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Vietnam TraiTim PhaLe
No comments :
Post a Comment