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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.
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. 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:
1.
Seize power
and found the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on the
basis of total independence; Arm the people. Strengthen
the Liberation Army;
2. Confiscate
the property of the imperialists and traitors, and
depending on circumstances, nationalize it or share
it out among the poor;
3.
Abolish the
taxes imposed by the French and Japanese, and replace
them with a just and non-punitive budget system;
4.
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;
5.
Share out
communal land fairly, reduce land rent and loan interest
rates, postpone repayment of debts, and provide relief
to victims of natural disasters;
6.
Introduce
labor legislation : an eight-hour workday, minimum
salary, national insurance;
7.
Build in
independent national economy, develop agriculture, and
set up a national bank;
8.
Develop a
national education system : fight illiteracy, and
introduce compulsory elementary education. Build a new
culture;
9.
Establish
friendly relations with the Allies and countries
struggling for independence.
10.
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
Liberation Army promptly liberated the town of
Thai Nguyen.
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, Hit 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. In
Hanoi.
pro-Japanese agents trying to stem the revolutionary
tide, set up a National Salvation Committee which failed
to rally the masses. 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. 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 Cochin
china, 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 neighboring areas, protected by armed groups,
marched through the city and established the
revolutionary power..
The
insurrection had won complete victory throughout the
country.
The August
Revolution of 1945 put an end to 80 years of French
colonial domination, abolished the monarchy and
reestablished
Vietnam
as an independent nation.
The
revolution dealt a severe blow to the colonial system,
and along with other movements throughout the world,
ushered in the dismantling of colonial empires.
The August
Revolution was characterized by a sound combination of
political and armed struggles, one supporting the other,
the importance attributed to either varying with
the circumstances. It showed the political maturity as
well as the capacity for action of the masses and the
leadership ability of the Viet Minh Front and Communist
Party. Victory was achieved thanks to its leadership
that had called for the right action at the right
moment, and identified forms of action appropriate to
each movement and each locality. It was also the product
of long preparation, both political and military, that
began at the start of the Second World War, and which
ended in creating a strong national union on the basis
of a close alliance between the workers and peasants,
and succeeded in inspiring the masses with a courage
that could be held out against all challenges.
The Founding of the Democratic
Republic
of
Vietnam
(1945-1946)
When World
War II ended and
Japan
surrendered, the Vietnamese were successful in gaining
independence in the August 1945 Revolution. President Ho
Chi Minh read the Independence Manifesto to declare the
establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at
Ba Dinh
Square
on
September 2,
1945.
French Aggression in
Nam
Bo
In the
summer of 1945, the French government took a series of
urgent measures aimed at re-establishing French
sovereignty in
Indochina
following
Japan's
defeat. On August 16,
France
dispatched the Mass Unit and the 9th Colonial Infantry
Division with General Leelere as commander-in-chief of
the Expeditionary Corps and Admiral Thierry d'Argenlieu,
a Catholic, as High Commissioner for
France
in
Indochina.
On August
23, French troops, among them Cedile, a delegate from
the High Commissioner, were parachuted into Nam Bo
(southern
Vietnam).
On August 29, Cedile made contact with members of the
Nam Bo Revolutionary Committee and told them
France
recognized neither
Vietnam's
Independence
nor its unity. The committee told him that independence
and unity had already been achieved, and that the
Vietnamese people would not recognize any form of
colonial administration. On September 2, during a huge
demonstration in favor of independence, French
colonialists and their agents, hiding in church, opened
fire on the crowd, killing and injuring 47 people.
On the night
of September 22, French troops attacked
Saigon.
The war for recon quest had begun. The Nam Bo committee
immediately called on the people to fight back. The
slogan "independence or death" appeared every where. On
September 26, president Ho Chi Minh made the following
proclamation.
"Let the Government and our
people throughout the country do all they can for the
combatants and people of the south who are valiantly
fighting their lives to safeguard the independence of
the homeland."
Units of the
People's Army immediately began the march towards the
south.
At the end
of January 1946, deploying their armored vehicles and
navy, the French occupied Nam Bo's main cities and
communication routes and those of the southern part of
Trung Bo and the
Central
Highlands.
After an unequal fight, the Vietnamese force pulled out
of the cities to begin organizing the resistance in
rural areas. The main resistance bases were situated in
the Plain of Reeds, the Thanh Phu region,
Ben
Tre
Province,
the swampy region of U Minh and the western provinces of
Nam Bo,
Vietnam's
central government considered that the main task at that
time was to strengthen the resistance in the south as
much as possible.
This task
provoked incidents in
Vietnam's
capital city. On December17, an attack by French troops
on
Hang Bun
Street
killed a hundred people. On December 18, the French
Troops occupied the Ministries of Finance and
Communications, and increased their provocation in the
streets. On December 19, the French command sent an
ultimatum to the Vietnamese government demanding the
demolition of barricades, the disarming of self-defense
forces, and handing over to French troops of the right
to keep order in the Vietnamese capital.
On the
evening of
December 19
1946,
President Ho Chi Minh made an appeal to the nation:
" Compatriots'
We want peace, and we have
made concessions. But the more concessions we make, the
more the French colonialists use them to encroach upon
our rights. They are determined to re conquer our
country.
No. We would rather
sacrifice all than lose our independence and be
enslaved. All of you, men and women, young and old, what
ever your region, ethnic origin, or political opinion,
arise to struggle against French colonialism and save
the homeland. Let those who have guns use their guns,
those who have swords use their swords, those have
neither guns nor swords use hoes, pick-axes, and sticks.
Let all arise to oppose colonialism and defend our
homeland.... Our people will win".
The war of
resistance, until then limited to the south, spread
across the country. The newly born Democratic Republic
of Vietnam was confronted with a decisive challenge, a
war against a heavily armed imperialist power far
superior in strength in the technical and economic
fields.
The First War of Resistance
(1945-1954)
The war of
resistance against French colonialist aggression which
broke out on September 25 1945 in Nam Bo, and spread
throughout the country after December 19 1946, marked a
decisive stage in an almost century-long struggle to
regain the nation's independence and democratize the
country. While armed struggle came ahead of all other
concerns, economic reconstruction, educational
advancement, and the establishing of new administrative
structures remained as the major tasks. While national
liberation was the prime objective, the democratic
objectives were no less important, all the more so since
the struggle was led by a party of the working class and
the fact that the worker-peasant alliance constituted
the very foundations of the united national front.
Dien Bien Phu
Under the leadership of the
Indochina
Communist Party and President Ho, the Vietnamese carried
out a resistance struggle to protect their independence.
The victory of
Dien Bien Phu
ended the Vietnamese resistance war, liberating half of
the country.
It was in
this revolutionary atmosphere that the Vietnamese
command decided its plans for the winter-spring campaign
of 1953-1954. As had been foreseen, the fierce assaults
launched by the enemy into the liberated areas at Lang
Son and Ninh Binh brought poor results, and the French
forces soon withdrew after sustaining heavy losses.
Throughout the 1953-1954 winter-spring campaign,
fighting had been fierce on all fronts.
The defeats
at
Dien Bien
Phu
and in the winter-spring campaign completed the French
government to sue for peace.
The
Geneva
Conference
The Geneva
Conference on
Korea
and
Indochina
opened on April 26. Eight states participated in the
conference: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam,
France,
the
Soviet Union,
Britain,
the People's Republic of
China,
the
United
States,
Cambodia
and
Laos,
plus the Bao Dai government.
The
principal negotiators were
France,
Vietnam
and
China.
The
US
was there primarily to try to sabotage the conference.
The signed
agreements included military and political provisions.
Militarily, it was decided that the forces from each
side would be regrouped into two different zones, north
and south of the 17th parallel, so as to separate the
armies which, given the special nature of the war, had
been interlocked like "two combs". A 300 days deadline
was agreed on for achieving this re- groupment.
Politically,
the agreements recognized the independence, sovereignty,
unity and territorial integrity of the three countries
of
Indochina.
In no way was the demarcation line along the 17th
parallel to be considered as a political frontier. In
July 1956, at the latest, free general elections with
secret ballots would give
Vietnam
a unified government.
Pending
reunification,
Vietnam's
two zones would refrain from joining any military
alliance. No foreign military bases could be set up and
no new foreign military equipment or personnel could be
brought in either.
Building the initial
foundations of socialism and the struggle against
U.S.
Neo-Colonialism (1954-1973)
The
agreement stipulated that the southern half of
Vietnam
would be handed over to a provisional administration
after two years at the most, and that general elections
in 1956 at the latest, would give a united
Vietnam
a single government.
However,
soon after the agreement were signed, Washington, with
French government consent, set up a neo-colonialist
regime in southern Vietnam with specific
counter-revolutionary aims: liquidate the national
revolutionary movement in southern Vietnam, turn the
latter into a military base and colony of the US and set
up a military and police apparatus to serve as an
instrument for the enslavement of the south and recon
quest of the north.
The North
was led by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam where the
reconstruction of the nation would start. In the South,
the war for national liberation was still going on,
which lasted for 20 years.
There were three definable
stages during the period 1954-1975
- 1954-1965:
the establishment of the initial foundations of
socialism in the north, and the southern Vietnamese
people's struggle against repression and the
neo-colonialist war;
- 1965-1973:
the all-out struggle by north and south against direct
US
aggression, which ended with the signing of the Paris
Agreements of January 1973;
- 1973-1975:
the collapse of the neo-colonialist regime in the south.
The Great Spring 1975
Victory
The General
Assault of Ho Chi Minh's Campaign overthrew the Saigon
Government on the evening of
April 30,
1975.
On
May 1, 1975,
the workers and citizens of
Vietnam,
from North to South, were able to celebrate May Day in a
completely liberated country for the first time ever.
Vietnam
has been unified since that time. The Socialist Republic
of Vietnam, with
Hanoi
as the capital, was born.
Since Reunification
The entire
nation overcame the grave consequences of 30 years of
war and started rebuilding the country. Now,
Vietnam
is entering a new stage of economical development and is
striving to raise the annual income per capita, solidify
the economy. |
