August Revolution - A historical milestone

The relic of Tong Than's house - evidence of the August Revolution (located in Long An ward today)

According to the former Head of the Propaganda Department of Tay Ninh Provincial Party Committee (before the merger) Vo Hoang Khai: Vietnam in the 20th century had three characteristics: One was the success of the August Revolution in 1945, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Two was defeating the wars of aggression to protect the achievements of the August Revolution. And three was carrying out the renovation process to bring the country to socialism. Without the August Revolution, we would not have had the Dien Bien Phu Victory with "Nine years of making Dien Bien, so the red wreath makes the golden history"; after the Dien Bien Phu Victory, the French withdrew and the Americans came in, we carried out the war to liberate the South with the Ho Chi Minh Campaign winning on April 30, 1975, then the border wars.

80 years ago, the victory of the August Revolution opened an era of independence and freedom for the entire nation. After 80 years, the entire nation is once again full of enthusiasm to enter a new era - the era of self-development. In which, Tay Ninh has also been immersed in the flow of national history.

Tan An took the lead in the August General Uprising in the South.

The success of the August Revolution led to the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the first worker-peasant state in Southeast Asia, ending the feudal monarchy in Vietnam, ending more than 80 years of colonial and fascist domination. From here, the country, society, people and people of Vietnam entered a new era - the era of national independence associated with socialism.

During that great revolution, Long An (before the merger), formerly Tan An, was proud to be the locality that "pioneered the August General Uprising in the South" as the former Secretary of the Southern Regional Party Committee, Tran Van Giau, commented.

After the Southern Uprising, the Tan An Party Committee took the initiative to restore its forces. At the end of 1943, there were regional committee members; at the beginning of 1945, District Committees A, B, C, D were established to organize forces. In 1945, many Party cells developed, especially the Youth Cell. In mid-1945, the Party established the Vanguard Youth organization in 46/62 villages to launch the uprising. In early July 1945, the Party Committee had an internal base in the army base and had secretly sent self-defense forces to hide in the inner city; in particular, the provincial capital had organized 2 weapon forges. Because Tan An had a strong Party member base and mass base, when the Southern Regional Party Committee chose it as the first place to launch the uprising, it won victory on August 21, 1945.

In the book History of Long An Provincial Party Committee (1930-2000), it is recorded: On the morning of August 22, 1945, 4,000 people with bamboo poles, spears, carrying red flags with yellow stars poured into the provincial football field to participate in a rally to celebrate the success of the revolution. As they walked, the group chanted the slogan "Long live Vietnam's independence!". The representative of the Provisional Administrative Committee of Tan An Province - Chairman Nguyen Van Trong declared: "Tan An government has returned to the people!".

Symbol of August Revolution in old Tan An province

After 15 years of persistent and resilient struggle, the people of Tan An under the leadership of the Provincial Party Committee carried out a successful General Uprising beyond the expectations of the Regional Party Committee. That important event was associated with Tong Than Palace - the symbol of the August Revolution here. Tong Than Palace was requisitioned by the Tan An Provincial Party Committee as its headquarters. This was the first public headquarters of the revolutionary government in the South after the August Revolution. At Tong Than Palace, the Tan An Provincial Party Committee held 3 important conferences to discuss and decide on issues related to building, consolidating and protecting the newly won revolutionary government.

Cho Lon province (Can Duoc, Can Giuoc, Duc Hoa, and Trung Quan districts in the past) with its special position closely linked to Saigon, the uprising to seize power was carried out on the same day as Saigon according to the policy of the Regional Party Committee. The uprising to seize power in Tan An province was a resounding victory, exceeding the plan set by the Regional Party Committee by one day. This had a strong impact on surrounding localities such as Trung Quan, Can Duoc, Duc Hoa (Cho Lon province) and Cho Gao, Chau Thanh (My Tho province),...

That victory marked a new page in the history of the revolutionary struggle of the people of Tan An - Cho Lon provinces. From then on, together with the whole country, the people of the two provinces escaped from the domination of the colonial and feudal regimes, took control of their own destiny, and built a new life.

Tay Ninh (before the merger) creatively applied the Party's guidelines and policies to gain power.

On August 23, 1945, upon hearing that Saigon was urgently preparing for an uprising to seize power, the Provincial Party Committee sent comrade Tran Kim Tan and comrade Truong My Lan to contact the Regional Party Committee to request direction for action. On that very day, comrade Truong My Lan returned to Tay Ninh to report on the situation, while comrade Tran Kim Tan stayed in Saigon to attend the rally.

Receiving the directive from the Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Huynh Van Thanh - Head of the Provincial Party Committee, convened a conference with the participation of Party members and core cadres. The conference discussed organizing a rally with the participation of a large number of people so that the Provincial Viet Minh Front could operate openly, and at the same time called on the people to support the Viet Minh.

Implementing the conference's policy, on the night of August 23, 1945, the Action Leadership Committee sent people to various places to mobilize the People, the Youth Vanguard Force and students to attend the rally in the town. Banners, flags and slogans were provided for the group attending the rally by the Viet Minh base at Thanh Dien Sugar Company, which took fabric from the factory, dyed red and cut and sewn for the groups. Everything was carried out very urgently and thoughtfully.

Rally to celebrate the liberation of Tay Ninh (before the merger), held at the Town Stadium (now Tan Ninh Ward), May 1975. This was also the place where the rally to seize power took place on August 25, 1945 (Photo: Archive)

Early in the morning of August 25, 1945, from Thanh Dien, Xom Vinh, Quan Com, the mass forces raised the red flag with the yellow star, everyone had a white band with the red Viet Minh or a red band on their arms, the party members carried pistols leading the ranks marching into the town stadium. At the same time, the Vanguard Youth force equipped with guns and bamboo from Hiep Ninh communal house marched into the stadium. The Cao Dai followers carried the religious flag, in neat formation, from the Holy See also came to the town stadium to attend the rally. Thus, a rally never seen before in Tay Ninh took place.

At the rally, comrade Huynh Van Thanh read a speech stating: The Japanese army had surrendered to the Allies, the government in Hanoi and the entire North and Central regions belonged to the Viet Minh and called on the people of Tay Ninh to stand up and be ready to seize power. The masses attending the rally were extremely excited, shouting slogans in support of the Viet Minh Front. The rally of the masses turned into a demonstration marching through the provincial governor's palace, around the market and the main streets of the town. Faced with the revolutionary spirit of the masses, the puppet government did not dare to react. At noon, the demonstration returned to the town.

The center of Tan Ninh ward is now the site of a rally and uprising to seize power 80 years ago (Photo: Tam Giang)

At about 2:00 p.m. on August 25, 1945, a delegation of cadres from Saigon brought the Provincial Party Committee's directive to seize power to Tay Ninh. The provincial leadership to seize power convened an expanded conference consisting of members of the Action Leadership Committee and a number of key cadres to plan the seizure of power. Provincial Governor Le Van Thanh was called out and asked to submit books, papers and hand over the government. The transfer of provincial government was completed on the night of August 25, 1945.

Afterwards, the revolutionary forces only arrested Governor Le Van Thanh and a number of high-ranking officials and took over key agencies immediately after the puppet provincial government apparatus was no longer in place. Not only in the provincial capital, but the uprising to seize power also took place in Trang Bang district and Phuoc Chi area the following day.

Thus, together with the whole country, the uprising to seize power in August 1945 in Tay Ninh (before the merger) achieved a brilliant victory. That victory was due to the Provincial Party Committee's sensitivity in absorbing and creatively applying the Party's guidelines and policies, especially the policy of building forces to prepare for the uprising, especially the leadership role of Party members and Party organizations./.

Nhu Nguyet - Ngo Tuyet

Source: https://baolongan.vn/cach-mang-thang-tam-dau-son-lich-su-a200893.html