From the August Revolution to the revolution of streamlining apparatus (Part 3)

PART 3:
MANY LESSONS STILL RETAIN THEIR VALUE

Eighty years ago, the historic August autumn ignited the aspiration for independence and freedom in the hearts of millions of Vietnamese people. From cities to rural areas, from lowlands to uplands, the entire nation rose in unison in a general uprising to seize power and place it in the hands of the people.

Former Secretary of the U1 Provincial Party Committee and former Secretary of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee Phan Van Trang (third from left), together with provincial leaders, visited fallen soldiers at the U1 Bien Hoa Base on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 2025). Photo: Nguyet Ha

In the same revolutionary spirit, the Bien Hoa Provincial Party Committee made timely decisions, leading the people in a unified uprising to seize power. That spirit of solidarity not only contributed to the victory of the August Revolution in 1945 but has also remained a valuable lesson, guiding the path of national construction and development, as well as the ongoing progress of Dong Nai today.

Great victories

In the work The August Revolution of 1945 in Perspective, edited by Associate Professor Dr Phan Ngoc Lien, it is written that: In May 1945, the Eastern Inter-provincial Party Committee of the Southern Region convened a conference with representatives from the Party Committees of Tay Ninh, Bien Hoa, Thu Dau Mot, and Gia Dinh to discuss the situation and the upcoming tasks of the revolution. Under the leadership of the Party, organizations were strengthened and expanded, while the political struggle movement, in combination with armed self-defense, continued to spread widely.

Following successive victories in villages and rubber plantations during the pre-uprising period, the revolutionary spirit surged. Workers, peasants, intellectuals, and small traders alike shared the common goal of seizing power.

Under the leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, the uprising achieved victory in the capital Hanoi on August 19, 1945. Riding that wave of revolutionary fervor, on August 20, 1945, the Southern Regional Party Committee convened a conference in Cho Dem to disseminate plans for the Southern General Uprising.

On August 23, 1945, at house No. 2, Sau Su Street, Binh Truoc Commune, Chau Thanh District (now part of Tan Trieu Ward, Dong Nai Province), Comrade Hoang Minh Chau chaired a meeting to plan the uprising to seize power in Bien Hoa provincial capital. The conference decided to establish the Uprising Committee with Comrade Hoang Minh Chau as Chairman and outlined the composition of the provisional revolutionary People’s Committee, while also setting out several urgent and essential tasks.

In Loc Ninh, at dawn on August 24, 1945, peasants and workers from the Loc Ninh and Da Kia rubber plantations, with core forces including the Vanguard Youth, the National Salvation Youth, and self-defense teams, simultaneously rose up. The crowds surged in growing numbers, breaking through fences and scaling walls, waving red flags with yellow star, and raising banners that read: “Power to the People,” “Long Live Independent Vietnam,” and “Long Live the Indochinese Communist Party”...

During the uprising to seize power in Loc Ninh, 22 fighters and workers heroically sacrificed their lives. Loc Ninh became one of the earliest places to seize power in Thu Dau Mot Province (the former provinces of Binh Phuoc and Binh Duong).

If Military Order No. 1 had not been issued in time, or if we had hesitated and wavered at that moment, we might have missed the once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity to seize power.

The leaders of the August Revolution skillfully chose the right moment to deliver a decisive blow and launch the general uprising, when the vanguard forces were ready for combat, the reserves stood prepared to support them, and the enemy ranks had plunged into chaos and deep confusion. Most importantly, they succeeded in forging unity into a formidable force for victory...

Major General Do Hong Lam, former Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense Magazine

Veteran revolutionary Le Quang Tuyen (Tam Hiep Ward, Dong Nai Province) recalled: The revolutionary spirit was boiling across the country. In Bien Hoa, preparations for the uprising were actively carried out. On the morning of August 26, 1945, Comrade Nguyen Van Nghia, one of the first communists in the province, led hundreds of people to march into the Bien Hoa Governor’s Palace and raised the red flag with a yellow star on its roof, affirming the revolution’s victory and the transfer of power into the hands of the people.

When the French colonialists reoccupied Bien Hoa in December 1945, the Bien Hoa Provisional Provincial Party Committee went underground. Comrade Nguyen Van Nghia was appointed Chairman of the Viet Minh Front in Bien Hoa Province. He steadfastly maintained the revolutionary base, consolidated the Viet Minh Front, built resistance forces, mobilized the people, and harnessed the strength of the entire population to join the struggle. In recognition of his contributions, a street in the former Bien Hoa City’s Quang Vinh Ward, now part of Tran Bien Ward, was named after him,” - recounted Le Quang Tuyen.

Early in the morning of August 27, 1945, tens of thousands of people from Bien Hoa town and the districts of Chau Thanh (part of today’s Tan Trieu Ward in Dong Nai), Long Thanh, and Xuan Loc gathered at Song Pho Square for a rally celebrating the victory. Filled with excitement, the crowd chanted “Long live independent Vietnam!” and “Long live the Viet Minh!” Afterwards, processions of workers, peasants, youths, students, and civil servants, carrying red flags with the hammer and sickle, red flags with the yellow star, and banners, spread through the streets shouting slogans to celebrate the success of the August Revolution.

The lesson of solidarity

The nationwide triumph of the August Revolution, and particularly its success in Dong Nai Province, serves as powerful testimony to the strength of the great national unity bloc. Under the leadership of the Party, people from all walks of life, including workers, peasants, intellectuals, small traders, and ethnic minorities, came together with a shared goal: independence and freedom for the Fatherland, peace and happiness for the people.

Former Secretary of the Bien Hoa U1 Provincial Party Committee and former Secretary of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee, Phan Van Trang, shared: The reason the revolution triumphed and achieved great successes, whether in the struggle for power, in the resistance wars for independence, or in today’s efforts to build and defend the nation, is because we have consistently upheld and promoted the tradition of unity.

"Unity in the August Revolution is an invaluable lesson about the power of solidarity, patriotism, and the indomitable spirit of the Vietnamese people. The unity of the entire nation under the leadership of the Party was the key factor that brought the revolution to victory, securing independence and freedom for the Fatherland. In the current context, the Provincial Party Committee continues to promote this tradition of solidarity across the Party, the armed forces, and the people, creating strength and a guiding light of truth to ensure victory in the new revolution," Comrade Phan Van Trang emphasized.

Each time he returns to offer incense to his comrades and fallen heroes at the U1 and U3 Bien Hoa Provincial Party Committee Bases, comrade Phan Van Trang consistently emphasizes the tradition of unity in his speeches. He reminds Party committees and local authorities at all levels in the province to make every effort to strengthen solidarity, “the truth of our times”, in order to achieve even greater results in today’s revolutionary cause.

Upholding the strength of the entire people - a lesson from the August Revolution - in the current renovation and national construction, our Party has directed: “Building ever-closer relations between the Party and the people; effectively implementing the motto of ‘The people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people inspect, the people supervise, and the people benefit’; respecting the people, staying close to the people, trusting the people, understanding the people, learning from the people, relying on the people, and taking responsibility before the people”... These remain invaluable lessons for Party building and for the cause of building our homeland and the nation in the new era.

NGUYEN THI HONG TRANG
Provincial Party Committee Member, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee, in charge of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission of Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee