The intelligence and bravery of Tran Van Giau in the Revolutionary movement in 1945

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Quang Hien*

2003-2005, when working as scientific secretary of the projectHistory of the Government of Vietnam, Volume 1 (1945-1954)chaired by Associate Professor, People's Teacher Le Mau Han, I had the opportunity to meet Professor Tran Van Giau - our master's teacher, at a number of scientific seminars and especially at his private home; learned a lot of knowledge and methods from him, and heard him say many things that I had never known before. I understood how he transformed from a politician into a professional scientist. What emanated from him was the sense of discipline and organization and the boundless loyalty of a communist to the ideals of national independence and socialism. No matter the circumstances, he always maintained his fighting spirit, demonstrating the nature and mettle of a steadfast revolutionary, who devoted his life to the country and the people.

On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of his birth (September 11, 1911 - September 11, 2016), I write this article with sincere respect about a historical figure who has entered our memory as a legend.

In the months of 1945, under extremely difficult communication conditions, without receiving direction from the Party Central Committee, the Southern Regional Party Committee with Tran Van Giau as Secretary highly promoted the spirit of proactive and creative revolution, closely following the reality of Saigon and the South, based on the changes in the situation in the country and the world, making its own decisions and taking responsibility before the Party and the people, finding the right policies to develop forces and taking timely actions, contributing to the victory of the national uprising, the victory of the Party's revolutionary line and Ho Chi Minh's ideology of independence and freedom. History has passed over 70 years, but the imprint of the thinking and actions of the revolutionary, communist Tran Van Giau is still deeply imprinted in the people's memory.

1. Establishing the Vanguard Youth - a great innovation, speeding up the preparation of forces for the general uprising

The Southern Uprising (November 1940) was fiercely suppressed by the French colonialists. The Party organization and the masses in the Southern provinces suffered heavy losses. Most of the key leaders of the Southern Regional Party Committee, the Saigon City Party Committee, and many provincial Party committees in the Eastern and Western regions of the South were captured, imprisoned, and killed by the enemy. The Party's grassroots organizations were destroyed in many localities. Most of the revolutionary bases were exposed. The revolutionary movement subsided and faced difficulties in the following years. The targets that the French colonialists and Japanese militarists focused on destroying were organizations led by the Communist Party. The restoration of revolutionary forces in the Southern region encountered many difficulties. Meanwhile, the Southern Party Committee was divided into two regional committees. Although both had the same ideal goals, there were also some inconsistencies in their activities.^[1].

While the revolutionary forces of Cochinchina had not yet developed, religious sects which were essentially pro-Japanese political parties, gathering the masses under the guise of religion such as Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, Trotskyite and many other political groups were actively operating and all received the attention of the Japanese intelligence agency Kempeitai. Many groups fantasized about entering Japan, expecting Japan's help to escape from the yoke of white colonialism and gain national independence.

The problem of preparing revolutionary forces required a form of mass mobilization appropriate to specific historical conditions, especially when both France and Japan tried to attract the masses in many different forms.^[2]. Finding a way to organize the masses to launch a general uprising to seize power was a big question for the Party leaders in the South, requiring political courage and creative revolutionary methods. If they only knew how to persist in secret organization, only emphasizing one-sidedly the workers and peasants, they would fall into a state of isolation, narrow-mindedness and it would be very difficult to mobilize the masses to the revolutionary battlefield.

The Southern Regional Party Committee, with Tran Van Giau as Secretary, advocated: "We must find a number of forms of organization and public activities - not necessarily legal - that are in line with our intentions, with a high political motivational nature, first of all for the youth, to mobilize tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people, bringing them to the streets under the slogan of national liberation revolution")^[3].

In early 1945, World War II was coming to an end. The Allied armies were counterattacking strongly on all battlefields. Fascism was nearing its end. The opportunity for the Vietnamese people to rise up and seize power was approaching. Meanwhile, the revolutionary forces in the South had not yet caught up with the movement throughout the country.

In the face of consecutive defeats on the Asia-Pacific front,Japan staged a coup to overthrow France and monopolize Indochina.(9-3-1945), using the "Vietnam independence" slogan, establishing the Bao Dai - Tran Trong Kim government, returning to this government the "independence" cake, but still retaining the right to directly rule the South, while controlling all military forces and police apparatus. The Japanese imperial government arrogantly declared: "When Indochina shows that it has reached the level of an independent country, then the Japanese government will help liberate it properly")^[4].

At the time of Japan's coup against France, the Central Party Standing Committee held a conference in Tu Son, Bac Ninh (March 9, 1945) and issued a directive.Japan and France shoot each other and our actions(March 12, 1945), determined the direction of action of the entire Party and people in the high tide of resistance against Japan to save the country, but due to the distance from the Central, traffic and communication conditions were difficult, so the Southern Party Committee at that time did not receive this directive..

The situation was extremely urgent, requiring the Southern Regional Party Committee to promote the spirit of initiative and creativity to the highest extent to move the revolutionary movement forward..

In the meantime, the GovernorSouth VietnamMinoda Fujio and Japanese Consul General Ida invited the doctorPham Ngoc Thachand engineerNgo Tan Nhonorganized youth in Cochinchina to attract the masses to support Japan. At that time, the Japanese government did not know that Pham Ngoc Thach was a communist party member recruited by Tran Van Giau. Pham Ngoc Thach reported this incident to Tran Van Giau and Ha Huy Giap.

In the changing world and domestic situation, Cochinchina can and must take advantage of its ability to openly mobilize millions of people in the political force, ready to join the uprising to seize power when the opportunity comes. To do so, it is necessary to seize the opportunity to organize a strong youth organization with the overarching political ideology of patriotism, love for the people, anti-colonialism, determination to sacrifice, and struggle for national independence and national unification. Party organization must be secret and strict, but mass organization must be open and gentle to have the conditions to gather a broad force.

Realizing the possibility of taking advantage of Japan's intentions to establish a mass organization, and also seeing Pham Ngoc Thach as a party member who was operating openly and legally, a brave and talented person)^[5],Tran Van GiauandHa Huy Giap, after considering all aspects, proposed to the Regional Party Committee toPham Ngoc Thachpublicly organized the youth movement and was approved by the Regional Party Committee. The naming of the youth organization was carefully discussed and decided to take the nameYoung Pioneers, a name that means giving the responsibility of pioneering and taking the lead to enthusiastic youth)^[6]Many cadres were sent by the Regional Party Committee to join this organization to quickly build, together with communist youths from all over the provinces, a broad patriotic organization with high fighting spirit, capable of strongly attracting a large mass force to follow the revolutionary path of national liberation.

The decision of Secretary Tran Van Giau and the Tien Phong Regional Party Committee was a decision full of responsibility before the Party and the people, taking the interests of the revolution and the nation as the most important, a very bold, wise, and flexible decision., allowing the fastest and highest level of mobilization of youth forces into an organized path to awaken and train them into a strong political army following the revolutionary direction of the Party. The Japanese could not have imagined that behind Pham Ngoc Thach was a Regional Party Committee that was looking for a form of organization and public activities of the youth, not a sports and cultural organization following the "Greater East Asia" direction, serving the interests of the Japanese empire, but an organization following the patriotic and national independence political direction of the Communist Party.

Vanguard Youth is an effective and quick form of gathering forces, mobilizing a large number of young people in rural and urban areas to the revolutionary battlefield; playing a huge role in the process of urgently preparing and advancing to the general uprising to seize power in Saigon and the Southern provinces in August 1945.^[7]That reality eloquently proves that the policy of Secretary Tran Van Giau and the Southern Regional Party Committee is completely correct.

2. Focus on preparing and leading the general uprising in Saigon city, contributing to the decisive victory in the August Revolution of 1945.

The November 1940 Southern Uprising showed that when the national movement had not yet developed, only launching uprisings in a few localities without careful preparation would not be able to achieve victory. That had a great impact on the thinking of cadres and party members in Southern Vietnam during the August 1945 opportunity.

Saigon, Hue, Hanoi and other cities were the headquarters of the foreign invaders. In the general uprising, the cities played a decisive role in victory. If we had “only relied on armed forces and armed struggle, only relied on the mountains and the countryside without quickly mobilizing millions of people to rise up, without transferring all our political and armed forces to strike fierce blows at the enemy’s nerve centers in the cities, we might have missed the unique opportunity in August 1945”)^[8].

To achieve victory for the national liberation revolution in an agricultural country, it is necessary to combine the rural movement with the urban movement, focus on building up forces and carrying out uprisings in both cities and countryside, in which the urban uprising plays a decisive role. “The party of the proletariat must coordinate the peasant movement with the revolutionary goals and activities of the proletariat in the industrial centers… Organizing and preparing for coordinated activities, if possible simultaneously in the cities and the countryside, will be the fundamental goal of the revolutionary party in agricultural and semi-agricultural countries”)^[9].

To be able to revolt in both urban and rural areas, it is necessary to prepare forces in both areas. However, urban uprisings targeting the enemy's headquarters are decisive for the victory of the general uprising. Therefore, it is necessary to have careful preparation of urban uprising forces. Saigon is the most important city in Cochinchina. Winning power in Saigon contributes significantly to the complete victory of the national general uprising.

With the birth and operation of the Vanguard Youth under the direct direction of Secretary Tran Van Giau, the Saigon urban movement developed strongly, especially with the participation of progressive intellectuals, making the Vanguard Youth organization a broad front, not a lonely, narrow organization. The management board and steering committee located at 14 Charner Street (today's Nguyen Hue Street) included famous intellectuals such as professor Le Van Huan (Pétrus Ky School), engineer Kha Vang Can, doctor Pham Ngoc Thach (general secretary), doctor Nguyen Van Thu, lawyer Thai Van Lung, architect Huynh Tan Phat, student Ta Ba Tong, student Huynh Van Tieng... Most of them were students in the political theory class led by Tran Van Giau with his colleagues Ha Huy Giap and Nguyen Van Nguyen.

For a revolutionary organization to exist and operate legally, the Vanguard Youth chose the yellow flag with a red star as its flag. Red is the color of revolution, the red star is the guide to the right path, and the yellow background is the color of the nation. The yellow flag with a red star symbolizes the revolution to liberate the nation, but still avoids suspicion and surveillance from the Japanese.

On July 5, 1945, the Vanguard Youth Union held an Oath-taking Ceremony in Ong Thuong Garden (today's Tao Dan Cultural Park). In front of 25 thousand young people in neat ranks, leader Pham Ngoc Thach emphasized the purpose and revolutionary spirit that every young person must have. The mention of modern Vietnamese historical figures such as Ha Huy Tap, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai... was warmly welcomed by the Vanguard Youth Union members and the public. The Oath-taking Ceremony ended, groups of people left in an excited atmosphere and sang the songGet on the road.

With rich, continuous and bustling activities such as propaganda, rallies, oath taking, speeches, marches..., especially in Saigon, Cho Lon, Gia Dinh)^[10], the Vanguard Youth force grew, even in provinces that did not have a Communist Party provincial committee such as Ba Ria and Ha Tien. By August 1945, the Vanguard Youth had millions of members. Besides the Vanguard Youth, there was also the “Vanguard Youth Enterprise Committee” (which was originally a trade union).^[11]. The revolutionary atmosphere was increasingly boiling, signaling a breakthrough was coming.

The Vanguard Youth was a strategic creation of the Southern Party Committee and people, associated with the decisiveness of Secretary Tran Van Giau. Thanks to that, in just a short time, Saigon city in particular, and the Southern provinces in general, had a strong political force that was well prepared, a fundamental force that played a decisive role in the victory of the general uprising..

In Tran Van Giau's political thinking, the establishment and operation of the Vanguard Youth in the South at that time was a positive measure to accelerate the accumulation of quantity to prepare for a leap in quality when the opportunity came. That was also the outstanding contribution of the revolutionary movement in Saigon in particular, and the South in general, in the anti-Japanese national salvation movement that was rising strongly in both urban and rural areas.

In August 1945, World War II ended. The Japanese militarists surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. The opportunity for revolution appeared. The National Uprising Committee was established and issued Military Order No. 1 (August 13, 1945). The Party's national conference held in Tan Trao (August 14 and 15, 1945) decided to launch a general uprising. The National Congress (August 16 and 17, 1945) passed a historic resolution to seize national power. However, due to difficult transportation conditions, the delegates from Cochinchina who went to Viet Bac to attend the meeting could not return in time.Once again, the Southern Party Committee did not receive the Central Party's policy and the Military Order of the National Uprising Committee. The rapid developments of the situation required the decisive initiative of the Regional Party Committee headed by Secretary Tran Van Giau..

On August 15, 1945, the Standing Committee of the Southern Regional Party Committee established the Uprising Committee with Tran Van Giau as Chairman. The expanded Regional Party Committee meeting was held in Cho Dem (Binh Chanh) to discuss the uprising but failed to reach consensus, due to some concerns that it might be suppressed like the Southern Uprising (November 1940). Therefore, the Conference decided to continue to complete the preparation work; closely following the situation, if Hanoi revolted, the Regional Party Committee would decide the uprising date for Saigon.^[12]; brought Viet Minh to the open in Saigon. The revolutionary atmosphere in Saigon became increasingly heated.^[13].

On August 20, 1945, the Southern Regional Party Committee received news of the successful uprising in Hanoi. Secretary of the Regional Party Committee Tran Van Giau was informed by Pham Ngoc Thach that Japan would not intervene if the people of Saigon rose up to seize power.^[14]. On the morning of August 21, 1945, the Regional Party Committee convened an expanded conference. With a sensitive mind, Secretary of the Regional Party Committee Tran Van Giau realized that the opportunity to seize power had appeared, and with the available forces, an uprising could be launched immediately in Saigon, but there were still opinions that the uprising should not be carried out because of fear that the Japanese army would follow the British and French to suppress the masses. Based on careful consideration and in order to achieve high unity within the Regional Party Committee, Secretary Tran Van Giau proposed and the Regional Party Committee unanimously agreed to assign the Tan An Provincial Party Committee to lead a pilot uprising in the provincial capital on the night of August 22, 1945.

The uprising to seize power in Tan An Province was victorious, but the Japanese army did not react, dispelling concerns about the possibility of the Japanese army suppressing the revolution. On the morning of August 23, 1945, Tran Van Giau urgently convened the Regional Party Committee Conference, deciding to revolt in Saigon on the evening of August 24, 1945. The whole of Saigon rose up to seize power quickly, neatly, and without bloodshed.

The uprising in Saigon was victorious, at the same time foreign invaders were about to invade Vietnam, the French colonialists were determined to reoccupy Vietnam once again. Internal reactionary forces began to rise up. National independence was seriously threatened.With sharp political insight and far-sighted vision, Tran Van Giau soon predicted the country's new dangers and affirmed the people's determination to protect the revolutionary achievements.On the afternoon of August 25, 1945, at a rally in front of the Governor's Palace in Saigon, Chairman of the Provisional Administrative Committee of Southern Vietnam Tran Van Giau solemnly declared: "Compatriots, today is the most glorious day in the history of Southern Vietnam. In broad daylight, we, the Provisional Administrative Committee, on behalf of the entire Southern people, declare before the world and before the entire nation that: The Democratic Republic is established in Southern Vietnam. We declare that we do not recognize the Southern Dynasty regime and are determined to oppose the colonial regime.No foreign country can find any reason to deny the solemn decision of our compatriots' long-standing ambition: Vietnam. Male completely independent(TG emphasized). On behalf of the Viet Minh Front in the South, we take responsibility for holding the government of the South, and when the National Assembly is convened, we will hand it over to the national delegates."^[15].

The success of the general uprising in Saigon, along with the victory of the uprising in Hanoi (August 19), Hue (August 23) and other cities, eliminated the central organs of the colonial regime, and had a decisive effect on the victory of the nationwide uprising.

3. Intelligence, conscience and responsibility of Tran Van Giau on Independence Day (September 2, 1945) in Saigon

On September 2, 1945, the Independence Day was held in Saigon. The stage was located on Cong Hoa Street (now Le Duan Street), behind Notre Dame Cathedral. The sea of ​​Saigon people poured into the streets amid the forest of red flags with yellow stars of the Fatherland, flags of the Allied countries and flags of organizations. Slogans were hung all over the streets:Long live the Democratic Republic of Vietnam!!,Down with French colonialism!, "special sloganIndependence or deathis Mr. Giau's product written in five languages: Vietnamese, Chinese, English, French, Russian appeared on this day"^[16]From 12:00 noon, crowds gathered at the stage and on major streets.

At exactly 2:00 p.m. on September 2, 1945, the ceremony began with the national flag salute.[17]According to the original plan, the Organizing Committee will rebroadcast Voice of Vietnam radio station with President Ho Chi Minh's speech.Declaration of Independenceat Ba Dinh Square (Hanoi) for the people of Saigon to listen through the loudspeaker system. However, due to technical conditions, the rebroadcast was not successful. The organizing committee asked the Secretary of the Regional Party Committee, Chairman of the Provisional Administrative Committee of Southern Vietnam, Tran Van Giau, to speak. He thought for a few minutes, quickly wrote down the main ideas, then stepped up to the podium, spoke to the people slowly and firmly, as if reading a speech.[18]whose content seems to reaffirm the basic contents inDeclaration of Independenceof the Democratic Republic of Vietnam read by President Ho Chi Minh at Ba Dinh Square.

At the beginning, Tran Van Giau eloquently declared the great event in the history of the nation opened by the victory of the August Revolution in 1945; affirmed that the era of independence and freedom had begun, arousing the pride of the Vietnamese people who had just stepped from the status of slaves to the status of masters of the country: "Vietnam from a colony has become an independent country. Vietnam from an empire has become a Republic. Vietnam is moving forward on the path of life".

Seeing through the French colonialists' intention to re-invade Vietnam with the help of the American and British empires, the newly won national independence was facing a new danger. He strongly denounced the enemy's sinister plot and advised his compatriots with words full of foreboding: "The enemy is plotting a plot to put an end to the yoke of slavery on the necks of 25 million compatriots... We have obtained solid evidence that they intend to use force to suddenly overthrow the Democratic Republic government to put back a governor general as before. We are happy with the victory, but our compatriots should not be intoxicated by the victory. Because our beloved Vietnam is facing a dangerous situation. If we are not careful, our country and our people may be put back into slavery."

Turning to the crowd attending the ceremony, he intimately asked two questions, as if to encourage the determination of the people of Saigon to stand up and fight to protect the achievements of the revolution, determined not to return to slavery: "Is there anyone here who recognizes a mandarin ruling our country? Is there anyone willing to give up and let the colonial regime - openly or secretly - return?"

After each of his questions, the clear and decisive response from the sea of ​​people resounded: "No! No! No!". That was not only the determination of the people of Saigon and the people of the South, but also the common determination of the entire Vietnamese nation.[19]

Based on the strength of solidarity and patriotism of the people, the Chairman of the Provisional Administrative Committee of Southern Vietnam addressed the French Government to affirm the policy of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in its relations with France, announcing to the belligerent colonialists the will for independence and freedom and the determination to unite with the French people to fight against the invading French colonialists:

"The Democratic Republic of Vietnam is ready to sign with the French Republic treaties of cooperation on economy, culture, and even military matters, if France publicly recognizes our right to independence.

If, on the contrary, you treat us as slaves, then by uniting with the French revolutionary people, we swear to die (rather than) give in to any threats or provocations."

To the newly established Vietnamese people's government, he made a solemn oath of the people of Saigon and the people of the South: "We swear to stand firmly by the Government, to fight against all invasions, even if we die we will be content." In response to him, the whole forest raised their fists and shouted in unison: "We swear! We swear! We swear!"

At the end of his speech, communist Tran Van Giau passionately called out: "Citizens, be ready to fight!... Stand up! Independence Day begins now! Move forward, for independence, for freedom, move forward forever! No fortress can stop the will of the people on the path to liberation!"[20].

Was his call for people to be ready to fight a genius prediction of the resistance war of the people of Thanh Dong To Quoc against the French colonialists to reoccupy the South that was about to begin?

Although not prepared in advance, the speech of the Secretary of the Regional Party Committee, Chairman of the Provisional Administrative Committee of Southern Vietnam, Tran Van Giau, demonstrated an intellectual genius and a sharp political vision, a profound humanistic philosophy, for the cause of national liberation, human liberation in a colonial country with a burning desire for independence and freedom.

The year 1945 has gone down in national history as a brilliant milestone with the victory of the August Revolution and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. "The revolutionary government of that new democratic country does not belong to any particular class but belongs to the entire nation."[21]. In both his thoughts and actions, in his words and deeds, Secretary of the Regional Party Committee Tran Van Giau at that time forever left behind the echoes of a revolutionary storm that changed the lives of the entire Vietnamese nation. Working with comrades and compatriots in the Southern land far from the Party Central Committee, but in his heart and mind he was always imbued with the core values ​​of Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary theory of national liberation and development and the Party's revolutionary line.