(VOVWORLD) - In August, 1945, the Vietnam League for Independence, or the Viet Minh Front, rallied people of all social strata in Thua Thien-Hue province to rise up to topple colonialism and feudalism. 77 years later memories of the General Uprising have not faded from the minds of those who were there.
 Hue residents marched to Thuong Tu Gate of Hue Citadel on August 23, 1945. (File photo) |
96-year-old Nguyen Tuu was one of those who participated in the 1945 August Revolution in Thua Thien-Hue province. He still remembers the revolutionary atmosphere when he joined the revolution at 17 years old. He recalls that under the leadership of the Thua Thien-Hue provincial Party Committee, people of all social strata eagerly took part in the demonstrations.
 96-year-old Nguyen Tuu (photo: VOV) |
“When the August Revolution broke out, I joined the mass movement to retake the administration. We wrested back the administration of Quang Dien district. President Ho Chi Minh said a farmer is a soldier and farm tools are weapons,” said Tuu.
From August 18 to August 22, 1945, the Uprising Committees of districts in Thua Thien-Hue province rose to retake the administration. On August 22 people occupied nearly every office, administrative agency, and military base. On August 23, tens of thousands of Hue residents and and members of the National Salvation Troops advanced to Hue stadium carrying red flags with yellow stars and shouting “Independent Vietnam” and “Vietnam: nation of the Vietnamese.” The revolutionary spirit was compared to the power of an ocean tide or waterfall.
Researcher Duong Phuoc Thu said: “Thua Thien-Hue’s successful revolution remains a valuable lesson about patriotism, aspiration, and liberation about promoting human rights, and about great national unity rising up under the leadership of a political party.”
Vestiges of the past remain in Thua Thien-Hue province. The road in front of Ngo Mon Gate, the main southern gate of Hue Citadel, where Kinh Bao Dai abdicated, is named August 23 to memorialize a triumphant victory for present and future generations.