Indochinese Revolution

## Revive the Light Society

16 years after any major rebellion in Indochina, The **Society for the Restoration of the Light of Vietnam** was founded. Forged by the famous republican revolutionary Phan Bội Châu, it took major influence and inspiration from Sun Yat-Sen and the KMT. In 1916, with German funding via its ambassador in Shanghai, the Society started their campaign of terror and insurrection on the French colonial regime.

### The Duy Tan Conspiracy (1916)

The young emperor of of Annam was crowned in the aftermath of the two failed revolts of the prior emperors.It was hoped that he would be a puppet.However, the  young Emperor who declared that "a dirty nation can only be cleansed with blood" proving to be a nationalist at heart. He was quick to begun forming up a conspiracy with the Society to seize the mobilised Annamite troops and overpower the French in an massive insurrection.

However this plan was foiled, all Annamite barracks were put under guard and their weapons confiscated. The Emperor was captured and exiled to Reunion. Duy Tan was remembered as the Patriotic King and the last Good Emperor. Things were changing.

### Mutinies, Insurrections and Assassinations (1916-18)

As the imperial conspiracy was foiled, the society intensify its actions in Indochina. One militia formation formed from exiles and revolutionary in China entered Vietnam in 1916, attacking French forts and laying siege to one provincial capital but these efforts were mostly failed as the better equipped, larger and well trained french troops repelled the nationalists. Concurrently several mutinies from small group to a whole unit that briefly seized a town to declare the foundation of the Vietnam Republic, these efforts were also short lived as the french crushed these mutinied lone groups.

More famous and effective of the Revive the Light campaign however, was its strings of assassination over the entire wars, targeting multiple high ranking office, even the Governor of Indochina himself. While the military operations were mostly failed, the Campaign of Terror resulted in at least 1000 annamite mandarins of the monarchy at all level killed an at least 120 Frech officials including the Secretary of the Governor-General.''

### The People's Republic of Vietnam (1918-1920)

The situation in Indochina was increasingly deteriorating for the Society.  Over the years, many of its membership and leadership had been killed or captured. In addition, the prospect of German funding running dry was looming.

However, this dire situation was rapidly reversed following the Entente's defeat in the Weltkrieg and French Revolution thta followed. The colonial leadership was  demoralised, and the colony itself extremely destabilized.The entire Bank of Indochina's gold reserve was lost leaving record high inflation in the colony. The French Government also deported all its Annamite troops back to Vietnam in fear of their growing discontent and nationalism, however this would be castatrophic as the collapse of the mainland Government rendered all's pay and bonus of the colonial troops void.

With the gap of power in Paris, and the confused state of the French Army in Saigon, the second campaign of insurrection of the Society was declared. Following the mass wave of mutinies in returning colonial troops, the Revive the Light Army crossed into Vietnam one more. They would successfully seize a large numbers of towns and a provincial capital, from which they would issue the Proclamation of the People's Republican State of Vietnam.

The confict with the renewed Society and mutinied colonial forces dragged on until 1920. Despite this early hope however, a new  contingent of combined Franco-German forces crushed the society for good. The remants society would only exists for a few more years,  until they would disband and unravel over the capture of Phan Bội Châu. The Indochinese people had been defeated once again.

## Taxation to National Revolution (1920s-1931)

### The Annamite Taxation Reform Movement

The first German colonial administration merely was a replacement of personnel over the french one, by 1925, they launched the first **German Colonial Exploitation Program in Indochina.** Its to build up industries and plantations in Vietnam to extract Indochinese resources. To fullfil this end, the Government-General levied heavy taxation on the Tonkinese and Central Annamite in an effort to encourage their enlistment as workers with government-mandated companies. The German Colonial Regime also used a mass amount of these Annamite workers in all labour-requiring projects in Indochina, inherited from the French before them - a racial prejustice of the stupidity of the Laotian and Khmer. By 1925, only one school existed in Laos, courtesy of a French Mission and Vientiane had a population of 3 Annamite to 1 Laotian. This policy would be the norm in Indochina with the most major and lasting opposition to it being the 1926 Taxation reform movement that was triggered by a drought and small scale famine in overpopulated and overly feudal Tonkin, the peasant's anger was quickly jumped on by the Annamite intellectuals who formed many societies and groups with various level of demands and reforms, some even revolutionary and culminated in the March on the Resident-General Palace in Hue to present the **People's Charter.** These events seems to be a more radical and massive attempt on the anti-Taxation movement prior to the War and yet again ended in the same way as the first - colonial troops firing on the masses. This would create a lasting anger in the populate and further dampen the agrarian and taxation crisis on the improvised provinces of Annam and Tonkin.

### Formation of the Revolutionary Parties

As the Restoration Society disbanded, its memories lived on in the form of Nguyễn Ái Quốc's Heart of Hearts Faction. This organization would later became the nuclear of the nationalist mass network the Young Revolutionary Comrades Society. The faction infused the socialist party structure and rhetoric into the vaguely defined former nationalist movement, and helped the movement grow rapidly with cells across the Vietnamese oversea population in China, Siam, Vanuatu, France, etc to a vast network at home in Vietnam attracting even reformists to its ranks.

As the political consciousness of Vietnam grew, many other parties also began to form. One such party was the Comrades Society, influenced firstly by French nationalism, German philosophy, and of course the Chinese Revolutionary ideas of Sun Yat-sen.The most major of these disparate parties however, was be the New Viet Revolutionary Party, the Youth Aspiration Party, the Annam Patriots Party (later the Indochinese Congress) and the first formation of the Vietnam KMT.

However, new developments in China would have great consequences. In the aftermath of the collapse of the Chinese Republic and the NRA in the South, The comrades society suffered its greatest damage to date. Nguyễn Ái Quốc was captured, mistaken for a chinese KMT commander, and killed.

In light of the lost of its greatest base of operation and organising ground. The Comrades Society proposed the first United Front effort to concentrate the nationalist struggle. The first of these efforts would be the merger between the radical majority faction of the New Viet (along with its disbandment) and the Comrades Society into the Indochinese KMT (Partie Nationale de Indochina - PNI/ĐDQDĐ) following the scheme for the unification of the nationalist and revolutionary forces in the 1920 after the failure of the Revive the Light Society. The next major effort would be the creation of the United Anti-Imperialist Front including the entire broad spectrum of Vietnamese democratic and national forces in its rank including those that chose the reformist doctrine of Phan Châu Trinh instead of the insurrection way of Phan Bội Châu.As the two elder trees of the Nation Annamite united together in a decade ago, Reformist and Revolution met at the crossroad and joined hand once more.

### National Revolution

The German colonial authority continued most of pre-war French policy, only intensifying its worst problems in combination with a lackluster and ineffective administration spanning their overstretched newly gained empire. The mass of the plantation workers suffered horrific work conditions, and thus were easy pickings for the secret labour unions.

Readjustment to the German economy and insufficient colonial enterprises while maintaining the absolute monopoly policy in combination with the extremely devaluated Indochinese currency created an economic crisis and recession that further impoverish the Tonkinese countryside.

The trigger of the 1930 National Revolution - as known by later republican historians was the 1930 famine created from the flooding of the Tonkin falling river dike system resulting in nearly 200,000 displaced peasants and 25,000 deaths. Local authority and landlords however refused to adjust the taxation and rents thus broke out several peasant riots in multiple communes. The PNI quickly utilized this spontaneous movement, with 5,000 cadres of the party spread to the communes and seized leadership. The secret unions also launched strikes across the provinces to support the peasants, they overran several communal to provincial governments and set up new governments and issued the manifesto for Vietnamese national rights, land reforms and labour laws.

The true beginning of the National Revolution however begun on the day a sizeable force of native colonial troops was ordered to crush the rebellious population, however the VNQDĐ has infiltrated several of these units and on they rebelled on order, with a force of 1000 armed colonial security force and 50,000 peasants in direct combat with colonial authority. The initial outbreak of armed revolts spread national wide, and in fear of its scope, several old nationalist leaders were killed, namely Phan Bi Châu. But the German's expectation of the rebellion was underwhelmed as the rebels were quickly defeated due to their lack of organisation and weapons although still costs the German a whole year to fully pacified the Annamite countryside, in the end it was defeated.

Its aftermath was tremendous for the parties involved, the VNQQĐ totally annihilated and reduced to its exiled leadership. The PNI suffered the blunt hit as it was presenting in the rank since the first day with 70% of its membership killed, captured or missing.

## United Front (1930s-1945)

The United Anti-Imperialist Front died with the 1930 rebellion. A second attempt to reconciliate the wounded parties was called to become the Democratic Front, and it spend most of the 1930s to 1940s rebuilding its forces while contesting in demands for reforms and limited demonstrations. This would end in 1941 with the war on two fronts surrounded Germany and the parties moved to reestablish its insurrectionist forces with the first guerrilla units operating by July 1941 and the creation of the Front for the Liberation of Indochina (Đông Dương Giải Phóng Thống Nhất Chiến Tuyến), replaced the Democratic Front as the nationalist forces gear up for armed struggles.

## The Luminous Autumn (1945-46)

### Democratic Republican Principles

1. Establishment of a Democratic-Republican regime in Vietnam (Indochina)
2. Unbreakable friendship with the oppressed nations of Indochina
3. Establish democratic rights, universal suffrage and equality of all races. The equality of men and women
4. The Armament of the entire people and the creation of their national military
5. The seizure of traitors and collaborators's properties in the benefit of the masses
6. The abolishment and prohibition of all imperialist and colonialist unjust taxation and obligate servitude.
7. All those who plow will have lands
8. 8 hours workday and the establishment of the welfare state
9. Establish and expand the national economy, with the creation of its National Bank
10. Enforce mandatory common education up to middle school to all citizens
11. Fraternity brotherhood with all nations that respect the independence of Vietnam (Indochina)

### 21/10/1945

The underground FLI called for the Grand National Assembly of the guerrilla commanders, political parties leaders and other prominent figure in society as the fall of the German empire is coming near, the Japanese are seizing powers rapidly in the Pacific and the need to act now. The assembly accepted ad passed the 11-points Declaration of the Democratic Republican Principles.

### 22/10/1945

The Military Revolutionary Council of Cochinchina followed suit with and passed the "Military Directive 1: General Uprising" - marked the beginning of the October Revolution with the guerillas starting the national offensive on a large numbers of provincial towns and cities as well as the civilian and paramilitary networks within the cities. Guerrilla groups known as the National Salvation Companies are established across the countries. Those that affiliated with the PNI became the Vietnam Liberation Army, the Vietnam KMT crossed from China with a 500 exiles army attacking the border towns and recruited along the way. By the time the VLA and the NRA conveyed on Hanoi, the combined force numbered around 3700 troops.

### 24/10/1945

Saigon Uprising, a large march orchestrated by the various nationalist forces, numbering nearly 1,5 million people marched on the Vice-Governor and the Governor palace. At the same time the police surrendered and declared themselves on the side of the Revolution, transferring all their weapons to the newly created Republican Guard. A large workers strike cut off the electricity of the colonial garrisons and offices. The Governor palace surrendered as the protesters start

breaking the fences and rushing into the yard. While the isolated garrisons surrendered their weapons after a 4 hours stand off with bombardment over the speakers about the inevitable fall of the German Empire and how if they dont surrender now, the Japanese will come and massacre them like happened in Borneo. With all the colonial forces safely eliminated, the Revolutionary Administrative Council of Saigon was created with 20 members: 9 PNI, 3 Communist, 7 to the National Front and 1 Caodaist. In the afternoon of the same day, the

Radio Saigon proclaim the establishment of the Provisional Government of of Vietnam.

### 26/10/1945

Hue Uprising, in a similar vein to the events elsewhere large demonstrating march surrenders the colonial offices and forced it to surrender, with the entry of two National Salvation Companies into the city, the police was convinced to surrender and the city fell to the People's Revolutionary Committee of Central Annam. However, it also saw an armed confrontation between the forces of the FLI against the colonial troops holding up in the Forbidden Palace's Royal Theater. The Confrontation started at 12AM October 27 1945 after the colonial troops refused to surrender and established themselves in the buildings, along with the marines were the Emperor of Annam, Bảo Đại and 37 Garde indigène troops from the imperial household. The FLI begun their attacks from 3PM for half an hour before pulling out and wait. By 6PM, 2 field guns were delivered from the recently captured local armoury and the FLI resumed their attacks, and by 7:12PM, the marines yielded after the bombardment totally wrecked the building

entrance, however, Bảo Đại was wounded from a large flying wood shrapnel in the crossfire and died 2 days later of infection, this is largely to blame on Captain Heinz Ulricht, commander of the Emperor's guard who staunchly decided to hold out and fight and put the Emperor at risk. At 10:55, the Red and Star Flag was raised over the Capital Flag Tower, and at 11:30, Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Cẫn, as the representative of the Imperial House of Annam read the Imperial Edict on the Dissolution of the Monarchy over the radio from the Privy Bureau building before handing over the Emperor Seal and State Sword to the People's Revolutionary Committee and declared "Long live the Republic !" in the aftermath of the battle.

25/10/1945 - Hanoi Uprising

2/11/1945 - the last town surrendered

6/11/1945 - Laotian nationalist seized Vientiane, proclaimation of the independent kingdom of Laos

Morning 7/11/1945 - German troops pushed the nationalists out of the city

Operation Ten Thousand Miles begun, the VNRA, NRA and the Free Laos forces begun the march to reclaim the city

14/11/1945, Germans troops evacuated or surrender

20/11/1945 Vietnamese forces and pro-vietnamese Free Khmer forces took Phohm Phenh

Germans troops had abandoned the city

25/11/1945 - Declaration of the Union of the Republics

Ferburary/1948 - First election of the  People's Parliament

same month - 1948 Constitution

## The Revolution in Cambodia

As the same under French colonialism and to a greater extend under the authority of the German, relying on the miniscule Vietnamese and French civil service to govern the Cambodian cities. The traditional monarchy of Cambodia enjoy much greater autonomy and power at the expenses of colonial, economical and political development like their Vietnamese neighbors, whose Nation is long divided. This means the traditional monarchy of Cambodia is surprisingly more autonomous and has a greater degree of native control than the Vietnamese lands, but the effect of colonialism was felt across Indochina and regardless, nationalism and resistance although less active and later still developed, espcially during after 1936, in which international economic recession brought the rice price down, as well as new generations of educated Khmer elites studying in the French-run Lycees in Cochinchina. The Cambodian monarchy as well has been rather extremely angered by the German inaction in the 20s that let the Thai occupied parts of Cambodia. By 1945 as the fall of Germany seems too close and the German garrisions of the colony are almost entire gone, there were already discussion in the royalists circle around the young King Sihanouk as well as the nationalist youth organisations under people like Son Ngoc Thanh who are involved with other Khmer Krom nationalists leader in the minimal presence of the Indochinese National Party at the time. With the beginning of the Cochinchina Uprising in September that year, the Monarchy is considering the a proclamation of independence but hesitated as German security troops withdrawn west, Sihanouk as well as his royal ministers were hesitated, events following a few weeks later confirmed their fear as the German immediately attacked Vientiane after the nationalist under Prince Ratanavongsa proclaimed unilateral independence, however this was misjudged decision as the local nationalist groups and students as well as the Cambodian militias revolted a few days later with the hesitance of the monarchy in the revolutionary upheaval and choas, the Indochinese branch of the PNI rapidly seized power in the vacuum, unlike in Laos, the larger german forces in Cambodia appears no willing to obscure the native businesses, Son Ngoc Thanh proclaimed independence as his supporters seized control of the government in the capital and forced Sihanouk to proclaim independence. Along with this development is the entry of several battalions of Vietnamese emigre forces from Thailand and Cochinchina entering Cambodia, as well as the urban vietnamese now organising following the independence of their country. Son Ngoc Thanh was dismissed a few days after his coup in a coup led by the PNI and its local elements, declaring him to be trying to contact Japan and sell out Cambodia to another imperialist power, this is due to the historical Japanophile position of Son Ngoc Thanh. The new pro-PNI government poclaimed the republic and quickly accepted the Declaration of Union a few days later.

## For the Defense of the Republic (1946-1950)

### Political Struggle and the '46 Constitution

In just the first year of the Republic, there were 1500 new newspaper registered in Hanoi alone, some became mainstream like La Republiqué (Cộng Hòa), The Republic Times (Dân Quốc Thời Báo), The National (Dân Tộc), Freedom (Tự Do) to party-oriented newspaper like Humanity (Nhân Đạo) of the Communist Federation, the People by the PNI and the Vietnam by the VNQDĐ, etc owning to explosive growth in political awareness and activities of the population following the establishment of basic liberties. The first general election to the People's Parliament was chaotic at best and violent outright as the various paramilitary forces that took part in the revolution grew exponentially during the the first year of free political organisation, even parties that prior to the revolution existed merely as political intellectual circles to non-existent ones rallied their forces across all spectrum with parties like te National-Socialist (a pro-japanese conservative and monarchist party), the Catholic Social Party (a right liberal-catholic party), the Party of Farmers and Labour (a party of land owners and city capitalist fearing the takeover of the revolutionary regime), the Democratic Socialist (Haohaoist), Proletarian Bloc (a mainly saigon based party owing to the sectarian faction of the Communist Federation).

### The Paramilitary War

* Indochinese National Party
* VNQDĐ (Republican)
* Communist League
* Kampuchea DR
* Laos DR
* National Guards (factions)
* Republican Guards
* Red Guard
* Public Security Ministry

* Workers-Peasants Party of Vietnam
* Peoples Democratic Party of Vietnam
* VNQDĐ (Dissent)
* National Guards (factions)
* Revolutionary militias
* State Defense Corps
* Republican Guards (factions)

* 3rd Republican Guard Division
* Dai Viet paramilitia and armed party cadres

Known primarily in Indochina as the Autumn Political Crisis. Its the all predicted breaking point of the political situation leading to and after the Revolution with several increasingly polarising political players with their own military forces. The Crisis began as a several day coup starting from August 24, 1948. A bomb detonated in the Chamber of the Norodom Palace, the federal parliament, wounded a few people and led to a state of martial laws in the city where the forces of the Third Division (Republican Guard) entered the city against order in the chaos, this Division was entire under the control of the Dai Viet Nationalist Party since its birth and using this force, they overwhelmed the city police and the small forces of loyal republican guards, however failed to capture Cho Lon. From Saigon, the right-wing radical party declared its foundation of the Dai Viet Party and began a violent purge of "socialists" and "anti-national elements" including the killing of some notable left-wing writers and representatives that failed to evacuate the city. The PNI's Supreme Revolutionary Committee took over the situation in the south and liquidated the Dai Viet cells in the other republican guard divisions and began a counter-attack from Cho Lon using its own National Guards and Red Guards units instead. The coup ended with most of the rebel routing after a few days of skirmishes as neither side was full equipped for war but the better organised PNI forces proved its capacity.

1949 Constitution
With the end of the Paramilitary War, the remaining Parliament voted for a large amending bill to the Constitution to create what is dubbed as the 1949 Constitution. The changes were the reaffirmation of the first clause "The Union of Republics of Indochina is an unbreakable union of free, social and democratic republican states. Where all the powers in the Democratic Republic belongs to the people in accordance to the principles of Independence, Freedom and Happiness."and the additions of the "Defense of the Republic" clause."The Revolution that brought about the people's sovereignty that is represented by the democratic republican system is sacred and eternal. The republic will be and obligates to within the limits of all its constitutional powers to protect the democratic republican system from both internal and foreign threats"and the land ownership clause that was blocked originally during the 1946 Constitutional debate. "The nation and via its manifestation of government in the democratic republican system affirm that the natural territory of its boundary is the inheritance of the entire people in accordance to the national principle and thus belongs in effect as common ownership of the nation which grants and will make sure every citizen who wishes to contribute their labour have their fair share of the national inheritance"However the most famous and controversial would be the amended Article 24 changing from "The nation guarantee all private ownership unless its judged to be in direct contradiction to the national benefit" to "The nation that have constituted itself in the revolutionary struggle see that a democracy should never be subjected by a certain economic elite individual or group of people as were in the republics of the old days, thus reaffirm that the democratic force is national, therefore requires that industrial enterprises would be free so long as it does not threaten the national democracy"It also abolished the laws-by-decrees system that the prior Governments employed extensively, Indochina finally enters an era of normal democratic rule. All the regional divisions of the former Annamite colonies were abolished as well for a fully unitary system of power, abolishing the Administrative-Committee of Cochinchina and Central Annam.
All paramilitary forces were disbanded or standardlised into the National Army otherwise would be considered conspiracy against the People's state and treason. Republican Guards, National Guards and Red Guards all disbanded in place of National Militia.
The Election of 1950 came along, the Indochinese KMT once more dominated the poll sharing an alliance with the junior parties that are the Socialist, the Communist Federation and the Nationalists, forming the first ideological united and functional coalition government and a stable People's Parliament in the system known as the New Democracy, as put by Minister of Foreign Affair Phạm Văn Đồng, "a democracy truly for the people, from the people of the nation, superior to the western parliaments of old that only subject itself to capitalist interests.".