September 2, 1946.
The Democratic Republic of Viet Nam was one year old.
The streets were submerged under a sea of flags and flowers. Everywhere, there were flags, portraits of Uncle Ho, lanterns, festoons, and triumphal arches.
By this day last Autumn, the revolution had just succeeded. The century-long night of slavery had ended. Uncle Ho had come back at the country’s dazzling daybreak, the beginning of a new era of independence and freedom. The year which had passed had contained so many historic events. It was a year which had testified to the vitality of the democratic republic and to the skill of the helmsman who had successfully steered the nation’s boat over untold perilous swirls and surges. Today, the new masters of the country had asserted their identity, realized their responsibility and were fully aware of their abilities. Though the revolutionary road ahead was still very long and arduous the flame of hope and confidence was burning ever brighter day by day.
The celebration of the first anniversary of Independence took place in the absence of Uncle Ho. But our people had striven to live up to his advice given at his departure. The negotiations between us and the French were passing through moments of extreme difficulty. On the eve of the anniversary, Uncle Ho sent a cable recommending our compatriots to do everything possible to avoid clashes with the French in order to create favourable conditions for the continuing negotiations.
7 a.m. A long blow of the siren sounded. The whole capital city turned south where part of the country was fighting. A minute’s silence was observed to pay tribute to the martyrs who had laid down their lives for national independence and reunification. As the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam was one year old, its southern part had now been fighting for nearly one year. The first difficult days had gone by. The temporary retreat in face of the enemy’s violent onslaught had ended. The whole of southern Viet Nam, which had matured after one year of combat, was rising up to return the enemy’s blows. As he expanded the occupied area and sent part of his force to the North, the enemy was revealing more and more weaknesses. His expeditionary corps had first moved from Saigon to various towns and then spread out to the rural areas. Now, they were being driven out of the large rural areas back to the towns and even to Saigon. The enemy admitted that beyond the range of his sentries’ guns he had no control. The illusions of some of their Excellencies the French commanders on a quick war and quick victory had been shattered. Southern Viet Nam had learned how to fight the enemy who now found themselves bogged down in a long war.
At the beginning of this jubilant day, the entire country turned to southern Viet Nam, grateful to it for having, during the past year, given evidence of the vigour of the new regime, the indomitable strength of a whole nation which had awakened to stand up in arms as one man to fight for independence and freedom. Starting this happy day, the whole country pledged to live up to their sacred oath to fight to the end for the defence of their national independence and unification.
The minute’s silence ended. Large numbers of people streamed to the Lake of the Sword area where a military parade was to take place on the occasion of the National Day. A grand stand had been built in Chi Linh Park. The previous year, on September 2, on the stand in Ba Dinh square, President Ho and the Government had come before the people for the first time. Then the Government was a Provisional Government and no foreign guests were present. This year, on the stand were seen Acting President Huynh Thuc Khang and the ministers, elected by the people themselves and now familiar to them. Besides, there were British, American, Chinese, French... representatives. Morlière and some other French military officers were also present. The organizing committee showed them to their designated places like other foreign guests. The Commissioner of the French Republic in North Indochina, who had spent several years here in the golden days of colonialist rule, didn’t show any displeasure.
After the Order of the Day addressed to the army, people’s militia and self-defence forces by the Military Commission, a parade of the armed forces began.1
Since the founding of the Republic, this was the second big military review. On September 2 the previous year, a detachment of the liberation army, just arrived from the revolutionary base and carrying assorted captured weapons, had been lined up in front of the stand. It had been impossible to hold a military parade then. Our fighters had gone through many battles but they were unused to the rules of parading in formation. Now, a regiment of the national army of Viet Nam, properly equipped, clad in green uniforms, golden-starred caps and leather boots and carrying rifles, were proudly parading before the stand to the stirring music of the military band. Preceding each unit was the commanding officer armed with a long sword with the political commissar marching beside him.
After only a year of training while fighting, our army was reporting to their new government and compatriots their monumental growth and their readiness to enter a protracted fight should the enemy spread the war. In fact, our army was carrying only light arms that day. Besides rifles, each company had one or two medium sized machineguns and a few submachine-guns. This, however, was the result of enormous efforts made by the parade’s organizing committee. The presentation of a regiment of the regular army today was just like the well-timed appearance of a liberation army detachment in Hanoi just following the success of the revolution. At a time when red-bereted French paratroops were tramping the pavements and vehicles of the Second Armoured Division were roaring up and down the streets of Hanoi, this event was highly significant.
This was also our Army’s report on its progress before engaging in its long nation-wide war of resistance. The second military parade was not to be held in the capital city until nine years later when the last battle fought against the French expeditionary army had ended in victory in Dien Bien Phu.
In the afternoon, a great gathering was organized. Large numbers of people amid a sea of flags and posters streamed down to the square in front of the Municipal Theatre. Flower-bedecked floats of multiple forms and colours appeared, turning the square into a blossoming park. Half a million people from the plain to the mountain regions came here today to hear the new administration’s report on what had been done during this year of liberation from the old regime and of building a new life.
The Government’s report was also a review of the people’s achievements for this year in the realization of the three big tasks laid down by President Ho: to fight hunger, ignorance and foreign aggression in order to build and consolidate the revolutionary power.
Today, the new administration was in a position to put before the people many concrete questions.
The Franco-Japanese policy of forced delivery of foodstuffs had deprived our people of hundreds of thousands of tons of rice, thus causing a horrible famine. At the time when the revolution succeeded, the Red River had risen to an unprecedented level of 12.6 metres and the August floods swept away another 400,000 tons of rice from our people in the North. Moreover the rice growing acreage had been considerably diminished as a result of the Japanese policy of forced cultivation of jute and castor.
Industry and commerce were completely paralysed. Handicrafts were ruined.
The new administration had been set up when, in the coffers of the Treasury, there remained only 1,230,000 piastres half of which were worn out small-change banknotes. The time for the collection of direct taxes had passed. Customs which formerly had made up the greater part of the budgetary revenues of the whole of Indochina now brought in almost nothing because of the recession of commerce. Meanwhile, the value of the piastre had gone down from 500 to 10 Thanh Hoa coins. In November, the French-owned Bank of Indochina refused to advance money to our Government and illegally annulled the validity of the 500 piastre banknote. To make matters worse, the circulation of Chinese currency by Chiang Kai-shek’s army was going on uncontrolled.
Our people were faced with a grave famine. Moreover they had to feed 200,000 Chiang Kai-shek soldiers and 60,000 Japanese soldiers.
Such was the economic and financial situation in our country during the first days. In the meantime, in the North, the internal traitors and reactionaries, relying on the Chiang soldiers’ bayonets, sought every means to overthrow the revolutionary power; in the South, the French imperialists started their invasion.
Responding to the call of the government, our people built and consolidated hundreds of kilometres of dykes to prevent flood.
President Ho’s call for the increase of production to ward off famine brought about marvellous successes. The rice-growing acreage increased by 50%. The sweet potato acreage quadrupled while total yields increased five times. The maize acreage increased by five times; total yields four times. In July that year, the price of rice in the North went down from 700 to 200 piastres per hundred kilos. The revolution had thus defeated the famine. This was a stupendous achievement for the democratic republic right in the first period of reconstruction.
Thanks to an amendment of taxation regulations to lighten and equalize the people’s burden, to the call for sacrifices on the part of civil servants and armymen, to the people’s voluntary contributions and to the issue of Vietnamese banknotes, our administration was able to pay for its expenses, particularly its big expenses in national defence.
In the field of education, the struggle against ignorance achieved unprecedented success. Eighty thousand men and women teachers, working voluntarily without pay in sixty thousand classes, helped to eradicate illiteracy for one and a half million persons.
The struggle against foreign invaders and internal enemies was waged resolutely and won great successes. The two hundred thousand Chiang Kai-shek soldiers were driven back to their country. The dark designs of their henchmen, the reactionaries, were utterly smashed. In the South, our army and people, getting stronger and stronger as they fought, foiled the enemy’s scheme of a quick war and quick victory. The revolution was still standing fast in twenty out of the twenty-one provinces of South Viet Nam.
The democratic republic had been consolidated: the new administration, after a year of hardships and troubles had sucessfully held the first general election in the history of the country, convened the National Assembly and formed the official Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam. The first democratic constitution in the history of the country had been drafted and was to be discussed and adopted by the National Assembly. Almost all the Administrative Committees and People’s Councils from village to provincial level in Central and North Viet Nam had by now been officially elected. The people were in a position to exercise their right to democratic liberties. Before the revolution, there had been twenty newspapers and reviews. Now, there were as many as one hundred and twenty. Over ten million people had been admitted to various associations and organizations for national salvation.
It was with no ordinary elation that today the people, dressed in their best clothes, came to take part in the great festival commemorating the first anniversary of the foundation of the democratic republic.
The meeting was followed by a parade of half a million persons extending over five kilometres. The decorated float of the Viet Minh National Committee bearing the national golden-starred red flag headed the parade. Another float carried a model of the rostrum (in Ba Dinh square) from which President Ho, in his first appearance before the people the previous year, had read the historic proclamation of independence. On the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour’s decorated vehicle was a globe which symbolized the world wide movement of the working class and the labouring people. On another decorated platform was a golden bird with widespread wings symbolizing the new regime in its vigorous growth. Several other vehicles carried posters reading: "Hail to Viet Minh. Gratitude to the Front which has liberated the nation and won back national independence." There was a sudden downpour. But the sea of people carrying flags, posters, portraits of President Ho and flowers carried on imperturbably, rain or shine, bringing their endless joy to the streets of the city also submerged in flags, flowers and portraits of Uncle Ho.
In the evening, the whole city glowed in the pink light of tens of thousands of paper lanterns hung under the front porches of houses. A group of young people of the capital city held high a torch, symbol of the revolutionary flame, and ran round the Sword Lake to thundering cheers. People were holding parties right on the street pavements and inviting passers-by from distant provinces to join in. The whole capital city became a single giant party which could hardly contain the immense joy of the nation on the first anniversary of Independence Day. Artistic performances such as concerts, song and dance shows, plays, traditional dramas, and operas went on in various city quarters till very late at night.
Just as, when enjoying a ripe fruit, we are grateful to the grower of the tree and when drinking sweet cool water, we are grateful to the digger of the well, so in that day’s jubilation, everyone could not but think of the source of his happiness. This was the moment when President Ho’s image came to one’s mind, an image bathed in all the national hues, simple yet warm, unaffected and bright. On this great day of jubilation, he was far away, facing all sorts of cares and worries for the sake of the people, and the country.
1 General Vo Nguyen Giap delivered the Order of the Day (Publisher’s note).