Cochinchina uprising
Cochinchina uprising (Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa) was an armed uprising against the French and Japanese by the South Vietnamese (at that time known as Cochinchina) in 1940, led by the Indochinese Communist Party.
Historical background
In June 1940, France was invaded and occupied by Nazi troops. Taking this opportunity, in September of that year, Japanese imperialists invaded the Indochina peninsula from France. From here, Vietnam was dominated by two French colonist and Japanese fascists. With the anti-French sentiment and the imitation of the Bac Son revolutionary, many South Vietnamese provinces revolted against the French and Japanese.
Preparation
In March 1940, the Standing Committee of the Party, headed by Mr. Võ Văn Tần, drafted the outline to prepare for sporadic activities in the anti-French movement, and then prepared for armed uprising. Besides, many demonstrations were held during that time.
Self-defense forces and guerrillas which directly led by Võ Văn Tần, Phan Đăng Lưu were formed in big factories in Saigon such as Ba Son, FACI, pier, Cho Quan lamp, In rural areas, most communes had a squadron or even a guerrilla platoon.
All blacksmiths produced weapons day by day in order to provide ammunition to army. The anti-war movement, combating the soldiers with the slogan "no soldier, no penny for imperial war" took place the people and soldiers community. Due to good military service, most of the 15,000 Vietnamese soldiers in the French army stationed in Saigon were willing to co-ordinate the uprising.[1]
Development
Phan Đăng Lưu, representative of the Central Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party, was sent to the North for the Seventh Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee to report and ask for instructions from the Central Committee. After listening carefully to the preparation for the uprising, the Central Conference concluded that the condition for then insurrection had not been enough and proposed that the Party of South Cochinchina should have not launched insurrection. Central Committee also sent Phan Đăng Lưu to return Sai Gon to postpone the uprising. But when he returned to Saigon, Phan Đăng Lưu was arrested. The uprising at that time was broadcast everywhere and could not be hidden.
The plan of the insurrection was somewhat foreseen by the French colonialists in a few days. On the evening of 22 November 1940, Mr. Ta Uyen, Secretary of the Party Committee who replaced Mr. Vo Van Tan recently and some other members of the Saigon Party Committee were arrested.
However, on the night of the 22 November 23, 1940, the insurrection happened with a powerful and large scale. From Bien Hoa to Ca Mau,there were 18 uprisings. In My Tho, 54 of the 56 communes were occupied by the uprising army. In Cho Lon, the insurrection forces gained many important places. In Tan An, the two communes of Vam Co Tay River, Vam Co Dong were controlled by the insurgent forces.
The revolutionary governments were existed in very short time, the longest one in My Tho was about 49 days. French colonialists vehemently oppressed, seeking to destroy the revolutionary government.
In December 1940, Cochinchine Party met in Bình Quớ Gia Định decided to retreat to avoid losses, the remaining forces build the basein U Minh and Đồng Tháp Mười base. From the moment of the Nam Ky insurrection, the Central Committee of the Party Central Committee issued an urgent notice instructing localities to support Cochinchine Party by the street protest, spread leaflets, beach lock, strike, beach town to the launch of guerrilla warfare, breaking the road, bridges to prevent the French suppressed.
In Saigon, the plan was revealed, the French government prevented the revolutionary easily, insurrection failed. France suppressed the rebellion. Thousand people were killed and arrested, many villages were destroyed, many Indochinese Communist Party officials (Nguyễn Văn Cừ, Ha Huy Tap, Phan Đăng Lưu, Võ Văn Tần , Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai ... ) death. The French colonialists and their Vietnamese counterparts oppressed the insurrection. They bombed and bombarded many villages. The Nam Ky insurrection was finally extinguished.[2]