Anniversary of the August Revolution, 19 August

In early 1945 the Second World War entered its final phase. On the night of 9 March 1945 Japan overthrew the French and took sole control of Indochina. On 12 March 1945 the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee issued the directive "Japan and France are fighting and our action", launching a nationwide movement to resist Japan and save the country.

At the same time the famine of 1945 in the north and north-central region killed around two million people. The Việt Minh call to "break open the rice granaries and end the famine" was taken up in many places, giving people food and bringing millions into the revolutionary movement.

On 15 May 1945 the Vietnam Liberation Army was formed by merging the revolutionary armed forces. On 4 June 1945 the Việt Bắc Liberated Zone was set up across Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, Lạng Sơn, Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang and Thái Nguyên, with Tân Trào at its centre. The conditions for a general uprising were steadily ripening.

In mid-August 1945, as news arrived that Japan was about to surrender to the Allies, the Party's national conference met at Tân Trào from 13 to 15 August. It decided to launch a general uprising and take power from the Japanese before Allied troops entered Indochina. On the night of 13 August the National Uprising Committee issued Military Order No. 1.

On 16 August 1945 the National Congress met at Tân Trào communal house. It endorsed the general uprising and the ten main policies of the Việt Minh, adopted the red flag with a five-pointed yellow star, chose the Marching Song as the national anthem and elected the Vietnam National Liberation Committee with Hồ Chí Minh as chairman.

Also on 16 August, a Liberation Army unit led by Võ Nguyên Giáp set out from Tân Trào towards Thái Nguyên. The Tân Trào banyan tree and communal house are now special national monuments, visited every autumn by people who want to understand those decisive days.

The decisive hour for the destiny of our nation has come. Compatriots across the country, rise up and use our own strength to free ourselves.

President Hồ Chí Minh, call for the General Uprising, August 1945

On 17 August 1945 a rally organised by the civil servants' association in front of the Hà Nội Opera House was turned by Việt Minh forces into a rally for the revolution, and the red flag with the yellow star was unfurled before the crowd. On 18 August the flag appeared on many streets and the spirit of uprising spread across the capital.

On the morning of 19 August 1945, hundreds of thousands of people from Hà Nội and nearby areas gathered at the Opera House square. After the rally they split into columns and took the Viceroy's Palace, the City Hall, the Police headquarters and the Civil Guard barracks. Within a single day power in the capital passed to the people with almost no bloodshed.

A day earlier, on 18 August, Bắc Giang, Hải Dương, Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Nam were the first provinces to take power in their provincial towns. Victory in Hà Nội gave great momentum and encouraged the remaining localities to rise together in the days that followed.

On 23 August 1945 tens of thousands of people in Huế and nearby areas marched and took power in the capital of the Nguyễn dynasty. On 30 August 1945, at the Meridian Gate, Emperor Bảo Đại read his abdication and handed the royal seal and sword to the delegation of the Provisional Government, ending a monarchy that had lasted a thousand years in Vietnam.

On 25 August 1945 Sài Gòn and many southern provinces rose at the same time. Hundreds of thousands of people from the city and its outskirts poured into the centre and took key government buildings. By 28 August the last localities, Đồng Nai Thượng and Hà Tiên, had also taken power.

In about half a month the General Uprising succeeded across the whole country. On 2 September 1945, at Ba Đình Square, President Hồ Chí Minh read the Declaration of Independence, founding the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. That is why Vietnamese people still call the days from 19 August to 2 September the revolutionary autumn.

The People's Public Security forces were born together with the revolutionary government during the General Uprising, so 19 August is also the traditional day of the People's Public Security. Each year it is also the National Day for Protecting Homeland Security, with activities in neighbourhoods, offices and companies.

19 August is not a public holiday under the Labour Code. In Hà Nội, the Opera House area and Bắc Bộ phủ, the former Viceroy's Palace, recall the scene of 1945. Schools and offices hold tradition sessions, photo exhibitions and trips to the Tân Trào relic site or the National Museum of History.

For working people, 19 August opens the autumn and almost opens the last four months of the year. It is a good time to review goals, reorganise plans and speed up for the finish, in the same spirit of seizing the moment that marked those August days.