On June 5, 1911, at Saigon port, Nguyen Ai Quoc left Vietnam on the ship Amiral Latouche-Tréville as a kitchen assistant. This was the starting point for the young patriot's journey around the world , with the goal of finding a way to gain independence for the Vietnamese people.
Thanh Nien Newspaper - the first revolutionary newspaper of Vietnam
Photo: Document
The pen opens the way
When he first set foot in France, Nguyen Ai Quoc had nothing in his hands except an iron will and a desire to liberate the nation. Although he did not come from a professional journalism environment, he soon realized that to awaken personal conscience and to fight in the midst of the vibrant Western discourse, he needed a weapon - a sharp pen.
Without formal education, using practice as a training ground, Nguyen Ai Quoc learned to write for newspapers with French news stories of only 5-6 lines, then gradually wrote longer ones, not only news, but also essays, commentaries, short stories, literary compositions... He became a writer of the left-wing press, and collaborated with many newspapers in France. The pen name Nguyen Ai Quoc was recorded under 86 articles published in many different newspapers. At the end of 1924, when he arrived in Guangzhou, China, Nguyen Ai Quoc actively prepared for the establishment of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association. To promote the dissemination of Marxism-Leninism, awaken the youth, workers and people of Vietnam, and popularize methods of carrying out the revolution, he advocated the establishment of a newspaper. On June 21, 1925, Nguyen Ai Quoc founded Thanh Nien - the first revolutionary newspaper in Vietnamese, published weekly, printed on wax paper with a quantity of about 100 copies per issue.
Nguyen Ai Quoc not only founded but also directly directed and participated in the process of writing, editing, printing and distributing the newspaper. In many articles, he always clearly expressed the message: "Revolution is to destroy the old and replace it with the new, destroy the bad and replace it with the good" ( The Revolutionary Path , 1927). Therefore, Thanh Nien newspaper is not only a means of information but also a tool for political enlightenment.
Nguyen Ai Quoc's journalistic works published in Thanh Nien newspaper and the international newspapers of this period were not only a combination of revolutionary theory and sharp language, but also had strategic orientation, contributing significantly to the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam. It was from that persistent journey that Nguyen Ai Quoc became the one who lit the fire, paving the way for the country's revolutionary press.
Thanh Nien Newspaper - the first revolutionary newspaper
The newspaper is published once a week, usually 4 pages, but sometimes only 2 pages or up to 5 pages. The newspaper size is not uniform, but usually 18 x 24 cm. The newspaper page is divided into two columns, publishing articles, news, questions and answers, slogans, illustrations... Articles in Thanh Nien newspaper are often concise, straight to the point, and highly convincing. The longest article, sometimes published in 2 or 3 installments, is only under 1,000 words. Articles are usually 300 - 500 words.
President Ho Chi Minh with delegates attending the 3rd Congress of Vietnamese Journalists (September 8, 1962)
Photo: VNA Document
Thanh Nien newspaper was secretly published in Guangzhou, China. After printing, most of the issues were secretly sent back to Vietnam. The newspaper became a torch to light the way, arousing faith, ideals and fostering patriotism and revolutionary will in the hearts of Vietnamese youth: " Thanh Nien newspaper was founded by Uncle Ho and many articles were written by him. Every time we brought it back to the country, we passed it around to read until it was crumpled, then copied it over and over again until we knew it by heart. At that time, although we had not met Uncle Ho, through his books and newspapers, we learned a lot from him. We learned about revolutionary ideals and how to make a revolution. We learned about how to organize a group. We learned about patriotism, love for the people, and hate for parasites and exploiters. The first lesson Uncle Ho taught us was the lesson of "the character of a revolutionary" (Hoang Quoc Viet, The Path Following Uncle Ho , Thanh Nien Publishing House, 1990).
Thanh Nien newspaper maintained its operation for about 5 years (1925 - 1930). The newspaper ended when the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association developed into many revolutionary organizations in the country, each organization had its own newspaper as its mouthpiece. Following Thanh Nien were many secret Party newspapers in the country that were born before and immediately after February 3, 1930, from Fighting, Proletarian Flag, Red, Labor to Laborers, Revolutionary Waves, Xi Moong, Than, Kitchen Boy ... (to be continued)
With the role of Thanh Nien newspaper, on February 5, 1985, the Party Central Committee Secretariat issued Decision No. 52/QD-TW to make June 21 every year Vietnam Press Day. On June 21, 2000, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Thanh Nien newspaper's founding, the Politburo - at the request of the Vietnam Journalists Association - decided to change the name to "Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day".
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/100-nam-bao-chi-cach-mang-viet-nam-khai-sinh-to-bao-cach-mang-dau-tien-185250603222540555.htm
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