View source for August Revolution

{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Short description|1945 uprising ending the Vietnamese monarchy}}
{{distinguish|Nanchang Uprising}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = August Revolution
| width             = 
| partof            = the [[Aftermath of World War II]], [[civil conflicts in Vietnam (1945–1949)]], and [[decolonisation of Asia]]
| image             = Cách mạng tháng 8 b.jpg
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = Occupation of the [[Tonkin Palace]], [[Hanoi]], 19 August 1945
| date              = 13 August – 28 August 1945 ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days |month1=08|day1=13|year1=1945 |month2=08|day2=28|year2=1945}})
| place             = [[Empire of Vietnam|Vietnam]]
| result            = {{ublist|Việt Minh victory}}
* [[Civil conflicts in Vietnam (1945–1949)|Civil conflicts]] began in Vietnam
* [[Abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại|Abolishment]] of the [[Monarchy of Vietnam|Vietnamese monarchy]] on August 25
*  Establishment of the [[:vi:Chính phủ Cách mạng lâm thời Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa|Provisional Government of Democratic Republic of Vietnam]] on August 28
* Establishment of the [[Vietnamese Provisional National Government]] by the [[:vi:Việt Nam Cách mệnh Đồng minh Hội|Vietnam Revolutionary League]] (Việt Cách) in [[Móng Cái]] on September 1
* Declaration of the [[North Vietnam|Democratic Republic of Vietnam]] on September 2
| combatant1        = {{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945a}} [[Viet Minh|Việt Minh]]
* [[File:Flag of the National Libertion Committee of Vietnam (Viet Minh).png|23px|border]] [[National Liberation Committee of Vietnam]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Vanguard Youth, Vietnam 1945.svg}} [[Vanguard Youth (Vietnam)|Vanguard Youth]] (from 22 August)
----
{{flagicon image|Flag of Binh Xuyen Army.svg}} [[Bình Xuyên]]<br>{{flagicon image|Hoa Hao flag.svg}} [[Hòa Hảo]]<br>{{flagicon image|Caodaism Left Eye.png|border=no|size=22px}} [[Cao Đài]]<hr>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Struggle Group.svg}} [[Trotskyism in Vietnam|Trotskyists]]<hr>{{flagicon image|Flag of Vietnam Revolutionary League.svg}} [[:vi:Việt Nam Cách mệnh Đồng minh Hội|Việt Nam Cách mệnh Đồng minh Hội]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Vietnam Revolutionary League.svg}} [[Vietnamese Provisional National Government]]
{{flagicon image|Flag of VNQDD.svg}} [[Việt Nam Quốc dân Đảng]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of VNQDD.svg}} [[Đại Việt Nationalist Party|Đại Việt Quốc dân Đảng]]
| combatant2        = {{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} [[Empire of Vietnam]]
*{{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} [[Mặt trận Quốc gia Thống nhất|National Unified Front]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Vanguard Youth, Vietnam 1945.svg}} [[Vanguard Youth (Vietnam)|Vanguard Youth]] (until 22 August)
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Daiviet National Socialist Party.svg}} [[Đại Việt National Socialist Party]]
<hr>{{flagdeco|Japan}} [[Empire of Japan]]
| commander1        = {{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945a}} [[Ho Chi Minh]] <br> {{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945a}} [[Võ Nguyên Giáp]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vo Nguyen Giap {{!}} Biography & Vietnam War {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vo-Nguyen-Giap |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602123154/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vo-Nguyen-Giap |url-status=live }}</ref><br> {{flagdeco|North Vietnam|1945}} [[Trường Chinh]] <br>[[File:Flag of the National Libertion Committee of Vietnam (Viet Minh).png|23px|border]] {{ill|Trần Huy Liệu|vi}}<br>{{flagdeco|North Vietnam|1945}} [[Nguyễn Khang (politician)|Nguyễn Khang]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Vanguard Youth, Vietnam 1945.svg}} [[:vi:Phạm Ngọc Thạch|Phạm Ngọc Thạch]] (from 22 August)<hr>{{flagicon image|Flag of Binh Xuyen Army.svg}} [[Dương Văn Dương]]<br>{{flagicon image|Hoa Hao flag.svg}} [[Huỳnh Phú Sổ]]<br>{{flagicon image|Caodaism Left Eye.png|border=no|size=22px}} [[Phạm Công Tắc]]<hr>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Struggle Group.svg}} [[Tạ Thu Thâu]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Struggle Group.svg}} [[Phan Văn Hùm]]<hr>{{flagicon image|Flag of Vietnam Revolutionary League.svg}} [[Nguyễn Hải Thần]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of VNQDD.svg}} [[Trương Tử Anh]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of VNQDD.svg}} [[Nhất Linh]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of VNQDD.svg}} [[Vũ Hồng Khanh]]
| commander2        = {{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} [[Bảo Đại]]<br>{{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} [[Trần Trọng Kim]]<br>{{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} [[Trần Văn Chương]]<br>{{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} {{ill|Nguyễn Xuân Chữ|vi}}{{POW}}<br>{{flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} [[Hồ Văn Ngà]]<hr>
{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Yuitsu Tsuchihashi]]<br>{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Teiji Koudo]]
| strength1         = 
| strength2         = 
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
| casualties3       = 
| notes             = 
}}
{{Campaignbox French Indochina}}

The '''August Revolution''' ({{langx|vi|Cách-mạng tháng Tám}}, <small>({{ipa|vi|kǎk mâˀŋ t̺ʰǎŋ tǎːm}})</small>), also known as the '''August General Uprising''' ({{Langx|vi|Tổng khởi-nghĩa giành chính-quyền tháng Tám|lit=the Total uprising to seize power in August}}, <small>{{ipa|vi|tôŋ͡m xɤ̂j ŋɥiə̌ˀ ʑàjŋ cǐjŋ kwiə̀n t̺ʰǎŋ tǎːm}}</small>), was a revolution led by the [[Viet Minh|Việt Minh]] against the [[Empire of Vietnam]] from 13 to 28 August 1945.<ref name="qd"/> The Empire of Vietnam was led by the [[Nguyễn dynasty]] and was backed by [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] as a member of the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]]. The Việt Minh, a political league ''de facto'' led by the [[Indochinese Communist Party|Communist Party]], was created in 1941 and designed to appeal to a wider population than the communists could command. The revolution had the participation of factions that did not follow the Việt Minh.<ref>{{cite web | title=Vì sao một số tỉnh không giành được chính quyền trong Cách mạng tháng Tám ? | url=https://thinhvuongvietnam.com/Content/vi-sao-mot-so-tinh-khong-thanh-lap-duoc-chinh-quyen-nhan-dan-trong-cach-mang-thang-tam-21489 }}</ref>

The Japanese army in Vietnam generally did nothing to prevent the revolution as they ''de facto'' [[Surrender of Japan|surrendered]] to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in [[World War II]]. There was a [[Battle of Thái Nguyên|sporadic clash]] in Thái Nguyên with inconclusiveness. Facing a strong movement of the Viet Minh, the Empire of Vietnam refused Japan's request for help because its prime minister and emperor did not want foreign army to suppress the Việt Minh when they supported [[Vietnamese nationalism|national unity]] and did not discover [[communist]] nature of this organization, leading to the revolution happening peacefully.<ref name="V45">{{ cite book | title = Vietnam 1945: The Quest for Power | author = D. G. Marr | publisher = University of California Press | location = London, England | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780520212282 }}</ref><ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/><ref>[http://vanhoanghean.vn/thu-vien-lich-su-van-hoa/mot-con-gio-bui-hoi-ky-cua-le-than-tran-trong-kim Một cơn gió bụi, chương 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019071358/http://vanhoanghean.vn/thu-vien-lich-su-van-hoa/mot-con-gio-bui-hoi-ky-cua-le-than-tran-trong-kim |date=2014-10-19}}</ref> 

The Nguyễn dynasty with its pro-Japanese government of [[Trần Trọng Kim]] collapsed when its emperor [[Bảo Đại]] abdicated on 25 August 1945. He was later accepted as an advisor to the government of the Việt Minh and was "elected" a member of its National Assembly, but was later abandoned in China by the communists. The August Revolution sought to create a unified and independent state for Vietnam under the Việt Minh's rule. Việt Minh leader [[Ho Chi Minh]] declared the [[Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam|establishment]] of the [[North Vietnam|Democratic Republic of Vietnam]] (DRV) on 2 September 1945 and the foundation of the DRV was the first time Vietnam became a [[republic]], however initially no country recognized the DRV while French sovereignty over Indochina was recognized by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. The Việt Minh used its non-communist cover to successfully attract many non-communist nationalists, but there were many other non-communist nationalists who did not accept communist rule. The Viet Minh did not hold power in the entire country and the Viet Minh's power in Cochinchina was weakest. The return of France and communist monopoly led to the [[Civil conflicts in Vietnam (1945–1949)|purges]] of dissidents and the formation of a [[State of Vietnam|rival state]] led by ex-emperor Bảo Đại in 1949, a pro-French and [[anti-communist]] regime  
as part of [[decolonization]].<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last=Igarashi |first=Masahiro |date=2002 |title=Associated Statehood in International Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1peIxEyy1o0C&q=associated+statehood+in+international+law|location=The Hague, Netherlands |publisher=Kluwer Law International |page=24 |isbn=90-411-1710-5}}</ref><ref name="pent5">{{cite web|archive-date=2011-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806004651/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent5.htm |access-date=2011-07-23 |title=The Pentagon Papers, Chapter 2, "U.S. Involvement in the Franco-Viet Minh War, 1950-1954", U.S. POLICY AND THE BAO DAI REGIME |url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent5.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Historical background ==

=== French colonialism ===
{{Main|French Indochina}}

==== French colonial rule ====
All of Vietnam was under the French colonial rule from 1883 until the [[Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina|Japanese coup d'état]] of March 1945. In 1887, the French created the [[French Indochina|Indochinese Union]] including the three separately-ruled territories of [[Tonkin (French protectorate)|Tonkin]], [[Annam (French protectorate)|Annam]], and [[French Cochinchina|Cochinchina]], which were parts of Vietnam, and the newly acquired [[French protectorate of Cambodia|Cambodia]];  [[French protectorate of Laos|Laos]] was created at a later time.{{sfn|Lockard|2009|p=104}} To justify their rule, the French claimed that it was their responsibility to help undeveloped regions in Asia become "civilized." Without French intervention, they asserted, these places would remain backward, uncultured, and impoverished. In a view based more on solid reality, French imperialism was driven by the demand for resources, namely raw materials and cheap labour.

It is generally agreed that French colonial rule was politically repressive and economically exploitative to the original inhabitants; therefore, the Vietnamese struggle against French colonialism was well established by World War II, being close to a century in progress.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The World Transformed 1945 to Present|last=Hunt|first=Michael H.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-0-19937102-0|location=New York|page=123}}</ref> Incursions by missionaries, gunboats, and diplomats in the 19th century had set off repeated periods of resistance because of the loyalty of the Vietnamese people to the Nguyễn monarchy and traditional Confucian values, which were completely in conflict with European, notably French, interests.<ref name=":0" /> From the beginning of the French occupation of Vietnam, thousands of poorly-armed Vietnamese reacted to foreign control with various rebellions, a major one being the [[Cần Vương movement]] ({{langx|en|Aid-the-Emperor}}), a large-scale Vietnamese insurgency between 1885 and 1896 against French colonial rule in favour of restoring the de facto, and not just de jure, power of the native dynasty.

In 1917, a band of political prisoners, common criminals and mutinous prison guards seized the [[Thái Nguyên]] Penitentiary, the largest penal institution in northern Tonkin.{{sfn|Zinoman|2000|p=57}} The extraordinary regional and social diversity of its force makes the [[Thái Nguyên uprising]] a compelling prequel to the modern nationalist movements of the 1930s. Although all of the rebellions failed without exception, they remained a powerful symbol of resistance and calling to better days in the local population.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}

[[File:Sa Majesté Bao-Daï fit le pèlerinage aux Tombeaux des ancêtres de la Dynastie à Thanh-Hóa, 1932.jpg|thumb|center|567px|[[Thanh Hoá]] in 1932]]

====Development of nationalist movements====
During the colonial period, the French (in their quest to exploit the people of South-East Asia) transformed Vietnamese society. Education and national industry were promoted, which had the unintended effect of stimulating the development of nationalist movements.

In the north, the anti-colonial nationalist movement was dominated by communism after Ho Chi Minh created the [[Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League]] in 1925. On 3 February 1930, a special conference was held in Hong Kong under the chairmanship of Ho Chi Minh, and the [[Vietnamese Communist Party]] was then born. In October, following a Comintern directive, this name was changed to [[Indochinese Communist Party]] (ICP). Until the party was officially disbanded by [[Ho Chi Minh]] in November 1945, it held a leading position in the Vietnamese anti-colonial revolution.{{sfn|Huynh|1971|p=770}}

Ho Chi Minh went by many names during his rise to power, including Nguyen Tat Thanh "Nguyen Who Will Be Victorious," Nguyen O Phap "Nguyen Who Hates the French" and Nguyen Ai Quoc "Nguyen Who Loves His Country".<ref name=":0"/> The changes were used to further his cause of uniting the citizens and encouraging them to rebel. Ho Chi Minh means "Ho Who Aspires To Enlightenment".

In the south, the anti-colonial nationalist movement was more complicated than in the north due to political divisions. The [[Cao Đài]] was the first of southern Vietnam's three most influential politico-religious organizations to emerge in the colonial era. Officially founded by colonial civil servant [[Ngô Văn Chiêu]] in 1926, it would grow to be the largest of the region's politically oriented religious entities, and in many ways the most powerful. More than a decade later, in 1939, Prophet Huynh Phu So introduced another politico-religious organization into southern Vietnam's anti-colonial milieu by founding the [[Hòa Hảo]].

His alleged miracle cures, preaching, and carrying out acts of extreme charity for the poor made Prophet Huynh Phu So, by the end of 1939, attract tens of thousands of adherents to the new Hòa Hảo organization. The third politico-religious organization called [[Bình Xuyên]], can be traced back to the early 1920s, but Bình Xuyên did not become a truly organized political force until the end of the Second World War. All three organizations were major anti-colonial powers in southern Vietnam.{{sfn|Chapman|2013|pp=15–17}}

In the [[Cochinchina|Saigon region]], the Communists also contended with a [[Trotskyism in Vietnam|Trotskyist left opposition]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Van |first1=Ngo |date=1989 |title=Le mouvement IVe Internationale en lndochine 1930-1939 |url=https://www.marxists.org/francais/clt/1986-1990/CLT40-Dec-1989.pdf |journal=Cahiers Leon Trotsky |issue=40 |page=30 |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929201833/https://www.marxists.org/francais/clt/1986-1990/CLT40-Dec-1989.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 1939, the United Workers and Peasants slate, led by the [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] [[Tạ Thu Thâu]], triumphed over both the Communist Party's Democratic Front and the "bourgeois" Constitutionalists in elections to the colonial Cochinchina Council.<ref>Loren Goldner, "The Anti-Colonial Movement in Vietnam". ''New Politics'', Vol VI, No. 3, 1997, pp. 135–141.</ref><ref>Ngo Van Xuyet, ''Ta Thu Thau: Vietnamese Trotskyist Leader'', https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/revhist/backiss/vol3/no2/thau.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530164924/https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/revhist/backiss/vol3/no2/thau.html |date=30 May 2022 }}</ref> Governor-General Brévié, who set the results aside, wrote to French Colonial Minister Mandel: "the Trotskyists under the leadership of Ta Thu Thau, want to take advantage of a possible war in order to win total liberation." The Stalinists, on the other hand, are "following the position of the Communist Party in France" and "will thus be loyal if war breaks out."<ref>Ngô Văn,''In the Crossfire: Adventures of a Vietnamese Revolutionary''. AK Press, Oakland CA, 2010, p. 16</ref>

=== World War II and the Japanese occupation ===
{{Main|French Indochina in World War II|1940–1946 in French Indochina}}

==== Japanese occupation and March 1945 coup ====
{{Main|Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina}}
[[File:Le rendez-vous politique pro-japonais à Hanoï après le coup d'état du 9 mars 1945.jpg|thumb|right|222px|[[Hanoi]] after 9 March 1945]]
Before 1945, France and Japan had uneasily ruled Vietnam together for over four years.

In September 1940, just months after France capitulated to Germany, Japanese troops took advantage of French weakness to station troops in northern Vietnam for the purpose of cutting off the supply route to the southern flank of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|China Theatre]]. From 1940 to March 1945, the French retained their administrative responsibilities, police duties, and even their colonial army in exchange for allowing Japanese troops and material to pass through [[Mainland Southeast Asia|Indochina]]. By 1943, however, there were signs that the Japanese might lose the war. The United States had begun the [[island-hopping]] sweep through the South Pacific. A seaborne Allied landing in Indochina and an overland attack from China became real threats to the Japanese. In addition, an upsurge of [[Gaullist]] sentiment in Indochina after [[Charles de Gaulle]] returned to Paris at the head of the French Provisional Government in September 1944 added to Japanese concerns.{{sfn|Worthing|2001|p=47}}

In the evening of 9 March 1945, the Japanese forces attacked the French in every center and removed the French from administrative control of Indochina. In less than 24 hours, the majority of the French armed forces throughout Indochina was put out of combat. The entire French colonial system, which had been in existence for almost 87 years, came tumbling down. Practically all French civil and military leaders were made prisoners, including Admiral [[Jean Decoux]].{{sfn|Huynh|1971|p=764}}

After the Japanese removed the French from administrative control in Indochina, they made no attempt to impose their own direct control of the civilian administration. Concerned primarily with the defense of Vietnam against an Allied invasion, the Japanese were not interested in Vietnamese politics although they also understood the desirability of a certain degree of administrative continuity. It was to their advantage to install a Vietnamese government that would acquiesce in the Japanese military presence. With that in mind, the Japanese persuaded the Vietnamese [[Nguyễn dynasty]] emperor, [[Bảo Đại]], to co-operate with Japan and to declare Vietnam independent of France. On 11 March 1945, Bảo Đại did just that by abrogating the Franco-Vietnamese Treaty of Protectorate of 1884 (Vietnam became a French colony in 1883). In August, Vietnam regained Cochinchina (Southern Vietnam). Vietnam's new "independence," however, rested on the government's willingness to co-operate with Japan and accept the Japanese military presence.{{sfn|Worthing|2001|p=49}}

==== Opportunity for Vietnamese nationalists ====
[[File:Rencontre au Grand Opéra de Hanoï le 17 août 1945.jpg|thumb|right|222px|Meeting at the [[Hanoi Opera House|Grand Opera]] in [[Hanoi]] on 17 August 1945.]]

From March to August 1945, Vietnam was under the nominal rule of the [[Empire of Vietnam]], backed by Japan.{{sfn|Goscha|2016|pages=191–192}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=Brett |title=The Sovereign States of Vietnam, 1945–1955 |journal=[[Journal of Vietnamese Studies]] |date=2016 |volume=11 |issue=3–4 |pages=115 |doi=10.1525/jvs.2016.11.3-4.103}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|access-date=27 August 2013 |author=Tiến sĩ Lê Mạnh Hùng |date=15 April 2006 |newspaper=Đài Á Châu Tự do |title=Chính phủ Trần Trọng Kim năm 1945 |url=http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/TranTrongKimGovernmentIn1945_MHungTMi-20060415.html}}</ref> In the aftermath of the coup, the Japanese most definitely wanted to minimize internal change in Indochina,{{sfn|Huynh|1971|p=765}} which would have adversely affected their military objectives. 

If the 9 March coup was a disaster for the French, it was an opportunity for Vietnamese nationalists. In fact, it marked a turning point in the Vietnamese revolution. Freed from French repression, which had continued unabated in the early phase of the Japanese occupation, Vietnamese revolutionaries had much greater freedom of movement.

In May 1941, Ho Chi Minh formed the Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam), or Việt Minh for short, at the Eighth Plenum of the [[Indochinese Communist Party]] at [[Pác Bó]] in northern Vietnam. The Việt Minh encouraged the creation of "national salvation associations" and adopted guerrilla warfare as the cornerstone of its revolutionary strategy. After the coup, the Japanese were content to control the large cities and leave the countryside to the Vietnamese. The Việt Minh, in particular, took advantage of the situation to strengthen their power. During the five months of the Japanese interlude, the Việt Minh carried out propaganda activities and organizational work in the Vietnamese countryside to prepare for the anticipated popular insurrection.

The [[Trần Trọng Kim]] Cabinet oversaw the unification of the country for the first time in nearly a century. In its brief three-month existence, it sought to reverse decades of colonial rule by nationalising education, culture, and the civil service, while also doing its best to cope with the devastating famine. The Empire of Vietnam’s government might have survived despite its association with the Japanese, much like [[Sukarno]] and other nationalists managed to do in Indonesia.{{sfn|Goscha|2016|pages=191–192}}

[[File:Flag of the Struggle Group of the Trotskyist League of Vietnam, Saigon (21-08-1945).jpg|thumb|right|220px|The [[Trotskyism in Vietnam|Trotskyist League of Vietnam]] in [[Saigon]], 21 August 1945]]

However, the Việt Minh was not the only political organization to anticipate an opportunity. In fact, after the brief storm of bullets of 9 March, political parties, groups, and associations were formed throughout Vietnam.{{sfn|Huynh|1971|p=767}} In the south, because of the weak status of the communist movement, the Việt Minh failed to take the leadership of the movements during the preparation for insurrection. Several politico-religious organizations mentioned above rapidly expanded their power. In the early of summer 1945, [[Hòa Hảo]] leaders opened talks with the heads of other southern nationalist groups in the south, including the [[Cao Đài]] and the [[Trotskyists]], to fight for and defend an independent Vietnam when the war ended.{{sfn|Chapman|2013|pp=23–27}}

==== Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945 ====
{{Main|Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945}}
The famine of 1945 was another issue of utmost importance during the Japanese interlude. The famine was caused by both artificial and natural factors.

During the war, the Japanese had forced many rice farmers to grow other crops. As a result, rice production decreased, especially in the north, where crops had often been supplemented in the past by shipments from the south. Now, however, Japanese troops consumed the surplus from the south or converted it to fuel for military vehicles. Terrible flooding in the spring of 1945 added to the misery. Starving peasants flocked to the cities or died passively in the countryside.{{sfn|Marr|1995|pp=126–127}}{{sfn|Tønnesson|2009|pp=292–293}}

The devastation contributed to the crisis of authority in the country. Neither the French nor the Japanese took effective measures to alleviate the famine, and Kim's government could do nothing without Japanese consent. The misery and anger combined to foster a new interest in politics, especially among the younger generation, which the Việt Minh turned to its advantage.

During the famine, the Việt Minh conducted raids on Japanese granaries and the rice storage facilities of Vietnamese landlords. In the long run, the Việt Minh thus increased popular support, highlighted the impotency of Kim's government and intensified popular feelings against the French and Japanese. The Việt Minh succeeded in creating People's Revolutionary Committees all over the north. The committees were to take over local administration when the Việt Minh launched the general insurrection.{{sfn|Tønnesson|2009|pp=312–315, 321–322}}

== August Revolution ==
On August 13, 1945, upon receiving news that fascist Japan had been defeated and was about to surrender to the Allies, the [[Indochinese Communist Party|ICP]]'s Central Committee and the [[Viet Minh]]'s General Headquarters established the National Uprising Committee. At 11 p.m. the same day, the Committee issued Military Order No. 1, calling for a general uprising. On August 14, the ICP's National Conference opened at Tân Trào, where the Party resolved to promptly launch a general uprising to seize power. A National People’s Congress was also convened at Tân Trào on August 16. The Congress decided to establish the [[National Liberation Committee of Vietnam|National Liberation Committee]], with Hồ Chí Minh as Chairman.<ref name="qd">{{cite web |title=Cách mạng Tháng Tám năm 1945: Dấu ấn thời đại |url=https://media.qdnd.vn/long-form/cach-mang-thang-tam-nam-1945-dau-an-thoi-dai-57770 |date=2023}}</ref>

Also on August 13, 1945, the ''[[Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng]]'' seized power in [[Ha Giang Province|Hà Giang]]. When the [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese surrendered]] to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] on 15 August 1945, the Việt Minh immediately launched a big insurrection that they had already prepared for a long time. 'People's Revolutionary Committees' across the countryside took over administrative positions, often acting on their own initiative, and in the cities, the Japanese stood by as the Vietnamese took control.{{sfn|Worthing|2001|p=52}} On the morning of 19 August, the Việt Minh took control of [[Hanoi]], seizing northern Vietnam in the next few days.

On 25 and 30 August 1945, Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated twice and turned over the imperial seal to the Việt Minh government, leading to the fall of the [[Nguyễn dynasty]] and [[Empire of Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2015-08-19 |access-date=2018-08-19 |title=Cách mạng tháng Tám thành công, nước Việt Nam Dân chủ cộng hòa ra đời |url=http://giaoduc.net.vn/Xa-hoi/Cach-mang-thang-Tam-thanh-cong-nuoc-Viet-Nam-Dan-chu-cong-hoa-ra-doi-post161062.gd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Spector |first1=Ronald H. |title=In the ruins of empire : the Japanese surrender and the battle for postwar Asia |date=2007 |location=New York |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0375509155 |page=108 |edition=}}</ref> He was then offered a position as supreme advisor. On 2 September, Ho Chi Minh [[Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam|declared]] independence for the newly established [[Democratic Republic of Vietnam]], headquartered in Hanoi. The same day, Japan signed the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Instrument of Surrender]] to officially surrender to the Allies.

However, while the people celebrated their victory in the north, the Việt Minh faced various problems in the south, which was politically more diverse than the north. The Việt Minh had been unable to establish the same degree of control in the south as in the north. There were serious divisions in the independence movement in the south, where the Việt Minh, [[Caodaism|Cao Đài]], [[Hòa Hảo]], other nationalist groups and the [[Trotskyism in Vietnam|Trotskyists]] competed for control.{{sfn|Duiker|1981|p=113}}

On August 24 the Việt Minh declared a provisional administration, a Southern Administrative Committee, in Saigon. When, for the declared purpose of disarming the Japanese, the Việt Minh accommodated the landing and strategic positioning of British and British-Indian troops, the rival political groups turned out in force. On September 7 and 8, 1945, in the delta city of [[Cần Thơ]] the Committee had to rely on what had been the Japanese-auxiliary, ''Jeunesse d'Avant-Garde/Thanh Nien Tienphong'' [Vanguard Youth]. They fired upon crowds demanding arms against a French colonial restoration.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marr |first1=David G. |title=Vietnam: State, War, and Revolution (1945–1946) |year=2013 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520274150 |pages=408–409}}</ref>

In the north, Lê Trọng Nghĩa, who later became the head of the Intelligence Department for both the Communist Party and the military, said of events in Hanoi: 'The government did not hand over power or collapse, the Việt Minh made the decision to destroy what was there, the entire administration. We were bold. Approaching the Japanese, harnessing the energy around the popularity of the [[Democratic Party of Vietnam]] to influence the outcome of the people's uprising, and using our covert operatives within the puppet apparatus to collapse things within'.<ref>Morris, Virginia and Hills, Clive. {{Citation|title=Ho Chi Minh's Blueprint for Revolution, In the Words of Vietnamese Strategists and Operatives}}, McFarland & Co Inc, 2018, p. 93.</ref>

=== Preparation and supply ===

In Hanoi on 15–20 April 1945 the Tonkin Revolutionary Military Conference of the Việt Minh issued a resolution that was reprinted on pages 1–4 on 25 August 1970 in the ''[[Nhân Dân]]'' journal.<ref name="Tonkin-Revolutionary-Military-Conference-15–20-April-1945">{{cite book |last=Truong |first=Chinh |author-link= |date= 1971 |title=Translations on North Vietnam, Volume 17 |series=JPRS |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTrcAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22establish+an+organization+of+Chinese+and+Vietnamese+Allied+against+Japan%22&pg=RA2-PA7|location= |chapter=I. Documents From the August Revolution Resolution of the Tonkin Revolutionary Military Conference, JPRS 53169 19 May 1971 Translations on North Vietnam No. 940 Documents on the August Revolution |publisher=U.S. Joint Publications Research Service. |pages=1–7 |isbn=}}</ref><ref>I. Documents from the August Revolution Resolution of the Tonkin Revolutionary Military Conference [Except from the Resolution of the Tonkin Revolutionary Military Conference Held Between 15 and 20 April 1945; Hanoi, Nhan Dan, Vietnamese, 25 August 1970, pp 1.4]</ref> It called for a general uprising, resistance and [[guerilla warfare]] against the Japanese by establishing 7 war zones across Vietnam named after past heroes of Vietnam, calling for propaganda to explain to the people that their only way forward was violent resistance against the Japanese and exposing the Vietnamese puppet government that served them.<ref name="Tonkin-Revolutionary-Military-Conference-15–20-April-1945"/> The conference also called for training propagandists and having women spread military propaganda and target Japanese soldiers with Chinese language leaflets and Japanese language propaganda.<ref name="Tonkin-Revolutionary-Military-Conference-15–20-April-1945"/> The Việt Minh's Vietnamese Liberation Army published the "Resistance against Japan" (''Kháng Nhật'') newspaper.<ref name="Tonkin-Revolutionary-Military-Conference-15–20-April-1945"/> They also called for the creation of a group called "Chinese and Vietnamese Allied against Japan" by sending leaflets to recruit [[overseas Chinese]] in Vietnam to their cause.<ref name="Tonkin-Revolutionary-Military-Conference-15–20-April-1945"/> The resolution called on forcing the French in Vietnam to recognise Vietnamese independence and for [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s France (Allied French) to recognise their independence and cooperate with them against Japan.<ref name="Tonkin-Revolutionary-Military-Conference-15–20-April-1945"/>

[[Archimedes Patti]] stated that when he arrived in [[Kunming]] in March 1945, the French colonials were either unwilling or unable to assist him in establishing an American intelligence network in [[Indochina]] and so he turned to "the only source [available]," the Việt Minh. Patti was introduced to Ho Chi Minh by Colonel Austin Glass, the OSS expert in Indochina. Patti met Ho Chi Minh on the French Indochinese-Chinese border in late April 1945. Patti agreed to provide intelligence to the allies if he could have "a line of communication with the allies."<ref name="wgbh.org1">{{cite web|url=http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/vietnam-9dc948-interview-with-carleton-swift|title=Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Carleton Swift|website=openvault.wgbh.org|access-date=7 September 2022|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305210732/http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/vietnam-9dc948-interview-with-carleton-swift|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 16 July 1945, the [[United States|American]] [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS) Special Operations ''Deer Team'' and 3 French special operatives arrived by parachute at the Việt Minh headquarters at Kim Lung.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018">{{cite web|url= https://www.cia.gov/static/a0c34085dfe487b73cc90c8a92bb077d/oss-ho-chi-minh.pdf|title= Studies in Intelligence Vol. 62, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2018) – Old Man Ho – The OSS Role in Ho Chi Minh's Rise to Political Power|date= June 2018|access-date= 7 September 2022|author= Bob Bergin|publisher= [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) – [[Government of the United States]]|language= en|archive-date= 28 May 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230528194222/https://www.cia.gov/static/a0c34085dfe487b73cc90c8a92bb077d/oss-ho-chi-minh.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref> The remaining six members of the OSS ''Deer Team'' would arrive by parachute on 29 July.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> When the ''Deer Team'' arrived they were greeted by [[Võ Nguyên Giáp]] who apologised for their leader's absence as Ho Chi Minh was weak and dying suffering from "malaria, dengue fever, dysentery, or a combination of all three.", as OSS medic [[Paul Hoagland]] was a trained nurse he supplied Ho Chi Minh with the right medicine to let him recover from his illness.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Though there is controversy if the Americans saved Ho Chi Minh from "an early grave" or if he would have recovered without their help.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

In the first six days of August 1945 the OSS ''Deer Team'' build a training camp for the Việt Minh, this training camp consisted of 3 [[barracks]] with one being for the Việt Minh recruits, another one being for the OSS members, and another serving as a warehouse, infirmary, and radio centre.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Chairman Ho referred to these barracks as the ''Bo Doi Viet-My'', the Vietnamese-American Force.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> The Việt Minh supplied the OSS with 110 recruits of which the ''Deer Team'' would choose the 40 most promising to give special training instructing them how to use American weapons and drilling them like American soldiers from 9 to 15 August.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> More weapons and ammunition were dropped near them during the third OSS aid drop on 10 August.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Võ Nguyên Giáp wanted to make sure that his newly equipped forces would be witnessed by as many people as possible showcasing them to people who would cheer them on and welcome them as liberators.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> By the time of the Japanese surrender OSS Major [[Alison Kent Thomas]] had already given most of his weapons to the Việt Minh's Vietnamese-American Force, which became an issue when he received a message from Kunming, China that he was to return all OSS equipment to an American base stationed in China.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> However, by the time Thomas received this message both the Việt Minh's Vietnamese-American Force and the OSS ''Deer Team'' were on the road to Hanoi to proclaim a revolution.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

While in early August 1945 the end of the war still seemed far away, following the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] it would become clear that the Japanese were on the losing side and as American troops moved closer to the [[Mainland Japan|Japanese Mainland]], Ho Chi Minh's sense of urgency would grow causing him to ramp up preparations in order to proclaim a swift and decisive revolution following the official surrender of Japan in order to take the country before the French could return.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> In order to retain his leadership he knew that he had to demonstrate both legitimacy and strength and quickly called for a meeting between the Việt Minh and other Vietnamese nationalist political figures, on 13 August many delegates met at Tan Trao where they established the ''National Insurrection Committee'', its first order was to commence a general military insurrection on 14 August.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

On 8 August 1945, Hanoi's political situation became more and more heated due to the upheavals of the Second World War. The Japanese army suffered one defeat after another on allied fronts. During that time, the Việt Minh leadership instructed to conduct secret contacts with Khâm sai [[Phan Kế Toại]], who represented the Court of the Nguyễn dynasty in the North, asking him to side with the Việt Minh. Toại was puzzled by the Việt Minh's invitation to join their government.<ref>''Why Vietnam'', [[Archimedes Patti|Archimedes L.A Patti]], Da Nang Publishing House, 2008, pp. 301, 302</ref>

According to later accounts the [[Federal government of the United States|American government]] claimed that it only gave "a few [[revolver]]s" to the Việt Minh but according to author [[David Halberstam]] this is contradicted by "a considerable of evidence" suggesting that the Allied forces supplied the Việt Minh with 5,000 weapons during the summer of 1945.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> According to both Communist and French accounts the Việt Minh's military numbered only around 5,000 at the time of the fall of Japan.<ref>Bradley F. Smith, ''The Shadow Warriors: O.S.S. and the Origins of the C.I.A'' (Basic Books, 1983), quoted in Bartholomew-Feis, ''The OSS and Ho Chi Minh'', 311.</ref><ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> As 5,000 weapons would have been a highly significant amount American intelligence scholar [[Bob Bergin]] questioned Halberstam's claims as he provided no evidence, meanwhile Bergin estimated that perhaps only around 200 or so weapons had been given to the Việt Minh by the Americans during this period.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Bergin noted that Ho Chi Minh learned from his own experiences that the Americans wouldn't supply him with a sufficient amount of weapons if he asked for them and that an insufficient supply of weapons had always plagued the Việt Minh.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> The weapons supplied to them were supposed to have been used by the Vietnamese-American Force if the war would have continued.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

During an event known as "[[Gold Week]]", Ho Chi Minh asked the Vietnamese people to contribute their gold to the Việt Minh to be able to purchase more armaments from both the Imperial Japanese forces and Chiang's [[National Revolutionary Army]], within only a short amount of time people "from all walks of life" had contributed 370 kilograms of gold and 20,000,000 [[French Indochinese piastre|piastres]] for the purchasing of weaponry.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Historian [[Bernard B. Fall]] later commented on the success of "Gold Week" saying that the [[Vietnam People's Army]] was able to purchase 3,000 rifles, 50 automatic rifles, 600 submachine guns, and 100 mortars of American manufacture.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> According to Fall the Vietnam People's Army also secured substantial French and Japanese stocks of firearms and other military equipment (31,000 rifles, 700 automatic weapons, 36 artillery pieces, and 18 tanks) which were supposed to have been secured by the Chinese after the surrender of Japan, but were unable to.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

=== Initial stages of the revolution ===
{{Main|Battle of Thái Nguyên}}

On 16 August the first National People's Congress was formed and it consisted of delegates from all the different political parties that formed the Việt Minh, the first National People's Congress included various mass organisations and representatives of different ethnic groups and religious groups.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> During the meeting the attendees were greeted by disciplined soldiers well-armed in uniform and at building photographs of [[Claire Lee Chennault]] were prominently displayed next to portraits of Bolshevik leader [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the Chinese Communist [[Mao Zedong]] indicating that the Việt Minh enjoyed "secret" support from the Allies.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> During the meeting Ho Chi Minh emphasised that for the revolution to be successful they would rapidly need to take power in order to be able to provide strong opposition when the Allied forces will occupy French Indochina.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> 3 days later the Việt Minh would successfully take Hanoi and most of northern Vietnam.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

When OSS Indochina operations chief Archimedes Patti arrived in Hanoi on 21 August with an OSS team, and accompanied by a five-man French military team to handle [[prisoner-of-war]] (POW) matters, he was shocked to see the situation in Hanoi.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Patti soon found himself having to calm down the French and was worried that the demonstrations in Hanoi could soon turn into bloody situations.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Patti radioed the American military base in Kunming telling them to persuade the OSS ''Deer Team'' and the 3 OSS Special Operations teams in northern Tonkin to return to Kunming as soon as possible and that no further help should be given to the Việt Minh.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> Archimedes Patti hoped to quickly distance the Americans from both the French and the Việt Minh to avoid getting involved in the internal struggles going on Vietnam.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> However, this was already too late as the ''Deer Team'' at this point was already fighting alongside the Việt Minh against the Japanese.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

From 20 to 25 August the Việt Minh engaged in the [[Battle of Thái Nguyên]] against the Japanese. Earlier on 16 August 1945 the OSS ''Deer Team'' had joined the Việt Minh despite Major Thomas having received clear orders to "sit tight until further orders" from the OSS.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> While the reasons for the battle of Thái Nguyên remain unclear, Bob Bergin speculates that the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) leaders wanted to test the combat capabilities of the Vietnamese-American Joint Force and that they had hoped for an easy victory that would both psychologically and politically reenforce the legitimacy and strength of the Việt Minh.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> According to American historian [[Douglas Pike]], the battle of Thái Nguyên was the event that officially "marked the liberation of Vietnam".<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> During the battle itself only sporadic fighting broke out, as the Japanese were situated in an old French fort and the Americans were all, except for Major Thomas, away from the battle in an outside safehouse. On 25 August the final battle at Thái Nguyên ended with the Japanese "surrendering" agreeing to stay confined to their post.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/> This marked the liberation of the city of [[Thái Nguyên]] from Japanese rule, after the battle ended Thái Nguyên erupted in celebrations and held an independence parade. From this point onwards the Americans completely disassociated themselves from engaging in the August Revolution.<ref name="CIA-OSS-role-in-the-August-Revolution-2018"/>

=== Hanoi uprising ===
[[File:Mít tinh chào mừng Cách mạng Tháng Tám năm 1945 thành công tại Nhà hát Lớn Hà Nội.jpg|thumb|right|A pro-Việt Minh rally and parade in front of the [[Hanoi Opera House]] on 30 August 1945.]]

In a telegram sent to [[Tokyo]], the Japanese ambassador to Indochina in Hanoi confirmed: "''On the afternoon of the 19th, the Ambassador was 'invited' to attend a meeting with the leaders of Etsumei (Việt Minh) and participated in discussions with them, considered as official authorities.''"<ref>Quoted by Lê Trọng Nghĩa, "Revolutionary People's Committees Launched in Hanoi After the August Revolutionary Uprising" (''Các Ủy ban nhân dân cách mạng ra mắt ở Hà Nội sau Khởi nghĩa Cách mạng tháng Tám''), printed in: 19-8: Revolution is Creativity, Vietnam Historical Science Association (''Cách mạng là sáng tạo, Hội Khoa học Lịch sử Việt Nam''), 1995, p. 94.</ref>

=== Events in Huế ===

According to [[Nguyễn Kỳ Nam]] on 12 August 1945 a Japanese general entered the city of Huế and asked to meet with the Minister of Justice [[Trịnh Đình Thảo]] saying that there were urgent and confidential matters.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4">{{cite web|url= http://www.dcvonline.net/2016/12/27/nhan-dinh-ve-ba-vai-tro-cua-bao-dai-vua-co-van-toi-cao-va-quoc-truong-p4/|title= Nhận định về ba vai trò của Bảo Đại: Vua, Cố vấn tối cao, và Quốc trưởng (p. 4) |date=27 December 2016|access-date=8 May 2021|author= Nguyễn Văn Lục|publisher= DCVOnline.net |language=vi}}</ref> At that time, the journalist Nguyễn Kỳ Nam was present because he was General Manager of the Ministry of Justice office in Huế of the [[Trần Trọng Kim]] cabinet.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/> He informed the minister that he had come from [[Saigon]], [[French Cochinchina|Cochinchina]] to ask for an audience with the Emperor to ask for permission to deal with the Việt Minh's uprising.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/>

On 17 August 1945, the government of Trần Trọng Kim held a national rally, but because of the support of the people, the rally turned into a march in support of the Việt Minh forces. As the imperial government of Vietnam saw the success of the August Revolution minister [[Trần Đình Nam]] suggested to Trần Trọng Kim to dissolve the government in favour of the Việt Minh in solidarity around the strongest and most enthusiastic organisation noting that this would disallow foreigners to play "[[divide and conquer]]" in Vietnam.<ref name="Tuanbao-2017">[http://tuanbaovannghetphcm.vn/thuc-chat-chinh-phu-tran-trong-kim-va-long-yeu-nuoc-cua-ong-thu-tuong/ Thực chất chính phủ Trần Trọng Kim và "lòng yêu nước" của ông thủ tướng] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227213806/http://tuanbaovannghetphcm.vn/thuc-chat-chinh-phu-tran-trong-kim-va-long-yeu-nuoc-cua-ong-thu-tuong/ |date=27 February 2018 }}, Tuần báo Văn Nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh số 446, 29/4/2017</ref> Among his suggestions was not just to dissolve the cabinet but to abolish the Nguyễn dynasty altogether and ask for the Emperor to abdicate, in response Trần Trọng Kim got furious at Trần Đình Nam for daring to suggest that the Emperor should relinquish his position causing a heated debate between the two men.<ref name="Tuanbao-2017"/>

On 23 August, the Việt Minh-led uprising in Huế won. The people directing the uprising were [[Nguyễn Chí Thanh]] and [[Tố Hữu]].<ref>[http://www.tienphong.vn/Page/PrintView.aspx?ArticleID=70659 Đại tướng Nguyễn Chí Thanh như tôi biết] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610030008/http://www.tienphong.vn/Page/PrintView.aspx?ArticleID=70659 |date=10 June 2015 }}, Đại tướng Lê Đức Anh, Tiền phong. (in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]).</ref> The uprising was contributed by the Frontline Youth (''Thanh niên tiền tuyến'', also known as the ''Thanh niên Phan Anh''), which was originally the policing department of Trần Trọng Kim's government but when the revolution broke out, it turned to support the Việt Minh.

=== Events in Cochinchina ===
In [[Saigon-Cholon]], the important symbolic act of the transfer of power was Field Marshal [[Count]] [[Hisaichi Terauchi]]'s pledge on 22 August to [[Trần Văn Giàu]] and [[Phạm Ngọc Thạch]] – two senior representatives of the Việt Minh – that the Japanese would not intervene if the Việt Minh seized power. Terauchi also handed over his personal sword (''[[Wakizashi]]'') and personal gun to Việt Minh representatives as a symbolic act.<ref>Marr, David G, Vietnam 1945: the Quest for Power, p. 458. According to Tran Van Rich's (unpublished) Memoirs, only Pham Ngoc Thach was sent to meet Terauchi and he was given swords and guns by the Marshal as recitatives of his promise.</ref>

When the [[United Kingdom|British]] entered southern French Indochina after the surrender of Japan they became politically involved and imposed [[martial law]] in order to keep anti-colonial forces under control.<ref name="HistoryNet-OSS-involvement-in-Vietnam-2009">{{cite web|url= https://www.historynet.com/how-american-operatives-saved-the-man-who-started-the-vietnam-war/|title= How American Operatives Saved the Man Who Started the Vietnam War – Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh guerrilla fighters, led by future NVA General Vo Nguyen Giap, were allies of the Americans and given training by the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA, in an effort to defeat the Japanese during the waning days of World War II|date= 10 June 2009|access-date= 7 September 2022|author= Claude G. Berube|publisher= HistoryNet.com ([[World History Group]])|language= en|archive-date= 7 September 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220907141412/https://www.historynet.com/how-american-operatives-saved-the-man-who-started-the-vietnam-war/|url-status= live}}</ref>

=== Abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại ===
{{Main|Abdication of Bảo Đại}}
The telegram sent by ''Un comité de patriotes représentant tous les partis et toutes les couches de la population'' set an ultimatum of 12 hours for Bảo Đại to abdicate, otherwise they couldn't guarantee that he or his family would survive the August Revolution.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/> Bảo Đại claimed that he had attempted to contact the [[United States|American]] President [[Harry S. Truman]], [[Generalissimo]] [[Chiang Kai-Shek]], King [[George VI]], and General [[Charles de Gaulle]] for help but that none of them answered.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/> A young tutor of Crown Prince [[Nguyễn Phúc Bảo Long]] begged for Bảo Đại to take shelter in the Imperial Tomb but he refused.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/> Bảo Đại later received a second telegram from Hanoi asking for his abdication.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/>

It is not known who convinced Emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate, as it might have been [[Huỳnh Thúc Kháng]] or Phạm Khắc Hòe.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/> The latter drew a comparison with this situation and the fate of King [[Louis XVI]] of France.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/>
A French military force entitled "Lambda" consisting of 6 men led by the French captain Castelnat parachuted 28 kilometers from Huế in order to try to prevent Emperor Bảo Đại from abdicating.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/> However, they were captured by the Việt Minh as soon as their parachutes hit the ground.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/>

The abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại was officially announced on 25 August 1945.{{Sfn|Bảo Đại|1990|pp=186–188}} The imperial edict ending the Nguyễn dynasty was composed by Emperor Bảo Đại with the help of Prince [[Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Cẩn]] on the night of 22 August 1945 at the [[Kien Trung palace]] within the Citadel of Huế.{{Sfn|Bảo Đại|1990|pp=186–188}} The next morning, when the representatives of the [[Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam]] [[Trần Huy Liệu]] and [[Cù Huy Cận]] came to the palace to receive the documents of resignation, Emperor Bảo Đại at first gave the declaration to Trần Huy Liệu, but Liệu then convinced the Emperor to hold a formal ceremony announcing his abdication.{{Sfn|Bảo Đại|1990|pp=186–188}}

Together with his edict declaring his abdication, Emperor Bảo Đại also promulgated an edict which was directed at the imperial family of the Nguyễn dynasty, reminding them of his attachment to the ''[[dân vi qúi]]'' philosophy and of his vow that he would rather be only a citizen of an independent country than the puppet ruler of an enslaved country.<ref name="End-of-Empire-Việt-Minh-takeover-of-Vietnam">{{cite web |url=https://www.endofempire.asia/0830-bao-dais-abdication-and-the-failure-of-the-imperial-project-2/ |title=Bao Dai's abdication and the failure of an imperial project. |date=2002 |access-date=9 May 2021 |author=Nguyễn Thế Ánh |work=End of Empire |publisher=End of Empire – 100 Days in 1945 That Changed Asia and The World. (The [[Nordic Institute of Asian Studies]], NAIS) |language=en |archive-date=9 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509104207/http://www.endofempire.asia/0830-bao-dais-abdication-and-the-failure-of-the-imperial-project-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He called on the members of the imperial family to support the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and that they should also work to preserve Vietnam's independence.<ref name="End-of-Empire-Việt-Minh-takeover-of-Vietnam"/> Both of these edicts made it clear that Emperor Bảo Đại's will to step aside on behalf of the new government in Hanoi.<ref name="End-of-Empire-Việt-Minh-takeover-of-Vietnam"/> The edicts also contained the notion that he was unambiguously transmitting his mandate voluntarily rather than under any form of coercion.<ref name="End-of-Empire-Việt-Minh-takeover-of-Vietnam"/>

As a part of his official abdication, Emperor Bảo Đại personally gave his [[regalia]] to representatives of the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in ceremony.<ref name="Voice-of-America-Bảo-Đại-abdication-1">{{cite web |url=https://www.voatiengviet.com/a/ky-an-an-kiem-thoai-vi-bao-dai/5567691.html |title=Kỳ án ấn và kiếm tại lễ thoái vị của vua Bảo Đại (Kỳ 1) |date=2 September 2020 |access-date=5 April 2021 |author=Tiến sĩ Luật [[Cù Huy Hà Vũ]] |publisher=[[Voice of America]] (VOA) Tiếng Việt |language=vi |archive-date=17 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717173134/https://www.voatiengviet.com/a/ky-an-an-kiem-thoai-vi-bao-dai/5567691.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="VietnamNet-2011">{{cite web |url=https://m.vietnamnet.vn/vn/tin-nhanh/quoc-an-cua-vua-bao-dai-luu-lac-o-phap-14732.html |title=Quốc ấn của vua Bảo Đại lưu lạc ở Pháp? – 31/03/2011 – 06:25 – Sau khi Hoàng hậu Nam Phương qua đời (1963), quốc ấn Hoàng đế Chi Bửu nằm trong tay Hoàng thái tử Bảo Long. Khoảng năm 1982, sau ngày Bảo Đại làm giấy hôn thú với bà Monique Baudot (người Pháp), ông nhận lại chiếc ấn từ con trai mình. Từ đó, không còn thấy ai nhắc gì tới chiếc ấn này nữa. |access-date=24 March 2021 |author=Đất Việt |publisher=VietnamNet.vn |language=vi |archive-date=9 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209141821/https://m.vietnamnet.vn/vn/tin-nhanh/quoc-an-cua-vua-bao-dai-luu-lac-o-phap-14732.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In this ceremony he handed over the ''Hoàng Đế chi bảo'' (皇帝之寶) seal weighing around 10 kilograms and the jade-encrusted silver sword (''An dân bảo kiếm'', known as the "[[Sword of the State (Nguyễn dynasty)|Sword of the State]]") to the Communist government.<ref name="VietnamNet-2011"/> The passing of the ceremonial seal and sword had been seen as symbolically "passing the [[Mandate of Heaven]] over to the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam".<ref name="Brian-Micheal-Jenkins-Mandate-of-Heaven">{{cite web |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/751810.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410210712/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/751810.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |title=Why the North Vietnamese Will Keep Fighting |date=March 1972 |access-date=27 March 2021 |first=Brian Michael |last=Jenkins |author-link=Brian Michael Jenkins |publisher=[[National Technical Information Service]] (NTIS), an agency of the [[Department of Commerce (United States)|United States Department of Commerce]] ([[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]], [[California]])|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Voice-of-America-Bảo-Đại-abdication-2">{{cite web|url= https://www.voatiengviet.com/a/bao-dai-thoai-vi-tran-huy-lieu-cu-huy-can/5569165.html|title= Kỳ án ấn và kiếm tại lễ thoái vị của vua Bảo Đại (Kỳ 2).|date= 3 September 2020|access-date= 5 April 2021|author= Tiến sĩ Luật [[Cù Huy Hà Vũ]]|publisher= [[Voice of America]] (VOA) Tiếng Việt|language= vi|archive-date= 10 February 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220210044654/https://www.voatiengviet.com/a/bao-dai-thoai-vi-tran-huy-lieu-cu-huy-can/5569165.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

The August Revolution was proclaimed to be successful, on 25 August 1945, President Ho Chi Minh together with the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Trung ương Đảng) and the National Committee for the Liberation of the People (Ủy ban Dân tộc giải phóng) returned to Hanoi.<ref name="Government-Archives-August-Revolution-2020">{{cite web|url= http://luutru.gov.vn/cong-bo-gioi-thieu-tai-lieu/cach-mang-thang-tam-va-su-ra-doi-cua-chinh-phu-lam-thoi-qua-mot-so-tu-lieu-tai-lieu-luu-tru-tiep-theo.htm|title= Cách mạng tháng Tám và sự ra đời của Chính phủ Lâm thời qua một số tư liệu, tài liệu lưu trữ (tiếp theo) – 08:47 am 17/08/2020 – Lượt xem: 603 – Bài viết trình bày đôi nét về cuộc Tổng khởi nghĩa giành chính quyền mùa thu Tháng Tám năm 1945, sự ra đời của Chính phủ Lâm thời nước Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hoà.|date= 17 August 2020|access-date= 8 May 2021|author= Tú Châu|publisher= Trung tâm Lưu trữ quốc gia I (National Archives Nr. 1, Hanoi) – Cục Văn thư và Lưu trữ nhà nước (State Records And Archives Management Department Of Việt Nam).|language= vi|archive-date= 20 December 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221220105517/http://luutru.gov.vn/cong-bo-gioi-thieu-tai-lieu/cach-mang-thang-tam-va-su-ra-doi-cua-chinh-phu-lam-thoi-qua-mot-so-tu-lieu-tai-lieu-luu-tru-tiep-theo.htm|url-status= live}}</ref> The abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại further symbolised the end of the military government and the beginning of a civilian government for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.<ref name="Government-Archives-August-Revolution-2020"/>

It is said that during the ceremony the Bảo Đại Emperor said that he would rather "be a citizen of a free country than the Emperor of an enslaved country".<ref>Tạp chí Sông Hương, [http://tapchisonghuong.com.vn/index.php?opt=viewnews&idnews=386 Mười lăm phút tiếp chuyện công dân Vĩnh Thụy sau ngày thoái vị ngôi vua (31–8–1945)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907132404/http://tapchisonghuong.com.vn/index.php?opt=viewnews&idnews=386 |date=7 September 2022 }}</ref><ref>Xem [https://web.archive.org/web/20080415175017/http://www.qdnd.vn/qdnd/baongay.dinhhoi2007.11026.qdnd U80 vẫn ấm lửa], báo Quân đội nhân dân</ref><ref>Bảo Đại, Con Rồng Việt Nam, Nguyễn Phước Tộc Xuất Bản, 1990, trang 186–188</ref><ref>Bảo Đại, Con Rồng Việt Nam, Nguyễn Phước Tộc Xuất Bản, 1990, trang 186–188.</ref> At the end of the abdication ceremony it is reported that the crowd loudly exclaimed "''Việt Nam độc lập muôn năm!''", "''Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa muôn năm!''" ([[Ten thousand years]] to an independent Vietnam! Ten-thousand years to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam!).<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://giaoduc.net.vn/Xa-hoi/Cach-mang-thang-Tam-thanh-cong-nuoc-Viet-Nam-Dan-chu-cong-hoa-ra-doi-post161062.gd | title = Cách mạng tháng Tám thành công, nước Việt Nam Dân chủ cộng hòa ra đời | date = 19 August 2015 | access-date = 8 February 2018 | archive-date = 15 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170915021418/http://giaoduc.net.vn/Xa-hoi/Cach-mang-thang-Tam-thanh-cong-nuoc-Viet-Nam-Dan-chu-cong-hoa-ra-doi-post161062.gd | url-status = live }}</ref>

On the afternoon of 27 August and the morning of 28 August 1945, [[Phạm Khắc Hòe]] had an inventory of assets in the imperial Citadel to hand over to the Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.<ref name="BBC-News-Paris-Vietnamese-artifacts-2015">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/forum/2015/09/150903_vua_bao_dai_va_an_kiem|title=Bảo Đại trao kiếm giả cho 'cách mạng'? Mùa thu năm trước Bảo tàng Lịch sử Việt Nam mang chuông sang gióng ở thủ đô Pháp.|date=4 September 2015|access-date=10 April 2021|author=Phạm Cao Phong (Gửi cho BBC từ [[Paris]])|publisher=[[BBC News]] ([[British Broadcasting Corporation]], [[Government of the United Kingdom]])|language=vi|archive-date=18 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718040950/https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/forum/2015/09/150903_vua_bao_dai_va_an_kiem|url-status=live}}</ref> The most valuable items were the historical pearl and ivory objects of the Nguyễn Emperors.<ref name="BBC-News-Paris-Vietnamese-artifacts-2015"/> These were stored in a large tunnel behind the [[Palace of Heavenly Purity, Huế|Palace of Heavenly Purity]].<ref name="BBC-News-Paris-Vietnamese-artifacts-2015"/> Phạm Khắc Hòe would organise the handover ceremony that was to be held on 30 August 1945.<ref name="BBC-News-Paris-Vietnamese-artifacts-2015"/>

Following his abdication former Emperor Bảo Đại accepted President Ho Chi Minh's offer to become an advisor to the new Vietnamese government in [[Hanoi]].<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-4"/> Ho Chi Minh gave him the title of ''Conseiller suprême du gouvernement'' (Supreme-councilor of the government), but Bảo Đại understood that this position was one that could have easily resulted in his death if he ever stepped out of line.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-1">{{cite web|url= http://dcvonline.net/2016/11/30/nhan-dinh-ve-ba-vai-tro-cua-bao-dai-vua-co-van-toi-cao-va-quoc-truong-p1/|title= Nhận định về ba vai trò của Bảo Đại: Vua, Cố vấn tối cao, và Quốc trưởng (p. 1).|date=30 November 2016|access-date=8 May 2021|author= Nguyễn Văn Lục|publisher= DCVOnline.net |language=vi}}</ref> President Ho Chi Minh hoped that he could make Bảo Đại into the "[[Souphanouvong]] of Vietnam" but failed.<ref name="DVCOnline-Bảo-Đại-Part-1"/>

=== Declaration of independence ===
{{Main|Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam}}

=== Events in Saigon following the declaration of independence ===
{{Further|War in Vietnam (1945–1946)}}

On 2 September 1945, thousands of people from many provinces and in [[Ho Chi Minh City|Saigon]] flocked to [[Norodom square]] (near the Notre Dame Cathedral) waiting to hear President Ho Chi Minh read Declaration of Independence in Hanoi. But due to the bad weather and the level of technology at that time, Ho Chi Minh's proclamations to the nation did not reach the people attending the rally. [[Trần Văn Giàu]], Chairman of the Administrative Committee of Cochinchina, stepped on the stage to call on the people to unite around Ho Chi Minh's government, raise vigilance against the colonisers in case they return to invade Vietnam again.<ref>[https://www.nhandan.com.vn/tphcm/chuyen-xua-chuyen-nay/item/17692502-.html Lâm ủy Hành chính Nam Bộ sau Cách mạng Tháng Tám] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819113410/https://www.nhandan.com.vn/tphcm/chuyen-xua-chuyen-nay/item/17692502-.html |date=2019-08-19 }}, ''Báo [[Nhân Dân]]'', 08/08/2011. (in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]).</ref> The rally soon turned into an anti-French protest, in response the French started shooting at the protestors killing 47 and injuring more.<ref>[http://bdcb-hn.edu.vn/infoview.aspx?Area=1&ID=1117 Kỉ niệm 66 năm Cách mạng Tháng 8] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018225703/http://bdcb-hn.edu.vn/infoview.aspx?Area=1&ID=1117 |date=2014-10-18 }}, Trường Bồi dưỡng Cán bộ Giáo dục Hà Nội. (in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]).</ref>

In Saigon, the brutal reassertion of French authority under the protection of British, British-Indian and British-commandeered Japanese, forces triggered a general uprising on 23 September.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rosie |first1=George |title=Operation Masterdom: Britain's Secret War in Vietnam |last2=Borum |first2=Bradley |date=1986 |publisher=Mainstream |isbn=978-1851580002}}</ref> But the various militias were not only hit hard by the newly disembarked French forces, as they fell back into the countryside they were also assailed by the Việt Minh, who hunted down and executed their leaders (among their victims, the Trotskyists [[Tạ Thu Thâu]] and [[Phan Văn Hùm]]).<ref>Van, ''In the Crossfire'' p. 157</ref>

== Aftermath ==
{{See also|War in Vietnam (1945-1946)|1947–1950 in French Indochina|Civil conflicts in Vietnam (1945–1949)}}
{{more citations needed|section|date=August 2018}}<!--several paragraphs without citations-->

=== Allied occupation and Việt Minh consolidation ===
[[File:North Vietnam, late 1945.png|thumb|310px|Map of the political situation in Northern Vietnam (Tonkin), highlighting different parties in September–October 1945.]]
Just as Ho Chi Minh and the Việt Minh had begun to extend DRV control to all of Vietnam, the attention of his new government was shifting from internal matters to the arrival of Allied troops. At the Potsdam conference in July 1945, the Allies divided Indochina into two zones at the [[16th parallel north|16th parallel]], attaching the southern zone to the Southeast Asia command and leaving the northern part to [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] to accept the surrender of the Japanese.

The occupation period proved to be a great challenge for Ho Chi Minh and the ICP. When British forces from the [[Southeast Asia Command]] arrived in Saigon on 13 September, they brought along a detachment of French troops. The acquiescence of British occupation forces in the south allowed the French to move rapidly to reassert control over the south of the country, where its economic interests were strongest, DRV authority was weakest and colonial forces were the most deeply entrenched.{{sfn|Chapman|2013|pp=30–31}}

However, in the north, the occupation period became the critical opportunity for the Việt Minh to consolidate and triumph over domestic rivals. On 20 August, Chiang Kai-shek gave orders for the Chinese First Front Army, under the command of General [[Lu Han (general)|Lu Han]] of [[Yunnan]], to cross into Vietnam to accept the surrender of the Japanese 38th Army. The Chinese, unlike the British in the south, refused to prepare the way for an immediate French return; to maintain order in Hanoi and keep the city functioning, they allowed the Vietnamese Provisional Government to remain in control. With that breathing space, Ho Chi Minh was able to maneuver against and then to eliminate his domestic rivals, thus strengthening Việt Minh control over northern Vietnamese politics.

=== Entry of Chinese troops into northern Vietnam ===
General Lu Han's 200,000 Chinese soldiers occupied north Vietnam starting August 1945. 90,000 arrived by October, the 62nd army came on 26 September to Nam Dinh and Haiphong. Lang Son and Cao Bang were occupied by the Guangxi 62nd army corps and the red river region and Lai Cai were occupied by a column from Yunnan. Vietnamese VNQDD fighters accompanied the Chinese soldiers. Ho Chi Minh ordered his DRV administration to set quotas for rice to give to the Chinese soldiers and rice was sold in Chinese currency in the red River delta. Lu Han occupied the French governor general's palace after ejecting the French staff under Sainteny.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gunn |first=Geoffrey C. |date=2014 |title=Rice Wars in Colonial Vietnam: The Great Famine and the Viet Minh Road to Power |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4T7oAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA224 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |page=224 |isbn=978-1442223035}}</ref> Chinese soldiers occupied northern Indochina north of the 16th parallel while the British under the South-East Asia Command of Lord Mountbatten occupied the south.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Kaushik |last2=Saha |first2=Sourish |date=2016 |title=Armed Forces and Insurgents in Modern Asia |edition=illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwLeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=84 |isbn=978-1317231936}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Edward |date=2016 |title=The Vietnam War: A Documentary Reader |series=Uncovering the Past: Documentary Readers in American History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MzpcCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |edition=illustrated |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |page=40 |isbn=978-1405196789}}</ref> Chiang Kai-shek deliberately withheld his crack and well trained soldiers from occupying Vietnam since he was going to use them to fight the Communists inside China and instead sent undisciplined warlord troops from Yunnan under Lu Han to occupy north Vietnam and Hanoi north of the 16th parallel to disarm and get Japanese troops to surrender.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neville |first=Peter |date=2007 |series=Military History and Policy |title=Britain in Vietnam: Prelude to Disaster, 1945–46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5DzbRINYkIC&pg=PA66 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=66 |isbn=978-1134244768}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Duiker |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Duiker |date=2012 |title= Ho Chi Minh: A Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRKZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT371 |publisher=Hachette Books |page=|isbn=978-1401305611}}</ref>

Ho Chi Minh confiscated gold taels, jewellery and coins in September 1945 during "Gold Week" to give to Chinese forces occupying northern Vietnam. Rice to Cochinchina by the French in October 1945 were divided by Ho Chi Minh, and the northern Vietnamese only received one third while the Chinese soldiers were given two thirds by Ho Chi Minh. For 15 days elections were postponed by Ho Chi Minh in response to a demand by Chinese general Chen Xiuhe on 18 December 1945 so that the Chinese could get the Dong Minh Hoi and VNQDD to prepare. The Chinese left only in April–June 1946.<ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |author-link= |date=2007 |title=Ho Chi Minh: A Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJtqjYiVbUAC&pg=PA108 |translator-first=Claire |translator-last=Duiker |edition=illustrated, reprint |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=108 |isbn=978-0521850629}}</ref> Ho Chi Minh gave golden smoking paraphernalia and a golden opium pipe to the Chinese general Lu Han after gold week and purchased weapons with what was left of the proceeds.

Starving Vietnamese were dying throughout northern Vietnam in 1945 due to the Japanese seizure of their crops by the time the Chinese came to disarm the Japanese and Vietnamese corpses were all throughout the streets of Hanoi and had to be cleaned up by students.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bui |first1=Diem |last2=Chanoff |first2=David |date= 1999 |title= In the Jaws of History |series=Vietnam war era classics series |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Opb_14GLdXcC&pg=PA40 |location= |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |edition=illustrated, reprint |pages=39, 40 |isbn=0253335396}}</ref> While Chiang Kai-shek, Xiao Wen (Hsiao Wen) and the Kuomintang central government of China was disinterested in occupying Vietnam beyond the allotted time period and involving itself in the war between the Viet Minh and the French, the Yunnan warlord Lu Han held the opposite view and wanted to occupy Vietnam to prevent the French returning and establish a Chinese trusteeship of Vietnam under the principles of the Atlantic Charter with the aim of eventually preparing Vietnam for independence and blocking the French from returning.<ref>{{cite book |last=Patti |first=Archimedes L. A. |author-link=Archimedes Patti |date=1980 |series= |title=Why Viet Nam?: Prelude to America's Albatross |edition=illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xbFx8OhYSjcC&pg=PA336|location= |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |page=336 |isbn=0520041569}}</ref>

Ho Chi Minh sent a cable on 17 October 1945 to American President Harry S. Truman calling on him, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Premier Stalin and Premier Attlee to go to the United Nations against France and demand France not be allowed to return to occupy Vietnam, accusing France of having sold out and cheated the Allies by surrendering Indochina to Japan and that France had no right to return.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ho |first=Chi Minh |author-link=Ho Chi Minh |editor1-last=Gettleman |editor1-first=Marvin E. |editor2-last=Franklin |editor2-first=Jane |editor3-last=Young |editor3-first=Marilyn Blatt |editor4-last=Franklin |editor4-first=Howard Bruce |date=1995 |series= |title=Vietnam and America: A Documented History |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SVtNalqmYgAC&pg=PA47 |location= |publisher=Grove Press |page=47 |isbn=0802133622 |edition=illustrated, revised |chapter=9. Vietnam's Second Appeal to the United States: Cable to President Harry S Truman (October 17, 1945) }}</ref> Ho Chi Minh dumped the blame on Dong Minh Hoi and VNQDD for signing the agreement with France for returning its soldiers to Vietnam after he had to do it himself.<ref>{{cite book |last=SarDesai |first=D.R. |author-link= |date=2018 |series= |title=Vietnam: Past and Present |edition=4th, reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJZNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT65 |location= |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page= |isbn=978-0429975196}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hearden |first=Patrick J. |author-link= |date=2016 |series= |title=Tragedy of Vietnam |edition=4th, rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yg03DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 |location= |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=67 |isbn=978-1315510842}}</ref> Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh tried to organize welcome parades for Chinese soldiers in northern Vietnam and covered for instances of bad behavior by warlord soldiers, trying to reassure Vietnamese that the warlord troops of Lu Han were only there temporarily and that China supported Vietnam's independence. Viet Minh newspapers said that the same ancestors (huyết thống) and culture were shared by Vietnamese and Chinese and that the Chinese heroically fought Japan and changed in the [[1911 Revolution|1911 revolution]] and was attacked by western imperialists so it was "not the same as feudal China". Ho Chi Minh forbade his soldiers like Trần Huy Liệu in Phú Thọ from attacking Chinese soldiers and Ho Chi Minh even surrendered Vietnamese who attacked Chinese soldiers to be executed as punishment in the Ro-Nha incident in Kiến An district on 6 March 1946 after Hồ Đức Thành and Đào Văn Biểu, special commissioners sent from Hanoi by Ho's DRV examined the case.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marr |first=David G. |edition=illustrated |author-link= |date=2013 |title=Vietnam: State, War, and Revolution (1945–1946) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CVMA0mk6_6kC&pg=PA269 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |pages=269–271, 274–275 |isbn=978-0520274150 |issn=2691-0403 |volume=6 |series=From Indochina to Vietnam: Revolution and War in a Global Perspective}}</ref> Ho Chi Minh appeased and granted numerous concessions to the Chinese soldiers to avoid the possibility of them clashing with the Viet Minh, with him ordering Vietnamese not to carry out anything against Chinese soldiers and pledging his life on his promise, hoping the Chinese would disarm the Japanese soldiers and finish their mission as fast as possible.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duiker |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Duiker |date=2018 |series= |title=The Communist Road To Power In Vietnam: Second Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVJPDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT119 |location= |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page= |isbn=978-0429972546}}</ref>

Chinese communist guerilla leader Chu Chia-pi came into northern Vietnam multiple times in 1945 and 1948 and helped the Viet Minh fight against the French from Yunnan. Other Chinese Communists, including general [[Chen Geng]], also did the same.<ref>{{cite book |last=Calkins |first=Laura M. |series=Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia |date=2013 |title=China and the First Vietnam War, 1947–54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9Ppu-zcqTIC&pg=PA12 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=reprint |page=12 |isbn=978-1134078479}}</ref>

=== French war crimes after the revolution ===
Vietnamese civilians were robbed, raped and killed by French soldiers in Saigon when they came back in August 1945.<ref>{{cite book |last=Donaldson |first=Gary |date=1996 |title=America at War Since 1945: Politics and Diplomacy in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War |series=Religious Studies; 39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jOHR0neab58C&pg=PA75 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing]] |edition=illustrated |page=75 |isbn=0275956601}}</ref> Vietnamese women were also raped in north Vietnam by the French like in Bảo Hà, [[Bảo Yên District]], [[Lào Cai province]] and Phu Lu, which caused 400 Vietnamese who were trained by the French to defect on 20 June 1948. Buddhist statues were looted and Vietnamese were robbed, raped and tortured by the French after the French crushed the Viet Minh in northern Vietnam in 1947–1948 forcing the Viet Minh to flee into Yunnan, China for sanctuary and aid from the Chinese Communists. A French reporter was told "We know what war always is, We understand your soldiers taking our animals, our jewellery, our Buddhas; it is normal. We are resigned to their raping our wives and our daughters; war has always been like that. But we object to being treated in the same way, not only our sons, but ourselves, old men and dignitaries that we are." by Vietnamese village notables. Vietnamese rape victims became "half insane".<ref>{{cite book |last=Chen |first=King C. |date=2015 |title= Vietnam and China, 1938–1954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQrWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |edition=reprint |page=195 |isbn=978-1400874903 |id=2134 of Princeton Legacy Library}}</ref>

=== 6 March Franco-Vietnamese Accord ===
{{Main|Fontainebleau Agreements}}
As southern Vietnam's disunited resistance forces struggled to push back French advances, Ho Chi Minh and the DRV started to negotiate with France in the hope of preserving national independence and to avoid war.{{sfn|Chapman|2013|p=31}} In March 1946, the two sides reached an accord.

Instead of obtaining French recognition of Vietnamese "independence," Ho Chi Minh agreed to his government being weakly identified as a "free state" within the [[Indochinese Federation]] under the [[French Union]]. For their part, the French agreed to two provisions that they had no intention of honouring. French troops north of the 16th parallel were limited to 15,000 men for a period of five years, and a referendum was to be held on the issue of unifying the Vietnamese regions. The agreement entangled the French and Vietnamese in joint military operations and fruitless negotiations for several months.

However, the status of southern Vietnam was the sticking point. The March accord, which called for a referendum to determine whether the south would rejoin the rest of the country or remain a separate French territory, left the fate of former [[Cochin China]] in flux.

=== First Indochina War ===
{{Main|First Indochina War}}
The preliminary accord was but the first step toward an intended overall and lasting agreement. Southern Vietnam's future political status had to be negotiated. From June to September 1946, Ho Chi Minh met with French representatives in Vietnam and France to discuss that and other issues. Unfortunately, almost immediately after the signing of the 6 March accord, relations began to deteriorate. Negotiations at [[Da Lat|Dalat]] and then at [[Fontainebleau]] broke down over the issue of the fate of southern Vietnam. As talks failed to bring results, both sides began to prepare for a military solution. Provocations by both French and DRV troops led to the outbreak of full-scale guerrilla war on 19 December 1946. Nearly one year after the August Revolution, the DRV and France were fighting the [[First Indochina War]].{{sfn|Worthing|2001|p=170}}

== In popular culture ==
''{{illm|Sao tháng Tám|vi|Sao tháng Tám}}'' ("''Star of August''") is a 1976 Vietnamese movie dramatized a rebellion in Hanoi during the August Revolution.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Vietnam|Politics}}
* [[List of political parties in Vietnam]]
* [[Political organizations and armed forces in Vietnam]]
* [[French Indochina in World War II]]
* [[War in Vietnam (1945–1946)]]
* [[Indochina Wars]]
* [[National Liberation Committee of Vietnam]]
* [[Vietnamese Provisional National Government]]

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal |first=Bradley |last=Mark |title=Making Revolutionary Nationalism: Vietnam, America and the August Revolution of 1945 |journal=Itinerario |year=1999 |volume=23 |pages=23–51 |doi=10.1017/S0165115300005416 |s2cid=162303337 |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7248224|url-access=subscription }}
* Asselin, Pierre (2023). "[[doi:10.1162/jcws a 01120|The Indochinese Communist Party's Unfinished Revolution of 1945 and the Origins of Vietnam's 30-Year Civil War.]]" ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 25 (1): 4–45.
* Tønnesson, Stein (2024), Miller, Edward (ed.), "[[doi:10.1017/9781316225240.008|The August Revolution of 1945]]." in ''The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War: Volume 1: Origins.'' Cambridge University Press, pp.&nbsp;106–124,

== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |year=1990 |title=Bảo Đại, Con Rồng Việt Nam |trans-title=Bảo Đại, Dragon of Vietnam |language=vi |publisher =Nguyễn Phước Tộc Xuất Bản |ref={{sfnRef|Bảo Đại|1990}} }} Translated from ''Le dragon d'Annam, Bao Dai'', [[Plon (publisher)|Plon]], 1980. (in [[French language|French]]).
* {{cite book |last=Marr |first=David G. |author-link=David G. Marr |date=1995 |title=Vietnam 1945: The Quest for Power |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520920392/html |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |doi=10.1525/9780520920392 |isbn=9780520078338 }} ([https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520212282/vietnam-1945 Paperback 1997])
* {{cite book |last1=Marr |first1=David G. |title=Vietnam: State, War, and Revolution (1945–1946) |date=2013 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520274150/vietnam |isbn=9780520274150 |archive-date=22 August 2022 |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822013017/https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520274150/vietnam |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Tønnesson |first=Stein |date=1991 |author-link=Stein Tønnesson |title=The Vietnamese Revolution of 1945: Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh and de Gaulle in a World at War |url=https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-vietnamese-revolution-of-1945/book203489 |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]] |isbn=9780803985216 |archive-date=11 August 2022 |access-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811082304/https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-vietnamese-revolution-of-1945/book203489 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Tønnesson |first=Stein |date=2009 |title=Vietnam 1946: How the War Began |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520256026/vietnam-1946 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=9780520256026 |archive-date=22 August 2022 |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822012947/https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520256026/vietnam-1946 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Patti |first=Archimedes L. A. |author-link=Archimedes Patti |title=Why Viet Nam?: Prelude to America's Albatross}}
* {{cite book |last=Duiker |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Duiker |title=Ho Chi Minh: A Life}}
* {{cite book |last=Duiker |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Duiker |title=The Communist road to power in Vietnam |url=https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?q=The+Communist+road+to+power+in+Vietnam&btnG=&hl=zh-CN&as_sdt=0%2C5 |publisher=[[Westview Press]] |location=Boulder |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-89158-794-1 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |access-date=2 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809194522/https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?q=The+Communist+road+to+power+in+Vietnam&btnG=&hl=zh-CN&as_sdt=0,5 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Duiker |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Duiker |title=Vietnam: Nation in Revolution |url=https://archive.org/details/vietnamnationinr0000duik |publisher=Frederick A. Praeger |location=[[Westview Press]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-86531-336-1 |url-access=registration }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Goscha |first1=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Goscha |title=Vietnam: A New History |date=2016 |publisher=Basic Books |url=https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/christopher-goscha/vietnam/9780465094370/ |isbn=9780465094370 }}
* {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=K. W. |title=A History of the Vietnamese |url=https://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=zh-CN&biw=1280&bih=541&tbm=bks&q=A+History+of+the+Vietnamese&oq=A+History+of+the+Vietnamese&gs_l=serp.12...33621.38641.0.39516.5.5.0.0.0.0.103.287.1j2.3.0....0...1c.1j2.56.serp..3.2.203.U3lYqAE7YfM |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, UK |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-521-87586-8 |archive-date=20 May 2021 |access-date=25 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520025822/https://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=zh-CN&biw=1280&bih=541&tbm=bks&q=A+History+of+the+Vietnamese&oq=A+History+of+the+Vietnamese&gs_l=serp.12...33621.38641.0.39516.5.5.0.0.0.0.103.287.1j2.3.0....0...1c.1j2.56.serp..3.2.203.U3lYqAE7YfM |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book | title = Occupation and Revolution; China and the Vietnamese August Revolution of 1945 | url = https://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=zh-CN&tbm=bks&q=Occupation+and+Revolution;+China+and+the+Vietnam+August+Revolution+of+1945&spell=1&sa=X&ei=Q6FLVOfKMMO6mAXv9IGgBA&ved=0CBoQBSgA&biw=1280&bih=541&dpr=1 | last = Worthing | first = Peter | publisher = Institution of East Asian Studies University of California Berkeley | location = Berkeley, California | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-55729-072-4 | archive-date = 9 August 2021 | access-date = 25 October 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210809194519/https://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=zh-CN&tbm=bks&q=Occupation+and+Revolution;+China+and+the+Vietnam+August+Revolution+of+1945&spell=1&sa=X&ei=Q6FLVOfKMMO6mAXv9IGgBA&ved=0CBoQBSgA&biw=1280&bih=541&dpr=1 | url-status = live }}
* {{cite book |last=Chapman |first=Jessica M. |title=Cauldron of Resistance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s Southern Vietnam |url=https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?hl=zh-CN&q=Cauldron+of+Resistance&btnG=&lr=lang_en |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |location=Ithaca, New York |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8014-5061-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Lockard |first=Craig A. |title=Southeast Asia World History |url=https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?q=Southeast+Asia+World+History&btnG=&hl=zh-CN&as_sdt=0%2C5 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-516075-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shaplen |first=Robert |title=The Lost Revolution:Vietnam 1945-1965 |url=https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?q=The+Lost+Revolution%3AVietnam+1945-1965&btnG=&hl=zh-CN&as_sdt=0%2C5 |publisher=The Trinity Press |location=Worcester, and London |year=1966 |archive-date=21 August 2022 |access-date=2 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821123115/https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?q=The+Lost+Revolution:Vietnam+1945-1965&btnG=&hl=zh-CN&as_sdt=0,5 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Huynh |first=Kim Khanh |date=August 1971 |title=Vietnamese August Revolution Reinterpreted |url=https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?q=Duiker+W+J.+The+Communist+road+to+power+in+Vietnam&btnG=&hl=zh-CN&as_sdt=0%2C5 |journal=[[Journal of Asian Studies]] |volume=30 |number=4 |archive-date=18 March 2021 |access-date=2 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318224259/https://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?q=Duiker+W+J.+The+Communist+road+to+power+in+Vietnam&btnG=&hl=zh-CN&as_sdt=0%2C5 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Zinoman |first=Peter |title=Colonial Prisons and Anti-Colonial Resistance in French Indochina: The Thai Nguyen Rebellion, 1917 |journal=[[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume=34 |issue=1 |publisher=Modern Asian Studies |pages=57–98 |date=February 2000 |jstor=313112 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00003590 |s2cid=145191678}}
* {{cite book |last=McAlster |first=John T. Jr. |date=1966 |title=[[Vietnam: The Origins of Revolution]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Virginia |last2=Hills |first2=Clive |date=2018 |title=Ho Chi Minh's Blueprint for Revolution: In the Words of Vietnamese Strategists and Operatives |publisher=McFarland & Co Inc.}}
* {{cite journal |last=Vu |first=Tuong |date=2014 |title=Triumphs or tragedies: A new perspective on the Vietnamese revolution |journal=[[Journal of Southeast Asian Studies]] |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=236–257 |doi=10.1017/S0022463414000083 |s2cid=9900227}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |author= Truong Chinh |title= The August Revolution |url= https://www.marxists.org/archive/truong-chinh/1946/august-1946-revolution.pdf}}
* [http://www.vietnambreakingnews.com/2012/08/music-of-the-august-revolution/ "Music of the August Revolution"]

{{Vietnamese independence movement}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aftermath of World War II in Vietnam]]
[[Category:1945 in French Indochina]]
[[Category:1945 in Vietnam]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1945]]
[[Category:1945 in international relations]]
[[Category:August 1945 in Asia]]
[[Category:September 1945 in Asia]]
[[Category:1940s revolutions]]
[[Category:Communist revolutions]]
[[Category:Communist rebellions]]
[[Category:Vietnamese independence movement]]
[[Category:Military history of Vietnam during World War II]]
[[Category:North Vietnam]]
[[Category:Rebellions in Vietnam]]
[[Category:Viet Minh]]
[[Category:History of Ba Đình]]