In the period of the democratic movement (1936-1939), the Communist Party of Indochina published a wide range of books and newspapers for revolutionary propaganda purposes. Newspapers of the Party, of the Democratic Front and other unions, were established in almost all provinces to propagate Marxism-Leninism and develop people’s understanding of the revolution. The Vietnam National Museum of History preserves over than 20 revolutionary newspapers from this period, of which selected newspapers are on display, including:
Newspaper “Dân Chúng” (“The People”), Central Committee of the Communist Party of Indochina, number 41, dated 3 January 1939.
The newspaper was established by the Party’s General Secretary Nguyen Van Cu. The Editorial office was at 51E Colonel Grimauld Street (now Pham Ngu Lao Street, Ho Chi Minh City) for the numbers from 1 to 33; at 43 Hamelin Street (now Le Thi Hong Gam street, Ho Chi Minh City) for the numbers from 34 to 43. The printing houses include Sati, Bao ton, and Xua nay.
The newspaper “Le Travail”, a weekly Hanoi newspaper on politics and economics published every Wednesday in French, number 6, 21 October 1936
The “News”, Weekly newspaper, official organ of the Indochinese Democratic Front, number 36, 24 September 1938.
The “Labour”, a news sheet defending the rights of the working class, number 20, 14 July 1939.
Headquarters of “The News”, official organ of the Indochinese Democratic Front at 105 Henri d’Orléan Street, Hanoi, 1938 (now Phung Hung street).
The newspaper “Independent Vietnam”, official organ of the Viet Minh organization, established in Cao Bang province by Nguyen Ai Quoc (our Leader Ho Chi Minh), number 1 (101), 1 August 1941.
From number 1 (101) to number 28 (128), the newspaper served as the main propaganda outlet of the Viet Minh in Cao Bang province; from number 29 (129) to 86 (186), it was the key communication tool of the interprovincial Viet Minh committee of Cao Bang–Bac Can; from number 87 (187) to 126 (226), it was the press outlet of the interprovincial committee of Cao-Bac-Lang (Cao Bang – Bac Can – Lang Son). After the August Revolution in 1945, “Independent Vietnam” was published without interruption. Nguyen Ai Quoc established and directly managed the newspaper from number 1 (101) on 1 August 1941 until his departure for China in 1942. Later, the newspaper was under the direction of Mr. Pham Van Dong. The newspaper was litho-printed, and each number had two pages. Up to 16 December 1945, 135 numbers were printed of which 127 numbers of the newspaper and 3 illustration versions published in May, June and July 1945 are now part of the Vietnam National Museum of History’s collection.
