The clandestine communist newspapers in French prisons in Vietnam from 1930 to 1935

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Prison journalism in the period 1930-1935 has been studied in different aspects by a number of researchers. Focusing on the struggle in prisons some authors [Nhà tù Côn Đảo… 1987; Tran Van Giau 1990; Trinh Nhu 1994] present about the struggle movement of the Vietnamese communist in French colonial prisons, including the journalistic writing activities of the communists.

Peter Zinoman's book “The colonial Bastile, a history of imprisonment in Vietnam 1862-1940” published in 2001 presents the struggle in French prisons in Vietnam from 1862 to 1940, in which from page 226 to page 229 the author learned about the communist newspapers in prisons. With reliable documents, the author examines a number of communist newspapers in prisonsthat were used as propaganda tools. Peter Zinoman's research is limited to introducing the basic features of the existence and effects of communist newspapers in prisons.

Nguyen Thanh with the work: Vietnam Revolutionary newspapers 1925-1945, published in 1984, presents the development process of the Vietnamese revolutionary press from its birth to the success of the August Revolution. In the book, the author also presents press publishing activities in prisons, thereby helping us to see the development of the prison press compared to the general development of Vietnamese communist newspapers.

It is clear that newspapers played an important role in the struggle of political prisoners. This article aims to clarify more clearly the context of the colonial prisons in the early years of the establishment of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1930-1935), the forms and methods of publication as well as the content of communist newspapers.

The communist newspapers in the French colonial prisons were a type of press published under special circumstances: communists had to be extremely secretive to publish and circulate these newspapers. Even so, when the Communist Party of Vietnam was newly established and faced severe repression, the communist press still appeared more and more. The birth and development of these newspapers demonstrate the brave spirit and creativity of the communists.

Factors influencing the birth of communist journalism in colonial prisons from 1930 to 1935

In the period from 1930 to 1935, communist newspapers in colonial prisons were influenced by many factors, among which the following can be mentioned:

Executing the directive of the Communist International, on January 6, 1930, Nguyen Ai Quoc became a member of the Oriental Department of the Communist International responsible for Southeast Asia, convening a conference in Hong Kong to unify communist forces in Vietnam. The conference established the Communist Party of Vietnam. The Party identified newspapers as a part of Vietnam's comprehensive and all-out struggle with the French colonialists [Văn kiện Đảng toàn tập 1998: 12-13]. At the conference to unite communist organizations and establish the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Party adopted a resolution on the press. The Party defined the press as a means of conducting political education and ideological leadership, a sharp weapon in the class struggle and national liberation, and a bridge between the Party and the people [Nguyen Thuy Hang 2004: 67].

After a series of events such as the Yen Bai uprising in 1929, the Nghe Tinh Soviets in 1930-1931, the number of prisoners increased dramatically, thousands of political prisoners were arrested in French colonial prisons. Compared with 1929, in 1930-1931 there were more than 5,000 prisoners detained. According to the records of the French government in Indochina, on December 21, 1933, the number of people detained in provincial and central prisons in the years 1929-1933 was as follows:

Table 1. Number of people arrested in French prisons from 1930 to 1933

Source: [Pham Xanh 1995: 87]

In addition, changes in the situation in the country and in the world were also factors that greatly influenced the press in French colonial prisons in Vietnam in the period 1930-1935. In particular, information about the Soviet Russia, communist movements and national liberation movements of countries around the world were often mentioned in prison newspapers.

The French colonial policies in prisons during the years 1930 to 1935 were also a major influence on the prison press. Although each prison had different policies, they were generally harsh regimes that destroyed both the mind and body of prisoners. According to statistics, the number of prisoners who died in prisons in Vietnam during the period from 1930 to 1935 is as follows:

Table 2. Number of prisoners who died in prisons in Vietnam from 1930 to 1935

Source: [Annuaire statistique de I' Indochine: from 1930 to 1935]

Through the above figures, we can see the harshness of French prisons. However, just as President Ho Chi Minh commented: "Turning misfortune into luck, our comrades took advantage of the days in prison to meet and study theory. It once again proved that the extremely barbaric terrorist policy of the enemy not only did not stop the progress of the revolution, but on the contrary, it became a kind of fire that tested gold, training the revolutionaries to become even tougher. As a result, the revolution prevailed, the empire lost" [Ho Chi Minh 1996: 3-4].

Forms and publishing methods of Communist newspapers in French colonial prisons in Vietnam from 1930 to 1935

With the purpose of propagating ideas and mobilizing a large number of people to follow the revolution, the audience of communist newspapers in French colonial prisons was diverse, including political prisoners, criminal prisoners, ordinary prisoners and some prison guards, soldiers in red loincloths, blue loincloths, servants who tended to be progressive, leaning towards the revolution. At Poulo Condore, while “Disscussion” (Ban gop) and “Tren duong dau tranh” focused on communists, “Hon Cau weekly” was a general newspaper for everyone on the island, “Qua tieng song han” (the Wave of hatred) was originally a newspaper for the bourgeoisie, but when the editor, Nguyen Duc Chinh, turned to the communist stance, this newspaper propagated Marxism-Leninism. “Prison life newspaper” at Hoa Lo prison stated: "Prison life newspaper is not only the mouthpiece of the Prisoner associations (Lao tù hội) but also of all prisoners. Therefore, please provide it with the material and spiritual help that the newspaper is in dire need of" [Tài liệu số 16…]. “Yeunede newspaper” (in the language of the Ede) in Buon Ma Thuot prison was for the green loincloth soldiers of the Ede ethnic group in the Central Vietnam.

Journalists and newspaper publishers in prison were all loyal and responsible party members in Party organizations and revolutionary organizations, even after serving prison sentences ranging from life to death. They were the Party cell secretary, the prison Party secretary in most prisons of the French colonialists. Truong Chinh, Le Duan who were the souls of the communist prisoners' struggle movement in Hoa Lo prison were also the main writers in the newspapers here. While being held in Buon Ma Thuot prison, Phan Dang Luu not only led the struggle movement here to develop but also actively wrote newspapers to propagate communism in this prison.

Due to the censorship of correspondence, the regime of checking prisoners, especially political prisoners of the French colonialists, the motto of journalism was secrecy, the object of information was selective: The newspaper published under a specific title, irregularly, small format easy to distribute and also easy to destroy when detected by inspection. The editor and the writer, the publisher were not supposed to know each other. The article was not signed by the author. The newspaper after publishing, must quickly check the effect on the readers and immediately adjust the content of the following digital information. Prison newspapers were usually only a few pages, but there were also 20-page magazines such as “Prison Review newspaper” - the journal of political prisoners in Hoa Lo prison, published in 1934. The size of the newspapers were usually small for easy storage: Red prisoners’ newspaper in Poulo Condore with the size of 13x19 cm [Nhà tù Côn Đảo… 1987: 109]; “Prison Review newspaper” in Hoa Lo prison was small print 78x100 mm.

The work of compiling newspapers in prison was also secret, laborious and extremely dangerous. Communists often had to hide under the floor to write, using the light coming through the peepholes during the day and electric lights or oil lamps at night. It was also very difficult to hide the presses so that the documents did not fall into the enemy's hands. Communists had to create secret "stores" to preserve documents, for examle by chiseling walls and removing bricks to create hidden compartments, then plastering them with cement and tar. Documents were also put in milk cartons, sealed, and the containers were lowered into manure bins using strings [Nguyen Tao 1959: 16], women also cut walls to make places for documents, or hid documents in underwear. In Poulo Condore prison: at first, the newspaper was hidden on the roof. Then, the communists dug secret tunnels called CQBM (secret hiding places), or documents were often kept in bamboo broom handles [Hồi ký Trần Huy Liệu 1991:104]. The principle of secrecy governed all stages of press production because if the French colonialists found a newspaper or a means of journalism, not only would all those documents and tools be confiscated, but the writers and readers would also be in danger. Tran Huy Lieu, who participated in writing many newspapers in Poulo Condore wrote: “I personally do not forget the painful thing that was burned all the newspapers, The sound of waves breaking, Discussion, Hon Cau weekly newspapers that we used to preserve in the past days” [Hồi ký Trần Huy Liệu 1991: 126].

Newspapers were produced using a wide variety of simple materials, including young banana leaves, eagle leaves, cigarette packs, gift wrapping paper, letters, school notebook paper and cement bags that were glued together into pages. Ink was often made from medicinal solutions used for writing signatures. Sharpened iron pens were used to write on banana leaves and eagle leaves. The printing mold was clay or wax. In any prison that enlisted outside help or had regular prisoners or employees, writing paper, printing paper, and ink were more readily available. In Hoa Lo prison, paper and pens were provided from two sources: from outside, such as cigarette paper, white paper and from prison guards who obtained materials from old books brought in by Droney. Communist journalists wrote with pencils or special liquids in the spaces between two printed lines. When you needed to read, another chemical was applied, and the text would appear.

A common feature of newspapers and magazines in colonial prisons was mostly handwritten. Articles were usually short, no more than 500 words. The handwriting styles were frequently changed if it was detected, thereby protecting the writer’s identity. In Vinh prison and some other prisons because of strict control by prison guards, the communists detained here had a unique way of producing newspapers: oral reporting. The editorial board determined the content of the information and then assigned each person to think. The author recited his writing according to the prepared theme and when it was his turn to read it aloud in the room for many to hear or recited it through the ventilation window between one cell and the other. This type of newspaper had no fixed publication date, but it had left a very deep impression on the prisoners and sometimes even the desk staff or prison administrators secretly listened and admired [Nguyen Thanh 1984: 96].

The names of newspapers in prisons from 1930 to 1935 showed the revolutionary spirit, the iron will of communist soldiers, and reflected strong class consciousness. We can take a look at some network newspapers with the above characteristics such as: the Path of Justice, Guiding Torches, the Path of Revolution, Bolshevik in Hoa Lo Prison; Red prisoners in Poulo Condore; Forward March in Quang Tri prison... This is different from the communist newspapers in prison in the period 1939-1945, the names of newspapers in prison in the period 1939-1945 had newspapers that reflected the revolutionary optimism that had mixed with romantic and lyrical substances such as: Suoi reo in Son La prison, Dawn on the Da River in Hoa Binh prison, Pine ring in Cho Chu prison, Cong river in Ba Van camp, Spring prison at Hoa Lo Prison…

Table 3. Communist newspapers existed in French colonial prisons in Viet Nam from 1930 to 1935

Source: [Nguyễn Thành 1984; Peter Zinoman 2001; Nhà tù Côn Đảo… 1987; Trịnh Nhu 1994; Hồi ký Trần Huy Liệu 1991]

Some main contents of Communist press in colonial prisons in Viet Nam from 1930 to 1935

Currently, newspapers in French colonial prisons no longer exist, but through a number of documents seized by French secret police, contemporary newspapers as well as through the memoirs of those directly involved in journalism. We can see that the content of these newspapers were quite rich: When wrote about “Prison life” and “The Prison Review”, “News of Annam- Tonkin” published: The articles in the magazine were written in a tone that encouraged revolution, but the most talked about being in prison. The magazines were divided into sections and also published current affairs, imitating events like a regular newspaper" [Báo Trung bắc tân văn số 5340]; or the content of “The Red Prisoner newspaper”, edited by Nguyen Van Cu, contained information about the situation, launching the struggle and educating Marxism-Leninism in the form of questions and answers [Báo Trung bắc tân văn số 5340]. This form of writing was used by Youth newspaper - an agency of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association: "A favorite technique was the question and answer format. Questions served as a pretext for proselytism and were not always fully answered" [Ho Tai Hue Tam 1992: 178].

Updating the situation inside and outside the prison

The lives of prisoners, the tricks of the French colonialists against towards the prisoners and the heroic fighting examples of the revolutionary soldiers as well as ordinary people were always updated in the prison newspapers. These articles enhanced the solidarity, fighting will of the prisoners and clearly reflected the methods and abuses of the French. “The Prison Review” of Hoa Lo Prison No. 2 reported on the conflict between political prisoners and prison guards in Hai Phong; reports about prisoners in Kon Tum fighting against the French on December 14, 15, and 16, 1931 [Lao tù tạp chí số 2].

After the struggle in May 1935, in cell block II, prisoners went on a 9-day hunger strike to demand improvement in their lives and political rights. The warden was forced to accept their demands to ensure basic rights for prisoners, especially political prisoners. “Forward March” in Poulo Condore prison published a special issue to report the hunger strike and summarize the struggle experience. Then, hundreds of memoirs about the prisoners' nine-day hunger strike were sent to the editorial board for publication in the next issue of “Forward March”.

Besides, although life was isolated from the outside world, the communist newspapers in prison always tried to update information about the situation in the country and the world, especially about the National Liberation.

The report of the French colonialists described the contents of several newspapers seized by security forces in Hoa Lo prison in 1932 as follows: “Among documents recently seized at Hanoi Central Prison are issues number 2 and 3 of the “The Prison Review” (Lao tu tap chi), an Annamite language journal produced in miniature format (78 mm by 100 mm). Number 2 is 14 pages long; number 3 consists of 19 pages. Issue 3 is almost entirely devoted to the upcoming visit of the minister of colonies to Indochina. It also makes reference to the recent escape from Hai Phong Prison of the communist Nguyen The Long” [Peter Zinoman 2001: 228].

In the special issue of “The Prison Review” published on December 12, 1934, in Hoa Lo prison, several articles were written to commemorate the Guangzhou commune. The magazine analyzed the situation of China before, during and after the uprising to highlight the role of the Guangzhou commune: "The Guangzhou commune was the first revolutionary movement of the Asian proletariat to rise up to overthrow the dictatorship and seize power. That act of violence brought good results. It made the workers and peasants in colonial or semi-colonial countries understand that they have enough power to make a revolution to liberate themselves” [Tài liệu số 8…].

Propagating Marxism-Leninism and the Party's ideology among Communist Party members and mobilizing the masses to struggle

With the policy of turning prisons into revolutionary schools, the communists in prisons actively wrote articles on Marxism-Leninism and the Party's polices to propagate and educate Party members. In particular, in the communist newspapers in Hoa Lo prison, the doctrines of Marx and Lenin were always mentioned. In January 1935, the French colonialists captured a number of newspapers in “The Prison Review” and “Life Prison”. The magazine had translations of the theories of Karl Marx and Lenin, and included various sections such as editorials, discussions, and commentaries” [Báo Trung bắc tân văn số 5335].

Marxism-Leninism was also the main content of the General Opinion (Ý kiến chung) at Poulo Condore prison. According to Tran Van Giau, who was kept in Poulo Condore prison in 1935: "While studying Marxism-Leninism, we also published a newspaper, or rather a magazine - General opinion. At that time, there was “Forward March” in Poulo Condore. “Forward March” was a small format with a calendar block, “the General Opinion” was considered as a publication and some basic issues need to be discussed more around and inside each lesson of Marxism-Leninism” [Tran Van Giau 1990: 7].

A prisoner's newspaper seized by the French colonialists in Quang Tri prison also called on prisoners to rise up and fight. In January 1933, the French colonialists obtained documents in Quang Tri prison in which the most important is “The Blue Shirt” (Aó xanh) a journal that attempted to promote a revolutionary spirit among the prisoners, to mobilize them and to aid them in their struggles [Peter Zinoman 2001: 228].

The “Prison Review newspaper” in Hoa Lo prison often had articles calling on prisoners to stand up against the French colonialism. In the 2nd issue of January 22, 1932, a call to prisoners was posted: "Prisoners, imperialism was not content with exploiting and oppressing us to steal our land but put us in prison to live like animals. Can we endure this? – No. We must make a revolution according to the principles of Marxism-Leninism, fight for the improvement of the prison system: eat better, dress better, be exempt from labor, give up beatings and punishments…” [Lao tù tạp chí số 2]

Along with propagating policies, mobilizing prisoners to fight, the press in prisons actively called for prisoners as well as the masses to participate in Party cell organizations inside and outside the jail.

In the “Prison Review magazine” No. 35, the communists wrote an article to mobilize female prisoners to participate in the prison association which affirms: "Because all prisoners, regardless of age or nationality, are equal. Who were deprived of their freedom and oppressed by imperialism? They shared the same life, shared the same interests. Therefore, women must join with us to fight against the abuses of French - our enemy" [Tài liệu số 21…].

Louis Marty, Chief of the Indochinese Secret Service, in a report dated October 1, 1933, commented: "It must always be acknowledged that, far from being able to re-educate prisoners, keeping them together has stimulated the spirit of the god of revolution in them. In prisons, propaganda took place very actively, but due to the accumulation of prisoners, it could not be extinguished even though there was as tight control as possible…” [Ta Thi Thuy 2014: 74].

Reflecting the fierce struggle against opposing forces and the French colonial authorities

The first form of struggle was the conflict of opposing ideas within the prison. In 1930-1935, in Hoa Lo prison and Poulo Condore prison, a struggle took place between communists and members of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party. Among them, the press was one of the main forms. In Hoa Lo prison, the Nationalist Party members published “But Tieu Sau newspaper” both to entertain themselves during these difficult days and to criticize the communists. The communists published “Prison review magazine” and “The Revolutionary path” newspaper to propagate the revolution, enlighten the masses, expose the crimes of imperialism, and call on people to fight. The newspaper also sometimes criticized the Kuomintang for its stance and sense of living. The content of the polemic revolved around the issues: class and class struggle, fatherland and family, Three principles of the Peoples and communism.

The Kuomintang side already had internal disagreements on political views, through the debate deepening their weaknesses in all aspects. Some of the leaders of the Kuomintang turned to the communist-leaning newspaper to oppose “But Tieu Sau” newspaper. In Poulo Condore prison, the situation was similar to that in Hoa Lo. Even the French colonialists had to admit: "The propaganda of nationalist and communist ideology clashed in which communist propaganda always won" [Ta Thi Thuy 2014 :274].

In the struggle with the French colonialists, the presses in French prisons on the one hand exposed the repressive policies of the enemy, on the other hand, encouraged the prisoners to stand up and fight for the final victory. In order to encourage the spirit of the brothers to conduct a hunger strike against the harsh policies in Hoa Lo prison, “Prison review newspaper” had a special issue promoting the spirit of struggle, including the song expressing the spirit of war brother's determination. In the article there is a sentence: “Prisoners want to contribute to each other. Raise your head and see if you can” [Nhà tù Hỏa Lò… 2009: 47]

Pham Huy Khanh, a communist who was imprisoned in Buon Me Thuot prison in 1934, recounted writing a newspaper in the prison: the newspaper mainly revealed the cruel and cunning plots of the imperialists, the ruthless barbarism of the prison guards, protecting the revolutionary will, raising the spirit of solidarity to fight for survival [Những kí ức… 2000: 86].

Conclusion

The newspapers in the French colonial prisons became an important front in the struggle against the French. The period from 1930 to 1935 marked the first and most active stage of revolutionary prison journalism with many newspapers in different prisons. If we compare the communist newspapers in prisons in Vietnam from 1930 to 1935 with the following periods, we see that: From 1936 onwards, when the French Popular Front came to power and there were many progressive policies towards the colony, including Vietnam, a series of amnesty for political prisoners took place, many communist prisoners were released, including many journalists in prisons because during the period from 1936 to 1939, communist journalism activities in prisons decreased significantly. Since 1939, due to many changes in the situation in the world and in the country, thousands of communist were arrested, prison press activities were revived. Newspapers in prisons from 1939 to 1945 were less in volume than in the period from 1930 to 1935, but they were richer in content. The political task was still the first and most important task, but besides that, the life of prisoners was also mentioned in many different aspects with many different styles of writing.

The communist newspapers in French prisons in Vietnam from 1930 to 1935 had a great effect on the life of prisoners in particular and on the revolutionary movement of Vietnam before 1945. The newspapers were not only a source of nurturing and forging revolutionary ideals, but also a place where prisoners stuck together to create faith in life and spiritual strength for prisoners to overcome their hardship prison days.

At the same time, the victory in the polemics of the communist in the prisons with the Kuomintang forces caused the division of the party members in the Kuomintang, the number of people enlightened to communism and increasingly turning to a communist stance. The prestige of the Indochinese Communist Party was enhanced, the influence of communist prisoners expanded. The French colonialists had to admit that: "Revolutionary propaganda continued to rage in prisons and turned into real schools for communists" [Công văn mật số 1053]. In particular, Tran Huy Lieu was a typical example of changing the stance from the Nationalist position to the communist position and a shining example in using the press as a weapon in the struggle.

With a spirit of steel and an unyielding will, “the prison did not make the soldiers bend their knees to cross their arms at the will of the French rulers, but also served as a training ground to provide for the revolutionary movement a series of revolutionary soldiers after being released from prison, became staunch revolutionary leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

¹ The blank boxes indicate that the author has not yet located the relevant documents.

² According to author Nguyen Thanh in the book:Truong Chinh with the press (page 40), Thanh Nien, 2010: after the conflict within the Kuomintang, a number of its senior leaders published the newspaper Guiding Torches, which had a communist orientation. However, according to Nguyen Tao in the book In Hoa Lo Dungeon (page 37), the Nationalists published the Hammer and Sickle newspaper.

³ According to Nguyen Tao in the book In Hoa Lo Dungeon on page 17, the editor of this paper is Nguyen Van Thong.

⁴ This magazine originated from The Red Prisoner, "The Prison Review " published on January 4, 1932. When its name was changed to The Prison Review, the contents of the newspaper were expanded and published weekly. However, according to author Nguyen Thanh in the book The Revolutionary Press of Vietnam, page (116), The Prison Review had only 3 issues, it was discovered, so it stopped and changed to Prisoner newspaper.

⁵ In the years 1940-1945, the prison Review magazine was not published regularly but appeared mainly on anniversaries and during the Tet holiday.

⁶ This newspaper was originally a bourgeois publication, but when Nguyen Duc Chinh turned to the Communist Party, it propagated Marxism-Leninism.

⁷ It served as a common newspaper for all prisoners on the island and included both political and literary content.

⁸ In 1935, this newspaper was renamed Forward March.

About the authors

Thi Thanh Huyen Tran

Author for correspondence.
Email: tranhuyen.vsh@gmail.com

Dr.Sc., Institute of History

References

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