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Indochinese Communist Party

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with the Communist Party of Indochina.

Indochinese Communist Party
AbbreviationICP
FounderHồ Chí Minh
FoundedOctober 1930 (1930-10)
Dissolved11 November 1945 (1945-11-11)
Preceded byCPV
Succeeded by
Ideology
Political positionFar-left
National affiliation Viet Minh
Laos Lao Issara and Pathet Lao
Cambodia Khmer Issarak
International affiliationComintern
Colors  Red
Party flag

The Indochinese Communist Party (ICP)[a] was a political party which was transformed from the old Vietnamese Communist Party (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng sản Đảng) in October 1930. This party dissolved itself on 11 November 1945. It is considered the first stage in the history of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Background

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A 1930 newspaper article in the Thanh Nghệ Tịnh tân văn (清乂靜新聞) entitled Cộng sản Đảng chi tiễu trừ (共產黨之剿除, "Eradication of the Communist Party").

The Vietnamese Communist Party was founded on 3 February 1930 by uniting the Communist Party of Indochina (despite its name, this party was active only in Tonkin) and the Communist Party of Annam (active only in Cochinchina). Thereafter, the Communist League of Indochina (active only in central Annam) joined the Vietnamese Communist Party. However, the Comintern argued that the communist movement should be promoted in the whole of French Indochina (including Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) rather than only in Vietnam, therefore it urged the Vietnamese Communist Party to transform itself into the Indochinese Communist Party. The Communist International had a substantial degree of control both over the party's policies and over the composition of its leadership in return of financial aid.

The League for National Salvation of Vietnamese Residents of Kampuchea was a pro-Viet Minh movement of Vietnamese inhabitants in Cambodia.

The organization emerged from a network of revolutionary committees formed among Vietnamese residents in the border areas of Cambodia towards the end of 1946. Such groups had emerged in places like Takéo Province, Prey Veng Province and southern Kandal Province. The League for National Salvation of Vietnamese Residents of Kampuchea was set up as a front organization of the Indochinese Communist Party in March 1947, merging the various local revolutionary committees. One of the first Viet Minh documents captured by the French in Cambodia was dated 30 April 1949 and revealed the existence of the League, as well as detailing a proposed Vietnamese-Khmer alliance against the French.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

In 1950, Vietnamese sources claimed the organization had a membership of 50,000.[8]

The ICP was initially tied closely to the Viet Minh, a Vietnamese nationalist and communist resistance group. The organization sought to coordinate revolutionary activity across the entire Indochinese region. In Cambodia, this manifested in the creation of the League for National Salvation of Vietnamese Residents of Kampuchea, which was later transformed into a pro-Viet Minh movement among the Vietnamese diaspora in Cambodia.

The party's influence stretched as far as Laos, where local communist forces formed their own alliances with the ICP. While the Vietnamese leadership, spearheaded by figures like Hồ Chí Minh, maintained the dominant role within the ICP, the organization's members in Cambodia and Laos played crucial roles in shaping the local revolutionary movements, leading to the eventual creation of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Lao People's Party.

Ideology

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The ICP was deeply influenced by the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, which formed the ideological foundation for communist movements across the world in the early 20th century. Marxism-Leninism emphasized the importance of class struggle, the overthrow of capitalist systems, and the creation of a socialist state led by the working class. The ICP, however, adapted these principles to the specific historical and cultural context of Indochina, which was under French colonial rule. The party's major ideological tenets included:[4]

  • Anti-Imperialism: The central aim of the ICP was to overthrow French colonial rule. The party viewed French imperialism as the primary force suppressing the people of Indochina and sought to establish national independence through revolution.
  • Class Struggle: The ICP adopted a Marxist-Leninist view of class struggle, positioning the proletariat (working class) and peasantry as the primary agents of revolution against the bourgeoisie (capitalist class) and feudal elites in Indochina. The party envisioned a government based on the alliance of workers, peasants, and soldiers.
  • Peasant and Worker Empowerment: Unlike some other communist movements which focused heavily on the industrial proletariat, the ICP also emphasized the importance of the peasantry in the revolution. Much of Indochina's population was rural, and the ICP sought to mobilize this largely agrarian population to fight against colonialism and feudal oppression.
  • Socialist Revolution: The party aimed to replace the colonial capitalist system with a socialist economy that would be based on collective ownership of the means of production, including land, factories, and banks. The ICP advocated for the redistribution of land from imperialists and local elites to the poor peasantry.
  • National Unity: A key element in the ICP's ideological framework was the belief in the unity of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The party stressed the importance of a united Indochina in the fight for independence, which transcended linguistic, ethnic, and cultural divisions.

Transformation

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In 1930, as part of its transformation from the Vietnamese Communist Party to the Indochinese Communist Party, the ICP adopted a more inclusive approach that acknowledged the interconnected struggles of the entire Indochinese region. This shift was largely a response to the Comintern's directives, which pushed for an internationalist vision of anti-imperialist struggle.

By the mid-1940s, the political dynamics of Indochina were changing rapidly. World War II had severely weakened the French colonial system, and the Japanese occupation of Indochina from 1940 to 1945 had further destabilized the region. The Viet Minh emerged as the most powerful anti-colonial force in Vietnam, and its dominance was solidified after Japan's defeat in 1945.

The dissolution of the ICP in 1945 was largely the result of the increasing focus on national rather than regional struggles for independence. As the Viet Minh's influence grew in Vietnam, the need for a pan-Indochinese communist organization diminished. The Vietnamese Communist Party, under the leadership of Hồ Chí Minh, gradually took the lead in the independence movement in Vietnam, and the ICP was no longer seen as a viable framework for coordinating resistance in all of Indochina.

Following the dissolution of the ICP, its Vietnamese members went on to form the Workers' Party of Vietnam in 1951, which later became the Communist Party of Vietnam. In Cambodia, the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party was founded, which eventually evolved into the Cambodian People’s Party. Similarly, in Laos, the communist movement solidified into the Lao People’s Party, which played a significant role in the country’s post-independence political developments.[9]

Party activity program

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The party program of action was based on 10 points:[10]

  1. To overthrow French imperialism, Vietnamese feudalism and reactionary bourgeoisie;
  2. To make Indochina completely independent;
  3. To establish a worker-peasant-soldier government;
  4. To confiscate banks and other enterprises belonging to the imperialists and put them under the control of the worker-peasant-soldier government;
  5. To confiscate all the plantations and property belonging to the imperialists and the reactionary bourgeoisie and distribute them to the poor;
  6. To implement eight-hour working days;
  7. To abolish the forced buying of government bonds, the poll tax and all unjust taxes that the poor has to pay;
  8. To bring democratic freedoms to the masses;
  9. To dispense education to all the people; and
  10. To realize equality between men and women.

Dissolution

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On 11 November 1945, the Indochinese Communist Party issued a communique to dissolve itself.[11] Later in 1951, the Vietnamese members of the party founded the Workers' Party of Vietnam and Cambodian members founded the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (now the Cambodian People's Party). Four years later, Laotian members of the party founded the Lao People's Party.

Legacy

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The dissolution of the ICP marked the end of its direct influence, but its legacy endured. The ICP’s role in unifying communist resistance movements across Indochina laid the foundations for the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge revolution, and the Laotian Civil War, each of which would lead to significant political and social upheaval in Southeast Asia.

  • Vietnam: After the dissolution, the Viet Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh, would go on to achieve the independence of Vietnam in 1954, following the defeat of French forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnam War (1955–1975) would later ensue, marking a bloody chapter in the Cold War.
  • Cambodia: The Cambodian People's Party, founded by former members of the ICP, would become the dominant communist party in Cambodia. However, it was eventually replaced by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot, which carried out one of the most horrific genocides in history during the Cambodian Civil War (1970–1975).
  • Laos: The Lao communist movement, rooted in the Pathet Lao, would eventually succeed in taking power in 1975, establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^

References

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  1. ^ T. Smith (24 October 1960). "The Winds of Change, May 1948 – January 1950". Britain and the Origins of the Vietnam War: UK Policy in Indo-China, 1943–50. Springer. p. 109. ISBN 9781349535347.
  2. ^ Ben Kiernan (1981). "Origins of Khmer Communism". Southeast Asian Affairs: 161–180. JSTOR 27908428.
  3. ^ Camille Scalabrino (1985). Cambodge: histoire et enjeux : 1945–1985. L'Harmattan. p. 83. ISBN 978-2-85802-671-5.
  4. ^ a b "Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Movement" Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ Moise, Edwin E. (1988). "Nationalism and Communism in Vietnam". Journal of Third World Studies. 5 (2). University Press of Florida: 11. JSTOR 45193059.
  6. ^ Stephen J. Morris (1999). Why Vietnam Invaded Cambodia: Political Culture and the Causes of War. Stanford University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-8047-3049-5.
  7. ^ UQAM. COMMITTEE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (Ban Ngoại Vụ)
  8. ^ Kiernan, Ben. How Pol Pot Came to Power. London: Verso, 1985. pp. 129–130
  9. ^ "Truyền đơn giải thích việc đổi tên Đảng". Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ "Appeal Made on the Occasion of the Founding of the Indochinese Communist Party". Selected Writings of Ho Chi Minh (1920–1969). Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  11. ^ "Thông báo Đảng Cộng sản Đông Dương tự ý giải tán, ngày 11-11-1945".
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