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North Vietnam

Coordinates: 21°01′42″N 105°51′15″E / 21.02833°N 105.85417°E / 21.02833; 105.85417
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(Redirected from North Vietnamese)

For the region of Vietnam, see Northern Vietnam.
"NVN" redirects here. For other uses, see NVN (disambiguation).
"Democratic Republic of Vietnam" redirects here. Not to be confused with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, commonly known as Vietnam; for other uses, see Vietnam (disambiguation).

Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa (Vietnamese)
1945–1976
Flag of North Vietnam
Flag
(1955–1976)
Motto: "Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc"
"Independence – Freedom – Happiness"
Anthem: "Tiến Quân Ca"
"Army March"
The administrative territory of North Vietnam according to the 1954 Geneva Accord (dark green); territory claimed but not controlled (light green).
The administrative territory of North Vietnam according to the 1954 Geneva Accord (dark green); territory claimed but not controlled (light green).
StatusUnrecognized state (1945–1954)[a]
Sovereign state (1954–1976)
Capital
and largest city
Hanoi
21°01′42″N 105°51′15″E / 21.02833°N 105.85417°E / 21.02833; 105.85417
Official languagesVietnamese
Official scriptVietnamese alphabet
Religion
State atheism
Demonym(s)
GovernmentUnitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic (after 1954)
Leader of the Worker's Party 
• 1945–1956
Trường Chinh[b]
• 1956–1960
Hồ Chí Minh[c]
• 1960–1975
Lê Duẩn[d]
President 
• 1945–1969
Hồ Chí Minh
• 1969–1975
Tôn Đức Thắng
Prime Minister 
• 1945–1955
Hồ Chí Minh
• 1955–1975
Phạm Văn Đồng
LegislatureNational Assembly
Historical eraAftermath of World War II/Cold War
19 August 1945
25 August 1945
2 September 1945
21 August 1945 - 15 June 1946
6 January 1946
6 March 1946
• Start of the Indochina War
19 December 1946
22 July 1954
• Start of the Vietnam War
1 November 1955
• Death of Ho Chi Minh
2 September 1969
27 January 1973
30 April 1975
2 July 1976
Area
1945331,212 km2 (127,882 sq mi)
1955157,880 km2 (60,960 sq mi)
1968157,880 km2 (60,960 sq mi)
Population
• 1945
c. 20 million[note 1]
• 1955
16,100,000 [1]
• 1968
18,700,000 [2]
• 1974
23,800,000 [1]
GDP (PPP)1960 estimate
• Total
4,113 million USD[3]
• Per capita
$51[4]
Currencyđồng
cash (until 1948)[5]
ISO 3166 codeVD
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
1945:
Empire of Vietnam
1954:
French Indochina
1946:
French Indochina
1976:
Vietnam
Today part ofVietnam
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Vietnamese alphabetViệt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa
Chữ Hán越南民主共和
Part of a series on the
History of Vietnam
Prehistoric
Paleolithic
Sơn Vi culture 20,000 BC–12,000 BC
Mesolithic
Hoabinhian 12,000 BC–10,000 BC
Neolithic
Bắc Sơn culture 10,000 BC–8,000 BC
Quỳnh Văn culture 8,000 BC–6,000 BC
Đa Bút culture 4,000 BC–3,000 BC
Bronze and Iron Ages
Phùng Nguyên culture 2,000 BC–1,500 BC
Đồng Đậu culture 1,500 BC–1,000 BC
Gò Mun culture 1,000–800 BC
Dong Son culture (1,000 BC–100 AD)
Sa Huỳnh culture (1,000 BC–200 AD)
Óc Eo culture (1–630 AD)
Ancient
Hồng Bàng dynasty 2879 BC–258 BC
Thục dynasty 257 BC–179 BC
Triệu dynasty 204 BC–111 BC
Dominated
1st Chinese domination 111 BC–40 AD
Trung sisters' rebellion 40–43
2nd Chinese domination 43–544
Early Lý dynasty544–602
3rd Chinese domination602–938
Dynastic
Ngô dynasty 939–965
Anarchy of the 12 Warlords 965–968
Đinh dynasty 968–980
Early Lê dynasty 980–1009
Later Lý dynasty 1009–1225
Trần dynasty 1225–1400
Hồ dynasty 1400–1407
4th Chinese domination 1407–1428
Later Lê dynasty 1428–1527
Mạc dynasty 1527–1592
Later Lê Restoration 1533–1789
Tây Sơn dynasty 1778–1802
Nguyễn dynasty 1802–1945
Colonial
French Cochinchina 1862–1949
French Annam 1883–1948
French Tonkin 1883–1948
French Indochina 1887–1954
Empire of Vietnam 1945
Republic
North Vietnam
 1945–1976
Republic of South Vietnam 1975–1976
South Vietnam
 1955–1975
State of Vietnam 1949–1955
Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1976-now
Non-Vietnamese history
Funan 68–627
Champa 192–1832
Cát Tiên archaeological site 300–800
Chenla 550–781
Nanzhao 738–902
Khmer Empire 802–1431
Dali Kingdom 937–1253
Nung-Zhuang kingdom 1042–1052
Ngưu Hống 1061–1432
Jarai kingdoms 1100–1904
Sip Song Chau Tai 1600–1954
Principality of Hà Tiên1707–1832
By topic
flag Vietnam portal

North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa; VNDCCH, chữ Nôm: 越南民主共和), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-supported State of Vietnam and later the Western-allied Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The DRV emerged victorious over South Vietnam in 1975 and ceased to exist the following year when it unified with the south to become the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

During the August Revolution following World War II, Vietnamese communist revolutionary Hồ Chí Minh, leader of the Việt Minh Front, declared independence on 2 September 1945 and proclaimed the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The Việt Minh (formally the "League for the Independence of Vietnam"), led by communists, socialists, nationalists and even progressive elements of the landowning class was created in 1941 and designed to appeal to a wider population than the Indochinese Communist Party could command.[6]

From the beginning, the communist-led Việt Minh sought to consolidate power by purging other nationalist groups.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Meanwhile, France moved in to reassert its colonial dominance over Vietnam in the aftermath of WW2, eventually prompting the First Indochina War in December 1946. During this guerrilla war, the Việt Minh captured and controlled most of the rural areas in Vietnam, which led to French defeat in 1954. The negotiations in the Geneva Conference that year ended the war and recognized Vietnamese independence. The Geneva Accords provisionally divided the country into a northern zone and a southern zone along the 17th parallel, stipulating general elections scheduled for July 1956 to "bring about the unification of Viet-Nam".[13] The northern zone was controlled by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and became commonly called North Vietnam, while the southern zone, under control of the non-communist State of Vietnam, was commonly called South Vietnam.

Supervision of the implementation of the Geneva Accords was the responsibility of an international commission consisting of India, Canada, and Poland, respectively representing the non-aligned, the capitalist, and the communist blocs. The United States, which did not sign the Geneva Accords, stated that it "shall continue to seek to achieve unity through free elections supervised by the United Nations to ensure that they are conducted fairly".[14] Meanwhile, the State of Vietnam strongly opposed the partition of the country,[15] with its prime minister Ngô Đình Diệm announcing in July 1955 that the State of Vietnam would not participate in elections, claiming that it had not signed the Geneva Accords and was therefore not bound by it,[16] and raising concerns that an unfair election would occur under the Việt Minh governance in North Vietnam.[15] In October 1955, Diệm's government held its own referendum, which was widely marred by electoral fraud, to depose Chief of State Bảo Đại and established the Republic of Vietnam with Diệm as its first president.[17][18]

Failure to unify the country by referendum led to the Vietnam War in 1955. Supported by their communist allies, mainly China and the Soviet Union, the northern People's Army of Vietnam and the southern National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Việt Cộng) guerrillas fought against the Military Forces of South Vietnam.[19] To prevent other countries from becoming communist in Southeast Asia, the United States intervened in the conflict along with Western Bloc forces from South Korea, Australia and Thailand, who heavily supported South Vietnam militarily. The conflict spread to neighboring countries and North Vietnam supported the Lao People's Liberation Army in Laos and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia against their respective US-supported governments. By 1973, the United States and its allies withdrew from the war, and the unsupported South Vietnam was swiftly overrun by the superior Northern forces.

The Vietnam War ended on 30 April 1975 and saw South Vietnam come under the control of the Việt Cộng's Provisional Revolutionary Government, which led to the reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 2 July 1976. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the unified Vietnamese state experienced economic decline,[20] refugee crises and conflicts with the Khmer Rouge in 1977 and China in 1979. The expanded Socialist Republic retained Soviet-style political culture, economic system and memberships in Eastern Bloc organisations such as COMECON until the Đổi Mới economic reforms in 1986 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[21]

Etymology

Main article: Names of Vietnam

The official name of the North Vietnamese state was the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam" (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa). The South was known as the "Republic of Vietnam".

Việt Nam (Vietnamese pronunciation: [vjə̀tnam]) was the name adopted by Emperor Gia Long in 1804.[22] It is a variation of "Nam Việt" (南 越, Southern Việt), a name used in ancient times.[22] In 1839, Emperor Minh Mạng renamed the country Đại Nam ("Great South").[23] In 1945, the nation's official name was changed back to "Vietnam". The name is also sometimes rendered as "Viet Nam" in English.[24] The term "North Vietnam" became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts.

History

Leadership under Hồ Chí Minh (1945–1969)

Further information: Ho Chi Minh

Proclamation of the republic

The North Vietnamese government in 1946.
Ho Chi Minh declaring independence at Ba Dinh Square on September 2nd, 1945

After about 300 years of partition by feudal dynasties, Vietnam was again under one single authority in 1802 when Gia Long founded the Nguyễn dynasty, but the country became a French protectorate after 1883 and under Japanese occupation after 1940 during World War II. Soon after Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945, the Việt Minh in the August Revolution entered Hanoi, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on 2 September 1945 establishing independence and a new government for the entire country, replacing French rule and the Nguyễn dynasty.[25] Hồ Chí Minh became leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was opposed to a return to French rule in Indochina, and the U.S. was supportive of the Viet Minh at this time.[26]

A Viet Minh rally outside the Hanoi Opera House during the August Revolution, 1945.

Early republic

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam claimed all of Vietnam, but during this time Southern Vietnam was in profound political disorder. The successive collapse of French, then Japanese power, followed by the disputes among the political factions in Saigon, had been accompanied by widespread violence in the countryside.[27][28] On 16 August 1945, Hồ Chí Minh organized the National Congress in Tân Trào. The Congress adopted 10 major policies of the Việt Minh, passing the General Uprising Order, selecting the national flag of Vietnam, choosing the national anthem and selecting the National Committee for the Liberation of Vietnam, which later became the Provisional Revolutionary Government led by Hồ Chí Minh. On 12 September 1945, the first British troops arrived in Saigon, and on 23 September 1945, French troops occupied the police stations, the post office, and other public buildings. The salient political fact of life in Northern Vietnam was that the Chinese Nationalist Army occupied it, and the Chinese presence had forced Hồ Chí Minh and the Việt Minh to accommodate Chinese-supported Viet Nationalists. In June 1946, Chinese Nationalist troops evacuated Hanoi, and on 15 June, the last detachments embarked at Haiphong. After the departure of the British in 1946, the French controlled a part of Cochinchina, South Central Coast, Central Highlands since the end to the Southern Resistance War. In January 1946, the Việt Minh held an nationwide election across all the provinces to establish a National Assembly. Public enthusiasm for this event suggests that the Việt Minh league enjoyed a great deal of popularity at this time, although there were few competitive races and the party makeup of the Assembly was determined in advance of the vote.[note 2] Despite not joining the election, Việt Cách and Việt Quốc were given 70 seats in the National Assembly in an effort to establish an inclusive government.[32][33]

On 6 January 1946, President Hồ Chí Minh held the nationwide General Election which voted for the first time and passed the Constitution. The two other parties in the government were the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Việt Quốc) and the Vietnam Revolutionary League (Việt Cách) which did not participate in the elections. Former Prime Minister Trần Trọng Kim claimed there were places where people were forced to vote for the Việt Minh.[34][35]

The Vietnamese Nationalist Party and the Việt Cách Revolutionary Party were significantly less popular than Hồ Chí Minh, Võ Nguyên Giáp, and the Việt Minh. When the Chinese nationalist army withdrew from Vietnam on 15 June 1946, in one way or another, Võ Nguyễn Giáp decided that the Việt Minh had to completely control the government. Võ Nguyễn Giáp is in immediate action with the goal of spreading Việt Minh leadership: the Allied Powers are supported by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (according to Cecil B. Currey, this organization borrows the revolutionary name of Vietnamese Nationalist Party of 1930 was founded by Nguyễn Thái Học and, according to David G. Marr, the Vietnamese Communist Party under Hồ Chí Minh tried to ban the Vietnamese Nationalist Party[36]) Võ Nguyễn Giáp gradually sought to marginalize the opposition such as the pro-Japan nationalist groups, the Trotskyists, the anti-French nationalists, and a catholic group known as the "Catholic Soldiers". On 19 June 1946, the Việt Minh Journal reportedly vehemently criticized "reactionaries sabotage the Franco-Vietnamese preliminary agreement on 6 March". Shortly thereafter, Võ Nguyễn Giáp began a campaign to pursue opposition parties by police and military forces controlled by the Việt Minh with the help of the French authorities.[citation needed] He also used soldiers, Japanese officers who had volunteered to stay in Vietnam and some of the supplies provided by France (in Hòn Gai French troops provided the Việt Minh with cannons to kill some of the positions commanded by the Great Occupation) in this campaign.[citation needed]

When France declared Cochinchina, the southern third of Vietnam, a separate state as the "Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina" in June 1946, Vietnamese nationalists reacted with fury. In November, the National Assembly adopted the first Constitution of the Republic.[37]

During the First Indochina War

Further information: First Indochina War
Flag of the DRV during the Indochina War
Ho Chi Minh (seated, right) with Tôn Đức Thắng (seated, left) and other DRV leaders in a liberated zone of northern Vietnam during the First Indochina War.

In the wake of the Hai Phong incident and the deterioration of the Fontainebleau Agreements, the French reoccupied Hanoi and the First Indochina War (1946–54) followed, during which many urban areas fell under French control. Following the Chinese Communist Revolution (1946–50), Chinese communist forces arrived on the border in 1949. Chinese aid revived the fortunes of the Viet Minh and transformed it from a guerrilla militia into a standing army. The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 transformed what had been an anti-colonial struggle into a Cold War battleground, with the U.S. providing financial support to the French.

Provisional military demarcation of Vietnam

Further information: Operation Passage to Freedom and Geneva Conference (1954)
View from the northern side of the bridge across the Bến Hải River, which separated North and South Vietnam after the 1954 Geneva Accords.
Viet Minh troops returning to Hanoi after the French withdrawal on October 9, 1954

Following the partition of Vietnam in 1954 at the end of the First Indochina War, more than one million North Vietnamese migrated to South Vietnam,[38] under the U.S.-led evacuation campaign named Operation Passage to Freedom,[39] with an estimated 60% of the north's one million Catholics fleeing south.[40][41] The Catholic migration is attributed to an expectation of persecution of Catholics by the North Vietnamese government, as well as publicity employed by the Saigon government of the President Ngo Dinh Diem.[42] The CIA ran a propaganda campaign to get Catholics to come to the south. However Colonel Edward Lansdale, the man credited with the campaign, rejected the notion that his campaign had much effect on popular sentiment.[43] The Viet Minh sought to detain or otherwise prevent would-be refugees from leaving, such as through intimidation through military presence, shutting down ferry services and water traffic, or prohibiting mass gatherings.[44] Concurrently, between 14,000 and 45,000 civilians and approximately 100,000 Viet Minh fighters moved in the opposite direction.[40][45][46]

Presidency of Tôn Đức Thắng (1969–1976)

Further information: Tôn Đức Thắng

During the Vietnam War

Further information: Vietnam War

Reunification

After the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, or the Việt Cộng, alongside the North Vietnamese Army, governed South Vietnam for the next year. However it was seen as a vassal government of North Vietnam.[47][48][49] North and South Vietnam were officially reunited on 2 July 1976 as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The merged country's government was dominated by holdovers from North Vietnam, and adopted the North Vietnamese constitution, flag and anthem.

Government and politics

Constitution

As an ideologically Marxist-Leninist state, North Vietnam adopted a constitution modelled on Joseph Stalin's 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union.[50]

Administrative divisions

Main article: Provinces of Vietnam

"The administrative units in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam are as follows:

  • The country is divided into provinces (tỉnh), autonomous regions (khu tự trị), and centrally run cities (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương);
  • The province is divided into districts (huyện), cities (thành phố), and towns (thị xã);
  • The district is divided into communes (xã) and townships (thị trấn).
  • Administrative units in the autonomous region are statutory."
— Article 78, Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam – 1959 (Điều 78, Hiến pháp Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa – 1959).

Autonomous regions

The autonomous regions of North Vietnam on a map of its provinces created by the government of the United States.

North Vietnam established a system of autonomous regions (Vietnamese: Khu tự trị) similar to (and based on) the autonomous regions of China.[51][52][53] In recognising the traditional separatism of tribal minorities, this policy of accommodationism gave them self-government in exchange for acceptance of Hanoi's control.[54] These regions existed from 1955 but following the merger of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam the system of autonomous regions was not continued and were fully abolished by 1978.[51]

List of North Vietnamese autonomous regions and their subsidiary provinces:[51]

Foreign relations

International Relations of
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Region Nation/State
Asia (5) Maoist China, India, Iraq, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Syria, South Yemen
Americas (1) Cuba
Europe (13) Albania, Bulgaria, Byelorussian S.S.R., Czechoslovakia, France, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Soviet Union, Sweden, Ukrainian S.S.R., Yugoslavia
Africa (3) Algeria, Congo, Libya
Oceania (1) Australia
Countries that recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) as of 1973.
Ho Chi Minh with East German Young Pioneers near East Berlin, 1957
DRV delegation led by Ho Chi Minh on a visit to Socialist Republic of Romania in 1957.

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam was diplomatically isolated by many capitalist states, and many other anti-communist states worldwide throughout most of the North's history, as these states extended recognition only to the anti-communist government of South Vietnam. North Vietnam however, was recognized by almost all Communist countries, such as the Soviet Union and other Socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, China, North Korea, and Cuba, and received aid from these nations. North Vietnam refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia from 1950 to 1957, perhaps reflecting Hanoi's deference to the Soviet line on the Yugoslav government of Josip Broz Tito, and North Vietnamese officials continued to be critical of Tito after relations were established.[55]

Several non-aligned countries also recognized North Vietnam. Similar to India, most accorded North Vietnam de facto rather than de jure (formal) recognition.[56] In the case of Algeria however, relations between the DRV and Algeria were much closer as a result of clandestine weapon transfers from the former to the latter during the Algerian War, with Algeria placing a draft resolution in the 1973 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement calling on its members to support the DRV and PRG.[57]

A UNICEF delegation visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, 1975.

In 1969, Sweden became the first Western country to extend full diplomatic recognition to North Vietnam.[58] Many other Western countries followed suit in the 1970s, such as the government of Australia under Gough Whitlam. By December 1972, 49 countries had established diplomatic relations with North Vietnam,[59] and in 1973 more countries such as France established or reestablished their relations with the DRV.[59]

South Vietnam

Further information: Vietnam War and Viet Cong

From 1960, the North Vietnamese government went to war with the Republic of Vietnam via its proxy the Viet Cong, in an attempt to annex South Vietnam and reunify Vietnam under a communist party.[60] North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces and supplies were sent along the Ho Chi Minh trail. In 1964 the United States sent combat troops to South Vietnam to support the South Vietnamese government, but the U.S. had advisors there since 1950. Other nations, including Australia, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and New Zealand also contributed troops and military aid to South Vietnam's war effort. China, DPRK and the Soviet Union provided aid to and troops in support of North Vietnamese military activities. This was known as the Vietnam War, or the American War in Vietnam itself (1955–75). In addition to the Viet Cong in South Vietnam, other communist insurgencies also operated within neighboring Kingdom of Laos and Khmer Republic, both formerly part of the French colonial territory of Indochina. These were the Pathet Lao and the Khmer Rouge, respectively. These insurgencies were aided by the North Vietnamese government, which sent troops to fight alongside them.

Japan

Main article: Japan–Vietnam relations § 1946–1976
The document establishing official bilateral relations between Japan and North Vietnam signed in Paris, France, on 21 September 1973.

Despite there not being any official diplomatic ties between Japan and North Vietnam between 1954 and 1973, private exchanges were gradually being rebuilt. In March 1955 the Japanese Japan–Vietnam Friendship Association was created and in August of that year the Japan–Vietnam Trade Association was established.[61] Meanwhile, in 1965 North Vietnamese Vietnam–Japan Friendship Association would be established to help maintain unofficial relations between the two countries.[61]

During the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 1970s, Japan consistently encouraged a negotiated settlement at the earliest possible date. Even before the hostilities ended, it had made contact with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) government and had reached an agreement to establish diplomatic relations in September 1973. On 21 September 1973, Japan and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) signed the "Exchange of Notes Concerning the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between Japan and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam" in Paris, this document was in the French language and restored the diplomatic relations between Japan and North Vietnam.[61] On the Japanese side the document was signed by Yoshihiro Nakayama, the Japanese Ambassador to France, while for the North Vietnamese side the document was signed by the Charge d'Affaires ad interim of North Vietnam to France Võ Văn Sung.[61] Implementation, however, was delayed by North Vietnamese demands that Japan pay the equivalent of US$45 million in World War II reparations in two yearly installments, in the form of "economic cooperation" grants. Giving in to the Vietnamese demands, Japan paid the money and opened an embassy in Hanoi on 11 October 1975, following the unification of North Vietnam and South Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.[62]

Earlier, the Japanese already gave similar funding to the South Vietnamese, which also re-established official diplomatic relations with Japan during the same period.[61]

With the re-establishment of relations between Japan and North Vietnam the Japanese agreed to resolve what are termed "unsolved problems", which after earlier negotiations in Vientiane, Kingdom of Laos, these "unsolved problems" revolved around grants given by the Japanese State to North Vietnam.[61] Between 1973 and 1975 the Japanese and North Vietnamese governments held over 20 both official and unofficial meetings, on 6 October 1975 both sides finally reached and agreement and the Japanese would provide the North Vietnamese with an endowment worth 13.5 billion yen.[61] Of this money, 8.5 billion yen would be used to purchase heavy farmland cultivation machinery as well as public works provided by Japanese-owned corporations.[61]

After diplomatic relations were re-established, in 1975, Japan would open an embassy in Hanoi and North Vietnam would open an embassy in Tokyo.[61]

Military

Main article: People's Army of Vietnam
See also: Viet Cong

Economy

Land reform

Main articles: Land reform in Vietnam and Land reform in North Vietnam

Land reform was an integral part of the Viet Minh and communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam. A Viet Minh Land Reform Law of 4 December 1953 called for (1) confiscation of land belonging to landlords who were enemies of the regime; (2) requisition of land from landlords not judged to be enemies; and (3) purchase with payment in bonds. The land reform was carried out from 1953 to 1956. Some farming areas did not undergo land reform but only rent reduction and the highland areas occupied by minority peoples were not substantially impacted. Some land was retained by the government but most was distributed without payment with priority given to Viet Minh fighters and their families.[63] The total number of rural people impacted by the land reform program was more than 4 million. The rent reduction program impacted nearly 8 million people.[64]

Results

The land reform program was a success in terms of distributing much land to poor and landless peasants and reducing or eliminating the land holdings of landlords (địa chủ) and rich peasants. By 1960, there were 40,000 cooperatives spanning nearly nine-tenths of all farmland. The program, proceeded by a Three Year Plan (1957–1960), lifted agricultural production to 5.4 million tonnes or over double pre-Indochina War levels.[65]

However, it was carried out with violence and repression primarily directed against large landowners identified, sometimes incorrectly, as landlords.[66] Executions and imprisonment of persons classified as "reactionary and evil landlords" were contemplated from the beginning of the land reform program. A Politburo document dated 4 May 1953 said that the planned executions were "fixed in principle at the ratio of one per one thousand people of the total population".[67]

The number of persons actually executed by cadre carrying out the land reform program has been variously estimated, with some ranging up to 200,000.[68] However, other scholarship has concluded that the higher estimates were based on political propaganda which also emanated from South Vietnam with the support of the US, and that the actual total of those executed was significantly lower. Scholar Balasz Szalontai wrote that documents of Hungarian diplomats living in North Vietnam at the time of the land reform provided a minimum number of 1,337 executions.[69] Concurrently with the land reform campaign and the end of the First Indochina War, over 12,000 people starved to death in Viet-Minh controlled zones by the end of 1954 due to economic turmoil in combination with natural disasters, floods, and crop failures.[70] Gareth Porter estimated that between 800 and 2,500 people were executed, citing a South Vietnamese government document released in 1959, that Porter says is consistent with an estimate of around 1,500 executions.[71] Economist Vo Nhan Tri reported uncovering a document in the central party archives which put the number of wrongful executions at 15,000. From discussions with party cadres, Vo Nhan Tri concluded that the overall number of deaths was considerably higher than this figure.[72] Scholar Edwin E. Moise estimated the total number of executions at between 3,000 and 15,000 and later came up with a more precise figure of 13,500.[73][74]

In early 1956, North Vietnam initiated a "correction of errors" which put an end to the land reform, and to rectify the mistakes and damage done. On 18 August 1956, North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh apologised and acknowledged the serious errors the government had made in the land reform. Too many farmers, he also said, had been incorrectly classified as "landlords" and executed or imprisoned and too many mistakes has been made in the process of redistributing land.[75] Severe rioting protesting the excesses of the land reform broke out in November 1956 in one largely Catholic rural district, leading to 1,000 deaths or injuries, and several thousand imprisoned. As part of the correction campaign, as many as 23,748 political prisoners were released by North Vietnam by September 1957.[76] By 1958, the correction campaign had resulted in the return of land to many of those harmed by the land reform.[75]

Collective farming

The ultimate objective of the land reform program of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam government was not to achieve equitable distribution of farmland but rather the organization of all farmers into co-operatives in which land and other factors of agricultural production would be owned and used collectively.[77] The first steps after the 1953–1956 land reform were the encouragement by the government of labor exchanges in which farmers would unite to exchange labor; secondly in 1958 and 1959 was the formation of "low level cooperatives" in which farmers cooperated in production. By 1961, 86 percent of farmers were members of low-level cooperatives. The third step beginning in 1961 was to organize "high level cooperatives", true collective farming in which land and resources were utilized collectively without individual ownership of land.[78] By 1971, the great majority of farmers in North Vietnam were organized into high-level cooperatives. After the reunification of Vietnam, collective farms were abandoned gradually in the 1980s and 1990s.[79]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ No clear number due to internal turmoil in 1945, circa 20 million population based on last reliable estimate of 22.6 million people in 1943 (Barbieri, p. 625) and her estimate of 400,000 to 2 million dying from 1944–45 famine.
  2. ^ Although former emperor Bao Dai was also popular at this time and won a seat in the Assembly, the election did not allow voters to express a preference between Bao Dai and Ho Chi Minh. It was held publicly in northern and central Vietnam, but secretly in Cochinchina, the southern third of Vietnam. There was minimal campaigning and most voters had no idea who the candidates were.[29] In many districts, a single candidate ran unopposed.[30] Party representation in the Assembly was publicly announced before the election was held.[31]
  1. ^ From the start of the First Indochina War until French defeat in 1954, when the French Indochina was reestablished, DRV lost control over major cities but still controlled scattered rural areas, so Việt Minh retreated to these areas (the Vietnamese people usually call these hậu phương). DRV during this time was considered a government-in-exile controlling a rump state. However, the DRV did not cease to exist.
  2. ^ as General Secretary
  3. ^ as General Secretary, also Chairman between 1951–1969
  4. ^ as First Secretary

References

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  2. ^ "The Manpower Situation in North Vietnam" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. January 1968.
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Further reading

Preceded by Democratic Republic of Vietnam
1945–1976 		Succeeded by
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