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78-709: Within the framework of the French Union, France also granted independence to the other nations in Indochina, the Kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia . The agreement led to the U.S. moving from a position of neutrality to supporting the French colonial empire in their Indochina and Bảo Đại's state. The agreement was compared to the British Commonwealth of Nations , though fell short in many aspects. Vietnam

156-687: A communist party . 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

234-441: A South Vietnamese government document released in 1959, that Porter says is consistent with an estimate of around 1,500 executions. 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. Scholar Edwin E. Moise estimated

312-623: A coalition government. The First Government of National Unity was established in 1958 under Prince Souvanna Phouma , but collapsed after two months. The Prime Minister, who under the constitution appointed his ministers and received advice from the King, made a deal with his brother Prince Souphanouvong . Souvanna Phouma gave the Communists two seats in the Cabinet, and in return Souphanouvong would integrate 1,500 of his 6,000 Communist troops into

390-622: A program to support the local currency, the kip . King Savang Vatthana visited the United States in 1963 to meet with President Kennedy . Laos was also supported by France , Australia , Burma , Thailand and Japan . In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions, fighting broke out between the Royal Lao Army and the Soviet Union -backed, communist Pathet Lao , a second Provisional Government of National Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962 proved to be unsuccessful, and

468-479: A sovereign, independent Laos, but did not stipulate who would rule the country. In the years that followed, three groups, led by the so-called Three Princes , contended for power: the neutralists under Prince Souvanna Phouma , the right-wing party under Prince Boun Oum of Champassak, and the left-wing, North Vietnamese -backed Pathet Lao under Prince Souphanouvong and future Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane . The Pathet Lao would eventually emerge victorious in

546-551: A system of autonomous regions (Vietnamese: Khu tự trị ) similar to (and based on) the autonomous regions of China . In recognising the traditional separatism of tribal minorities, this policy of accommodationism gave them self-government in exchange for acceptance of Hanoi's control. These regions existed from 1955 but following the merger of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam

624-666: 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. Following

702-545: The Japan–Vietnam Trade Association was established. Meanwhile, in 1965 North Vietnamese Vietnam–Japan Friendship Association would be established to help maintain unofficial relations between the two countries. 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

780-587: The Laotian Civil War and establish the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975. The Kingdom of Laos was officially proclaimed when the new Constitution was promulgated in 1947, as part of the colonial French Union , and obtained full independence in 1953. The monarchy lasted until 2 December 1975, when the last king Sisavang Vatthana abdicated the throne to the Pathet Lao , who abolished

858-591: 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

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936-612: The Paris Peace Accords between the United States and North Vietnam. In April 1974, another Provisional Government of National Unity was established, with Prince Souvanna Phouma as Prime Minister. However, by this time, Pathet Lao forces controlled large areas of the country, and following the fall of Saigon and Phnom Penh to communist forces in April 1975, removed any chances of a coalition government forming in Laos. Following

1014-692: The Pathet Lao and the Khmer Rouge , respectively. These insurgencies were aided by the North Vietnamese government, which sent troops to fight alongside them. 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

1092-599: The Republic of Vietnam with Diệm as its first president . 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 . To prevent other countries from becoming communist in Southeast Asia,

1170-734: The Royal Lao Army , the Royal Lao Navy , and the Royal Lao Air Force , which was under the control of the Ministry of Defence in Vientiane. The United States supplied the Royal Lao Navy with twenty river patrol boats and sixteen amphibious landing craft. Between 1962 and 1971, the United States provided Laos with an estimated US$ 500 million in military assistance. The Royal Lao Government had close relations with

1248-648: 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

1326-584: The United States , which gave the country aid and assisted it in the campaign against the Pathet Lao and the North Vietnamese Communist movement. During 1957, the United States spent more per capita on foreign aid for Laos than it had on any other nation. That worked out as US$ 150 per Laotian, twice the average person's annual income. Some of the money went to support pro-American candidates in an election, while other money went to

1404-600: 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

1482-639: The communist government of Hồ Chí Minh by the Soviet Union in January 1950, Americans eventually abandoned their policy of neutrality regarding the political dispute in Indochina when recognizing the State of Vietnam of Bảo Đại in February and later giving military aid to the French Union army during the war as part of their anti-communist foreign policy. Meanwhile, China became a great aid provider to

1560-661: 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". Meanwhile, the State of Vietnam strongly opposed the partition of the country, with its prime minister Ngô Đình Diệm announcing in July 1955 that

1638-698: 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. 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

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1716-523: 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. By 1971,

1794-549: The 1970s, such as the government of Australia under Gough Whitlam . By December 1972, 49 countries had established diplomatic relations with North Vietnam, and in 1973 more countries such as France established or reestablished their relations with the DRV. 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

1872-614: 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,

1950-654: 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

2028-573: The Japanese would provide the North Vietnamese with an endowment worth 13.5 billion yen . 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. After diplomatic relations were re-established, in 1975, Japan would open an embassy in Hanoi and North Vietnam would open an embassy in Tokyo. Land reform

2106-747: 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

2184-733: The National Assembly in an effort to establish an inclusive government. 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

2262-491: The Nguyễn dynasty. 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. 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

2340-416: 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. It is a variation of " Nam Việt " ( 南 越 , Southern Việt ), a name used in ancient times. In 1839, Emperor Minh Mạng renamed

2418-601: The Pathet Lao fight the Royal Lao Army. The attack resulted in the army largely demobilizing, leaving the conflict to irregular forces raised by the United States and Thailand. Massive aerial bombardment against Pathet Lao and PAVN forces was carried out by the United States. It has been reported that Laos was hit by an average of one B-52 bombload every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, between 1964 and 1973. US bombers dropped more ordnance on Laos in this period than

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2496-678: The Saigon government of the President Ngo Dinh Diem . 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. 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. Concurrently, between 14,000 and 45,000 civilians and approximately 100,000 Viet Minh fighters moved in

2574-472: 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, and raising concerns that an unfair election would occur under the Việt Minh governance in North Vietnam. 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

2652-457: The United States initiated a bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese positions, supported regular and irregular anticommunist forces in Laos, including those led by Hmong General Vang Pao , and supported Army of the Republic of Vietnam incursions into Laos. It also provided supplies, training and funding for the central government. In 1968, the PAVN launched a multi-division attack to help

2730-477: 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

2808-473: 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. Despite not joining the election, Việt Cách and Việt Quốc were given 70 seats in

2886-543: The Việt Minh with the help of the French authorities. 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. When France declared Cochinchina, the southern third of Vietnam, a separate state as

2964-475: The Việt Minh. 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

3042-614: 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. In 1969, Sweden became the first Western country to extend full diplomatic recognition to North Vietnam. Many other Western countries followed suit in

3120-464: The communist victories in both countries, they advanced on to Vientiane. On 2 December 1975 in Vientiane, Prince Vong Savang submitted the letter of abdication of King Savang Vatthana to the Pathet Lao. The Lao People's Democratic Republic was established with Prince Souphanouvong as President . Kaysone Phomvihane acted as Prime Minister and Secretary-General of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party . About 30,000 to 40,000 citizens and members of

3198-692: The communists in Vietnam. Kingdom of Laos The Kingdom of Laos was the form of government in Laos from 1947 to 1975. Located in Southeast Asia at the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula , it was bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, North Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. The country was governed as a constitutional monarchy beginning with its independence on 22 October 1953. It survived until December 1975, when its last king, Sisavang Vatthana , surrendered

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3276-516: The country Đại Nam ("Great South"). In 1945, the nation's official name was changed back to "Vietnam". The name is also sometimes rendered as "Viet Nam" in English. The term "North Vietnam" became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts. After about 300 years of partition by feudal dynasties, Vietnam was again under one single authority in 1802 when Gia Long founded

3354-660: The diplomatic relations between Japan and North Vietnam. 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 . 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

3432-401: The disputes among the political factions in Saigon, had been accompanied by widespread violence in the countryside. 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

3510-407: 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. Earlier, the Japanese already gave similar funding to the South Vietnamese, which also re-established official diplomatic relations with Japan during

3588-441: 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 ) Võ Nguyễn Giáp gradually sought to marginalize

3666-420: 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. 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. The land reform program

3744-399: The kingdom and proclaimed Laos as a communist state . Following the Franco-Lao Treaty of 1953, which gave Laos independence, the Royal Lao Government took control of the country. This treaty established a constitutional monarchy, with Sisavang Vong as King and Prince Souvanna Phouma as Prime Minister . Many attempts were made by the Three Princes and King Sisavang Vatthana to establish

3822-459: The landowning class was created in 1941 and designed to appeal to a wider population than the Indochinese Communist Party could command. From the beginning, the communist-led Việt Minh sought to consolidate power by purging other nationalist groups. 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 ,

3900-437: The name of Việt Minh , the Elysée Accords had the opposite effect - showing Vietnamese nationalists that the French were unwilling to compromise their interests in Indochina. Ngô Đình Diệm , a conservative and anti-communist nationalist who initially supported Bao Dai, rejected an offer of Prime Minister in the new Vietnam, saying "The national aspirations of the Vietnamese people will be satisfied only when our nation obtains

3978-444: The old government, including the royal family, were taken to re-education camps in remote areas of Laos. The King, Queen and Crown Prince all died in captivity. 17°58′N 102°36′E  /  17.967°N 102.600°E  / 17.967; 102.600 North Vietnam 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),

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4056-451: The opposite direction. 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. North and South Vietnam were officially reunited on 2 July 1976 as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam . The merged country's government

4134-438: 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

4212-449: The partition of Vietnam in 1954 at the end of the First Indochina War , more than one million North Vietnamese migrated to South Vietnam, under the U.S.-led evacuation campaign named Operation Passage to Freedom , with an estimated 60% of the north's one million Catholics fleeing south. The Catholic migration is attributed to an expectation of persecution of Catholics by the North Vietnamese government, as well as publicity employed by

4290-405: The process of redistributing land. 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. By 1958, the correction campaign had resulted in

4368-400: The return of land to many of those harmed by the land reform. 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. The first steps after

4446-432: The royal army. Prince Souphanouvong was given the post of Minister of Planning, Reconstruction and Urbanization, while another member of the Communist Party was named Minister of Religion and Fine Arts. The legislature of the Kingdom was bicameral. The Kingdom of Laos was divided into five military regions. The Royal Lao Armed Forces were responsible for the defense of the country, comprising three branches of service:

4524-505: The same period. 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. 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

4602-415: The same status India and Pakistan enjoy." On 22 July 1949, the United States State Department declared that the Elysée Accords were developments that realized the aspirations of the Vietnamese people, though the United States did not immediately recognize the new state, much to the disappointment of France. After the loss of China to the Chinese Communist Party on 1 October 1949 and the recognition of

4680-440: The situation steadily deteriorated thereafter as the conflict in Laos became a focus for superpower rivalry. During the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos , the Pathet Lao were backed militarily by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong . Laos was also dragged into the Vietnam War after parts of Laos were invaded and occupied by North Vietnam for use as a supply route for its war against South Vietnam . In response,

4758-468: 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

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4836-461: The system of autonomous regions was not continued and were fully abolished by 1978. List of North Vietnamese autonomous regions and their subsidiary provinces: 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,

4914-400: The throne to the Pathet Lao during the civil war in Laos , who abolished the monarchy in favour of a Marxist–Leninist state called the Lao People's Democratic Republic , which has controlled Laos ever since. Given self-rule with the new Constitution in 1947 as part of the French Union and a federation with the rest of French Indochina , the 1953 Franco-Lao Treaty finally established

4992-416: The time of the land reform provided a minimum number of 1,337 executions. 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. Gareth Porter estimated that between 800 and 2,500 people were executed, citing

5070-557: The total number of executions at between 3,000 and 15,000 and later came up with a more precise figure of 13,500. 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

5148-509: The total population". 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. 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

5226-457: The unification of Viet-Nam". 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 de jure 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

5304-422: The unified Vietnamese state experienced economic decline , 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. The official name of

5382-410: 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 on 2 July 1976 and the creation of the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam . In the aftermath of the Vietnam War ,

5460-404: Was a socialist state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1945 to 1976, with formal sovereignty being fully recognized in 1954 . A member of the 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

5538-427: Was a strong advocate of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to ban the weapons and assist victims and hosted the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention in November 2010. In 1975, the Pathet Lao, along with the PAVN and backed by the Soviet Union, overthrew the royalist Lao government, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on 2 December 1975. A ceasefire was finally attained in February 1973, following

5616-419: 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. However, it

5694-454: 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

5772-434: Was carried out with violence and repression primarily directed against large landowners identified, sometimes incorrectly, as landlords. 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

5850-569: Was dominated by holdovers from North Vietnam, and adopted the North Vietnamese constitution, flag and anthem. As an ideologically Marxist-Leninist state, North Vietnam adopted a constitution modelled on Joseph Stalin's 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union . "The administrative units in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam are as follows: — Article 78, Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam – 1959 (Điều 78, Hiến pháp Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa – 1959). North Vietnam established

5928-525: Was dropped during the whole of the Second World War. Of the 260 million bombs that rained down, particularly on Xiangkhouang Province on the Plain of Jars , some 80 million failed to explode and continue to injure and kill residents to this day. Laos is the most heavily bombed country, per capita, in the world. Because it was particularly heavily affected by cluster bombs during this war, Laos

6006-544: Was empowered to control its own finances and the path was paved for the creation of the Vietnamese National Army . Vietnam was granted the right to appoint diplomats to China , Thailand , and the Vatican City , whilst the remainder of Vietnamese foreign policy remained under French control. Whilst intending to prevent further nationalist sentiment in the war against communists who were being in

6084-793: 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. Several non-aligned countries also recognized North Vietnam. Similar to India , most accorded North Vietnam de facto rather than de jure (formal) recognition. In

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