North Vietnam - wikipedia North Vietnam For the region of Northern Vietnam, see Northern Vietnam. `` NVN '' redirects here. For other uses, see NVN ( disambiguation ). Democratic Republic of Vietnam Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa 1945 -- 1976 Flag Emblem Motto `` Độc lập -- Tự do -- Hạnh phúc '' ( English : `` Independence -- Freedom -- Happiness '' ) Anthem `` Tiến Quân Ca '' ( English : `` Army March '' ) Location of North Vietnam in Southeast Asia. Capital Hanoi Languages Vietnamese ( official ) Government Unitary Marxist -- Leninist one - party socialist republic Party Chairman First Secretary 1945 -- 1956 Trường Chinh 1956 -- 1960 Hồ Chí Minh 1960 -- 1976 Lê Duẩn President 1945 -- 1969 Hồ Chí Minh 1969 -- 1976 Tôn Đức Thắng Prime Minister 1945 -- 1955 Hồ Chí Minh 1955 -- 1976 Phạm Văn Đồng Historical era Cold War Vietnam War Republic declared September 2, 1945 Viet Minh reenters Hanoi October 10, 1954 PAVN enters Saigon April 30, 1975 North and South Vietnam merged July 2, 1976 Area 1960 157,880 km ( 60,960 sq mi ) Population 1960 est. 15,916,955 Density 101 / km ( 261 / sq mi ) 1974 est. 23,767,300 Density 151 / km ( 390 / sq mi ) Currency đồng Preceded by Succeeded by French Indochina Empire of Vietnam Nguyễn Dynasty Vietnam Today part of Vietnam North Vietnam Vietnamese alphabet Bắc Việt Nam Chữ Nôm 北 越南 History of Vietnam 2879 -- 258 BC Hồng Bàng dynasty 2879 -- 1913 BC Early Hồng Bàng 1912 -- 1055 BC Mid Hồng Bàng 1054 -- 258 BC Late Hồng Bàng 257 -- 179 BC Thục dynasty 207 -- 111 BC Triệu dynasty 111 BC -- 40 AD 1st Chinese domination 40 -- 43 Trưng Sisters 43 -- 544 2nd Chinese domination 544 -- 602 Early Lý dynasty 602 -- 938 3rd Chinese domination 939 -- 967 Ngô dynasty 968 -- 980 Đinh dynasty 980 -- 1009 Early Lê dynasty 1009 -- 1225 Later Lý dynasty 1225 -- 1400 Trần dynasty 1400 -- 1407 Hồ dynasty 1407 -- 1427 4th Chinese domination 1407 -- 1413 Later Trần dynasty 1428 -- 1788 Later Lê dynasty 1527 -- 1592 Mạc dynasty 1545 -- 1787 Trịnh lords 1558 -- 1777 Nguyễn lords 1778 -- 1802 Tây Sơn dynasty 1802 -- 1945 Nguyễn dynasty 1858 -- 1954 French Indochina 1945 Empire of Vietnam From 1945 Republic 1945 -- 1976 North Vietnam ( Democratic Republic of Vietnam ) 1955 -- 1975 South Vietnam ( Republic of Vietnam ) 1975 -- 1976 Viet Cong - occupied South Vietnam From 1976 Unification of Vietnam Further subjects Champa dynasties ( 192 -- 1832 ) Funan ( 68 -- 550 ) Chenla ( 550 -- 802 ) Historical capitals Prehistoric and ancient cultures List of monarchs Country 's names Economic history Military history North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( DRV ) ( Vietnamese : Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa ), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, although it did not achieve widespread recognition until 1954. Vietnamese revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh declared independence from France on 2 September 1945 and announced the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. France reasserted its colonial dominance and a war ensued between France and the Viet Minh, led by President Ho Chi Minh. The Viet Minh ( `` League for the Independence of Vietnam '' ) was a coalition of nationalist groups, mostly led by communists. In February 1951, the communists announced the creation of the Lao Động Party ( Labor Party ), gradually marginalizing non-communists in the Việt Minh. Between 1946 and 1954, the Việt Minh captured and controlled most of the rural areas of Vietnam. In 1954, after the French were defeated, the negotiation of the Geneva Accords ended the war between France and the Việt Minh and granted Vietnam independence. The Geneva Accords divided the country provisionally into northern and southern zones, and stipulated general elections in July 1956 to `` bring about the unification of Viet - Nam ''. The northern zone was commonly called North Vietnam, and the southern zone 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. The United States did not sign the Geneva Accords, which stated that the United States `` shall continue to seek to achieve unity through free elections supervised by the United Nations to insure that they are conducted fairly ''. In July 1955, the prime minister of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm, announced that the Republic of Vietnam would not participate in elections to unify the country. He said that South Vietnam had not signed the Geneva Accords and was not bound by it. After the failure to reunify Vietnam by elections, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam attempted to unify the country by force in the Vietnam War ( 1955 -- 75 ). North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng insurgents supported by their communist allies, including the Soviet Union and China, fought against the military of South Vietnam, the United States and other anti-communist military forces, including South Korea, Australia, Thailand, and smaller players. North Vietnam also supported indigenous communist rebels in Cambodia and Laos against their respective U.S. - backed governments. The war ended when North Vietnamese forces and the Việt Cộng defeated the Republic of Vietnam and in 1976 united the two parts of the country into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The expanded Democratic Republic retained North Vietnam 's political culture under Soviet influence and continued its existing memberships in international organisations such as Comecon. Contents 1 Leadership under Hồ Chí Minh ( 1945 -- 69 ) 1.1 Proclamation of the republic 1.2 Early republic 1.3 During the First Indochina War 1.4 Provisional military demarcation of Vietnam 2 Land reform 2.1 Results 2.2 Executions 2.3 Collective farming 3 Presidency of Tôn Đức Thắng ( 1969 -- 76 ) 3.1 During the Vietnam War 3.2 Reunification 4 Foreign relations 4.1 South Vietnam 4.2 Communist and Western states 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Leadership under Ho Chi Minh ( 1945 -- 69 ) Further information : Hồ Chí Minh Proclamation of the Republic 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 September 2, 1945, the Việt Minh in the August Revolution entered Hanoi, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on September 2, 1945 : a government for the entire country, replacing the Nguyễn dynasty. Viet Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh became head of the government. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt had spoken against French rule in Indochina, and U.S.A. was supportive of the Viet Minh at this time. Early Republic The Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh claimed dominion over all of Vietnam, but during this time South Vietnam was in profound political disorder. The successive collapse of French, then Japanese power, followed by the dissension among the political factions in Saigon had been accompanied by widespread violence in the countryside. On September 12, 1945, the first British troops arrived in Saigon. On September 23, 28 days after the people of Saigon seized political power, French troops occupied the police stations, the post office, and other public buildings. The salient political fact of life in Northern Vietnam was Chinese Nationalist army of occupation, and the Chinese presence had forced Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh to accommodate Chinese - backed Viet Nationalists. In June 1946, Chinese Nationalist troops evacuated Hanoi, and on the 15th of 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 Southern Resistance War. In January 1946, the Viet Minh held an election to establish a National Assembly. Public enthusiasm for this event suggests that the Viet Minh 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. 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. During the first Indochina War Further information : First Indochina War The French reoccupied Hanoi and the First Indochina War ( 1946 -- 54 ) followed. 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 ) 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, 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 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 the opposite direction. 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. 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. 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 and rich peasants. However it was carried out with violence and repression primarily directed against large landowners identified, sometimes incorrectly, as landlords. On 18 August 1956, North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh acknowledged the serious errors the government had made in the land reform program. Too many farmers, he said, had been incorrectly classified as `` landlords '' and executed or imprisoned and too many mistakes had been made in redistributing land. Severe rioting protesting the excesses of the land reform program broke out in November 1956 in one largely - Catholic rural district. About 1,000 people were killed or injured and several thousand imprisoned. Democratic Republic of Vietnam initiated a `` correction campaign '' which by 1958 had resulted in the return of land to many of those harmed by the land reform. As part of the correction campaign as many as 23,748 political prisoners were released by North Vietnam by September 1957. Executions Executions and imprisonment of persons classified as `` landlords '' or enemies of the state were contemplated from the beginning of the land reform program. A Politburo document dated 4 May 1953 said that executions were `` fixed in principle at the ratio of one per one thousand people of the total population. ''. The number of persons actually executed by communist cadre carrying out the land reform program has been variously estimated. Some estimates of those killed range up to 200,000. Other scholarship has concluded that the higher estimates were based on political propaganda emanating from South Vietnam and that the actual total of those executed was probably much lower. 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. Moise 's conclusions were supported by documents of Hungarian diplomats living in Democratic Republic of Vietnam at the time of the land reform. Author Michael Lind in a 2013 book gives a similar estimate of `` at least ten or fifteen thousand '' executed. 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. 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. By 1971, the great majority of farmers in North Vietnam were organized into high - level cooperatives. Collective farms were abandoned gradually in the 1980s and 1990s. Presidency of tôn đức thắng ( 1969 -- 76 ) 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 Vietcong, alongside the North Vietnamese Army, governed South Vietnam during the period before reunification. However it was seen as a vassal government of North Vietnam. North and South Vietnam were officially reunited under one state on 2 July 1976, forming the Socialist Republic of Vietnam which continues to administer the country today. Foreign relations South Vietnam Further information : Vietnam War and Viet Cong From 1960, the North Vietnamese government went to war with Republic of Vietnam via its proxy the Viet Cong, in an attempt to annex South Vietnam and reunify Vietnam under communist rule. 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 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. Communist and Western States Ho Chi Minh with East German Young Pioneers near East Berlin, 1957 Democratic Republic of Vietnam was diplomatically isolated by many Western states, and many other anti-communist states worldwide throughout most of the North 's history, as these states only extended recognition 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. Several non-aligned countries also recognized North Vietnam, mostly, similar to India, according North Vietnam de facto rather than de jure ( formal ) recognition. In 1969, Sweden became the first Western country to extend full diplomatic recognition to North Vietnam. Many other Western countries followed suit in the 1970s, such as the government of Australia under Gough Whitlam. Notes ^ Jump up to : Unrecognized state ( 1946 -- 1954 ) Jump up ^ 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. 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. In many districts, a single candidate ran unopposed. Party representation in the Assembly was publicly announced before the election was held. References Jump up ^ Nuechterlein, Donald E. ( 2001 ). America Recommitted : A Superpower Assesses Its Role in a Turbulent World. Lexington, KY, USA : University Press of Kentucky. p. 73. ISBN 0813127491. Jump up ^ Woolley, Peter J. ( 2005 ). Geography and Japan 's Strategic Choices : From Seclusion to Internationalization. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 125. ISBN 1574886673. Jump up ^ Dunstan, Simon ( 2004 ). Vietnam Tracks : Armor in Battle 1945 - 75. Oxford, England : Osprey Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1841768332. Jump up ^ Bauer, P.T. ( 1986 ). Reality and Rhetoric : Studies in the Economics of Development. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press. p. 10. ISBN 0674749472. Jump up ^ Hoffmann, Joyce ( 2008 ). On Their Own : Women Journalists and the American Experience in Vietnam. Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Press. p. 307. ISBN 0786721669. Jump up ^ Tucker, Spencer C. ( 2011 ). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War : A Political, Social, and Military History : A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC - CLIO. pp. 155, 594, 1160. ISBN 1851099611. Jump up ^ Eidelberg, Paul ( 1976 ). On the Silence of the Declaration of Independence. Amherst, MA : Univ of Massachusetts Press. p. 44. ISBN 0870232169. Jump up ^ Ladley, Eric ( 2007 ). Balancing Act. iUniverse. pp. 52, 241, 298, 197. ISBN 0595887570. Jump up ^ ' Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Movement in Indochina, A Study in the Exploitation of Nationalism ( 1953 ), Folder 11, Box 02, Douglas Pike Collection : Unit 13 - The Early History of Vietnam, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University. 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Cold War Mandarin : Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America 's War in Vietnam, 1950 -- 1963. Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0 - 7425 - 4447 - 8. p. 45 Jump up ^ Truong Nhu Tang. 1986. A Viet Cong Memoir. Vintage. Jump up ^ Hansen, pp. 182 -- 183. Jump up ^ Frankum, Ronald ( 2007 ). Operation Passage to Freedom : The United States Navy in Vietnam, 1954 -- 55. Lubbock, Texas : Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 89672 - 608 - 6. p. 159 / 160 / 190 Jump up ^ Frankum, Ronald ( 2007 ). Operation Passage to Freedom : The United States Navy in Vietnam, 1954 -- 55. Lubbock, Texas : Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 89672 - 608 - 6. Jump up ^ Ruane, Kevin ( 1998 ). War and Revolution in Vietnam. London : Routledge. ISBN 978 - 1 - 85728 - 323 - 5. Jump up ^ Moise, Edward E. ( 1983 ), Land Reform in China and North Vietnam, Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, pp. 178 - 181 Jump up ^ Szalontai, Balazs ( 2005 ), `` Political and Economic Crisis in Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1955 - 1956 '', Cold War History, Vol. 5, No. 4, p. 401. Downloaded from JSTOR. Jump up ^ Vo, Alex Thai D. ( Winter 2015 ). `` Nguyễn Thị Năm and the Land Reform in North Vietnam, 1953 ''. Journal of Vietnamese Studies. 10 ( 1 ) : 9 -- 10, 14, 36. Jump up ^ Moise, pp. 237 - 268 Jump up ^ Szalontai, p. 401 Jump up ^ `` Politburo 's Directive Issued on May 4, 1953, on some Special Issues regarding Mass Mobilization, '' Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2 ( Summer 2010 ), p. 243. Downloaded from JSTOR. Jump up ^ Lam Thanh Liem ( 2005 ), `` Ho Chi Minh 's Land Reform : Mistake or Crime, '' http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/landreform.html, accessed 4 October 2015 Jump up ^ Moise, pp. 205 - 222 ; `` Newly released documents on the land reform '', Vietnam Studies Group, https://web.archive.org/web/20110420044800/http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/vsg/elist_2007/Newly%20released%20documents%20on%20the%20land%20reform%20.html, accessed 1 March 2017. Jump up ^ Balazs, p. 401 Jump up ^ Lind, Michael ( 2003 ), Vietnam : The Necessary War, New York : Simon and Schuster, p. 155 Jump up ^ Moise, pp. 155 - 159 Jump up ^ Kerkvliet, Bendedict J. Tria ( 1998 ), `` Wobbly Foundations '' building co-operatives in rural Vietnam, 1955 - 61, '' South East Research, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 193 - 197. Downloaded from JSTOR Jump up ^ Pingali, and Vo - TungPrabhu and Vo - Tong Xuan ( 1992 ), `` Vietnam : Decollectivization and Rice Productive Growth '', Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol 40, No 4. p. 702, 706 - 707. Downloaded from JSTOR. Jump up ^ Senauth, Frank ( 1 ), The Making of Vietnam, 2012, p. 54. Jump up ^ Nguyễn, Sài Đình ( 2 ), The National Flag of Viet Nam : Its Origin and Legitimacy, p. 4. Jump up ^ Emering, Edward J. ( 3 ), Weapons and Field Gear of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong, 1998. Jump up ^ `` The History Place -- Vietnam War 1945 -- 1960 ''. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 11. Jump up ^ Turner, Robert F. ( 1990 ). `` Myths and Realities in the Vietnam Debate ''. The Vietnam Debate : A Fresh Look at the Arguments. University Press of America. ISBN 9780819174161. Jump up ^ Morris, Stephen J. ( 1999 ). Why Vietnam Invaded Cambodia : Political Culture and the Causes of War. Stanford University Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780804730495. Jump up ^ SarDesai, D.R. ( 1968 ), Indian Foreign Policy in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, 1947 - 1964, Berkeley : University of California Press, p. 194 Jump up ^ Gardner, Lloyd C. and Gittinger, Ted, Eds. ( 2004 ), `` The Search for Peace in Vietnam, 1964 - 1968, '' Bryan, TX : Texas A&M University Press, p. 194 Further reading Vu, Tuong ( 2010 ). Paths to Development in Asia : South Korea, Vietnam, China, and Indonesia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139489010. 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Question: the leader of the communist forces in north vietnam was
Answer: President Ho Chi Minh