North Vietnam

Democratic Republic of Vietnam Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa (Vietnamese)
1945–1976
Flag (1955–1976) Emblem (1955–1976)
Motto: "Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc" "Independence – Freedom – Happiness"
Anthem: "Tiến Quân Ca" "Army March"
The administrative territory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam according to the 1954 Geneva Accord is shown in dark green; territory claimed but not controlled is shown in light green.
Status	Unrecognized 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 languages	Vietnamese
Official script	Vietnamese alphabet
Religion	State atheism
Demonym(s)	North Vietnamese Vietnamese
Government	Unitary 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
Legislature	National Assembly
Historical era	Aftermath of World War II/Cold War
• August Revolution	19 August 1945
• Abdication of Bảo Đại	25 August 1945
• State declared	2 September 1945
• Legislative election	6 January 1946
• Ho–Sainteny agreement	6 March 1946
• Start of the Indochina War	19 December 1946
• Geneva Accords	22 July 1954
• Start of the Vietnam War	1 November 1955
• Death of Ho Chi Minh	2 September 1969
• Paris Peace Accords	27 January 1973
• Reunification	30 April 1975
• Socialist Republic of Vietnam	2 July 1976
Area
1945	331,212 km2 (127,882 sq mi)
1955	157,880 km2 (60,960 sq mi)
1968	157,880 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]
Currency	đồng cash (until 1948)[5]
Preceded by Succeeded by 1945: Empire of Vietnam 1954: French Indochina 1946: French Indochina 1976: Vietnam

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
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 dynasty 544–602 3rd Chinese domination 602–938
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 1407–1427 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 1862–1945 / 1945–1949 French Annam 1883–1945 / 1945–1948 French Tonkin 1883–1945 / 1946–1948 French Indochina 1887–1945 / 1945–1954 Empire of Vietnam 1945
Republic North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) 1945–1976 Provisional Central Government 1948–1949 State of Vietnam 1949–1955 North–South division 1954–1976 South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) 1955–1975 Provisional Revolutionary Government (Republic of South Vietnam) 1969–1976 Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1976–present
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North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa; chữ Nôm: 越南民主共和), 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). North Vietnam 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 the communists, 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 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 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 unfree election would occur under the Việt Minh regime 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 North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam and the South Vietnam-based Việt Cộng guerrilla 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 Pathet Lao 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 on 2 July 1976 and the creation of the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 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]

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