Far East Kingdoms

North Vietnam
AD 1945 - 1976

Vietnam All Modern States China Japan Korea Laos

Mainland South-East Asia is otherwise known as Indochina or the Indochinese peninsula (these two largely being outdated terms in the twenty-first century). Framed by East Asia to the north (which is largely dominated by China) and South Asia to the west (generally Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, amongst others), it provides the gateway to 'Maritime South-East Asia' and its thousands of islands.

What today is the nation state of Vietnam began with a series of cultures which flourished between the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Early Vietnam. It emerged into history through a series of regional kingdoms, of which Dai Viet (or 'Great Viet') was the strongest survivor from the break-up of the ancient kingdom of Nam Viet. This eventually conquered other, more minor kingdoms to form the basis of a modern state. The Vietnamese warlords of the Nguyen family finally displaced the Chams and Khmers and, in the eighteenth century, completed their 'southern advance' in the region to the south of Saigon.

The expanding Vietnamese empire had long been divided between the Nguyen in the south and the Trinh lords in the north, but Nguyen Emperor Gia Long unified Vietnam in 1802. Unfortunately for him and his descendants, this took place less than sixty years before the French gradually subdued the country in the second half of the nineteenth century. They did it in stages, creating three regions as they progressed: the protectorates of Tonkin in the north, Annam in the centre, and the colony of Cochinchina in the south. In 1887 these were merged to create part of French Indochina.

Following the end of the Second World War, Japanese occupation of Annam was replaced by an attempt to re-establish the French protectorate in 1945. After fighting the Japanese for five years, this was certainly not part of the plans of the country's communist forces. They were encouraged by newly-communist China to attempt to take control of the country. They did so in North Vietnam on 2 September 1945 with the proclamation of a democratic republic and with a capital at Hanoi. The First Indochina War was the result of this opposition, with outside forces becoming involved because this battleground was seen as being a key piece of the Cold War struggle between democracy and communism.

With France having withdrawn from Indochina, the USA had to involve itself directly, no longer simply supplying arms. In the end, such was the determination and ingenuity of the communist forces, even the USA couldn't change the outcome. In 1975-1976 a fully-united country was created under a communist government, and modern Vietnam was now its own master after almost a century of outside involvement.

As a communist state, leadership usually was divided between the president, the prime minister, and the head of the communist party. Generally, the head of party was the real ruler of the country, and it is this post which is detailed below. The country's monarchy, which removed itself from commanding the country as a whole in 1945, was also deposed in South Vietnam in 1955 by President Ngo Dinh Diem. Since then the emperor and his descendants have maintained their use of the appropriate titles while living in exile (usually in France and Monaco). They have not overtly pursued a policy of having the monarchy restored. All such hereditary claimants to the throne are shown below with a shaded background.

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from The State of The World's Refugees 2000 - Chapter 4: Flight from Indochina, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, from Encyclopaedia of European and Asian Regional Geology, E M Moores & Rhodes W Fairbridge (Springer Netherlands, 1997), from Asia in the Modern World, Claude A Buss (Collier-Macmillan, 1964), and from External Links: Lonely Planet, and BBC Country Profiles, and Vietnam (Rulers.org), and Vietnam (Zárate's Political Collections).)

1945 - 1946

Chairman of the provisional council in Annam.

1946 - 1965

'President' of North Vietnam. Died 1969.

1945 - 1954

The French protectorate of Vietnam is re-established but communist forces in the north refuse to submit. On  2 September 1945 a democratic republic is proclaimed there, with a capital at Hanoi. On 1 June 1946, Vietnam becomes a de facto divided country when the French establish the autonomous republic of Cochinchina.

Having been provided with arms and supplies from China, those communist forces in North Vietnam attempt to take control of the country. France is provided with supplies and arms by the USA, which is highly concerned about the 'domino effect' of country after country falling to communism, but it is French soldiers who fight on the ground in a war which is largely overshadowed by the USA's subsequent involvement in the region.

The First Indochina War between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their respective supporters becomes a key battleground in the Cold War. Vietnam suffers enormously by being the focus of this particular theatre of operations.

1949 - 1955

King of Dai Viet. Restored in South Vietnam only.

1954 - 1955

On 7 May 1954 the Viet Minh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, effectively ending French involvement in Indochina. The democratic republic of Vietnam is confirmed in the north of the country, but this does nothing to end the fighting.

Even so, the newly-declared republic is recognised internationally by the Geneva Accords, with Hanoi as its capital. South Vietnam is also recognised, officially dividing the country in two.

In the three hundred-day period of open borders which now takes place, more than a million Vietnamese move south along with anti-communist forces, while a much smaller number move north. Perhaps two million more people are prevented from migrating south by the Viet Minh.

The communist leader is Ho Chi Minh, the sixty-four year-old leader of the Viet Minh independence movement (from 1941), and now the 'president' of the north. The leader in South Vietnam, once he has 'won' a fraudulent campaign to create a republic and remove the king from office, is President Ngo Dinh Diem.

1955 - 1976

Deposed in 1955. King of Vietnam in exile (until 1977).

1956 - 1960

President Diem of South Vietnam begins campaign against political dissidents, but all this does is trigger a communist insurgency in the south in 1957, supported by North Vietnam. Within two years weapons and men from the north are infiltrating the south.

In 1960 the USA increases its aid to President Diem, eager to halt the 'domino effect' of states falling under communist leaderships. Although it remains undeclared, this is the start of the Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War.

1963

The communist guerrillas operating in South Vietnam are known as the Viet Cong. Now they defeat units of the ARVN, the South Vietnamese Army. President Diem is overthrown and then killed in a US-backed military coup.

1964

The US congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on 7 August 1964, increasing American military involvement in Vietnam and officially bringing it into the war. It is a response to the eponymous firefight on 2 August 1964 between US naval forces which have been engaged in clandestine attacks on North Vietnamese installations and three Vietnamese gunboats which fail utterly to scare them off.

Otherwise known as the 'South-East Asia Resolution', the political spin for the incident is enough to win almost universal backing for increased US action in what is now a war in all but name.

1965 - 1976

General secretary of the central committee (to 1986).

1968

After building up the number of its military forces in South Vietnam over the previous three years, the US now has half a million men in the country. The north launches the Tet Offensive - a combined assault by Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army on US positions.

Morale in the US forces drops as the number of US casualties mounts by the day. During the campaign, and during an apparent moment of madness, more than five hundred civilians die in the US massacre at My Lai. Thousands more are killed by communist forces during their occupation of the city of Hue.

1969

Ho Chi Minh dies in 1969, removing the north's powerful figurehead (although he had officially retired in 1965), and President Nixon begins to reduce US ground troops in Vietnam as domestic public opposition to the war grows. Despite this, Laos is dragged into the war thanks to US bombing of North Vietnamese in its territory.

The following year, Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho of the Hanoi government start talks in Paris but in the same year Cambodia finds itself being dragged into the widening conflict when Prime Minister Lon Nol mounts a successful coup against King Sihanouk.

The king organises a guerrilla movement from exile, and with US forces in Vietnam also becoming involved, Cambodia quickly becomes mired in a civil war against the Khmer Rouge guerrilla forces.

1970 - 1973

Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho of the Hanoi government start talks in Paris in 1970, but in the same year Cambodia finds itself being dragged into the widening conflict when Prime Minister Lon Nol mounts a successful coup against King Sihanouk.

The king organises a guerrilla movement from exile, and with US forces in Vietnam also becoming involved, Cambodia quickly becomes mired in a civil war against the Khmer Rouge guerrilla forces.

1975 - 1976

With US troops having been pulled out in March 1975 under the terms of the 1973 ceasefire agreement in Paris, the cities of South Vietnam fall one by one to the communist forces of North Vietnam. The South Vietnamese government surrenders unconditionally to North Vietnam on 30 April 1975, ending the Vietnam War.

A communist republic is declared. Initially a puppet government is set up in the south, but the country is fully reunited in 1976 under a single leadership which consists of a largely ceremonial presidency, a ruling secretary-general of the communist party - the real power - and a prime minister. The socialist republic of Vietnam is born.

The event causes hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, mostly from the south, to flee the country, including many 'boat people'. Contrary to international fears, though, there are no mass executions of South Vietnamese.

Modern Vietnam
AD 1976 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1976-2022)

All Modern States Early Cultures Chinese States Korean States Modern Americas Modern Balkans Modern British Isles Vietnamese States

The socialist republic of Vietnam is located along a relatively narrow band of land at the eastern end of South-East Asia. Reaching down from the Red River, at the northern and southern ends this territorial 'band' widens out around the cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) respectively. The country is bordered by China to the north, by the Philippines across the South China Sea to the east, to the south and south-east by Malaysia, and to the west by Cambodia and Laos.

Vietnam primarily emerged into history from the prehistoric cultures of Early Vietnam. Two main kingdoms flourished in the form of Annam (later known as Nam Viet or Dai Viet) in the north, and Champa in the south. The northern kingdom encompassed parts of southern contemporary China along the South China Sea coastline, and eventually it managed to free itself of Chinese dominance.

Later it conquered Champa to form a single state which was vaguely similar to the modern one in terms of territory (in the north and centre of modern Vietnam). The Mekong delta region in the far south of the country was not originally Vietnamese but Cambodian. That united Nam Viet eventually fell under the domination of French colonialism in the nineteenth century and into the first half of the twentieth century, part of French Indochina.

Following the end of the Second World War, Japanese occupation was replaced by an attempt to re-establish the French protectorate in 1945. After fighting the Japanese for five years, this was certainly not part of the plans of the country's communist forces. They were encouraged by newly-communist China to attempt to take control of the country. They did so in North Vietnam, with a capital at Hanoi, The First Indochina War was the result of this opposition, with outside forces becoming involved because this battleground was seen as being a key piece of the Cold War struggle between democracy and communism.

With France having withdrawn from Indochina, the USA had to involve itself directly, no longer simply supplying arms but instead supporting the beleaguered state of South Vietnam. In the end, such was the determination and ingenuity of the communist forces, even the USA couldn't change the outcome. In 1975-1976 the country was fully united under a communist government and modern Vietnam was now its own master after almost a century of outside involvement.

Forty years after the destructive and long-lasting conflict, in the eyes of the world the Vietnam of the 2010s was resolutely a nation rather than the name of a war. The one-party communist state today is self-confident and is developing rapidly, its progress all-evident in the country's booming metropolises. Vietnam's allure is easy to appreciate as ancient, labyrinthine trading quarters of still-thriving craft industries lie alongside grand colonial mansions from the French era, all of which is overseen by twenty-first century glass-and-steel high rise towers.

The country now occupies an 'S' shape at the eastern end of South-East Asia. The South China Sea presents it with a long coastline, while its territory stretches from the Red River in the north to the Mekong Delta in the south. It was a variation of the name 'Nam Viet' which was eventually selected as the fully unified country's name, in the 1940s, during Japanese occupation.

The country's monarchy, which removed itself from commanding the country as a whole in 1945, was also deposed in the south by President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1955. Since then the emperor and his descendants have maintained their use of the appropriate titles while living in exile (usually in France and Monaco). They have not overtly pursued a policy of having the monarchy restored. All such hereditary claimants to the throne are shown below with a shaded background.

Please note that the History Files does not normally monitor changes in modern elected heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from The State of The World's Refugees 2000 - Chapter 4: Flight from Indochina, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, from Encyclopaedia of European and Asian Regional Geology, E M Moores & Rhodes W Fairbridge (Springer Netherlands, 1997), from Vietnam: A New History, Christopher Goscha, from A History of the Vietnamese, Keith W Taylor (Cambridge University Press, 2013), and from External Links: Lonely Planet, and BBC Country Profiles, and Vietnam (Rulers.org), and Vietnam (Zárate's Political Collections), and Vietnam (United Nations), and Vietnam (Countrystudies), and Vietnam from the 10th century AD to the mid-20th century AD (Vietnam National Museum of History).)

1976 - 1986

General secretary of North Vietnam (from 1965).

1976 - 1977

Deposed king of Vietnam in exile (since 1955).

1977 - 2007

Son of Bao Dai (born 1936). King of Vietnam in exile.

1977

Vietnam joins the United Nations on 20 September 1977. The UN's support to the country begins with a focus on war reconstruction and humanitarian assistance.

1978

Following several border incursions and attacks on Vietnamese villages by the Khmer Rouge rulers of Cambodia, Vietnamese troops invade and conquer of much of the country. The Khmer Rouge are pushed back from the heartland of the country and have to resume a guerrilla warfare approach to maintaining what positions they do retain.

1981

The pro-Vietnamese Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party wins the Cambodian elections in 1981, forming the 'Third Republic', but its rule is not internationally recognised and later faces mounting guerrilla resistance. Vietnamese dominance in Cambodia lasts until 1991, although the last Vietnamese troops are withdrawn in 1989.

1986

General secretary (Jul-Dec only). Died 1987.

1986

Reformist elements within the central committee win a victory at the Sixth National Congress. The old guard of hardline leaders is replaced by the reformers themselves. A series of free market reforms eases the burden of the communist planned economy, altering it to a more open socialist market economy.

1986 - 1991

General secretary. Incapacitated 1989.

1989 -1991

Nguyen Van Linh, the real ruler of Vietnam from behind a nominal presidency, becomes incapacitated. A triumvirate which includes Do Muoi (acting on behalf of Linh as chairman of the council of ministers), Le Duc Anh, and Vo Van Kiet takes on his duties until 1991.

1991 - 1997

General secretary of the central committee.

1992

The country adopts a new constitution which permits certain economic freedoms. The communist party remains the leading force in Vietnamese society, but is managing things in a far more moderate manner.

1994 - 1995

The US lifts its thirty-year trade embargo in 1994 and the following year restores full diplomatic relations. Vietnam becomes full member of the 'Association of South-East Asian Nations' (Asean).

1997 - 2001

General secretary of the central committee.

1997 - 1999

Le Kha Phieu becomes party leader, with Tran Duc Luong being chosen as president and Phan Van Khai as prime minister. The following year, a senior party member, Pham The Duyet, faces charges of corruption, and economic growth slumps in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.

In 1999 a former high-ranking party member, Tran Do, is expelled after calling for more democracy and freedom of expression.

2001 - 2011

General secretary of the central committee.

2002

Russia hands back the Cam Ranh Bay naval base, once the largest Soviet base outside of the Warsaw Pact territories. President Tran Duc Luong is reappointed for second term of office by the national assembly, which also reappoints Prime Minister Phan Van Khai for a second five-year term.

The state apparatus continues to silence criticism of its management, and online censorship steadily builds as the internet becomes an increasingly powerful tool for dissent. However, the country does begin to open up to tourism, becoming a 'Mecca' for backpacker travellers.

2007 - Present

Brother of Bao Long (born 1943). King of Vietnam in exile.

2011 - On

General secretary of the central committee.