Period of 1945-1954 - The First Indochina War

Main article: Vietnam War

In early 1945, due to a combination of Japanese exploitation and poor weather, a famine broke out in Tonkin killing approximately 2 million people. In March 1945, Japanese occupying force ousted the French administration in Indochina. Emperor Bảo Đại of the Nguyễn Dynasty declared Vietnam independent, yet the real power was still in Japanese hand.

Flag of Democratic Republic of Vietnam(North Vietnam)

In August 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the Allies, created a power vacuum in Vietnam. The Việt Minh launched the "August Revolution" across the country to seize government offices. Emperor Bảo Ðại abdicated on August 25, 1945, ending the Nguyễn Dynasty. In September 2, 1945, Hồ Chí Minh declared Vietnam independent under the new name of Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and held the position of Chairman(Chủ Tịch).

In southern Vietnam, British forces landed in Saigon to disarm the Japanese, followed by French troops trying to re-establish their rule. In the north, Chiang Kai-shek's army entered Vietnam, also to disarm the Japanese, followed by the forces of the non-Communist Vietnamese parties,such as Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng and Việt Nam Cách Mạng Đồng Minh Hội. In 1946, Vietnam had its first National Assembly election, which drafted the first constitution, yet its situation was very precarious: the French tried to regain power by force; some Cochin Chinese politicians formed a seceding government of Cochin China(Nam Kỳ Quốc); the non-Communist and Communist forces were killing each other; the Communists were purging the Trotskyists; religious sects and resistance groups formed their own militias. The Communists eventually suppressed all non-Communist parties yet failed to secure a peace deal with France.

In 1947, full scale war broke out between Viet Minh and France. Realizing that colonism was coming to an end worldwide, France fashioned a semi-independent State of Vietnam, within the French Union, with Bảo Đại as Head of State. Meanwhile, as the Communists under Mao Zedong took over China, Viet Minh began to receive military aid from China. Beside supplying materials, Chinese cadres also pressured the Vietnamese Communist Party, then under First Secretary Trường Chinh , to emulate their brand of revolution, unleashing a purge of "bourgeois and feudal" elements from the Viet Minh ranks, carrying out a ruthless and bloody land reform campaign(Cải Cách Ruộng Đất), denouncing "bourgeois and feudal" tendency in arts and literature. Many true patriots and devoted Communist revolutionaries in the Viet Minh suffered mistreatment or even got executed during these movements. Many others became disenchanted and left the Viet Minh. The United States became strongly opposed to Hồ Chí Minh. In the 1950s the government of Bảo Ðại gained recognition by the United States and the United Kingdom.

Flag of Republic of Vietnam(South Vietnam)

The Việt Minh force grew significantly with China's assistance and in 1954, under the command of General Võ Nguyên Giáp, launched a major siege against French bases in Điện Biên Phủ. Việt Minh force surprised Western military experts with their use of primitive means to move artillery pieces and supplies up the mountains surrounding Điện Biên Phủ, giving them a decisive fire advantage. On May 7 1954, French troops at Điện Biên Phủ, under Christian de Castries, surrendered to Viet Minh. On July 1954, the Geneva Accord was signed between France and Viet-Minh, paving the way for France to leave Vietnam.

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