State Formation of Vietnam

This article discusses the state formation of Vietnam, focusing on the formation of the modern state, challenges faced, and the political situation. It explores the division of Vietnam, the role of the United States, and the establishment of the Socialist Government. The challenges and issues faced by the newly formed state are also discussed, including the reconciliation of ideological differences and the restructuring of the country. The article concludes by highlighting the success of Vietnam in bringing stability to the country.

Running head: STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
Introduction
The state formation in the non west has coincided with that of the formation of the nation
unlike in the west. In the western world the formation of the nation had preceded the formation
of the state. The formation of the state in the non west is thus modelled after the western style,
where it had been as a result of resistance to the imperialist domination. The resurgence of the
commonality of the identity and the similar history of each of the citizens of the country was
necessary to bolster the national identity. The national identity on the other hand was responsible
for the launching of the nationalistic movement against the colonial expansion (Vu, 2016).
For the present purpose, the case of Vietnam shall be taken up for consideration. The
national identity of Vietnam and the nationalist movement against the Imperialist forces of the
United States of America desiring to set up a Capitalist Government in the country. Under the
leadership of Ho Chi Minh, the modern state of Vietnam had been formed. In the proceeding
sections the various aspects of the state formation and the issues related to it shall be discussed.
Formation of the Modern State of Vietnam
It was after the Vietnam War of the 1950s that the country was united. Vietnam was
divided into two different parts, the north and the south along the 11th parallel. As a result of the
First Indo China War, the country was divided into two parts, which had caused the French
occupation to end in the country.The French forces had received support from USA as she was
an ally and a sympathizer of Capitalistic ideologies. However, that did not prove to be beneficial
to the French in maintaining their rule in the nation. That had caused the country to be intervened
by USA, as the perceived threat of the victory of the Communist Forces in the country was
bothering USA who wanted to establish a foothold in the country (Dell, Lane & Querubin,

2STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
2018). The basis of the division had also been ideological, and also a result of the fact that Indo
China had been engulfed by the influence of the Cold War, which makes both the reasons to be
integrated and inextricably linked to each other. In the Cold War era, both the US Bloc and the
USSR Bloc had been engaged in a rivalry to make the spread of their ideologies, Capitalism and
Communism successful. Vietnam had like the other countries of South East Asia, Laos,
Cambodia had become a hot bed of struggle between the US and the USSR Bloc. The northern
part of the country had inclinations to the Communist ideology while the South, to that of the
Capitalist ideology (Kim, 2017).
It was only after the Second Indo China War that Vietnam had attained true sovereignty
and autonomy. The Capitalist sympathizing South Vietnam backed by the USA was defeated by
the forces of Ho Chi Minh and that led to the reunification of the country. In the year 1975, after
a twenty five year long struggle between the Vietnamese forces under Ho Chi Minh, that the
South was defeated and in the year 1976 that the Socialist Government of Vietnam was officially
set up and was recognized. That led to the culmination of the modern, sovereign state of Vietnam
after a long period of colonization by France and instability caused by the encroachment of the
Cold War politics (Kerkvliet, 2018).
Political Situation
Soon after the defeat of Capitalist USA backed forces of the South the change in the
entire structure of the government had not taken place. It was only in the year 1976 that the
Socialist Government of Vietnam was set up. In the interim period between 1975 and 1976 the
southern part of the country was being ruled by the Provisional Revolutionary Government led
by Thieu. Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, and the chiefs of the Communist Party Do Moui and
General Vo Nguyen Giap became the architect of the modern nation of Vietnam (To, Mahanty &

3STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
Dressler, 2015). It was under their initiative that the former capital of Saigon had been renamed
as Ho Chi Minh City, to honour the leader who had led the people to put an end to the
imperialism that the country was wrought with (Gainsborough, 2018).
Challenges and Issues faced by the newly formed State of Vietnam
It is quite obvious that things automatically did not become stable soon after the war as
the country was divided on ideological lines and the new government faced the obstacle of
reconciling the differences to ensure that the unity of the country remains intact. The greatest
challenge that the new communist government faced was to reconcile the differences and defeat
the secessionist forces so as to avoid any further repercussions which shall be putting the
stability of the country at risk yet once again. The sweeping victory and the overwhelming
support for communist ideology did not mean that the opposing forces could be ignored (Beban
& Gorman, 2017).
Having provided a brief idea of the political challenge that the country was facing, this
section shall be dealing with elaborating upon it. In the post war period the country had to
embark upon a massive programme of restructuring the political, infrastructural and economic
condition of the country which was in tatters. These were the challenges which the country had
to face.
Down south, amongst the educated classes, the catholic priests, the landlords, the
businessmen and also amongst a considerable section of the common population there was a
sense of psychological support to the capitalistic ideology. It was a result of socialization and
also of vested interest. The fear of violent suppression had caused the minds of the people of
Southern Vietnam to be occupied with. The support base of Thieu was liquidated that way as the

4STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
general masses had shifted their loyalty to the newly elected Communist Government to escape
any attack jeopardizing their lives (Thayer, 2018). The businessmen and the landlords were
brutally suppressed and their property was forcefully forfeited by the Communist forces. Thus by
means of the application of force that the Communist Government could secure the support base
and tackle the political problem. It would be however wrong to say that only force had been the
reason why the Communist forces could eliminate all opposition as some section of the
population had voluntarily owed their allegiance to the new regime to escape violence and death
(Nguyen, Duan & Liu, 2018).
The political problem was solved majorly by employment of violence and so was the
economic problems, however the country had witnessed relatively less degree of success in the
venture. The revolutionary nationalistic upsurge was motivated by the concern that is espoused
by Communist ideology towards the poor sections of the society was belied. The government
had assumed a dictatorial role and had started sending troops to Cambodia to fight against Pol
Pot. The mismanagement of Hanoi had actually escalated the negative repercussions of the
famine of 1978. Moreover, the level of corruption in the closed circle of the Communist Party
had caused vast misappropriation of the funds and resources of the country which was supposed
to be spent on the betterment of the country (Kurfürst, 2019).
These challenges were faced as a new system had to be ushered in by the Government of
Vietnam to suit the changing situations and for several years post the war the country was
experimenting upon solving the situations of the country.

5STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
Conclusion
Thus it becomes clear that the implantation of a totally westernized conception and
arrangement of administrative unit has caused quite a lot of problems to Vietnam. A
paradigmatic shift to a totally different system has caused the nation difficulty in dealing with the
issues. However in the long run the nation has been successful in solving the difficulties and had
been able to bring about stability in the country. It is very much evident in the fact that the
general population has accepted the post war regime and has been thriving in it.

6STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
References
Beban, A., & Gorman, T. (2017). From land grab to agrarian transition? Hybrid trajectories of
accumulation and environmental change on the Cambodia–Vietnam border. The Journal
of Peasant Studies, 44(4), 748-768.
Dell, M., Lane, N., & Querubin, P. (2018). The historical state, local collective action, and
economic development in Vietnam. Econometrica, 86(6), 2083-2121.
Gainsborough, M. (2018). The Myth of a Centralised Socialist State in Vietnam: What Kind of a
Myth?. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 36(3), 119-143.
Kerkvliet, B. J. T. (2018). An approach for analysing state-society relations in Vietnam.
SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 33(1), S156-S198.
Kim, N. C. (2017). Coercive Power and State Formation in Northern Vietnam. In Feast, Famine
or Fighting? (pp. 165-196). Springer, Cham.
Kurfürst, S. (2019). Urban Gardening and Rural-Urban Supply Chains: Reassessing Images of
the Urban and the Rural in Northern Vietnam. In Food Anxiety in Globalising Vietnam
(pp. 205-232). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
Nguyen, H., Duan, J., & Liu, J. (2018). State Control Versus Hybrid Land Markets: Planning and
Urban Development in Transitional Hanoi, Vietnam. Sustainability, 10(9), 2993.
Thayer, C. A. (2018). Mono-organizational socialism and the state. In Vietnam's rural
transformation (pp. 39-64). Routledge.

7STATE FORMATION OF VIETNAM
To, P. X., Mahanty, S., & Dressler, W. H. (2015). ‘A new landlord’(địa chủ mới)? Community,
land conflict and State Forest Companies (SFCs) in Vietnam. Forest policy and
economics, 58, 21-28.
Vu, T. (2016). The Revolutionary Path to State Formation in Vietnam: Opportunities,
Conundrums, and Legacies. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 11(3-4), 267-297.