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Viet Nam - History
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Traditional boats in Viet Nam
Photo: Ben Fawcet/Oxfam |
The history of the Vietnamese people goes back several thousand
years. For much of that time they have fought for their independence.
The main threat has most often been from their giant northern neighbour,
China. For a hundred years, until 1954, they were ruled by France.
Soon after the Vietnamese drove the French out, they were caught
up in another, even fiercer, war.
Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese leader, wanted to run the country as
a communist state. At a meeting of the world’s most powerful
countries, in Geneva, in 1954, Viet Nam was divided into two separate
states. The USA supported the government of South Vietnam in a war
against Ho Chi Minh’s North Viet Nam. The Soviet Union was
North Viet Nam’s ally. The USA felt threatened by this, because
its great rival was the communist Soviet Union.
The Viet Nam war raged for nearly 20 years, with many people in
the South also supporting Ho Chi Minh. The Americans were not able
to defeat the thousands of guerilla fighters, and in 1973, they
withdrew from Viet Nam. Two years later, the country was reunited.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam came into existence on 2 July
1976.
The years after the war were very difficult, and most people lived
in terrible poverty. Some, the ‘boat people’, tried desperately
to escape across the sea to richer places like Hong Kong. Viet Nam
was not easily accepted by the international community, and was
treated with suspicion by many countries. Vietnamese forces invaded
Cambodia in 1978 and helped to topple the Khmer Rouge regime.
While the economies of other SE Asia countries, such as Taiwan
or Korea, expanded with international support, Viet Nam’s economy
sank slowly into decline during the 1980s. By 1986, the economy
had almost collapsed, and a poor rice harvest threatened famine.
The government responded with a programme of reform - Doi Moi,
which means ‘renovation’ - which opened up the country
to market forces and foreign investment. This led to an explosion
of economic activity. The latest step in this process is called
Tut hau, (‘catch up’), and has been responsible
for huge economic growth in recent years.
In spite of this, the gap between rich and poor is increasing,
and Viet Nam remains one of the poorest countries in the world.
Introduction
|| History ||
Geography & Environment
People & Society
|| Factfile || Oxfam
in Viet Nam
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