Political and Economic Crisis in North Vietnam, 1955–56

Abstract

Hungarian archival documents suggest that although the North Vietnamese regime did not execute as many persons during its land reform campaign as its foreign critics claimed, it had to cope with serious political and socioeconomic discontent in the first post-liberation years. The various difficulties that generated this discontent were partly rooted in the legacy of French rule and the abrupt partition of the country, but DRV policies were not blameless either. Almost every major stratum and group of northern society had some grievances, and the gradual exacerbation of domestic tension probably played a more important role in the introduction of “corrections” by the North Vietnamese leadership in the fall of 1956 than external influences. While Hanoi's land reform conceptions had been inspired both by Chinese and East European models, the radical revision of the land reform campaign had relatively little to do with the contemporaneous liberalization of Soviet and Chinese internal policies. In fact, at first the VWP leaders proved quite reluctant to follow the example of the Communist giants in the field of political liberalization. The Hungarian documents also reveal that the execution of the land reform as well as the treatment of private entrepreneurs and “old” officials was strongly influenced by the regime's changing evaluation of the prospects of national unification. Unification plans could either harden or soften the government's internal policies. While numerous authors claimed that the North Vietnamese leaders never expected the 1956 elections to take place, it seems that many domestic measures that the regime took in 1954–55 were motivated by the intention of facilitating a peaceful electoral victory.

Notes

  [1] See, among others, Boudarel, Cent fleurs ecloses dans la nuit du Vietnam ; Moise, Land Reform in China and North Vietnam; Jamieson, Understanding Vietnam . Another source on this period in North Vietnam is the recent work in French by Bertrand de Hartingh, Entre le peuple et la Nation: La Republique democratique du Viet Nam de 1953 a 1957, Ecole francaise d'Extreme – Orient, Paris, 2003. De Hartingh makes use of the archives of the DRV National Assembly; he does not make any new estimates of executions.

  [2] Margolin, ‘Vietnam and Laos’, 567.

  [3] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 31 January 1956, XIX-J-1-j [Top Secret Documents] Vietnam 1945-1964 [henceforth VTS], 7. doboz, 23/b, 003064/1956.

  [4] Hungarian Embassy to the DPRK, Report, 6 December 1954, XIX-J-1-j Korea 1945-1964, 12. doboz, 27/a, 001131/1955.

  [5] The chinh huan (‘rectification’) campaign, patterned upon CCP practices, affected primarily the armed forces and the party. Its purpose was to reinforce discipline and suppress any kind of ‘deviation’.

  [6] Gaiduk, Confronting Vietnam, 5-6; Qiang, China and the Vietnam Wars 1950-1975, 17.

  [7] Hungarian Embassy to the USSR, 10 May 1950, XIX-J-1-k [Administrative Documents] Vietnam 1945-1964 [henceforth VA], 4. doboz, 11/f, 021738/1950.

  [8] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 1 September 1953, VA, 4. doboz, 11/f, 09959/1953.

  [9] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 14 January 1954, VA, 3. doboz, 5/c, 001161/1954.

 [10] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 17 June 1955, VA, 7. doboz, 22/a, 006099/1/1955.

 [11] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 2 November 1954, VA, 3. doboz, 5/c, 010989/1954; Moise, Land Reform in China and North Vietnam , 196.

 [12] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 6 July 1955, VA, 5. doboz, 15/c, 007966/1955.

 [13] Gaiduk, Confronting Vietnam, 74-75.

 [14] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 7 September 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/1/1955.

 [15] Qiang, China and the Vietnam Wars, 74.

 [16] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 13 June 1957, VTS, 5. doboz, 5/f, 003857/1957.

 [17] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 5 November 1958, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006489/1958.

 [18] Qiang, China and the Vietnam Wars, 75.

 [19] Nguyen, Peasants, Party and Revolution , 260-265.

 [20] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 April 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 27 September 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/2/1955.

 [21] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 3 August 1959, VTS, 8. doboz, 5/c, 005427/1959.

 [22] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 14 February 1956, VTS, 6. doboz, 11/f, 003056/1956.

 [23] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 17 June 1955, VA, 7. doboz, 22/a, 006099/1/1955.

 [24] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Annual Report, 29 January 1958, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 00907/1/1958.

 [25] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 8 May 1957, VTS, 7. doboz, 24/b, 002744/1957.

 [26] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 22 January 1960, VA, 5. doboz, 18/b, 001846/1960.

 [27] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 3 February 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/f, 004140/1955.

 [28] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 June 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 003854/1957.

 [29] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 August 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 007218/1956.

 [30] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 29 January 1958, VTS, 6. doboz, 11/f, 00291/1/1958.

 [31] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 7 December 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 00419/1956.

 [32] Moise, Land Reform in China and North Vietnam, 222.

 [33] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 September 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 002745/1/1957.

 [34] On the East European situation, see, among others, Szalontai, ‘The Dynamic of Repression’.

 [35] Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Memorandum, no date, XIX-J-1-j [Top Secret Documents] China 1945-1964 [henceforth CTS], 17. doboz, 27/a, 00974/1954.

 [36] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 September 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 002745/1/1957.

 [37] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 17 June 1955, VA, 7. doboz, 22/a, 006099/1/1955.

 [38] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 August 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 007218/1956.

 [39] Boudarel, Cent fleurs ecloses dans la nuit du Vietnam, 186-193.

 [40] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 28 November 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/d, 00426/1956; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 August 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 007218/1956; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 29 May 1957, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/d, 003858/1957.

 [41] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 10 July 1958, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 00286/2/1958.

 [42] Hungarian Embassy to the USSR, Report, 9 December 1952, VA, 4. doboz, 11/f, 010329/8/1952; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 29 May 1957, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/d, 003858/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 13 June 1957, VTS, 5. doboz, 5/f, 003857/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 22 March 1962, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 004097/1962.

 [43] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 3 December 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 00285/1958.

 [44] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 9 July 1958, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 004887/1958; Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 23 May 1959, VTS, 2. doboz, 4/bc, 004110/1959.

 [45] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 28 November 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/d, 00426/1956.

 [46] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 21 February 1955, VA, 4. doboz, 15/b, 004128/1955.

 [47] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 April 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 18 June 1955, VTS, 1. doboz, 1/b, 006570/1955; Foreign Relations Department of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, Memorandum, 1 April 1959, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 003049/1959; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 5 June 1959, VTS, 8. doboz, 24/b, 004587/1959.

 [48] On North Vietnamese economic policies, see, among others, Fforde and Paine, The Limits of National Liberation ; Vickerman, The Fate of the Peasantry .

 [49] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 7 September 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/1/1955.

 [50] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Annual Report, 8 February 1956, VTS, 2. doboz, 5/a, 003065/1956.

 [51] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 January 1955, VTS, 7. doboz, 24/b, 004095/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 23 February 1955, VTS, 8. doboz, 25/c, 004141/1955.

 [52] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 23 February 1955, VTS, 8. doboz, 25/c, 004141/1955.

 [53] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 January 1955, VTS, 2. doboz, 5/a, 004089/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 15 October 1955, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/b, 009468/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Annual Report, 8 February 1956, VTS, 2. doboz, 5/a, 003065/1956.

 [54] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 January 1955, VTS, 7. doboz, 24/a, 004086/1955.

 [55] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 4 March 1955, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 004122/1955.

 [56] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 2 March 1958, VA, 7. doboz, 24/b, 1/38-21/1958.

 [57] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 January 1955, VTS, 7. doboz, 24/b, 004095/1955.

 [58] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 January 1955, VTS, 7. doboz, 24/b, 004113/1/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 23 February 1955, VTS, 8. doboz, 25/c, 004141/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 May 1955, VTS, 7. doboz, 24/b, 005998/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 August 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 007218/1956; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 15 March 1957, VTS, 1. doboz, 1/b, 001804/1-ig/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 13 June 1957, VTS, 5. doboz, 5/f, 003857/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 15 July 1957, VA, 3. doboz, 5/ca, 1/42-18/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 7 April 1958, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 002331/1/1958.

 [59] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 3 June 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 005756/1956.

 [60] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 October 1957, VA, 7. doboz, 24/b, 1/38-6/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 November 1957, VA, 7. doboz, 24/b, 1/38-5/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 June 1959, VA, 7. doboz, 24/b, 1/38-12/1959.

 [61] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 10 April 1956, VA, 7. doboz, 22/a, 004459/1956.

 [62] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Annual Report, 8 February 1956, VTS, 2. doboz, 5/a, 003065/1956.

 [63] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 May 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/f, 006000/1955.

 [64] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 7 September 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/1/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 August 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 007218/1956.

 [65] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 9 July 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/f, 004140/1955.

 [66] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 3 May 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 002743/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 24 June 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 003853/1957.

 [67] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 1 May 1957, VTS, 6. doboz, 11/f, 002741/1957.

 [68] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 15 July 1957, VTS, 7. doboz, 24/b, 003855/1957.

 [69] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 19 April 1957, VA, 7. doboz, 22/a, 002742/1957.

 [70] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 5 November 1956, VTS, 8. doboz, 25/b, 007843/1956.

 [71] Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, Memorandum, October 1959, VTS, 8. doboz, 25/f, 002891/1960.

 [72] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 August 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 007218/1956.

 [73] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 29 January 1958, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 002331/1958.

 [74] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 January 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 004098/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 April 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/f, 006081/1955.

 [75] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 28 July 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 004098/2/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 24 September 1959, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 001750/1/1959.

 [76] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 8 May 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 002745/1957. See also Moise, Land Reform in China and North Vietnam, 194-195, 258-259.

 [77] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 July 1957, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 003859/1957.

 [78] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 28 July 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 004098/2/1955; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 July 1957, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 003859/1957.

 [79] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 5 January 1960, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 001844/1960.

 [80] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 23 April 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 006087/1955.

 [81] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 September 1957, VA, 3. doboz, 5/a, 1/42-26/1957.

 [82] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 5 October 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 009470/1955.

 [83] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 18 January 1955, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/f, 004104/1955.

 [84] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 1 November 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 005756/1/1956.

 [85] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 1 November 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 005756/1/1956.

 [86] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 8 May 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 002745/1957.

 [87] See, among others, Gaiduk, Confronting Vietnam , 4-11; Qiang, China and the Vietnam War , 13-21, 71-73.

 [88] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 4 March 1955, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 004122/1955.

 [89] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 9 January 1956, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 003048/1956.

 [90] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 26 April 1955, CTS, 17. doboz, 27/a, 004044/2/1955.

 [91] In North Korea, Kim Il Sung's combination of party and state functions seems to have been exceptional. Apart from him, high-ranking cadres of the party apparatus did not hold comparable state positions simultaneously.

 [92] Gaiduk, Confronting Vietnam, 92.

 [93] Hungarian Embassy to the USSR, Report, 21 March 1956, XIX-J-1-j [Top Secret Documents] Soviet Union 1945-1964, 9. doboz, IV-138/1, 003508/1956.

 [94] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 10 April 1956, VTS, 5. doboz, 5/i, 004449/1956.

 [95] Gaiduk, Confronting Vietnam, 78-82.

 [96] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 10 May 1956, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 005742/1956. See also Gaiduk, Confronting Vietnam, 93-94.

 [97] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 16 August 1956, CTS, 13. doboz, 11/f, 006693/1956.

 [98] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 24 May 1956, CTS, 7. doboz, 5/c, 005813/1956.

 [99] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 24 May 1956, CTS, 7. doboz, 5/c, 005813/1956.

[100] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 27 September 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/2/1955.

[101] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 July 1957, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 003859/1957.

[102] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 10 May 1956, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 005742/1956; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 April 1955, VTS, 9. doboz, 27/a, 006076/1955.

[103] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 May 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 005744/1956.

[104] Qiang Zhai, ‘Beijing and the Vietnam Conflict’, 234.

[105] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 6 August 1956, VTS, 1. doboz, 3/b, 007212/1956.

[106] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 September 1972, VTS, 1972, 105. doboz, 162-27, 003385/1972.

[107] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 26 August 1956, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/c, 007218/1956.

[108] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 July 1957, VTS, 3. doboz, 5/a, 003859/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 16 November 1957, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/e, 00316/1958; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 8 February 1958, VTS, 4. doboz, 5/e, 00316/2/1958.

[109] Remarkably, the deterioration of Soviet-DRV relations in 1963 immediately affected the East European embassies as well.

[110] Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Memorandum, 3 September 1956, VTS, 5. doboz, 5/i, 006981/1956. See also Gaiduk, Confronting Vietnam, 124-125.

[111] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 8 June 1956, CTS, 7. doboz, 5/bc, 005769/1956.

[112] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 7 June 1956, XIX-J-1-k [Administrative Documents] China 1945-1964 [henceforth CA], 12. doboz, 18/b, 005790/1956.

[113] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 24 July 1956, CA, 17. doboz, 22/a, 006713/1/1956.

[114] Hungarian Embassy to the PRC, Report, 5 September 1956, CTS, 17. doboz, 27/a, 006695/2/1956.

[115] Moise, Land Reform in China and North Vietnam, 57-75.

[116] Qiang, China and the Vietnam Wars, 76.

[117] Fall, The Two Viet-Nams , 188.

[118] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 1 March 1955, VA, 5. doboz, 18/b, 004123/1955. On the first manifestations of literary dissidence in 1955, see Boudarel, Cent fleurs ecloses dans la nuit du Vietnam, 87-127.

[119] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 3 August 1959, VTS, 8. doboz, 5/c, 005427/1959.

[120] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 15 September 1957, VA, 3. doboz, 5/e, 1/42-28/1957.

[121] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 29 March 1956, VA, 5. doboz, 18/b, 004455/1956. See also Boudarel, Cent fleurs ecloses dans la nuit du Vietnam, 233-235.

[122] Boudarel, Cent fleurs ecloses dans la nuit du Vietnam, 46.

[123] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 30 October 1956, VA, 6. doboz, 18/d, 007841/1956.

[124] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 30 June 1956, VA, 5. doboz, 18/b, 007206/1956; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 30 October 1956, VA, 6. doboz, 18/d, 007841/1956; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 15 September 1957, VA, 3. doboz, 5/e, 1/42-28/1957.

[125] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 18 November 1956, VA, 6. doboz, 18/d, 001014/1957. On the intellectual ferment in 1956, see, among others, Boudarel, Cent fleurs ecloses dans la nuit du Vietnam, 233-251; McHale, ‘Vietnamese Marxism, Dissent, and the Politics of Postcolonial Memory’, 14-18.

[126] Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 13 June 1957, VTS, 5. doboz, 5/f, 003857/1957; Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 20 September 1957, VA, 6. doboz, 18/d, 004731/1957.