North Vietnam was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976. It was officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), and was proclaimed in Hanoi in 1945. Vietnam was partitioned following the Geneva Conference at the end of the First Indochina War.
North Vietnam
During World War II, Vietnam was a French colony under Japanese occupation. Soon after Japan surrendered in 1945, the DRV was proclaimed in Hanoi. Viet Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh became head of the government while former emperor Bảo Đại became "supreme advisor." Non-communist figures were ousted from the DRV on October 30 and fled to the South. In November, the French reoccupied Hanoi and the French Indochina War followed. Bảo Đại became head of the Saigon government in 1949, which was then renamed the State of Vietnam. Following the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel. The DRV became the government of North Vietnam while the State of Vietnam retained control in the South.
The Geneva Accords provided that nationwide elections would be held in 1956. Although France and the Vietminh had agreed to this provision, it was rejected by the State of Vietnam government. During the Vietnam War (1955–75), North Vietnam and its communist allies, including the Soviet Union and China fought against the military of the Republic of Vietnam government and its anti-communist, Free World allies. At one point, the U.S. had 600,000 troops in the South. The war ended with the total victory of the North Vietnamese forces, not long after American troops withdrew from the South. The two halves of Vietnam (the North and the South) were united into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976.
China and the Soviet Union feuded with each other over their influence in North Vietnam, as both wanted to make the country their satellite state.