Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Communism in Vietnam

Rice paddies.jpg

As one of the few remaining socialist states that officially adheres to the Marxist-Leninist model, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s only legal political party remains the Communist Party of Vietnam. While no longer officially following the centrally-planned socialist economic model in favor of economic liberalization, the Communist Party of Vietnam retains complete political control over the state. How exactly did this party come to power? While seemingly a relic of the cold war, the days of bipolar balance of power between the Soviet Union and its sphere of influence as well as the US and its western allies, as well as the newly-formed People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong, the Communist Party’s power came as a result of Vietnam’s very own class conflict situation in the days of the French-occupied Indochina. While the communist ideology espoused by Ho Chi Minh certainly helped unify the Vietnamese people against the French, it played a significant role in American involvement in Vietnam as well.

, ,