History of Vietnam (1945–present)

After World War II and the collapse of Vietnam's monarchy, France attempted to re-establish its colonial rule but was ultimately defeated by the communist rebels in the First Indochina War. On the other hand, France granted complete independence to the pro-French Vietnamese government they established in 1949. The Geneva Accords in 1954 partitioned the country temporarily in two with a promise of democratic elections in 1956 to reunite the country. The United States and South Vietnam did not sign the Accords and insisted on United Nations supervision of any election to prevent fraud, which the Soviet Union and North Vietnam refused. North and South Vietnam therefore remained divided until the Vietnam War ended with the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

After 1976, the newly reunified Vietnam faced many difficulties during the subsidy period due to a centralised command economy, the Third Indochina War, the Cold War, and an American economic embargo. In 1986, after the death of Lê Duẩn, the Communist Party of Vietnam changed its economic policy and began a series of reforms to the private sector and to the economy through what is known as Đổi Mới, a reform primarily led by Prime Minister Võ Văn Kiệt. During the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country abolished its planned economy system in favor of a socialist-oriented market economy. Ever since the reforms in the late 1980s, Vietnam has enjoyed substantial economic growth.