The Position of the DRV Leadership and the Succession to Ho Chi Minh

Abstract

Sovietologists and Sinologists have found it extremely difficult to assess the position which the Democratic Republic of (North) Vietnam (DRV) occupies within the Communist bloc. Some have concluded that it is simply a satellite of Peking, basing their judgment upon its geographical position and the fact that the Vietnamese leaders closely followed the policies of the Chinese Communists, at least during the early years of the state's existence. Others have stated that the DRV is more closely bound to the Soviet Union than to China, and they quote extracts from the speeches of Vietnamese leaders to confirm this opinion. Still others maintain that the DRV enjoys a substantial measure of independence of both Russia and China and may, like Tito's Yugoslavia, break with the Communist bloc at some future date. They point out that the Vietnamese, like the Yugoslavs, won their own independence without the backing of the Russian or Chinese army. All of these conclusions are too facile and prove, if they prove anything at all, that their authors have not taken into account all the factors which have a bearing upon the events in the DRV. As in all Communist states, the formulation of policy is the responsibility of a few leaders, but these men, whatever their personal political inclinations, are restricted in their choice of policy by the circumstances in which they find themselves.