The Quỳnh Lưu uprising ( vi, Khởi-nghĩa Quỳnh-lưu 1956) was a revolution against the

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

ese communist government (Viet Minh) in the rural Quỳnh Lưu District in Nghệ An Province, from November 2–14, 1956.

Background and origins

Land reform

The North Vietnamese regime instituted their land reform program from 1953 to 1956, with the government's stated aims being to placate the peasant's hunger for land and break the power of the traditional village elite and gentry. However, the land reform was accompanied by large-scale repression and 'excesses'Boudarel, Georges. Cent fleurs écloses dans la nuit du Vietnam: communisme et dissidence, 1954-1956. Paris: J. Bertoin, (1991).Gittinger, J. Price
"Communist Land Policy in Viet Nam"
''Far Eastern Survey'', Vol. 29, No. 8, 1957, p. 118. which led to popular resentment. In the Quỳnh Lưu area, locals had been discriminated against by local authorities because of their opposition to the land reform and other reforms carried out by the government.

Communist prevention of emigration

According to the 1954 Geneva Accords, of which North Vietnam was signatory to, Vietnam was partitioned into two halves, with a communist

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

-controlled

, and an anti-communist

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...

(which would become

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

) with

Bao Dai Baozi (), Pao-tsih or bao, is a type of yeast-leavened filled bun in various Chinese cuisines. There are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations, though the buns are most often steamed. They are a variation of ''manto ...

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

. There would be a 300-day interim period prescribed by the accords, ending May 18, 1955, where people could relocate freely to 1 of the 2 Vietnams of their choosing before the border at the 17th parallel was sealed. However, in late 1954 and early 1955, along with counter-propaganda, the Viet Minh sought to prevent would-be refugees from leaving. As the American and French military personnel were only present in the major cities and at air bases and on the waterfront, the communists tried to stop people from trying to leave through a military presence in the inland ruralside to interdict the flow of would-be refugees.Frankum, p. 159.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quynh Luu Uprising 1956 in Vietnam History of Nghệ An province Rebellions in Vietnam Conflicts in 1956