Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

The Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Tuyên ngôn độc lập Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa) was written by Hồ Chí Minh and announced in public at the Ba Đình square in Hanoi on 2 September 1945. It led to the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), replacing the Empire of Vietnam under the Nguyễn dynasty and Emperor Bảo Đại, who abdicated on August 25.

The declaration of independence was not recognized by any foreign country. Vietnamese anticommunist nationalists and France established the independent and unified State of Vietnam within the French Union in 1949, as an alternative to the communist-led DRV. The 1945 declaration is considered the foundation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam although this state was actually formed on 2 July 1976.