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Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Official Name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Ruling Party: Đảng Cộng sản Việt Namnote
Ideology: Ho Chi Minh Thoughtnote
The star of Indochinese liberation, Vietnam's emancipation from the boots of Japanese imperialism and fascism gave the country its long-awaited independence and lit the spark of socialism that left the bourgeois classes in Nanjing trembling. But times are changing. The party has seen the benefits of pure pragmatism, and the Soviet Union seems to continue losing influence in Asia in the face of China's economic machine. In this shifting geopolitical situation, Vietnam has begun to move away from its Russian allies and seek out another path. And like any nation, it may fall victim to history once again. General Tropes
- Allohistorical Allusion:
- The Vietnam War, or the Vietnamese War of Independence, happened between 1941 to 1975 and is an obvious parallel to the real Vietnam War, only between Japan and the Viet Minh instead. Unlike in our timeline, the Viet Minh were actually at a disadvantage during much of the war and things only began to turn around in the sixties due to the blunders of the pro-Japanese collaborationist government as well as other external factors, such as the Great Asian War, covert support to the Viet Minh from the CIA and Souphanouvong's Laos, and the efforts made by the All-Vietnam Association, a big tent guerrilla group in the South that included the National Liberation Front, also known as the Viet Cong in our timeline. However, some events of the OTL Vietnam War did make it to this timeline with some notable changes, such as Diem's rise to power, the Buddhist Crisis and the Tet Offensive.
- A set of reforms known as Đổi Moi' were implemented during the rule of Nguyễn Văn Linh with the main objectives being stabilizing the Vietnamese economy and improving standards of living. However, as Vietnam already had something of a market economy at the time, the reforms weren't as monumental as OTL's counterpart.
- The Assimilator: Due to the fall of the Soviet Union in the Second World War and the desperate situation the Viet Minh found themselves, they leaned heavily towards Vietnamese nationalism and placed Socialism into a secondary role. This is reflected in Ho Chi Minh Thought, which lies under the "Socialism" Ideology group and is more of a form of left-wing nationalism combined with pragmatism and communist aesthetics.
- Broken Pedestal: The CPV's popularity has dwindled over recent years due to the party's growing list of blunders and scandals. The party's reputation has become so negative that high-ranking veterans of the independence war have openly criticized the government on various occasions, and the populace's dissatisfaction with politics has fed anti-communist opposition groups. Additionally, the normalization of relations between China and Vietnam has eroded the CPV's support base of die-hard communists and nationalist hardliners.
- Corrupt Politician: Corruption is a serious issue within the Communist Party of Vietnam and has led to several scandals since the late 90s. With the CPV accumulating scandal after scandal, it has lost much of its perceived legitimacy amongst the people.
- Hero-Worshipper: Vietnam maintains a cult of personality surrounding Ho Chi Minh and his role in the independence struggle. Interestingly enough, this developed naturally in spite of Ho Chi Minh's own objections to the idea, as he was so popular that even non-communists speak well of him and recognize him as a founding father to this day.
- The Migration: Thousands of "Vietnamese boat people" sought refuge in neighboring countries during the 80s, many of which were ethnically Chinese who feared state violence as Vietnam was swept by an atmosphere of fear and nationalist sentiment as the country mobilized for a war that never broke out.
- Patriotic Fervor: Nationalism plays a big role in Vietnamese politics, and is arguably the unifying ideology of the nation. More importantly, anti-Chinese sentiment is what feeds Vietnamese nationalism, as China was seen as the greatest threat to Vietnam's sovereignty until the early 2000s. As expected, Vietnamese society is yet to accept China's growing economic ties to Vietnam. If the United States enters its failstate path and China hasn't collapsed, Vietnam will gravitate to the Chinese-led Asian Development Organization. This will spark outrage from the citizenry, who will perceive it as the party selling out the nation to their worst enemy.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Troika, the informal name given to the three top leadership figures in Vietnam (The General Secretary, the President and the Prime Minister) work together in their administrative duties despite belonging to different factions and seeking to curtail each other's influence simultaneously.
- We ARE Struggling Together:
- The Communist Party of Vietnam is unified when it comes to their opposition to political reforms, and the party's support for Ho Chi Minh Thought is solid. However, the CPV feuds over the personal interests of individual party members. Oftentimes, said "interests" are kleptocratic in nature, making the CPV into one massive corrupt circlejerk.
- Likewise, the opposition movements active on the ground have little common ground beyond their shared hatred of the CPV. No one seems to have an actual plan for Vietnam's future beyond some vague notion of democracy, let alone a solid economic and social program.
The Troika
Nguyễn Phú Trọng
Role: General Secretary of the CPV
Party: Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam - Phe Trọngnote
Ideology: Ho Chi Minh Thoughtnote
The 7th General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.- Police State: His centralization of power will usher in a wave of authoritarian measures to curtail the opposition and crush demands for democracy.
- President for Life: If he wins and purges his rivals, he will also take the Presidency for himself, making him the first Vietnamese leader to hold two top government posts simultaneously. He will also centralize power to himself as much as possible, entrenching his position for the foreseeable future.
- The Purge: If he wins the power struggle, he will launch the Đốt Lònote campaign, a massive anti-corruption operation that will also rid him of his opponents.
Trương Tấn Sang
Role: President of Vietnam, General Secretary of the CPV (12th National Congress Conclusion)
Party: Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam - Phe Sangnote
Ideology: Authoritarian Developmentalismnote , Transitioning Democracynote (Post-2018 Democratization)
The 7th President of Vietnam.- Internal Reformist: Subverted. While Sang can democratize the country and establish a multi-party system, he isn't actually a reformist. He only does this for pragmatic reasons and can also choose to quash any demands for democracy.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Sang is a pragmatist who can potentially carry out extensive reforms to Vietnam's political system in order to maintain stability and allow Vietnam to survive through the turbulent geopolitical changes surrounding it. However, Sang has no real love for democracy and his reforms are intended to save the CPV from losing power.
- Status Quo Is God: His victory in the power struggle doesn't signal any major changes at first, and Sang can continue following the conservative line and refuse to make any changes to Vietnam's political system.
Nguyễn Tấn Dũng
Role: Prime Minister of Vietnam, General Secretary of the CPV (12th National Congress Conclusion)
Party: Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam - Phe Dũngnote
Ideology: Managerial Statenote
The 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam.- Awesome, but Impractical: If he wins the power struggle, Dũng will introduce bold development plans and approach China for support and funding. It's likely these plans will not lead to anything, however, due to the extensive corruption in his government and their unfeasibility.
- Corrupt Politician: Dũng is notoriously corrupt, and the further he rose in the party the more corrupt he and his allies seemed to get.
- Head-in-the-Sand Management: He was the culprit of the economic mismanagement during the 2008 recession, which took a heavy toll on the Vietnamese economy.
- Red Baron: The people refer to him as "Comrade X", as he was responsible for a gross mismanagement of the economy and yet he was not punished or reprimanded for his actions.
