Brifly on the Land Reform Program in Vietnam, 1953-1956

As we have looked at previously, the “Communist” Party of Vietnam has a plentiful history of being non-communist. An often overlooked dimension of this, which we will attempt to cover briefly in this piece, was the Land Reform Program (henceforth referred to as the LRP) which lasted from 1953-1956 in what was then the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (“North Vietnam”).

Before we begin, it is important to dispel illusions about the LRP perpetuated by reactionary forces, both red and white. Firstly, the Program was not a genocidal blood bath. Claims like these are backed up by “evidence” originating in imperialist institutions from anti-communist authors. A notable example is one Hoang Van Chi, the author of the book From Colonialism to Communism, who was credited by C.I.A. agent George Carver as being a “cadre” of the Viet Minh. Chi was never in the Viet Minh, although he was a part of the Ministry of Information in South Vietnam under the Diem dictatorship. Chi was also funded by the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an institution noteworthy for its funding by the CIA.

Secondly, the LRP was not a socialist program. In fact the “Communist” Party of Vietnam says otherwise, stating in the official website for the Party’s newspaper:

“[...] the land reform campaign that abolished feudalism and heightened peasants’ power of ownership in the north of Vietnam [...] The historic campaign, one of the most important periods in the modern history of the North, redefined the entire region by redistributing agricultural land to the general population, with the revolutionary motto of ‘return land to the peasants’.” (our emphasis)[1]

There are two things of note here.

1. The incorrect notion that Vietnam was in a dominantly feudalist mode of production.

2. The campaign’s aim at heightening “power of ownership”.

It will be easier for us to deal with this point-by-point by starting from #2. Especially given its ramifications. Namely: that redistribution of land to the peasantry does not effectively combat the capitalist system. In fact land redistribution can only create a new layer of non-proletarians: either petite bourgeoisie who own and work on their land but must also buy labor power from rural proletarians, or bourgeoisie who own their land and buy labor power from proletarians without working on it themselves. It is a measure entirely consistent with a capitalist mode of production.

Nor does this reform strike at capitalism’s tendency to monopolize the land into the hands of a few big capitalists. This tendency only reinforces private property, something which is entirely consistent with Vietnam.

Onto the first point: Vietnam was not in a dominantly feudalist mode of production. True, there were possibly remnants of feudalism, but it was no doubt capitalist, and attempts to abolish feudalism would have been nonsensical. And, in fact, had it really been a campaign for feudalism’s abolition, all efforts towards socialism would have been for nought. You cannot leap from feudalism to communism just as you cannot run before you walk. Even Marx knew this.

Now that the myths have been brushed aside we can address what the LRP really was: anti-communist. During the initial phases of the Program, many peasants denounced their exploitative land owning masters and appealed for them to be tried by the government. However, the Party limited the number of land owners that could be denounced, wanting to maintain unity among all the varying social strata.[2]

Now understand, this is not a condemnation based on bloodshed. Bloodshed is nothing desirable. This is a condemnation based on the Party stopping the punishment of exploiters in the name of class collaborationism. It is the most blatant display of opportunism. It would be akin to the Bolsheviks not supporting the Soviets so as to appeal to the Provisional Government.

The destruction of private property is a fundamental building block of Communism. The fact that the “C”PV actively pushed measures which reinforced private property is perhaps the most blatant display of the Party’s bankruptcy. The “C”PV is clearly not the vanguard of the proletariat as they say themselves to be. The proletariat, Vietnamese and otherwise, must recognize the falsehoods, the mystifications, of present-day “socialism” and overthrow it! Smash it to pieces! The international communist revolution will sweep away these state capitalists, and create real Communism for the benefit of the proletariat.

Addendum: For more regarding the peasantry, we recommend the International Communist Current’s Notes on the peasant question which explores the heterogeneity of the peasant strata.

[1] Exhibition on 1946-1957 land reform in Hanoi (dangcongsan.vn)

[2] The Myth of the bloodbath: North Vietnam's land reform reconsidered (tandfonline.com)