The new repunlic in vietnam faced a lot of challenges.France tried to regain its control by using the emperor,Bao Dai,as there puppet.Faced with the French military,the vietminh were forced to retreat to the hills.After eight years of fighiting,the french were defeated in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu and over 16000 french soldier and officer were taken as prisoners.

After the defeat of france,peace negotiation took place in Geneva.In these negotiations,the Vietnam was split into North and South Vietnamese were persuaded to accept the division of the country.Vietnam was split into North and South Vietnam.Ho Chi Minh and the communists took control of power in the north.The south was handed over to an old Emperor who was soon removed by Ngo Dinh Diem.Diem built a suppressive and dictatorial government.Any one who opposed him was jalied.His dictatorial rule was opposed by many people who united under the banner of the National Liberation Front(NLF).

In the north vietnam,the vietminh had followed a soft policy for to land reforms till now.They restricted themselves to ensuring reduction in land rents and japanese.However,after 1954,a new era of land reforms was sterted in north vietnam. The vietnamese peaseants,whose dream of owning their own land was now being fulfilled,started supporting the vietminh.