<P> In 1947 full - scale war broke out between the Viet Minh and France . Realizing that colonialism was coming to an end worldwide , France fashioned a semi-independent State of Vietnam , within the French Union , with Bảo Đại as Head of State . Meanwhile , as the Communists under Mao Zedong took over China , the Viet Minh began to receive military aid from China . Beside supplying materials , Chinese cadres also pressured the Vietnamese Communist Party , then under First Secretary Trường Chinh , to emulate their brand of revolution , unleashing a purge of `` bourgeois and feudal '' elements from the Viet Minh ranks , carrying out a ruthless and bloody land reform campaign ( Cải Cách Ruộng Đất ) , and denouncing `` bourgeois and feudal '' tendencies in arts and literature . Many true patriots and devoted Communist revolutionaries in the Viet Minh suffered mistreatment or were even executed during these movements . Many others became disenchanted and left the Viet Minh . The United States became strongly opposed to Hồ Chí Minh . In the 1950s the government of Bảo Đại gained recognition by the United States and the United Kingdom . </P>
prior to 1948 north and south vietnam were a part of
France