The history of mail and postage stamps of Vietnam

Japan’s capitulation in World War II paved the way for the anti-Japanese Viet Minh movement in Vietnam , which, controlling the rebel army, seized key cities and political power in Vietnam. With the defeat of Japan in 1945, the opportunity arose to form an independent Vietnamese state - the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) - and create a national postal service for the needs of which postage stamps were issued, issued specifically for Vietnam ^[1] .

However, in the ensuing war of liberation against the French colonialists, the territory of Vietnam was divided into 14 military zones. In 1948 there was an enlargement of these zones into six united zones, in which the postal service was organized. The postmarks used in the post offices of the zones had an individual zone number ^[1] .

On October 20, 1951, Vietnam joined the UPU member countries ^[2] .

In September 1954, the work of the Vietnamese postal staff was completely stopped in Hanoi , who thus expressed his protest against the French occupation. As a result, the French military post took over the civilian population. For this purpose, until the liberation of Hanoi in October 1954, postage stamps of France were used, which were extinguished by the stamp of the French field mail ^[1] .

In 1954, as a result of the defeat of the French troops in the battle of Dienbienfu and the conclusion of an armistice, the restoration of the country began, delineated along the 17th parallel into two independent states: the DRV (capital - Hanoi) in the north and the State of Vietnam (capital - Saigon ) in the south. At the same time, the activity of the post was restored, and in every Vietnamese state postage stamps began to be regularly published ^[1] .

Until 1958, free mailing of letters of servicemen and war invalids operated on the territory of the DRV ^[1] .

The reunification of Vietnam in July 1976, with the proclamation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ^[1] , led to the unification of the postal service. She began to obey the postal administration in Hanoi, which operates throughout Viet Nam.

In modern conditions, the postal services in the country are provided by the state-owned company Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group ^[2] .

Colonial Administration of France

Postage stamps in Vietnam were introduced by the French colonial administration in 1862. The stamps of these decades originally belonged to the general French colonial series ^[3] . In 1880, local overprints were made on some of them for Cochin China (1886–1888), Annam and Tonkin (1888) and French Indochina (1889) ^[4] . Later were issued standard stamps of French Indochina . The colonies of French Indochina consisted of modern Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos . The first stamps specifically for Vietnam were issued in 1945, and represented overprints on stamps of French Indochina.

Japanese occupation

During the Japanese occupation of French Indochina (1940-1945), the colonial administration did not receive fresh stamps from France . For this reason, she resorted to printing her own postage stamps at the Hanoi Printing Office. These stamps were of lower quality than the pre-war stamps, and, moreover, the machines used for printing were gradually wearing out with limited possibilities for their repair.

The pro-Japanese puppet state formation, known as the Vietnamese empire led by Bao Dai , which existed for a short time in 1945, managed to make its own brands:

Democratic Republic of Vietnam

After the proclamation of the DRV in 1945 by the Viet Minh government, a large number of temporary postage stamps were issued in 1945-1946. These stamps were made by adding overprints for the remaining French Indochina stamps from the war era, which designated the new name of the state: Vietnam. “Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa” (“Democratic Republic of Vietnam”) ^{[1] [5]} .

Later, they began to print their own stamps with denominations in dong and hao and the inscription: “Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa” (“Democratic Republic of Vietnam”) ^{[1] [5]} . In 1946, the first series of standard stamps was released, depicting Ho Chi Minh ^[1] .

The ensuing conflict between the returning French troops and the Viet Minh government put an end to the appeal of the first series of DRV brands. During the conflict, stamps of various Vietnamese regions were produced, while new issues of French Indochina stamps were used in areas controlled by the French.

Between 1946 and the mid-1970s, over 800 simple and several airmail stamps were issued in the DRV ^[5] . Many DRV stamps were printed in Hanoi ^[6] , others were printed abroad, for example, in Prague (1958-1959) ^[7] , and also in Budapest ^[8] .

State of Vietnam (South Vietnam)

Around 1950, national governments were created in South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, which began issuing stamps and coins on their own behalf. The first postage stamps of the State of Vietnam (government of Bao Dai) in South Vietnam were issued in 1951 ^[≡] . These stamps supplanted the French Indochina stamps in areas of Vietnam under French control.

• Examples of stamps of the State of Vietnam
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  Surcharge mark (1952)

•  

  Postage stamp with a portrait of Nam Phuong (1953)

After the peace agreement in 1954 , Vietnam was finally divided into northern and southern states - the DRV and the Republic of Vietnam . Each of them issued their own postage stamps.

Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)

The stamps of South Vietnam in 1954-1967 were mainly printed in Paris , Tokyo , England (by De La Rue ) and Rome ^[9] , in 1967-1973 in Japan ^[10] , and during 1973-1975 - by De La Rue in England ^[11] .

Marks for military personnel were printed locally ^[12] and were of poor quality.

Between 1963 and 1976, the fighters of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (or the Viet Cong) issued their own postage stamps, which were printed in Hanoi ^{[1] [13]} .

From the time of the overthrow of the regime of the Republic of Vietnam in May 1975 until the reunification of Vietnam a year later, the Viet Cong government was the only stamp issuer in South Vietnam.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The stamps of the united Vietnam, issued in July and August 1976, still had the name of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ^[14] , while in subsequent issues simply “Việt Nam” (“Vietnam”) and “Bưu chính” (“Post”) ^[1] .

As in the DRV, after the reunification, the stamps were partly printed in Vietnam and partly abroad. Domestically, stamps were printed in Hanoi 1976–1987, and then in Saigon ^[15] . In 1983-1990, most of the stamps were printed in Havana ^[16] , and had excellent print quality. In the end, the postal service acquired improved technology in Germany . Since 1990, all brands of Vietnam have become domestically produced.

Subject

During the period of issue of postage marks of the DRV, their topics were devoted to ^{[1] [5]} :

• the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people,
• The Workers Party of Vietnam and its leader, the first president of the country, Ho Chi Minh ^[≡] ,
• to the leaders of the world proletariat K. Marx , F. Engels and V. I. Lenin ,
• important events in the life of the republic - agrarian reform , the elimination of illiteracy , etc.,
• Soviet- Vietnamese friendship,
• international democratic organizations
• Soviet achievements in space ,
• flora and fauna of the country, including those living in the seas off the coast of Vietnam ^[5] , and other topics ^[1] .

On many Vietnamese stamps there are scenes related directly to the Soviet Union and Russia , that is, a component of a special area of collecting - “ Rossica ”. In addition to the rather frequent stamps in honor of Lenin and the October Revolution ^[1] , they can also see the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR G. M. Malenkov (edition 1954) ^[≡] and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council K. Ye. Voroshilov (on the issue of 1957 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution). In 1985, Vietnam marked on its stamps the holding of the World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow ^[17] .

Soviet advances in scientific and technological progress are also reflected in the Vietnamese post miniatures. Especially a lot of them were published by Vietnam on the topic of cosmonautics : there have been more than 70 of those since 1961, including stamps in honor of the joint Soviet-Vietnamese manned flight on the Soyuz-37 spacecraft. However, after 1988, Vietnam stopped issuing stamps on the subject. In addition, Vietnamese stamps appeared, which depict Soviet MiGs of various modifications ^[17] .

Sport and sporting events are another popular topic on Vietnamese stamps. The first of them appeared in 1962 and was timed to the Games of friendly armies; it shows the Soviet flag among others ^[17] .

During the war for independence (1946-1954) and immediately after it, some brands were issued non-perforated due to technical difficulties. This could, of course, subsequently inspire philatelists to become interested in toothless brands.

Many series of brands of the DRV and Vietnam after reunification are also available in a non-axial form, unlike the usual, perforated versions. This applies to stamps printed domestically ^[18] and abroad ^[19] . At present, the Vietnamese stamps are officially offered in a perforated and toothless form, as well as in the form of samples (with the corresponding overprint, “Specimen” - “Sample”) ^[20] . Toothless stamps and stamps in the form of samples do not have a postal purpose and, thus, are fully oriented towards philatelic communities ^[1] .

In addition to standard postage stamps (for the needs of the post office), most of the stamps of Vietnam were produced in the form of versions with fictitious cancellation . The stamps of the 1980s that were printed in Havana , as a rule, have a typographical stamp of cancellation, printed directly on the stamp along with the rest of the design, and are intended exclusively for philatelists. Despite the fact that the majority of stamps in the philatelic market have fictitious quenching, this should not overshadow the fact that similar stamps (without fictitious quenching) were in postal circulation.

While most brands of the 1980s deliberately turned to fashionable philatelic themes (cars, dogs, cats, etc.), 21st century brands are broader in scope, and the number of releases has decreased. This seems to reflect a shift in emission policy from focusing on thematic collecting, with the result that Vietnamese brands will become more attractive in their own right.

Vietnamese postage stamps are presented in albums intended for collectors of postage stamps in countries around the world, such as in the album Collecta Trans World ^[21] :

• Vietnam // The Big Philatelic Dictionary / N. I. Vladinets, L. I. Illychev, I. Ya. Levitas ... [and others ] ; under total ed. N. I. Vladintsa and V. A. Jacobs. - M .: Radio and communication, 1988. - p. 54-55. - 40 000 copies - ISBN 5-256-00175-2 . (Verified January 5, 2016) Archived January 5, 2016.
• Vietnam // Philatelic geography (foreign countries): A Handbook / L. L. Lepeshinsky. - M .: Communication, 1967. - p. 120. - 480 p.
• Vietnam // USSR Philately. - 1985. - № 3. - pp. 28-30. - (Rubric: By countries and continents).
• Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) // Philatelic Geography (foreign countries): Handbook / L. L. Lepeshinsky. - M .: Communication, 1967. - P. 121-122. - 480 s.
• South Vietnam // Philatelic Geography (Foreign Countries): A Handbook / L. L. Lepeshinsky. - M .: Communication, 1967. - p. 123. - 480 p.
• Stanley Gibbons . South-East Asia // Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalog . - 3rd edn. - L .: Stanley Gibbons, 1995. - Pt. 21. - ISBN 0-85259-389-9 . (eng.)
• Yvert & Tellier . France // Yvert & Tellier Catalog de Timbres-Poste . - Amiens: Yvert & Tellier, 1973. - Vol. I. (Eng.)