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South Vietnam

South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng hòa; French: République du Viêt Nam), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam. It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon (renamed to Ho Chi Minh City in 1976), before becoming a republic in 1955. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957.[2][3] It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975.

Republic of Vietnam
Việt Nam Cộng hòa (Vietnamese)
République du Viêt Nam (French)
1955–1975
Motto: Tổ Quốc – Danh Dự – Trách Nhiệm
"Fatherland – Honor – Duty"
Anthem: Tiếng Gọi Công Dân
"Call to the Citizens"
Administrative territory of the Republic of Vietnam in Southeast Asia according to the 1954 Geneva Accord shown in dark green; territory claimed but not controlled shown in light green
Capital
and largest city
Saigon
10°46′32″N 106°42′07″E / 10.77556°N 106.70194°E / 10.77556; 106.70194
10°46′37″N 106°41′43″E / 10.77694°N 106.69528°E / 10.77694; 106.69528Coordinates: 10°46′37″N 106°41′43″E / 10.77694°N 106.69528°E / 10.77694; 106.69528
Official languagesVietnamese
Recognised national languagesFrench[1]
Religion
Demonym(s)
Government
President 
• 1955–1963
Ngô Đình Diệm
• 1967–1975
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
• 1975
Trần Văn Hương
• 1975
Dương Văn Minh
Prime Minister 
• 1963–1964 (first)
Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ
• 1975 (last)
Vũ Văn Mẫu
Vice President 
• 1956–1963
Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ
• 1967–1971
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
• 1971–1975
Trần Văn Hương
• 1975
Nguyễn Văn Huyền
LegislatureNational Assembly
Senate
House of Representatives
Historical eraCold War
26 October 1955
• Start of the Vietnam War
1 November 1955
• 1963 coup
2 November 1963
• Second Republic established
1 April 1967
27 January 1973
30 April 1975
Area
• Total
173,809 km2 (67,108 sq mi)
Population
• 1955
c. 12 million
• 1968
16,258,334
• 1974
19,582,000
• Density
93.55[a]/km2 (242.3/sq mi)
Currencyđồng
Time zoneUTC+8 (Saigon Standard Time (SST))
Driving sideright
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Today part ofVietnam
Republic of Vietnam
Vietnamese alphabetViệt Nam Cộng hòa
Chữ Nôm越南共和

The end of the Second World War saw anti-Japanese Việt Minh guerrilla forces, led by communist fighter Ho Chi Minh, proclaiming the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi in September 1945.[4] In 1949, anti-communist politicians formed a rival government in Saigon led by former emperor Bảo Đại. A 1955 referendum on the state's future form of government was highly contested and resulted in the deposal of Bảo Đại by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm, who proclaimed himself president of the new republic on 26 October 1955.[5] After the 1954 Geneva Conference, it abandoned its claims to the northern part of the country and established its sovereignty over the southern half of Vietnam consisting of Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ) – a former French colony and parts of Annam (Trung Kỳ) – a former French protectorate. Diệm was killed in a military coup led by general Dương Văn Minh with help from the CIA in 1963, and a series of short-lived military governments followed. General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu then led the country after a US-encouraged civilian presidential election from 1967 until 1975.

The beginnings of the Vietnam War occurred in 1955 with an uprising by the newly organized National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (Việt Cộng), armed and supported by the North Vietnam, with backing mainly from China and the Soviet Union. Larger escalation of the insurgency occurred in 1965 with American intervention and the introduction of regular forces of Marines, followed by Army units to supplement the cadre of military advisors guiding the Southern armed forces. A regular bombing campaign over North Vietnam was conducted by offshore US Navy airplanes, warships, and aircraft carriers joined by Air Force squadrons through 1966 and 1967. Fighting peaked up to that point during the Tet Offensive of February 1968, when there were over a million South Vietnamese soldiers and 500,000 US soldiers in South Vietnam. What started as a guerrilla war eventually turned into a more conventional fight as the balance of power became equalized. An even larger, armored invasion from the North commenced during the Easter Offensive following US ground-forces withdrawal, and had nearly overrun some major northern cities until beaten back.

Despite a truce agreement under the Paris Peace Accords, concluded in January 1973 after five years of on-and-off negotiations, fighting continued almost immediately afterwards. The regular North Vietnamese army and Việt-Cộng auxiliaries launched a major second combined-arms conventional invasion in 1975. Communist forces overran Saigon on 30 April 1975, marking the end of the Republic of Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, North Vietnam-controlled Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Etymology

The official name of the South Vietnamese state was the "Republic of Vietnam" (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng hòa; French: République du Viêt Nam). The North was known as the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam".

Việt Nam (Vietnamese pronunciation: [vjə̀tnam]) was the name adopted by Emperor Gia Long in 1804.[6] It is a variation of "Nam Việt" (南 越, Southern Việt), a name used in ancient times.[6] In 1839, Emperor Minh Mạng renamed the country Đại Nam ("Great South").[7] In 1945, the nation's official name was changed back to "Vietnam". The name is also sometimes rendered as "Viet Nam" in English.[8] The term "South Vietnam" became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts.

Other names of this state were commonly used during its existence such as Free Vietnam and the Government of Viet Nam (GVN).

History

Founding of South Vietnam

 
About 1 million North Vietnamese refugees left the newly created communist North Vietnam during Operation Passage to Freedom.

Before World War II, the southern third of Vietnam was the concession (nhượng địa) of Cochinchina, which was administered as part of French Indochina. A French governor-general (toàn quyền) in Hanoi administered all the five parts of Indochina (Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchina, Laos, and Cambodia) while Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ) was under a French governor (thống đốc), but the difference from the other parts with most indigenous intelligentsia and wealthy were naturalized French (Tourane now Đà Nẵng in the central third of Vietnam also enjoyed this privilege because this city was also a concession). The northern third of Vietnam (then the colony (thuộc địa) of Tonkin (Bắc Kỳ) was under a French resident general (thống sứ). Between Tonkin in the north and Cochinchina in the south was the protectorate (xứ bảo hộ) of Annam (Trung Kỳ), under a French resident superior (khâm sứ). A Vietnamese emperor, Bảo Đại, residing in Huế, was the nominal ruler of Annam and Tonkin, which had parallel French and Vietnamese systems of administration, but his influence was less in Tonkin than in Annam. Cochinchina had been annexed by France in 1862 and even elected a deputy to the French National Assembly. It was more "evolved", and French interests were stronger than in other parts of Indochina, notably in the form of French-owned rubber plantations. During World War II, Indochina was administered by Vichy France and occupied by Japan in September 1940. Japanese troops overthrew the Vichy administration on 9 March 1945, Emperor Bảo Đại proclaimed Vietnam independent. When the Japanese surrendered on 16 August 1945, Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated, and Việt Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi and the DRV controlled almost the entire country of Vietnam. In June 1946, France declared Cochinchina a republic, separate from the northern and central parts. A Chinese Kuomintang army arrived to occupy Vietnam's north of the 16th parallel north, while a British-led force occupied the south in September. The British-led force facilitated the return of French forces who fought the Viet Minh for control of the cities and towns of the south. The French Indochina War began on 19 December 1946, with the French regaining control of Hanoi and many other cities.

The State of Vietnam was created through co-operation between anti-communist Vietnamese and the French government on 14 June 1949. Former emperor Bảo Đại accepted the position of chief of state (quốc trưởng). This was known as the "Bảo Đại Solution". The colonial struggle in Vietnam became part of the global Cold War. In 1950, China, the Soviet Union and other communist nations recognised the DRV while the United States and other non-communist states recognised the Bảo Đại government.

In July 1954, France and the Việt Minh agreed at the Geneva Conference that the Vietnam would be temporarily divided at 17th parallel north and State of Vietnam would rule the territory south of the 17th parallel, pending unification on the basis of supervised elections in 1956. At the time of the conference, it was expected that the South would continue to be a French dependency. However, South Vietnamese Premier Ngô Đình Diệm, who preferred American sponsorship to French, rejected the agreement. When Vietnam was divided, 800,000 to 1 million North Vietnamese, mainly (but not exclusively) Roman Catholics, sailed south as part of Operation Passage to Freedom due to a fear of religious persecution in the North. About 90,000 Việt Minh were evacuated to the North while 5,000 to 10,000 cadre remained in the South, most of them with orders to refocus on political activity and agitation.[9] The Saigon-Cholon Peace Committee, the first Việt Cộng front, was founded in 1954 to provide leadership for this group.[9]

Government of Ngô Đình Diệm: 1955–1963

 
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greeting President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam in Washington DC, 8 May 1957

In July 1955, Diệm announced in a broadcast that South Vietnam would not participate in the elections specified in the Geneva Accords.[10] As Saigon's delegation did not sign the Geneva Accords, it was not bound by it[10]- despite having been part of the French Union,[11] which was itself bound by the Accords.[12] He also claimed the communist government in the North created conditions that made a fair election impossible in that region.[13] Dennis J. Duncanson described[undue weight? ] the circumstances prevailing in 1955 and 1956 as "anarchy among sects and of the retiring Việt Minh in the South, the 1956 campaign of terror from Hanoi's land reform and resultant peasant uprising around Vinh in the North".[14]

Diệm held a referendum on 23 October 1955 to determine the future of the country. He asked voters to approve a republic, thus removing Bảo Đại as head of state. The poll was supervised by his younger brother, Ngô Đình Nhu. Diệm was credited with 98 percent of the votes. In many districts, there were more votes to remove Bảo Đại than there were registered voters (e.g., in Saigon, 133% of the registered population reportedly voted to remove Bảo Đại). His American advisors had recommended a more modest winning margin of "60 to 70 percent". Diệm, however, viewed the election as a test of authority.[15]: 239  On 26 October 1955, Diệm declared himself the president of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam.[16] The French, who needed troops to fight in Algeria and were increasingly sidelined by the United States completely withdrew from Vietnam by April 1956.[16]

The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. In 1957, independent observers from India, Poland, and Canada representing the International Control Commission (ICC) stated that fair, unbiased elections were not possible, reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement:[17] "The elections were not held. South Vietnam, which had not signed the Geneva Accords, did not believe the Communists in North Vietnam would allow a fair election. In January 1957, the ICC agreed with this perception, reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement. With the French gone, a return to the traditional power struggle between north and south had begun again."

In October 1956 Diệm, with US prodding, launched a land reform program restricting rice farm sizes to a maximum of 247 acres per landowner with the excess land to be sold to landless peasants. More than 1.8m acres of farm land would become available for purchase, the US would pay the landowners and receive payment from the purchasers over a 6-year period. Land reform was regarded by the US as a crucial step to build support for the nascent South Vietnamese government and undermine communist propaganda.[18]: 14 

The North Vietnamese Communist Party approved a "people's war" on the South at a session in January 1959 and this decision was confirmed by the Politburo in March.[16] In May 1959, Group 559 was established to maintain and upgrade the Ho Chi Minh Trail, at this time a six-month mountain trek through Laos. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation.[19]

Diệm attempted to stabilise South Vietnam by defending against Việt Cộng activities. He launched an anti-communist denunciation campaign (To Cong) against the Việt Cộng. He acted against criminal factions by launching military campaigns against three powerful main sects; the Cao Đài, Hòa Hảo and the Bình Xuyên organised crime syndicate whose military strength combined amounted to approximately 350,000 fighters.

By 1960 the land reform process had stalled. Diệm had never truly supported reform because many of his biggest supporters were the country's largest landowners. While the US threatened to cut aid unless land reform and other changes were made, Diệm correctly assessed that the US was bluffing.[18]: 16 

Throughout this period, the level of US aid and political support increased. In spite of this, a 1961 US intelligence estimate reported that "one-half of the entire rural region south and southwest of Saigon, as well as some areas to the north, are under considerable Communist control. Some of these areas are in effect denied to all government authority not immediately backed by substantial armed force. The Việt Cộng's strength encircles Saigon and has recently begun to move closer in the city."[20] The report, later excerpted in The Pentagon Papers, continued:

Many feel that [Diem] is unable to rally the people in the fight against the Communists because of his reliance on virtual one-man rule, his tolerance of corruption extending even to his immediate entourage, and his refusal to relax a rigid system of public controls.[20]

1963–1973

 
A woman casting her ballot in the 1967 elections

The Diệm government lost support among the populace, and from the Kennedy administration, due to its repression of Buddhists and military defeats by the Việt Cộng. Notably, the Huế Phật Đản shootings of 8 May 1963 led to the Buddhist crisis, provoking widespread protests and civil resistance. The situation came to a head when the Special Forces were sent to raid Buddhist temples across the country, leaving a death toll estimated to be in the hundreds. Diệm was overthrown in a coup on 1 November 1963 with the tacit approval of the US.[citation needed]

Diệm's removal and assassination set off a period of political instability and declining legitimacy of the Saigon government. General Dương Văn Minh became president, but he was ousted in January 1964 by General Nguyễn Khánh. Phan Khắc Sửu was named head of state, but power remained with a junta of generals led by Khánh, which soon fell to infighting. Meanwhile, the Gulf of Tonkin incident of 2 August 1964 led to a dramatic increase in direct American participation in the war, with nearly 200,000 troops deployed by the end of the year. Khánh sought to capitalize on the crisis with the Vũng Tàu Charter, a new constitution that would have curtailed civil liberties and concentrated his power, but was forced to back down in the face of widespread protests and strikes. Coup attempts followed in September and February 1965, the latter resulting in Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ becoming prime minister and General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu becoming nominal head of state.

Kỳ and Thieu functioned in those roles until 1967, bringing much-desired stability to the government. They imposed censorship and suspended civil liberties, and intensified anticommunist efforts. Under pressure from the US, they held elections for president and the legislature in 1967. The Senate election took place on 2 September 1967. The Presidential election took place on 3 September 1967, Thiệu was elected president with 34% of the vote in a widely criticised poll. The Parliamentary election took place on 22 October 1967.

On 31 January 1968, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Việt Cộng broke the traditional truce accompanying the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. The Tet Offensive failed to spark a national uprising and was militarily disastrous. By bringing the war to South Vietnam's cities, however, and by demonstrating the continued strength of communist forces, it marked a turning point in US support for the government in South Vietnam. The new administration of Richard Nixon introduced a policy of Vietnamization to reduce US combat involvement and began negotiations with the North Vietnamese to end the war. Thiệu used the aftermath of the Tet Offensive to sideline Kỳ, his chief rival.

On 26 March 1970 the government began to implement the Land-to-the-Tiller program of land reform with the US providing US$339m of the program's US$441m cost. Individual landholdings were limited to 15 hectares.

US and South Vietnamese forces launched a series of attacks on PAVN/VC bases in Cambodia in April–July 1970. South Vietnam launched an invasion of North Vietnamese bases in Laos in February/March 1971 and were defeated by the PAVN in what was widely regarded as a setback for Vietnamization.

Thiệu was reelected unopposed in the Presidential election on 2 October 1971.

North Vietnam launched a conventional invasion of South Vietnam in late March 1972 which was only finally repulsed by October with massive US air support.

1973–1975

In accordance with the Paris Peace Accords signed on 27 January 1973, US military forces withdrew from South Vietnam at the end of March 1973 while PAVN forces in the South were permitted to remain in place.

North Vietnamese leaders had expected that the ceasefire terms would favour their side, but as Saigon began to roll back the Việt Cộng, they found it necessary to adopt a new strategy, hammered out at a series of meetings in Hanoi in March 1973, according to the memoirs of Trần Văn Trà. As the Việt Cộng's top commander, Trà participated in several of these meetings. A plan to improve logistics was prepared so that the PAVN would be able to launch a massive invasion of the South, projected for 1976. A gas pipeline would be built from North Vietnam to the Việt Cộng provisional capital in Lộc Ninh, about 60 mi (97 km) north of Saigon.

On 15 March 1973, US President Richard Nixon implied that the US would intervene militarily if the communist side violated the ceasefire. Public reaction was unfavorable, and on 4 June 1973 the US Senate passed the Case–Church Amendment to prohibit such intervention. The oil price shock of October 1973 caused significant damage to the South Vietnamese economy. A spokesman for Thiệu admitted in a TV interview that the government was being "overwhelmed" by the inflation caused by the oil shock, while an American businessman living in Saigon stated after the oil shock that attempting to make money in South Vietnam was "like making love to a corpse".[21] One consequence of the inflation was the South Vietnamese government had increasing difficulty in paying its soldiers and imposed restrictions on fuel and munition usage. After two clashes that left 55 South Vietnamese soldiers dead, President Thiệu announced on 4 January 1974 that the war had restarted and that the Paris Peace Accord was no longer in effect. There were over 25,000 South Vietnamese casualties during the ceasefire period.[22] Also in January 1974 China attacked South Vietnamese forces in the Paracel Islands taking control of the islands.

In August 1974, Nixon was forced to resign as a result of the Watergate scandal, and the US Congress voted to reduce assistance to South Vietnam from $1 billion a year to $700 million. By this time, the Ho Chi Minh trail, once an arduous mountain trek, had been upgraded into a drivable highway with gasoline stations.

In December 1974, the PAVN launched an invasion at Phuoc Long to test two things: South Vietnamese combat strength and political will and whether the US would respond militarily. With no US military assistance forthcoming the ARVN were unable to hold and the PAVN successfully captured many of the districts around the provincial capital of Phuoc Long weakening ARVN resistance in stronghold areas. President Thiệu later abandoned Phuoc Long in early January 1975. As a result, Phuoc Long was the first provincial capital to fall to the PAVN.[23]

In 1975, the PAVN launched an offensive at Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands, in the first phase of what became known as the Ho Chi Minh Campaign. The South Vietnamese unsuccessfully attempted a defence and counterattack but had few reserve forces, as well as a shortage of spare parts and ammunition. As a consequence, Thiệu ordered a withdrawal of key army units from the Central Highlands, which exacerbated an already perilous military situation and undermined the confidence of the ARVN soldiers in their leadership. The retreat became a rout exacerbated by poor planning and conflicting orders from Thiệu. PAVN forces also attacked south and from sanctuaries in Laos and Cambodia capturing Huế and Da Nang and advanced southwards. As the military situation deteriorated, ARVN troops started deserting. By early April, South Vietnam had lost almost 3/5th of the country.

Thiệu requested aid from US President Gerald Ford, but the US Senate would not release extra money to provide aid to South Vietnam, and had already passed laws to prevent further involvement in Vietnam. In desperation, Thiệu recalled Kỳ from retirement as a military commander, but resisted calls to name his old rival prime minister.

Fall of Saigon: April 1975

Morale was low in South Vietnam as the PAVN advanced. A last-ditch defense was made by the ARVN 18th Division at the Battle of Xuân Lộc from 9–21 April. Thiệu resigned on 21 April 1975, and fled to Taiwan. He nominated his Vice President Trần Văn Hương as his successor. After only one week in office, the South Vietnamese national assembly voted to hand over the presidency to General Dương Văn Minh. Minh was seen as a more conciliatory figure toward the North, and it was hoped he might be able to negotiate a more favourable settlement to end the war. The North, however, was not interested in negotiations, and its forces captured Saigon. Minh unconditionally surrendered Saigon and the rest of South Vietnam to North Vietnam on 30 April 1975.[24]

During the hours leading up to the surrender, the United States undertook a massive evacuation of US government personnel as well as high-ranking members of the ARVN and other South Vietnamese who were seen as potential targets for persecution by the Communists. Many of the evacuees were taken directly by helicopter to multiple aircraft carriers waiting off the coast. An iconic image of the evacuation is the widely seen footage of empty Huey helicopters being jettisoned over the side of the carriers, to provide more room on the ship's deck for more evacuees to land.

Provisional Revolutionary Government

Following the surrender of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces on 30 April 1975, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam officially became the government of South Vietnam, which merged with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to create the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 2 July 1976.[25]

Government

South Vietnam went through many political changes during its short life. Initially, former Emperor Bảo Đại served as Head of State. He was unpopular however, largely because monarchical leaders were considered collaborators during French rule and because he had spent his reign absent in France.

In 1955, Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm held a referendum to decide whether the State of Vietnam would remain a monarchy or become a republic. This referendum was blatantly rigged in favor of a republic. Not only did an implausible 98% vote in favor of deposing Bảo Đại, but over 380,000 more votes were cast than the total number of registered voters; in Saigon, for instance, Diệm was credited with 133% of the vote. Diệm proclaimed himself the president of the newly formed Republic of Vietnam. Despite successes in politics, economics and social change in the first 5 years, Diệm quickly became a dictatorial leader. With the support of the United States government and the CIA, ARVN officers led by General Dương Văn Minh staged a coup and killed him in 1963. The military held a brief interim military government until General Nguyễn Khánh deposed Minh in a January 1964 coup. Until late 1965, multiple coups and changes of government occurred, with some civilians being allowed to give a semblance of civil rule overseen by a military junta.

In 1965, the feuding civilian government voluntarily resigned and handed power back to the nation's military, in the hope this would bring stability and unity to the nation. An elected constituent assembly including representatives of all the branches of the military decided to switch the nation's system of government to a semi-presidential system. Military rule initially failed to provide much stability however, as internal conflicts and political inexperience caused various factions of the army to launch coups and counter-coups against one another, making leadership very tumultuous. The situation within the ranks of the military stabilised in mid-1965 when the Republic of Vietnam Air Force chief Nguyễn Cao Kỳ became Prime Minister, with General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu as the figurehead chief of state. As Prime Minister, Kỳ consolidated control of the South Vietnamese government and ruled the country with an iron fist.[26]: 273 

In June 1965, Kỳ's influence over the ruling military government was solidified when he forced civilian prime minister Phan Huy Quát from power.[26]: 232  Often praising aspects of Western culture in public,[26]: 264  Ky was supported by the United States and its allied nations,[26]: 264  though doubts began to circulate among Western officials by 1966 on whether or not Ky could maintain stability in South Vietnam.[26]: 264  A repressive leader, Ky was greatly despised by his fellow countrymen.[26]: 273  In early 1966, protesters influenced by popular Buddhist monk Thích Trí Quang attempted an uprising in Quang's hometown of Da Nang.[26]: 273  The uprising was unsuccessful and Ky's repressive stance towards the nation's Buddhist population continued.[26]: 273 

In 1967, the unicameral National Assembly was replaced by a bicameral system consisting of a House of Representatives or lower house (Hạ Nghị Viện) and a Senate or upper House (Thượng Nghị Viện) and South Vietnam held its first elections under the new system. The military nominated Nguyễn Văn Thiệu as their candidate, and he was elected with a plurality of the popular vote. Thieu quickly consolidated power much to the dismay of those who hoped for an era of more political openness. He was re-elected unopposed in 1971, receiving a suspiciously high 94% of the vote on an 87% turn-out. Thieu ruled until the final days of the war, resigning on 21 April 1975. Vice-president Trần Văn Hương assumed power for a week, but on 27 April the Parliament and Senate voted to transfer power to Dương Văn Minh who was the nation's last president and who unconditionally surrendered to the Communist forces on 30 April 1975.

The National Assembly/House of Representatives was located in the Saigon Opera House, now the Municipal Theatre, Ho Chi Minh City,[27]: 100  while the Senate was located at 45-47 Bến Chương Dương Street (đường Bến Chương Dương), District 1, originally the Chamber of Commerce, and now the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.[27]: 218 

The South Vietnamese government was regularly accused of holding a large number of political prisoners, the exact number of which was a source of contention. Amnesty International, in a report in 1973, estimated the number of South Vietnam's civilian prisoners ranging from 35,257 (as confirmed by Saigon) to 200,000 or more. Among them, approximately 22,000–41,000 were accounted "communist" political prisoners.[28]

Leaders

  • 1946–1947 Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina (Chính phủ Cộng hoà Nam Kỳ tự trị). The creation of this republic, during the First Indochina War (1946–1954), allowed France to evade a promise to recognise Vietnam as independent. The government was renamed in 1947 Provisional Government of Southern Vietnam, overtly stating its aim to reunite the whole country.[29]
  • 1948–1949 Provisional Central Government of Vietnam (Chính phủ lâm thời Quốc gia Việt Nam). This "pre-Vietnam" government prepared for a unified Vietnamese state, but the country's full reunification was delayed for a year because of the problems posed by Cochinchina's legal status.
  • 1949–1955 State of Vietnam (Quốc gia Việt Nam). Internationally recognized in 1950. Roughly 60 percent of Vietnamese territory was actually physically controlled by the communist Việt Minh. Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel in 1954.
    • Bảo Đại (1949–1955). Abdicated as emperor (constitutional monarch) in 1945 following surrender of Imperial Japanese occupying forces at the end of World War II, later serving as head of state to 1955.
  • 1955–1975 Republic of Vietnam (Việt Nam Cộng Hòa). Fought in the Vietnam War (or Second Indochina War; 1959–1975) against the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi.
    • Ngô Đình Diệm (1955–1963). Once highly lauded by America, he was ousted and assassinated in a US-backed coup in November 1963.
    • In 1963–1965, there were numerous coups and short-lived governments, several of which were headed by Dương Văn Minh or Nguyễn Khánh.
    • Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (1965–1975). Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was the top leader of the last of the military regimes in 1965–1967 before a US-backed civilian government was instituted, following a new constitution and elections in 1967, with Thieu elected president.
    • Trần Văn Hương (1975)
    • Dương Văn Minh (2nd time) (1975). Surrendered South Vietnam to North Vietnam.
  • 1975–76 Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (Chính phủ Cách mạng lâm thời Cộng hoà miền Nam Việt Nam)

Ministries

South Vietnam had the following Ministries:

  • Ministry of Culture and Education (Bộ Văn hóa Giáo dục) at 33–5 Lê Thánh Tôn[27]: 243 
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bộ Ngoại giao) at 4–6 Rue Colombert (now 4–6 Alexandre de Rhodes)[27]: 161–2 
  • Ministry of Health (Bộ Y tế) at 57–9 Hong Thap Tu (now 57-9 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai)[27]: 330 
  • Ministry of Justice (Bộ Tư pháp) at 47 Lê Duẩn[27]: 290 
  • Ministry of National Defence (Bộ Quốc phòng) at 63 Lý Tự Trọng[27]: 139–40 
  • Ministry of Police (Bộ Tư lệnh Cảnh sát Quốc gia) at 258 Nguyễn Trãi[27]: 466 
  • Ministry of Public Works and Communications (Bộ Công chính và Truyền thông) at 92 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa[27]: 191 
  • Ministry of Revolutionary Development

Military

The Republic of Vietnam Military Forces (RVNMF; Vietnamese: Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa – QLVNCH), was formally established on 30 December 1955.[30] Created out from ex-French Union Army colonial Indochinese auxiliary units (French: Supplétifs), gathered earlier in July 1951 into the French-led Vietnamese National Army – VNA (Vietnamese: Quân Đội Quốc Gia Việt Nam – QĐQGVN), Armée Nationale Vietnamiènne (ANV) in French, the armed forces of the new state consisted in the mid-1950s of ground, air, and naval branches of service, respectively:

Their roles were defined as follows: to protect the sovereignty of the free Vietnamese nation and that of the Republic; to maintain the political and social order and the rule of law by providing internal security; to defend the newly independent Republic of Vietnam from external (and internal) threats; and ultimately, to help reunify Vietnam.

The French ceased training the QLVNCH in 1956 and training passed to American advisers who progressively restructured the military along US military lines.[31]: 254–5 

The country was divided from north to south into four corps tactical zones: I Corps, II Corps, III Corps, IV Corps and the Capital Military District in and around Saigon.

At the time of signing of the Paris Peace Accords, the South Vietnamese government fielded the fourth largest military force in the world as a result of the American Enhance and Enhance Plus programs with approximately one and one-half million troops in uniform. The lack of sufficient training and dependence on the U.S. for spare parts, fuel, and ammunition caused maintenance and logistical problems. The impact of the 1973 oil crisis, a faltering economy, inflation and reduced US aid led to a steady decline in South Vietnamese military expenditure and effectiveness.[32]: 28 [33]: 83 

Media

Radio

 
Radio Vietnam broadcast hours cards, denoting times and frequencies of radio broadcasts in 1960 and 1962. Address: 3 Phan Dinh Phung St., Saigon
1974 English language Voice of Vietnam (Radio Vietnam) foreign service broadcast from Saigon

There were four AM and one FM radio stations, all of them owned by government (VTVN), named Radio Vietnam [vi]. One of them was designated as a nationwide civilian broadcast, another was for military service and the other two stations included a French-language broadcast station and foreign language station broadcasting in Chinese, English, Khmer and Thai. Radio Vietnam started its operation in 1955 under then President Ngo Dinh Diem, and ceased operation on 30 April 1975, with the broadcast of surrender by Duong Van Minh. The radio stations across the former South were later reused by the communist regime to broadcast their state-run radio service.

Television

Television was introduced to South Vietnam on 7 February 1966 with a black-and-white FCC system. Covering major cities in South Vietnam, started with a one-hour broadcast per day then increased to six hours in the evening during the 1970s. There were two main channels:

Both channels used an airborne transmission relay system from airplanes flying at high altitudes, called Stratovision.

Administrative divisions

Provinces

 
Administrative divisions and military regions of South Vietnam

South Vietnam was divided into forty-four provinces:

Name Population
(1968 est.)[34]
Capital
Quảng Trị Province 279,088 Quảng Trị
Thừa Thiên Province 633,799 Huế
Quảng Nam Province 915,123 Hội An
Quảng Tín Province 306,518 Tam Kỳ
Quảng Ngãi Province 678,606 Quảng Ngãi
Kon Tum Province 104,241 Kontum
Bình Định Province 902,085 Qui Nhơn
Pleiku Province 192,682 Pleiku
Phú Bổn Province 51,313 Hậu Bổn
Phú Yên Province 329,464 Tuy Hòa
Darlac Province 293,194 Ban Me Thuot
Khánh Hòa Province 403,988 Nha Trang
Quảng Đức Province 28,863 Gia Nghĩa
Tuyên Đức Province 93,646 Da Lat
Ninh Thuận Province 156,194 Phan Rang
Lâm Đồng Province 65,561 Bảo Lộc
Bình Thuận Province 267,306 Phan Thiết
Phước Long Province 104,213 Phước Bình
Long Khánh Province 144,227 Xuân Lộc
Bình Tuy Province 59,082 Hàm Tân
Bình Long Province 70,394 An Lộc
Tây Ninh Province 235,404 Tây Ninh
Bình Dương Province 235,404 Phú Cường
Biên Hòa Province 449,468 Biên Hòa
Phước Tuy Province Phước Lễ
Hậu Nghĩa Province 279,088 Khiêm Cường
Gia Định Province 1,089,773 Gia Định
Long An Province Tân An
Gò Công Province Gò Công
Định Tường Province Mỹ Tho
Kiến Tường Province 42,597 Mộc Hóa
Kiến Phong Province Cao Lãnh
Châu Đốc Province 575,916 Châu Phú
An Giang Province 491,710 Long Xuyên
Sa Đéc Province 264,511 Sa Đéc
Kiên Giang Province 387,634 Rạch Giá
Phong Dinh Province 426,090 Cần Thơ
Vĩnh Long Province 500,870 Vĩnh Long
Kiến Hòa Province 582,099 Trúc Giang
Vĩnh Bình Province 404,118 Phú Vinh
Chương Thiện Province 248,713 Vị Thanh
Ba Xuyên Province 352,971 Khánh Hưng
Bạc Liêu Province 259,891 Vĩnh Lợi
An Xuyên Province 235,398 Quản Long
Saigon 1,622,673 Saigon

Regions

Throughout its history South Vietnam had many reforms enacted that affected the organisation of its administrative divisions.[35]

On 24 October 1956 President Ngô Đình Diệm enacted a reform of the administrative divisions system of the Republic of Vietnam in the form of Decree 147a/NV.[35] This decree divided the region of Trung phần into Trung nguyên Trung phần (the Central Midlands) and Cao nguyên Trung phần (the Central Highlands).[35]

The offices appointed representative and assistant representative of the central government were created for the region of Trung phần, the main representative had an office in Buôn Ma Thuột, while the assistant had an office in Huế.[35]

Following the 1963 United States-backed coup d'état that outsted Ngô the Central Government's Representatives in the Trung phần region were gradually replaced by the control of the Tactical zone's Commanders (Tư lệnh Vùng Chiến thuật), which replaced a civil administration with a military one.[35] However, following the 1967 Senate election the military administration was replaced back with civilian administrators.[35]

On 1 January 1969, during the presidency of Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, Act 001/69 became effective which abolished the offices of government's representative and assistant government's representative, this was later followed on 12 May 1969 with Decree 544 – NĐ/ThT/QTCS which completely abolished the civil administration in Trung nguyên Trung phần in favour of the Tư lệnh Vùng Chiến thuật.[35]

Geography

The South was divided into coastal lowlands, the mountainous Central Highlands (Cao-nguyen Trung-phan) and the Mekong Delta. South Vietnam's time zone was one hour ahead of North Vietnam, belonging to the UTC+8 time zone with the same time as the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan] and Western Australia.

Apart from the mainland, the Republic of Vietnam also administered parts of the Paracels and Spratly Islands. China seized control of the Paracels in 1974 after the South Vietnamese navy attempted an assault on PRC-claimed islands.

Economy

South Vietnam maintained a capitalist free-market economy with ties to the West. It established an airline named Air Vietnam. The economy was greatly assisted by American aid and the presence of large numbers of Americans in the country between 1961 and 1973 during Vietnam War. Electrical production increased fourteen-fold between 1954 and 1973 while industrial output increase by an average of 6.9 percent annually.[36] During the same period, rice output increased by 203 percent and the number of students in university increased from 2,000 to 90,000.[36] US aid peaked at $2.3 billion in 1973, but dropped to $1.1 billion in 1974.[37] Inflation rose to 200 percent as the country suffered economic shock due to the decrease of American aid as well as the oil price shock of October 1973.[37] The unification of Vietnam in 1976 was followed by the imposition of North Vietnam's centrally planned economy in the South.

A 2017 study in the journal Diplomatic History found that South Vietnamese economic planners sought to model the South Vietnamese economy on Taiwan and South Korea, which were perceived as successful examples of how to modernize developing economies.[38]

Demographics

In 1968, the population of South Vietnam was estimated to be 16,259,334. However, about one-fifth of the people who lived in Southern Vietnam (from Quang Tri Province to the South) lived in areas that were controlled by Viet Cong.[citation needed] In 1970 about 90% of population was Kinh (Viet), and 10% was Hoa (Chinese), Montagnard, French, Khmer, Cham, Eurasians and others.[citation needed]

Vietnamese was the official language and was spoken by the majority of the population. Despite the end of French colonial rule, the French language maintained a strong presence in South Vietnam where it was used in administration, education (especially at the secondary and higher levels), trade and diplomacy. The ruling elite of South Vietnam spoke French.[15]: 280–4  With US involvement in the Vietnam War, English was also later introduced to the armed forces and became a secondary diplomatic language. Languages spoken by minority groups included Chinese, Khmer, Cham, and other languages spoken by Montagnard groups.[39]

Starting from 1955, the South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dihn Diem carried out an assimilation policy towards indigenous peoples (Montagnard) of the Central Highlands and the Cham people, including banning the Cham language in public schools, seizing indigenous lands and granting them to mostly Catholic Northern Kinh people who had moved to South Vietnam during Operation Passage to Freedom.[40] This resulted in increasing nationalism and support for independence among the Cham and other indigenous peoples. Some Cham joined the communist NFL, some other joined FLC and FLHPC Front de Libeùration des Hauts Plateaux du Champa (Liberation of Highlands and Champa). By 1964, civil right activists and independent organizations of the indigenous peoples, including Cham organizations, had been merged into Front Unifieù de Lutte des Races Opprimeùes (FULRO), which struggled against both the governments of South Vietnam and the succeeding Socialist Republic of Vietnam until the late 1980s.[41][42]

The majority of the population identified as Buddhists. Approximately 10% of the population was Christian, mainly Catholic.[43] Other religions included Caodaism and Hoahaoism. Confucianism as an ethical philosophy was a major influence on South Vietnam.[44][45]

Culture

Cultural life was strongly influenced by China until French domination in the 18th century. At that time, the traditional culture began to acquire an overlay of Western characteristics. Many families had three generations living under one roof. The emerging South Vietnamese middle class and youth in the 1960s became increasingly more Westernised, and followed American cultural and social trends, especially in music, fashion and social attitudes in major cities like Saigon.

Foreign relations

International Relations of
the Republic of Vietnam
[46]
Region Nation/State
Asia (22) Bahrain, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey
Europe (20) Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Americas (25) Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
Africa (22) Botswana, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Tunisia, Upper Volta, Zaire
Oceania (5) Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, Western Samoa

During its existence, South Vietnam had diplomatic relations with Australia, Brazil, Cambodia (until 1963 and then from 1970), Canada, the Taiwan, France, Indonesia (until 1964), Iran, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Vatican and West Germany.

Relationship with the United States

The Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam in Washington donated 527 reels of South Vietnamese-produced film to the Library of Congress during the embassy's closure following the Fall of Saigon, which are in the Library to this day.[47]

International organisations

South Vietnam was a member of accT, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the IMF, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Intelsat), Interpol, the IOC, the ITU, the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (LORCS), UNESCO and the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

See also

Notes

  1. ^ according to 1968 data

References

  1. ^ Wright, Sue. Language Education and Foreign Relations in Vietnam, Routledge, 2010, p. 235
  2. ^ Prugh, George S. (1991) [first printed 1975]. Law at War: Vietnam 1964–1973 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army. pp. 61–63. (PDF) from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  3. ^ Doyle, Robert C. (2010). The Enemy in Our Hands: America's Treatment of Enemy Prisoners of War from the Revolution to the War on Terror. University Press of Kentucky. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-8131-2589-3. from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
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  32. ^   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Le Gro, William (1985). Vietnam from Cease Fire to Capitulation (PDF). United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 9781410225429. (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
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  39. ^ Thinh, Do Huy (2006). . 19th Annual EA Education Conference 2006. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012.
  40. ^ Lafont 2007, p. 225.
  41. ^ Lafont 2007, pp. 219–220.
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  43. ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social and Military History. ABC-CLIO. pp. 49, 291, 293. ISBN 1-57607-040-9.
  44. ^ Nguyễn Tuấn Cường (September 2014). Reestablishment of Human Nature and Social Morality: A Study of the Anniversary of Confucius' Birthday in South Vietnam 1955–1975. International Conference in Commemorating 2565th Anniversary of Confucius' Birthday.
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Further reading

  • Miller, Edward (2013). Misalliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674072985.
  • Chapman, Jessica M. (2013). Cauldron of Resistance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s Southern Vietnam. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801450617.
  • Nguyen, Duy Lap (2019). The Unimagined Community: Imperialism and Culture in South Vietnam. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526143969.
  • Stur, Heather Marie (2020). Saigon at War: South Vietnam and the Global Sixties. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316676752.
  • Vu, Tuong; Fear, Sean, eds. (2020). The Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975: Vietnamese Perspectives on Nation Building. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501745126.
  • Tran, Nu-Anh (2022). Disunion: Anticommunist Nationalism and the Making of the Republic of Vietnam. University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 9780824887865.
  • Tran, Nu-Anh; Vu, Tuong, eds. (2022). Building a Republican Nation in Vietnam, 1920–1963. University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 9780824892111.
  • Luu, Trinh M.; Vu, Tuong, eds. (2023). Republican Vietnam, 1963–1975: War, Society, Diaspora. University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 9780824895181.
  • Nguyen-Marshall, Van (2023). Between War and the State: Civil Society in South Vietnam, 1954–1975. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501770579.

External links

  • (in English) (archived from the original on 2009-03-25).
  • The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1967
  • (in Vietnamese)
  • Timeline of NVA invasion of South Vietnam
Preceded by Republic of Việt Nam
1955–1975
Succeeded by

south, vietnam, this, article, about, former, country, geographical, region, southern, vietnam, republic, vietnam, redirects, here, modern, country, vietnam, successor, state, after, fall, saigon, provisional, revolutionary, government, republic, other, uses, . This article is about the former country For its geographical region see Southern Vietnam Republic of Vietnam redirects here For the modern country see Vietnam For the successor state after the Fall of Saigon see Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam For other uses see Vietnam disambiguation South Vietnam officially the Republic of Vietnam Vietnamese Việt Nam Cộng hoa French Republique du Viet Nam was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975 the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union with its capital at Saigon renamed to Ho Chi Minh City in 1976 before becoming a republic in 1955 South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north Laos to the northwest Cambodia to the southwest and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957 2 3 It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975 Republic of VietnamViệt Nam Cộng hoa Vietnamese Republique du Viet Nam French 1955 1975Flag Coat of arms 1967 1975 Motto Tổ Quốc Danh Dự Trach Nhiệm Fatherland Honor Duty Anthem Tiếng Gọi Cong Dan Call to the Citizens source source Administrative territory of the Republic of Vietnam in Southeast Asia according to the 1954 Geneva Accord shown in dark green territory claimed but not controlled shown in light greenCapitaland largest citySaigon10 46 32 N 106 42 07 E 10 77556 N 106 70194 E 10 77556 106 70194 10 46 37 N 106 41 43 E 10 77694 N 106 69528 E 10 77694 106 69528 Coordinates 10 46 37 N 106 41 43 E 10 77694 N 106 69528 E 10 77694 106 69528Official languagesVietnameseRecognised national languagesFrench 1 ReligionBuddhism Catholicism Confucianism Taoism Folk religions Caodaism HoahaoismDemonym s South VietnameseVietnameseGovernmentPresidential republic 1955 1956 Unitary dominant party presidential republic 1956 1963 Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic under military dictatorship 1963 1967 Unitary multi party parliamentary constitutional republic 1967 1969 Unitary dominant party parliamentary constitutional republic 1969 1975 President 1955 1963Ngo Đinh Diệm 1967 1975Nguyễn Văn Thiệu 1975Trần Văn Hương 1975Dương Văn MinhPrime Minister 1963 1964 first Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ 1975 last Vũ Văn MẫuVice President 1956 1963Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ 1967 1971Nguyễn Cao Kỳ 1971 1975Trần Văn Hương 1975Nguyễn Văn HuyềnLegislatureNational Assembly Upper houseSenate Lower houseHouse of RepresentativesHistorical eraCold War Referendum26 October 1955 Start of the Vietnam War1 November 1955 1963 coup2 November 1963 Second Republic established1 April 1967 Paris Peace Accords27 January 1973 Fall of Saigon30 April 1975Area Total173 809 km2 67 108 sq mi Population 1955c 12 million 196816 258 334 197419 582 000 Density93 55 a km2 242 3 sq mi CurrencyđồngTime zoneUTC 8 Saigon Standard Time SST Driving siderightPreceded by Succeeded byState of Vietnam Republic of South VietnamToday part ofVietnamRepublic of VietnamVietnamese alphabetViệt Nam Cộng hoaChữ Nom越南共和The end of the Second World War saw anti Japanese Việt Minh guerrilla forces led by communist fighter Ho Chi Minh proclaiming the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi in September 1945 4 In 1949 anti communist politicians formed a rival government in Saigon led by former emperor Bảo Đại A 1955 referendum on the state s future form of government was highly contested and resulted in the deposal of Bảo Đại by Prime Minister Ngo Đinh Diệm who proclaimed himself president of the new republic on 26 October 1955 5 After the 1954 Geneva Conference it abandoned its claims to the northern part of the country and established its sovereignty over the southern half of Vietnam consisting of Cochinchina Nam Kỳ a former French colony and parts of Annam Trung Kỳ a former French protectorate Diệm was killed in a military coup led by general Dương Văn Minh with help from the CIA in 1963 and a series of short lived military governments followed General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu then led the country after a US encouraged civilian presidential election from 1967 until 1975 The beginnings of the Vietnam War occurred in 1955 with an uprising by the newly organized National Liberation Front for South Vietnam Việt Cộng armed and supported by the North Vietnam with backing mainly from China and the Soviet Union Larger escalation of the insurgency occurred in 1965 with American intervention and the introduction of regular forces of Marines followed by Army units to supplement the cadre of military advisors guiding the Southern armed forces A regular bombing campaign over North Vietnam was conducted by offshore US Navy airplanes warships and aircraft carriers joined by Air Force squadrons through 1966 and 1967 Fighting peaked up to that point during the Tet Offensive of February 1968 when there were over a million South Vietnamese soldiers and 500 000 US soldiers in South Vietnam What started as a guerrilla war eventually turned into a more conventional fight as the balance of power became equalized An even larger armored invasion from the North commenced during the Easter Offensive following US ground forces withdrawal and had nearly overrun some major northern cities until beaten back Despite a truce agreement under the Paris Peace Accords concluded in January 1973 after five years of on and off negotiations fighting continued almost immediately afterwards The regular North Vietnamese army and Việt Cộng auxiliaries launched a major second combined arms conventional invasion in 1975 Communist forces overran Saigon on 30 April 1975 marking the end of the Republic of Vietnam On 2 July 1976 North Vietnam controlled Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Founding of South Vietnam 2 2 Government of Ngo Đinh Diệm 1955 1963 2 3 1963 1973 2 4 1973 1975 2 5 Fall of Saigon April 1975 2 6 Provisional Revolutionary Government 3 Government 3 1 Leaders 3 2 Ministries 4 Military 5 Media 5 1 Radio 5 2 Television 6 Administrative divisions 6 1 Provinces 6 2 Regions 7 Geography 8 Economy 9 Demographics 10 Culture 11 Foreign relations 11 1 Relationship with the United States 11 2 International organisations 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 Further reading 16 External linksEtymology EditMain article Names of Vietnam The official name of the South Vietnamese state was the Republic of Vietnam Vietnamese Việt Nam Cộng hoa French Republique du Viet Nam The North was known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Việt Nam Vietnamese pronunciation vje tnam was the name adopted by Emperor Gia Long in 1804 6 It is a variation of Nam Việt 南 越 Southern Việt a name used in ancient times 6 In 1839 Emperor Minh Mạng renamed the country Đại Nam Great South 7 In 1945 the nation s official name was changed back to Vietnam The name is also sometimes rendered as Viet Nam in English 8 The term South Vietnam became common usage in 1954 when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non communist parts Other names of this state were commonly used during its existence such as Free Vietnam and the Government of Viet Nam GVN History EditFounding of South Vietnam Edit About 1 million North Vietnamese refugees left the newly created communist North Vietnam during Operation Passage to Freedom See also Geneva Conference 1954 Operation Passage to Freedom and 1955 State of Vietnam referendum Before World War II the southern third of Vietnam was the concession nhượng địa of Cochinchina which was administered as part of French Indochina A French governor general toan quyền in Hanoi administered all the five parts of Indochina Tonkin Annam Cochinchina Laos and Cambodia while Cochinchina Nam Kỳ was under a French governor thống đốc but the difference from the other parts with most indigenous intelligentsia and wealthy were naturalized French Tourane now Đa Nẵng in the central third of Vietnam also enjoyed this privilege because this city was also a concession The northern third of Vietnam then the colony thuộc địa of Tonkin Bắc Kỳ was under a French resident general thống sứ Between Tonkin in the north and Cochinchina in the south was the protectorate xứ bảo hộ of Annam Trung Kỳ under a French resident superior kham sứ A Vietnamese emperor Bảo Đại residing in Huế was the nominal ruler of Annam and Tonkin which had parallel French and Vietnamese systems of administration but his influence was less in Tonkin than in Annam Cochinchina had been annexed by France in 1862 and even elected a deputy to the French National Assembly It was more evolved and French interests were stronger than in other parts of Indochina notably in the form of French owned rubber plantations During World War II Indochina was administered by Vichy France and occupied by Japan in September 1940 Japanese troops overthrew the Vichy administration on 9 March 1945 Emperor Bảo Đại proclaimed Vietnam independent When the Japanese surrendered on 16 August 1945 Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated and Việt Minh leader Hồ Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam DRV in Hanoi and the DRV controlled almost the entire country of Vietnam In June 1946 France declared Cochinchina a republic separate from the northern and central parts A Chinese Kuomintang army arrived to occupy Vietnam s north of the 16th parallel north while a British led force occupied the south in September The British led force facilitated the return of French forces who fought the Viet Minh for control of the cities and towns of the south The French Indochina War began on 19 December 1946 with the French regaining control of Hanoi and many other cities The State of Vietnam was created through co operation between anti communist Vietnamese and the French government on 14 June 1949 Former emperor Bảo Đại accepted the position of chief of state quốc trưởng This was known as the Bảo Đại Solution The colonial struggle in Vietnam became part of the global Cold War In 1950 China the Soviet Union and other communist nations recognised the DRV while the United States and other non communist states recognised the Bảo Đại government In July 1954 France and the Việt Minh agreed at the Geneva Conference that the Vietnam would be temporarily divided at 17th parallel north and State of Vietnam would rule the territory south of the 17th parallel pending unification on the basis of supervised elections in 1956 At the time of the conference it was expected that the South would continue to be a French dependency However South Vietnamese Premier Ngo Đinh Diệm who preferred American sponsorship to French rejected the agreement When Vietnam was divided 800 000 to 1 million North Vietnamese mainly but not exclusively Roman Catholics sailed south as part of Operation Passage to Freedom due to a fear of religious persecution in the North About 90 000 Việt Minh were evacuated to the North while 5 000 to 10 000 cadre remained in the South most of them with orders to refocus on political activity and agitation 9 The Saigon Cholon Peace Committee the first Việt Cộng front was founded in 1954 to provide leadership for this group 9 Government of Ngo Đinh Diệm 1955 1963 Edit Main article Ngo Đinh Diệm See also 1955 State of Vietnam referendum and Battle of Saigon 1955 US President Dwight D Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greeting President Ngo Đinh Diệm of South Vietnam in Washington DC 8 May 1957 In July 1955 Diệm announced in a broadcast that South Vietnam would not participate in the elections specified in the Geneva Accords 10 As Saigon s delegation did not sign the Geneva Accords it was not bound by it 10 despite having been part of the French Union 11 which was itself bound by the Accords 12 He also claimed the communist government in the North created conditions that made a fair election impossible in that region 13 Dennis J Duncanson described undue weight discuss the circumstances prevailing in 1955 and 1956 as anarchy among sects and of the retiring Việt Minh in the South the 1956 campaign of terror from Hanoi s land reform and resultant peasant uprising around Vinh in the North 14 Diệm held a referendum on 23 October 1955 to determine the future of the country He asked voters to approve a republic thus removing Bảo Đại as head of state The poll was supervised by his younger brother Ngo Đinh Nhu Diệm was credited with 98 percent of the votes In many districts there were more votes to remove Bảo Đại than there were registered voters e g in Saigon 133 of the registered population reportedly voted to remove Bảo Đại His American advisors had recommended a more modest winning margin of 60 to 70 percent Diệm however viewed the election as a test of authority 15 239 On 26 October 1955 Diệm declared himself the president of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam 16 The French who needed troops to fight in Algeria and were increasingly sidelined by the United States completely withdrew from Vietnam by April 1956 16 The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam In 1957 independent observers from India Poland and Canada representing the International Control Commission ICC stated that fair unbiased elections were not possible reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement 17 The elections were not held South Vietnam which had not signed the Geneva Accords did not believe the Communists in North Vietnam would allow a fair election In January 1957 the ICC agreed with this perception reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement With the French gone a return to the traditional power struggle between north and south had begun again In October 1956 Diệm with US prodding launched a land reform program restricting rice farm sizes to a maximum of 247 acres per landowner with the excess land to be sold to landless peasants More than 1 8m acres of farm land would become available for purchase the US would pay the landowners and receive payment from the purchasers over a 6 year period Land reform was regarded by the US as a crucial step to build support for the nascent South Vietnamese government and undermine communist propaganda 18 14 The North Vietnamese Communist Party approved a people s war on the South at a session in January 1959 and this decision was confirmed by the Politburo in March 16 In May 1959 Group 559 was established to maintain and upgrade the Ho Chi Minh Trail at this time a six month mountain trek through Laos About 500 of the regroupees of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation 19 Diệm attempted to stabilise South Vietnam by defending against Việt Cộng activities He launched an anti communist denunciation campaign To Cong against the Việt Cộng He acted against criminal factions by launching military campaigns against three powerful main sects the Cao Đai Hoa Hảo and the Binh Xuyen organised crime syndicate whose military strength combined amounted to approximately 350 000 fighters By 1960 the land reform process had stalled Diệm had never truly supported reform because many of his biggest supporters were the country s largest landowners While the US threatened to cut aid unless land reform and other changes were made Diệm correctly assessed that the US was bluffing 18 16 Throughout this period the level of US aid and political support increased In spite of this a 1961 US intelligence estimate reported that one half of the entire rural region south and southwest of Saigon as well as some areas to the north are under considerable Communist control Some of these areas are in effect denied to all government authority not immediately backed by substantial armed force The Việt Cộng s strength encircles Saigon and has recently begun to move closer in the city 20 The report later excerpted in The Pentagon Papers continued Many feel that Diem is unable to rally the people in the fight against the Communists because of his reliance on virtual one man rule his tolerance of corruption extending even to his immediate entourage and his refusal to relax a rigid system of public controls 20 dd 1963 1973 Edit Main articles Buddhist crisis and Vietnam War A woman casting her ballot in the 1967 elections The Diệm government lost support among the populace and from the Kennedy administration due to its repression of Buddhists and military defeats by the Việt Cộng Notably the Huế Phật Đản shootings of 8 May 1963 led to the Buddhist crisis provoking widespread protests and civil resistance The situation came to a head when the Special Forces were sent to raid Buddhist temples across the country leaving a death toll estimated to be in the hundreds Diệm was overthrown in a coup on 1 November 1963 with the tacit approval of the US citation needed Diệm s removal and assassination set off a period of political instability and declining legitimacy of the Saigon government General Dương Văn Minh became president but he was ousted in January 1964 by General Nguyễn Khanh Phan Khắc Sửu was named head of state but power remained with a junta of generals led by Khanh which soon fell to infighting Meanwhile the Gulf of Tonkin incident of 2 August 1964 led to a dramatic increase in direct American participation in the war with nearly 200 000 troops deployed by the end of the year Khanh sought to capitalize on the crisis with the Vũng Tau Charter a new constitution that would have curtailed civil liberties and concentrated his power but was forced to back down in the face of widespread protests and strikes Coup attempts followed in September and February 1965 the latter resulting in Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ becoming prime minister and General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu becoming nominal head of state Kỳ and Thieu functioned in those roles until 1967 bringing much desired stability to the government They imposed censorship and suspended civil liberties and intensified anticommunist efforts Under pressure from the US they held elections for president and the legislature in 1967 The Senate election took place on 2 September 1967 The Presidential election took place on 3 September 1967 Thiệu was elected president with 34 of the vote in a widely criticised poll The Parliamentary election took place on 22 October 1967 On 31 January 1968 the People s Army of Vietnam PAVN and the Việt Cộng broke the traditional truce accompanying the Tết Lunar New Year holiday The Tet Offensive failed to spark a national uprising and was militarily disastrous By bringing the war to South Vietnam s cities however and by demonstrating the continued strength of communist forces it marked a turning point in US support for the government in South Vietnam The new administration of Richard Nixon introduced a policy of Vietnamization to reduce US combat involvement and began negotiations with the North Vietnamese to end the war Thiệu used the aftermath of the Tet Offensive to sideline Kỳ his chief rival On 26 March 1970 the government began to implement the Land to the Tiller program of land reform with the US providing US 339m of the program s US 441m cost Individual landholdings were limited to 15 hectares US and South Vietnamese forces launched a series of attacks on PAVN VC bases in Cambodia in April July 1970 South Vietnam launched an invasion of North Vietnamese bases in Laos in February March 1971 and were defeated by the PAVN in what was widely regarded as a setback for Vietnamization Thiệu was reelected unopposed in the Presidential election on 2 October 1971 North Vietnam launched a conventional invasion of South Vietnam in late March 1972 which was only finally repulsed by October with massive US air support 1973 1975 Edit In accordance with the Paris Peace Accords signed on 27 January 1973 US military forces withdrew from South Vietnam at the end of March 1973 while PAVN forces in the South were permitted to remain in place North Vietnamese leaders had expected that the ceasefire terms would favour their side but as Saigon began to roll back the Việt Cộng they found it necessary to adopt a new strategy hammered out at a series of meetings in Hanoi in March 1973 according to the memoirs of Trần Văn Tra As the Việt Cộng s top commander Tra participated in several of these meetings A plan to improve logistics was prepared so that the PAVN would be able to launch a massive invasion of the South projected for 1976 A gas pipeline would be built from North Vietnam to the Việt Cộng provisional capital in Lộc Ninh about 60 mi 97 km north of Saigon On 15 March 1973 US President Richard Nixon implied that the US would intervene militarily if the communist side violated the ceasefire Public reaction was unfavorable and on 4 June 1973 the US Senate passed the Case Church Amendment to prohibit such intervention The oil price shock of October 1973 caused significant damage to the South Vietnamese economy A spokesman for Thiệu admitted in a TV interview that the government was being overwhelmed by the inflation caused by the oil shock while an American businessman living in Saigon stated after the oil shock that attempting to make money in South Vietnam was like making love to a corpse 21 One consequence of the inflation was the South Vietnamese government had increasing difficulty in paying its soldiers and imposed restrictions on fuel and munition usage After two clashes that left 55 South Vietnamese soldiers dead President Thiệu announced on 4 January 1974 that the war had restarted and that the Paris Peace Accord was no longer in effect There were over 25 000 South Vietnamese casualties during the ceasefire period 22 Also in January 1974 China attacked South Vietnamese forces in the Paracel Islands taking control of the islands In August 1974 Nixon was forced to resign as a result of the Watergate scandal and the US Congress voted to reduce assistance to South Vietnam from 1 billion a year to 700 million By this time the Ho Chi Minh trail once an arduous mountain trek had been upgraded into a drivable highway with gasoline stations In December 1974 the PAVN launched an invasion at Phuoc Long to test two things South Vietnamese combat strength and political will and whether the US would respond militarily With no US military assistance forthcoming the ARVN were unable to hold and the PAVN successfully captured many of the districts around the provincial capital of Phuoc Long weakening ARVN resistance in stronghold areas President Thiệu later abandoned Phuoc Long in early January 1975 As a result Phuoc Long was the first provincial capital to fall to the PAVN 23 In 1975 the PAVN launched an offensive at Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands in the first phase of what became known as the Ho Chi Minh Campaign The South Vietnamese unsuccessfully attempted a defence and counterattack but had few reserve forces as well as a shortage of spare parts and ammunition As a consequence Thiệu ordered a withdrawal of key army units from the Central Highlands which exacerbated an already perilous military situation and undermined the confidence of the ARVN soldiers in their leadership The retreat became a rout exacerbated by poor planning and conflicting orders from Thiệu PAVN forces also attacked south and from sanctuaries in Laos and Cambodia capturing Huế and Da Nang and advanced southwards As the military situation deteriorated ARVN troops started deserting By early April South Vietnam had lost almost 3 5th of the country Thiệu requested aid from US President Gerald Ford but the US Senate would not release extra money to provide aid to South Vietnam and had already passed laws to prevent further involvement in Vietnam In desperation Thiệu recalled Kỳ from retirement as a military commander but resisted calls to name his old rival prime minister Fall of Saigon April 1975 Edit Main articles Fall of Saigon and Operation Frequent Wind Morale was low in South Vietnam as the PAVN advanced A last ditch defense was made by the ARVN 18th Division at the Battle of Xuan Lộc from 9 21 April Thiệu resigned on 21 April 1975 and fled to Taiwan He nominated his Vice President Trần Văn Hương as his successor After only one week in office the South Vietnamese national assembly voted to hand over the presidency to General Dương Văn Minh Minh was seen as a more conciliatory figure toward the North and it was hoped he might be able to negotiate a more favourable settlement to end the war The North however was not interested in negotiations and its forces captured Saigon Minh unconditionally surrendered Saigon and the rest of South Vietnam to North Vietnam on 30 April 1975 24 During the hours leading up to the surrender the United States undertook a massive evacuation of US government personnel as well as high ranking members of the ARVN and other South Vietnamese who were seen as potential targets for persecution by the Communists Many of the evacuees were taken directly by helicopter to multiple aircraft carriers waiting off the coast An iconic image of the evacuation is the widely seen footage of empty Huey helicopters being jettisoned over the side of the carriers to provide more room on the ship s deck for more evacuees to land Provisional Revolutionary Government Edit Main article Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Following the surrender of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces on 30 April 1975 the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam officially became the government of South Vietnam which merged with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to create the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 2 July 1976 25 Government EditFurther information 1955 State of Vietnam referendum 1959 South Vietnamese parliamentary election 1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt 1962 South Vietnamese Independence Palace bombing Buddhist crisis Huế Vesak shootings Xa Lợi Pagoda raids 1963 South Vietnamese coup Arrest and assassination of Ngo Đinh Diệm and January 1964 South Vietnamese coup South Vietnam went through many political changes during its short life Initially former Emperor Bảo Đại served as Head of State He was unpopular however largely because monarchical leaders were considered collaborators during French rule and because he had spent his reign absent in France In 1955 Prime Minister Ngo Đinh Diệm held a referendum to decide whether the State of Vietnam would remain a monarchy or become a republic This referendum was blatantly rigged in favor of a republic Not only did an implausible 98 vote in favor of deposing Bảo Đại but over 380 000 more votes were cast than the total number of registered voters in Saigon for instance Diệm was credited with 133 of the vote Diệm proclaimed himself the president of the newly formed Republic of Vietnam Despite successes in politics economics and social change in the first 5 years Diệm quickly became a dictatorial leader With the support of the United States government and the CIA ARVN officers led by General Dương Văn Minh staged a coup and killed him in 1963 The military held a brief interim military government until General Nguyễn Khanh deposed Minh in a January 1964 coup Until late 1965 multiple coups and changes of government occurred with some civilians being allowed to give a semblance of civil rule overseen by a military junta In 1965 the feuding civilian government voluntarily resigned and handed power back to the nation s military in the hope this would bring stability and unity to the nation An elected constituent assembly including representatives of all the branches of the military decided to switch the nation s system of government to a semi presidential system Military rule initially failed to provide much stability however as internal conflicts and political inexperience caused various factions of the army to launch coups and counter coups against one another making leadership very tumultuous The situation within the ranks of the military stabilised in mid 1965 when the Republic of Vietnam Air Force chief Nguyễn Cao Kỳ became Prime Minister with General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu as the figurehead chief of state As Prime Minister Kỳ consolidated control of the South Vietnamese government and ruled the country with an iron fist 26 273 In June 1965 Kỳ s influence over the ruling military government was solidified when he forced civilian prime minister Phan Huy Quat from power 26 232 Often praising aspects of Western culture in public 26 264 Ky was supported by the United States and its allied nations 26 264 though doubts began to circulate among Western officials by 1966 on whether or not Ky could maintain stability in South Vietnam 26 264 A repressive leader Ky was greatly despised by his fellow countrymen 26 273 In early 1966 protesters influenced by popular Buddhist monk Thich Tri Quang attempted an uprising in Quang s hometown of Da Nang 26 273 The uprising was unsuccessful and Ky s repressive stance towards the nation s Buddhist population continued 26 273 In 1967 the unicameral National Assembly was replaced by a bicameral system consisting of a House of Representatives or lower house Hạ Nghị Viện and a Senate or upper House Thượng Nghị Viện and South Vietnam held its first elections under the new system The military nominated Nguyễn Văn Thiệu as their candidate and he was elected with a plurality of the popular vote Thieu quickly consolidated power much to the dismay of those who hoped for an era of more political openness He was re elected unopposed in 1971 receiving a suspiciously high 94 of the vote on an 87 turn out Thieu ruled until the final days of the war resigning on 21 April 1975 Vice president Trần Văn Hương assumed power for a week but on 27 April the Parliament and Senate voted to transfer power to Dương Văn Minh who was the nation s last president and who unconditionally surrendered to the Communist forces on 30 April 1975 The National Assembly House of Representatives was located in the Saigon Opera House now the Municipal Theatre Ho Chi Minh City 27 100 while the Senate was located at 45 47 Bến Chương Dương Street đường Bến Chương Dương District 1 originally the Chamber of Commerce and now the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange 27 218 The South Vietnamese government was regularly accused of holding a large number of political prisoners the exact number of which was a source of contention Amnesty International in a report in 1973 estimated the number of South Vietnam s civilian prisoners ranging from 35 257 as confirmed by Saigon to 200 000 or more Among them approximately 22 000 41 000 were accounted communist political prisoners 28 Leaders Edit Main article Leaders of South Vietnam 1946 1947 Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina Chinh phủ Cộng hoa Nam Kỳ tự trị The creation of this republic during the First Indochina War 1946 1954 allowed France to evade a promise to recognise Vietnam as independent The government was renamed in 1947 Provisional Government of Southern Vietnam overtly stating its aim to reunite the whole country 29 Nguyễn Văn Thinh 1946 Le Văn Hoạch 1946 1947 Nguyễn Văn Xuan 1947 1948 1948 1949 Provisional Central Government of Vietnam Chinh phủ lam thời Quốc gia Việt Nam This pre Vietnam government prepared for a unified Vietnamese state but the country s full reunification was delayed for a year because of the problems posed by Cochinchina s legal status Nguyễn Văn Xuan 1948 1949 1949 1955 State of Vietnam Quốc gia Việt Nam Internationally recognized in 1950 Roughly 60 percent of Vietnamese territory was actually physically controlled by the communist Việt Minh Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel in 1954 Bảo Đại 1949 1955 Abdicated as emperor constitutional monarch in 1945 following surrender of Imperial Japanese occupying forces at the end of World War II later serving as head of state to 1955 1955 1975 Republic of Vietnam Việt Nam Cộng Hoa Fought in the Vietnam War or Second Indochina War 1959 1975 against the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi Ngo Đinh Diệm 1955 1963 Once highly lauded by America he was ousted and assassinated in a US backed coup in November 1963 In 1963 1965 there were numerous coups and short lived governments several of which were headed by Dương Văn Minh or Nguyễn Khanh Nguyễn Văn Thiệu 1965 1975 Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was the top leader of the last of the military regimes in 1965 1967 before a US backed civilian government was instituted following a new constitution and elections in 1967 with Thieu elected president Trần Văn Hương 1975 Dương Văn Minh 2nd time 1975 Surrendered South Vietnam to North Vietnam 1975 76 Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Chinh phủ Cach mạng lam thời Cộng hoa miền Nam Việt Nam Huỳnh Tấn Phat 1975 1976 Ministries Edit South Vietnam had the following Ministries Ministry of Culture and Education Bộ Văn hoa Giao dục at 33 5 Le Thanh Ton 27 243 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bộ Ngoại giao at 4 6 Rue Colombert now 4 6 Alexandre de Rhodes 27 161 2 Ministry of Health Bộ Y tế at 57 9 Hong Thap Tu now 57 9 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai 27 330 Ministry of Justice Bộ Tư phap at 47 Le Duẩn 27 290 Ministry of National Defence Bộ Quốc phong at 63 Ly Tự Trọng 27 139 40 Ministry of Police Bộ Tư lệnh Cảnh sat Quốc gia at 258 Nguyễn Trai 27 466 Ministry of Public Works and Communications Bộ Cong chinh va Truyền thong at 92 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa 27 191 Ministry of Revolutionary DevelopmentMilitary EditMain article Republic of Vietnam Military Forces The Republic of Vietnam Military Forces RVNMF Vietnamese Quan lực Việt Nam Cộng hoa QLVNCH was formally established on 30 December 1955 30 Created out from ex French Union Army colonial Indochinese auxiliary units French Suppletifs gathered earlier in July 1951 into the French led Vietnamese National Army VNA Vietnamese Quan Đội Quốc Gia Việt Nam QĐQGVN Armee Nationale Vietnamienne ANV in French the armed forces of the new state consisted in the mid 1950s of ground air and naval branches of service respectively Army of the Republic of Vietnam ARVN Republic of Vietnam Air Force RVNAF Republic of Vietnam Navy RVNN Republic of Vietnam Marine Division RVNMD Their roles were defined as follows to protect the sovereignty of the free Vietnamese nation and that of the Republic to maintain the political and social order and the rule of law by providing internal security to defend the newly independent Republic of Vietnam from external and internal threats and ultimately to help reunify Vietnam The French ceased training the QLVNCH in 1956 and training passed to American advisers who progressively restructured the military along US military lines 31 254 5 The country was divided from north to south into four corps tactical zones I Corps II Corps III Corps IV Corps and the Capital Military District in and around Saigon At the time of signing of the Paris Peace Accords the South Vietnamese government fielded the fourth largest military force in the world as a result of the American Enhance and Enhance Plus programs with approximately one and one half million troops in uniform The lack of sufficient training and dependence on the U S for spare parts fuel and ammunition caused maintenance and logistical problems The impact of the 1973 oil crisis a faltering economy inflation and reduced US aid led to a steady decline in South Vietnamese military expenditure and effectiveness 32 28 33 83 Media EditRadio Edit Radio Vietnam broadcast hours cards denoting times and frequencies of radio broadcasts in 1960 and 1962 Address 3 Phan Dinh Phung St Saigon source source 1974 English language Voice of Vietnam Radio Vietnam foreign service broadcast from Saigon There were four AM and one FM radio stations all of them owned by government VTVN named Radio Vietnam vi One of them was designated as a nationwide civilian broadcast another was for military service and the other two stations included a French language broadcast station and foreign language station broadcasting in Chinese English Khmer and Thai Radio Vietnam started its operation in 1955 under then President Ngo Dinh Diem and ceased operation on 30 April 1975 with the broadcast of surrender by Duong Van Minh The radio stations across the former South were later reused by the communist regime to broadcast their state run radio service Television Edit Television was introduced to South Vietnam on 7 February 1966 with a black and white FCC system Covering major cities in South Vietnam started with a one hour broadcast per day then increased to six hours in the evening during the 1970s There were two main channels THVN TV Truyền hinh Việt Nam TV on Channel 9 featuring Vietnamese language shows news and special announcements from Saigon This entirely Vietnamese language channel catered to the Vietnamese populace AFVN TV on Channel 11 operated by Armed Forces Radio and Television Service now American Forces Network catered to US troops in South Vietnam Broadcasting entirely in English it relayed popular US made shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and various sports games like the World Series It also broadcast news and special announcements from the American government and military commanders Both channels used an airborne transmission relay system from airplanes flying at high altitudes called Stratovision Administrative divisions EditProvinces Edit Administrative divisions and military regions of South Vietnam South Vietnam was divided into forty four provinces Name Population 1968 est 34 CapitalQuảng Trị Province 279 088 Quảng TrịThừa Thien Province 633 799 HuếQuảng Nam Province 915 123 Hội AnQuảng Tin Province 306 518 Tam KỳQuảng Ngai Province 678 606 Quảng NgaiKon Tum Province 104 241 KontumBinh Định Province 902 085 Qui NhơnPleiku Province 192 682 PleikuPhu Bổn Province 51 313 Hậu BổnPhu Yen Province 329 464 Tuy HoaDarlac Province 293 194 Ban Me ThuotKhanh Hoa Province 403 988 Nha TrangQuảng Đức Province 28 863 Gia NghĩaTuyen Đức Province 93 646 Da LatNinh Thuận Province 156 194 Phan RangLam Đồng Province 65 561 Bảo LộcBinh Thuận Province 267 306 Phan ThiếtPhước Long Province 104 213 Phước BinhLong Khanh Province 144 227 Xuan LộcBinh Tuy Province 59 082 Ham TanBinh Long Province 70 394 An LộcTay Ninh Province 235 404 Tay NinhBinh Dương Province 235 404 Phu CườngBien Hoa Province 449 468 Bien HoaPhước Tuy Province Phước LễHậu Nghĩa Province 279 088 Khiem CườngGia Định Province 1 089 773 Gia ĐịnhLong An Province Tan AnGo Cong Province Go CongĐịnh Tường Province Mỹ ThoKiến Tường Province 42 597 Mộc HoaKiến Phong Province Cao LanhChau Đốc Province 575 916 Chau PhuAn Giang Province 491 710 Long XuyenSa Đec Province 264 511 Sa ĐecKien Giang Province 387 634 Rạch GiaPhong Dinh Province 426 090 Cần ThơVĩnh Long Province 500 870 Vĩnh LongKiến Hoa Province 582 099 Truc GiangVĩnh Binh Province 404 118 Phu VinhChương Thiện Province 248 713 Vị ThanhBa Xuyen Province 352 971 Khanh HưngBạc Lieu Province 259 891 Vĩnh LợiAn Xuyen Province 235 398 Quản LongSaigon 1 622 673 SaigonRegions Edit See also State of Vietnam Autonomous regions Throughout its history South Vietnam had many reforms enacted that affected the organisation of its administrative divisions 35 On 24 October 1956 President Ngo Đinh Diệm enacted a reform of the administrative divisions system of the Republic of Vietnam in the form of Decree 147a NV 35 This decree divided the region of Trung phần into Trung nguyen Trung phần the Central Midlands and Cao nguyen Trung phần the Central Highlands 35 The offices appointed representative and assistant representative of the central government were created for the region of Trung phần the main representative had an office in Buon Ma Thuột while the assistant had an office in Huế 35 Following the 1963 United States backed coup d etat that outsted Ngo the Central Government s Representatives in the Trung phần region were gradually replaced by the control of the Tactical zone s Commanders Tư lệnh Vung Chiến thuật which replaced a civil administration with a military one 35 However following the 1967 Senate election the military administration was replaced back with civilian administrators 35 On 1 January 1969 during the presidency of Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Act 001 69 became effective which abolished the offices of government s representative and assistant government s representative this was later followed on 12 May 1969 with Decree 544 NĐ ThT QTCS which completely abolished the civil administration in Trung nguyen Trung phần in favour of the Tư lệnh Vung Chiến thuật 35 Geography EditThe South was divided into coastal lowlands the mountainous Central Highlands Cao nguyen Trung phan and the Mekong Delta South Vietnam s time zone was one hour ahead of North Vietnam belonging to the UTC 8 time zone with the same time as the Philippines Brunei Malaysia Singapore China Taiwan and Western Australia Apart from the mainland the Republic of Vietnam also administered parts of the Paracels and Spratly Islands China seized control of the Paracels in 1974 after the South Vietnamese navy attempted an assault on PRC claimed islands Economy EditMain article Economy of the Republic of Vietnam See also Commercial Import Program South Vietnam maintained a capitalist free market economy with ties to the West It established an airline named Air Vietnam The economy was greatly assisted by American aid and the presence of large numbers of Americans in the country between 1961 and 1973 during Vietnam War Electrical production increased fourteen fold between 1954 and 1973 while industrial output increase by an average of 6 9 percent annually 36 During the same period rice output increased by 203 percent and the number of students in university increased from 2 000 to 90 000 36 US aid peaked at 2 3 billion in 1973 but dropped to 1 1 billion in 1974 37 Inflation rose to 200 percent as the country suffered economic shock due to the decrease of American aid as well as the oil price shock of October 1973 37 The unification of Vietnam in 1976 was followed by the imposition of North Vietnam s centrally planned economy in the South A 2017 study in the journal Diplomatic History found that South Vietnamese economic planners sought to model the South Vietnamese economy on Taiwan and South Korea which were perceived as successful examples of how to modernize developing economies 38 Demographics EditIn 1968 the population of South Vietnam was estimated to be 16 259 334 However about one fifth of the people who lived in Southern Vietnam from Quang Tri Province to the South lived in areas that were controlled by Viet Cong citation needed In 1970 about 90 of population was Kinh Viet and 10 was Hoa Chinese Montagnard French Khmer Cham Eurasians and others citation needed Vietnamese was the official language and was spoken by the majority of the population Despite the end of French colonial rule the French language maintained a strong presence in South Vietnam where it was used in administration education especially at the secondary and higher levels trade and diplomacy The ruling elite of South Vietnam spoke French 15 280 4 With US involvement in the Vietnam War English was also later introduced to the armed forces and became a secondary diplomatic language Languages spoken by minority groups included Chinese Khmer Cham and other languages spoken by Montagnard groups 39 Starting from 1955 the South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dihn Diem carried out an assimilation policy towards indigenous peoples Montagnard of the Central Highlands and the Cham people including banning the Cham language in public schools seizing indigenous lands and granting them to mostly Catholic Northern Kinh people who had moved to South Vietnam during Operation Passage to Freedom 40 This resulted in increasing nationalism and support for independence among the Cham and other indigenous peoples Some Cham joined the communist NFL some other joined FLC and FLHPC Front de Libeuration des Hauts Plateaux du Champa Liberation of Highlands and Champa By 1964 civil right activists and independent organizations of the indigenous peoples including Cham organizations had been merged into Front Unifieu de Lutte des Races Opprimeues FULRO which struggled against both the governments of South Vietnam and the succeeding Socialist Republic of Vietnam until the late 1980s 41 42 The majority of the population identified as Buddhists Approximately 10 of the population was Christian mainly Catholic 43 Other religions included Caodaism and Hoahaoism Confucianism as an ethical philosophy was a major influence on South Vietnam 44 45 Culture EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Cultural life was strongly influenced by China until French domination in the 18th century At that time the traditional culture began to acquire an overlay of Western characteristics Many families had three generations living under one roof The emerging South Vietnamese middle class and youth in the 1960s became increasingly more Westernised and followed American cultural and social trends especially in music fashion and social attitudes in major cities like Saigon Foreign relations EditInternational Relations of the Republic of Vietnam 46 Region Nation StateAsia 22 Bahrain Burma Cambodia China India Indonesia Iran Israel Japan Jordan Republic of Korea Kuwait Laos Lebanon Malaysia Nepal Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Thailand TurkeyEurope 20 Austria Belgium Cyprus Denmark France West Germany Greece Iceland Ireland Italy Luxembourg Monaco Netherlands Norway Portugal San Marino Spain Sweden Switzerland United KingdomAmericas 25 Argentina Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay VenezuelaAfrica 22 Botswana Central African Republic Chad Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Malawi Morocco Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sierra Leone South Africa Swaziland Togo Tunisia Upper Volta ZaireOceania 5 Australia Fiji New Zealand Tonga Western SamoaDuring its existence South Vietnam had diplomatic relations with Australia Brazil Cambodia until 1963 and then from 1970 Canada the Taiwan France Indonesia until 1964 Iran Japan Laos New Zealand the Philippines Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Spain Thailand the United Kingdom the United States the Vatican and West Germany Relationship with the United States Edit The Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam in Washington donated 527 reels of South Vietnamese produced film to the Library of Congress during the embassy s closure following the Fall of Saigon which are in the Library to this day 47 International organisations Edit South Vietnam was a member of accT the Asian Development Bank ADB the World Bank IBRD the International Development Association IDA the International Finance Corporation IFC the IMF the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization Intelsat Interpol the IOC the ITU the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies LORCS UNESCO and the Universal Postal Union UPU See also Edit Vietnam portal Asia portalLeaders of South Vietnam Thanh Nien Hanh Khuc History of Vietnam Overseas VietnameseNotes Edit according to 1968 dataReferences Edit Wright Sue Language Education and Foreign Relations in Vietnam Routledge 2010 p 235 Prugh George S 1991 first printed 1975 Law at War Vietnam 1964 1973 PDF Washington D C Department of the Army pp 61 63 Archived PDF from the original on 1 November 2021 Retrieved 25 July 2021 Doyle Robert C 2010 The Enemy in Our Hands America s Treatment of Enemy Prisoners of War from the Revolution to the War on Terror University Press of Kentucky p 269 ISBN 978 0 8131 2589 3 Archived from the original on 25 December 2018 Retrieved 27 October 2015 Huynh Dien 30 March 2018 The End of South Vietnam The New York Times Archived from the original on 1 March 2020 Retrieved 3 November 2018 Buhler Konrad G 2001 State Succession and Membership in International Organizations Legal Theories Versus Political Pragmatism Martinus Nijhoff Publishers pp 71 ISBN 978 90 411 1553 9 Archived from the original on 25 December 2018 Retrieved 27 October 2015 a b Woods L Shelton 2002 Vietnam A Global Studies Handbook ABC CLIO p 38 ISBN 978 1576074169 Moses A Dirk 2008 Empire Colony Genocide Conquest Occupation and Subaltern Resistance in World History Berghahn Books p 213 ISBN 978 1845454524 Maintenance Agency for ISO 3166 Country Codes English Country Names and Code Elements ISO 6 April 2010 Archived from the original on 19 June 2012 Retrieved 28 April 2010 a b Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam 1954 1960 The Pentagon Papers 1971 pp 242 314 Archived from the original on 14 May 2010 Retrieved 30 September 2019 a b Ang Cheng Guan 1997 Vietnamese Communists Relations with China and the Second Indochina War 1956 62 Jefferson North Carolina McFarland p 11 ISBN 978 0 7864 0404 9 Archived from the original on 13 July 2017 Retrieved 5 August 2016 Hammer Ellen J The Bao Dai Experiment Pacific Affairs vol 23 no 1 Pacific Affairs University of British Columbia 1950 p 55 https doi org 10 2307 2753754 Geneva Agreements 20 21 July 1954 PDF United Nations 1954 Unheralded Victory The Defeat Of The Viet Cong And The North Vietnamese Mark William Woodruff Google Books Archived 24 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Duncanson Dennis J Government and Revolution in Vietnam New York Oxford University Press 1968 tr 223 In the circumstances prevailing in 1955 and 1956 anarchy of the Sects and of the retiring Việt Minh in the South terror campaign of the land reform and resultant peasant uprising round Vinh in the North it was only to be expected that voters would vote out of fear of reprisals in favour of the authorities under whom they found themselves that the ICC had no hope of ensuring a truly free election at that time has been admitted since by the chief sponsor of the Final Declaration Lord Avon a b Karnow Stanley 1997 Vietnam A History Penguin Books ISBN 0 670 84218 4 a b c The Vietnam War Seeds of Conflict 1945 1960 historyplace com Archived from the original on 17 December 2008 Retrieved 30 September 2019 Woodruff Mark 2005 Unheralded Victory The Defeat of The Viet Cong and The North Vietnamese Presidio Press p 6 ISBN 0 8914 1866 0 a b Doyle Edward Weiss Stephen 1984 The Vietnam Experience a Collision of Cultures Boston Publishing Company ISBN 978 0939526123 Pribbenow Merle 2002 Victory in Vietnam The Official History of the People s Army of Vietnam University Press of Kansas p xi ISBN 0 7006 1175 4 a b Sheehan Neil Smith Hedrick Kenworthy E W Butterfield Fox 2017 The Pentagon Papers The Secret History of the Vietnam War Skyhorse Publishing ISBN 9781631582936 Archived from the original on 16 March 2022 Retrieved 3 November 2020 Cooper Andrew Scott 2011 The Oil Kings How the U S Iran and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East New York Simon amp Schuster p 205 This Day in History 1974 Thieu announces war has resumed Archived from the original on 25 February 2009 Conboy Kenneth 2012 The NVA and Viet Cong Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 978 1 78096 766 0 Archived from the original on 12 June 2021 Retrieved 11 June 2021 Fall of Saigon 1975 Year in Review Audio UPI com UPI Archived from the original on 28 April 2009 Retrieved 22 April 2009 About Vietnam vietnam gov vn portal Archived from the original on 17 December 2021 Retrieved 29 May 2020 a b c d e f g h David Farber 2004 The Sixties Chronicle Legacy Publishing ISBN 978 1412710091 a b c d e f g h i Doling Tim 2019 Exploring Saigon Cholon Vanishing Heritage of Ho Cho Minh City Thế Giới Publishers ISBN 9786047761388 Report No ASA 41 001 1973 Political Prisoners in South Vietnam Archived 17 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine Amnesty International 1 January 1973 p 6 8 Devillers Philippe 1952 Histoire du Viet Nam de 1940 a 1952 in French Paris Editions du Seuil pp 418 419 Rottman Gordon Bujeiro Ramiro 2010 Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955 75 Men at arms series 458 Osprey Publishing Ltd p 7 ISBN 978 1 84908 182 5 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Spector Ronald 1985 United States Army in Vietnam Advice and Support The Early Years 1941 1960 PDF United States Army Center of Military History ISBN 9780029303702 Archived PDF from the original on 16 November 2020 Retrieved 3 October 2019 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Le Gro William 1985 Vietnam from Cease Fire to Capitulation PDF United States Army Center of Military History ISBN 9781410225429 Archived PDF from the original on 17 April 2019 Retrieved 26 September 2019 Veith George 2012 Black April The Fall of South Vietnam 1973 75 Encounter Books ISBN 9781594035722 Pacific Stars and Stripes MACV Orientation Edition PDF Pacific Stars and Stripes 1 July 1968 p 9 Archived PDF from the original on 8 March 2021 Retrieved 2 October 2019 a b c d e f g Significant Collections gt Fonds of the Toa Đại Biểu Chanh Phủ Tại Trung Nguyen Trung Phần or the Office of the Government s Representative in Central Midlands Royal Woodblocks of Nguyễn Dynasty World Documentary Heritage The National Archives Center No 4 State Records and Archives Department of Vietnam 2021 Archived from the original on 12 April 2021 Retrieved 31 March 2021 a b Kim Youngmin The South Vietnamese Economy During the Vietnam War 1954 1975 Archived 13 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine a b Wiest Andrew A The Vietnam War 1956 1975 p 80 Toner Simon 2017 Imagining Taiwan The Nixon Administration the Developmental States and South Vietnam s Search for Economic Viability 1969 1975 Diplomatic History 41 4 772 798 doi 10 1093 dh dhw057 Thinh Do Huy 2006 The Role of English in Vietnam s Foreign Language Policy A Brief History 19th Annual EA Education Conference 2006 Archived from the original on 23 March 2012 Lafont 2007 p 225 sfn error no target CITEREFLafont2007 help Lafont 2007 pp 219 220 sfn error no target CITEREFLafont2007 help McLeod Mark W 1999 Indigenous Peoples and the Vietnamese Revolution 1930 1975 Journal of World History University of Hawai i Press 10 2 353 389 doi 10 1353 jwh 1999 0017 JSTOR 20078784 S2CID 162242219 Tucker Spencer C 2000 Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War A Political Social and Military History ABC CLIO pp 49 291 293 ISBN 1 57607 040 9 Nguyễn Tuấn Cường September 2014 Reestablishment of Human Nature and Social Morality A Study of the Anniversary of Confucius Birthday in South Vietnam 1955 1975 International Conference in Commemorating 2565th Anniversary of Confucius Birthday Nguyễn Tuấn Cường November 2014 Nationalism Decolonization and Tradition The Promotion of Confucianism in South Vietnam 1955 1975 and the Role of Nguyễn Đăng Thục Sixth Engaging with Vietnam An Interdisciplinary Dialogue Conference Frontiers and Peripheries Vietnam Deconstructed and Reconnected A Foreign Policy of Independence and Peace Vietnam Bulletin Vol XI No 1 January 1974 pp 4 5 Johnson Victoria E Vietnam on Film and Television Documentaries in the Library of Congress University of Virginia Archived from the original on 15 February 2015 Retrieved 31 December 2013 Further reading EditMiller Edward 2013 Misalliance Ngo Dinh Diem the United States and the Fate of South Vietnam Harvard University Press ISBN 9780674072985 Chapman Jessica M 2013 Cauldron of Resistance Ngo Dinh Diem the United States and 1950s Southern Vietnam Cornell University Press ISBN 9780801450617 Nguyen Duy Lap 2019 The Unimagined Community Imperialism and Culture in South Vietnam Manchester University Press ISBN 9781526143969 Stur Heather Marie 2020 Saigon at War South Vietnam and the Global Sixties Cambridge University Press ISBN 9781316676752 Vu Tuong Fear Sean eds 2020 The Republic of Vietnam 1955 1975 Vietnamese Perspectives on Nation Building Cornell University Press ISBN 9781501745126 Tran Nu Anh 2022 Disunion Anticommunist Nationalism and the Making of the Republic of Vietnam University of Hawaiʻi Press ISBN 9780824887865 Tran Nu Anh Vu Tuong eds 2022 Building a Republican Nation in Vietnam 1920 1963 University of Hawaiʻi Press ISBN 9780824892111 Luu Trinh M Vu Tuong eds 2023 Republican Vietnam 1963 1975 War Society Diaspora University of Hawaiʻi Press ISBN 9780824895181 Nguyen Marshall Van 2023 Between War and the State Civil Society in South Vietnam 1954 1975 Cornell University Press ISBN 9781501770579 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to South Vietnam Wikiquote has quotations related to South Vietnam in English The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1956 archived from the original on 2009 03 25 The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1967 in Vietnamese HIẾN PHAP VIỆT NAM CỘNG HOA 1967 Timeline of NVA invasion of South VietnamPreceded byState of Việt Nam Republic of Việt Nam1955 1975 Succeeded byProvisional Revolutionary Government Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title South Vietnam amp oldid 1135547635, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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