South Vietnam, officially theRepublic of Vietnam (RVN;Vietnamese:Việt Nam Cộng hòa,VNCH), was a country inSoutheast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garneredinternational recognition in 1949 as the associatedState of Vietnam within theFrench Union, with its capital atSaigon. Since 1950, it was a member of theWestern Bloc during theCold War. Following the1954 partition of Vietnam, it became known as South Vietnam and was established as a republic in 1955. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into theUnited Nations as a result of aSoviet veto in 1957.[2][3] It was succeeded by theRepublic of South Vietnam in 1975. In 1976, the Republic of South Vietnam and North Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The aftermath ofWorld War II saw the communist-ledViet Minh, underHo Chi Minh, seize power and proclaim the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi in September 1945, initiatingcivil conflicts.[4]: 515 In 1949, during theFirst Indochina War, the French and anti-communist nationalists established the State of Vietnam (SVN), led by former emperorBảo Đại. Returning from exile in June 1954,Ngo Dinh Diem, recognized as the prominent anti-communist and anti-colonialist figure, was appointed prime minister of the SVN.[5]
The beginnings of theVietnam War occurred in 1955 with an uprising by the newly organizedNational Liberation Front for South Vietnam (Việt Cộng), armed and supported by North Vietnam, with backing mainly fromChina and the Soviet Union. Larger escalation of the insurgency occurred in 1965 withAmerican intervention and the introduction of regular forces ofMarines, followed byArmy units to supplement the cadre of military advisors guiding theSouthern armed forces. Aregular bombing campaign over North Vietnam was conducted by offshoreUS Navy airplanes, warships, and aircraft carriers joined byAir Force squadrons through 1966 and 1967. Fighting peaked up to that point during theTet Offensive of February 1968, when there were over a million South Vietnamese soldiers, 500,000U.S. soldiers, and 100,000 soldiers from other allied nations such asSouth Korea,Australia, andThailand 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 theEaster Offensive following US ground-forces withdrawal, and had nearly overrun some major southern cities until being beaten back.
Despite a truce agreement under theParis Peace Accords, concluded in January 1973 after five years of on-and-off negotiations, fighting continued almost immediately afterwards. The regularNorth Vietnamese army and Việt-Cộng auxiliaries launched a majorsecond combined-arms conventional invasion in 1975. Communist forcesoverran Saigon on 30 April 1975 in what is called the fall of Saigon, marking the end of the Republic of Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the North Vietnamese-controlled Republic of South Vietnam merged to form theSocialist Republic of Vietnam; Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
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 EmperorGia Long in 1804.[7] It is a variation of "Nam Việt" (南越,SouthernViệt), a name used in ancient times.[7] In 1839, EmperorMinh Mạng renamed the countryĐại Nam ("Great South").[8]In 1945, the nation's official name was changed back to "Vietnam". The name is also sometimes rendered as "Viet Nam" in English.[9]
Before 1954, thethree regions of Vietnam were often translated into English asNorth,Central, andSouth Viet-Nam.[10] Following the 1954partition of Vietnam into communist and anti-communist parts, it was recommended to refer to Vietnam south of the 17th parallel asSouthern Vietnam,[11] but later on,South Vietnam became common usage. Other names commonly used during its existence includeFree Vietnam and theGovernment of Viet Nam (GVN).
Republican ideas enteredFrench Indochina in the early 20th century, introducing new concepts about the modern nation-state. By the 1920s, these ideas were embraced by Vietnamese elites, including both revolutionaries and reformers. They influenced Vietnamese independence movements, though suppressed by French colonial authorities. Republican activists were far more popular than communists in the competition between the two groups for leadership of the nationalist movement.[12]
The Viet Minh sought to consolidate power by terrorizing and purging rival Vietnamesenationalist groups andTrotskyist activists.[16][17][18] In 1946, the Franco-Chinese andHo–Sainteny Agreements enabled French forces to replace the Chinese north of the 16th parallel and facilitated a coexistence between the DRV and the French that strengthened the Viet Minh while undermining the nationalists.[19][20] That summer, the Viet Minh colluded with French forces to eliminate nationalists, targeted for their ardent anti-colonialism.[21][22][16]: 205–207 [23]: 175–177 By eliminating the nationalist parties, the Viet Minh had undermined Vietnam's broader ability to resist French reconquest.[24][25] TheFirst Indochina War began on 19 December 1946, as French forces reasserted control over Hanoi and other cities. A number of anti-colonialist and anti-communist nationalists, caught between the two sides of the war, chose an uneasy neutrality and were at times labeled asattentistes, includingNgô Đình Diệm and certainĐại Việt politicians. With the internationalization of the war in 1950, many of these figures ultimately stepped off the fence and entered the political fray.[26]
Thecommunist destruction of opposition parties in the summer of 1946 hindered prospects for reconciliation. Nationalist partisans and politico-religious groups rallied around former emperorBảo Đại to negotiate with the French.[27] TheState of Vietnam (SVN) was created through co-operation betweenanti-communist Vietnamese and the French on 14 June 1949. Bảo Đại accepted the position of chief of state (quốc trưởng). In 1950,China, theSoviet Union and other communist states recognised the DRV while theUnited States and other non-communist contries recognised the SVN. The civil war and the colonial war in Indochina became internationalized and intertwined with the globalCold War.[28]
As the communist-led Viet Minh became increasingly radicalized, many people left itsmaquis and returned to the cities.[29]: 520 Anti-communists accused the communists of manipulating the collective Vietnamese desire for independence to achieve domination. They criticized the Viet Minh for their revolutionaryviolence and repression,class struggle, and thought control.[30]
The State of Vietnam withdrew from theFrench Union on July 20, 1954.[31] The next day, France and the Viet Minh agreed at theGeneva Conference that Vietnam would be temporarily divided at17th parallel north and the State of Vietnam would rule the territory south of the 17th parallel, pending unification on the basis of supervised elections in 1956. The State of Vietnam and the United States were firmly opposed to the final settlement at Geneva and the division of Vietnam.[32]: 7 During the transitional period of relocation, at least 500,000 Catholics sailed South, many of them throughOperation Passage to Freedom, driven by fears of religious persecution in the North. There were about 200,000 Buddhists who moved South with their main leaders, along with minority groups including 20,000 ruralChinese Nùng and a larger population ofurban Chinese.[33]
A significant factor in shaping the anticommunist critique in South Vietnam came from this influx of educatedNorthern émigrés (Bắc di cư). Among them, most of the notable political and cultural voices were non-Catholic.[34] Government and private writers illustrated how the communists had betrayed true nationalists and undermined the struggle for independence. They lamented that communism had corrupted the natural goodness of humanity and disrupted the traditional harmony of Vietnamese society.[35] 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.[32]: 25–27 The Saigon-Cholon Peace Committee, the firstViet Cong front, was founded in 1954 to provide leadership for this group.[32]: 160
As Saigon's delegation did not sign the Geneva Accords, they claimed that the State of Vietnam was not bound by it,[36] and that the communist government in the North created conditions that made a fair election impossible in that region.[37] In July 1955, Prime MinisterNgo Dinh Diem announced in a broadcast that South Vietnam would not participate in the elections specified in the Geneva Accords, asserting that elections held under communist rule in North Vietnam would not be free.[36][38] US Secretary of StateJohn Foster Dulles stated that, under conditions of free elections, the communists would not win.[32]: 9 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 resultantpeasant uprising aroundVinh in the North".[39]
Diệm held areferendum 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.[40]: 239 On 26 October 1955, Diệm declared himself the president of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam.[41] The French, who needed troops to fight inAlgeria and were increasingly sidelined by the United States, completely withdrew from Vietnam by April 1956.[41]
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 theInternational Control Commission (ICC) stated that fair, unbiased elections were not possible, reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement:[42] "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 aland 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 six-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.[43]: 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.[41] In May 1959,Group 559 was established to maintain and upgrade theHo 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.[44]
Diệm attempted to stabilise South Vietnam by defending against Việt Cộng activities. He launched an anti-communist denunciation campaign (Tố Cộng) against the Việt Cộng and military campaigns against three powerful group – theCao Đài,Hòa Hảo and theBình Xuyên organised crime syndicate whose military strength combined amounted to approximately 350,000 fighters.[citation needed]
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.[43]: 16
Throughout this period, the level of US aid and political support increased. In spite of this, a 1961US 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 effectdenied 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."[45] The report, later excerpted inThe 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."[45]
During 1962, North Vietnam intensified its war efforts by infiltrating military personnel and materiel into South Vietnam. Meanwhile, Beijing, following theSino-Soviet split and rejecting Moscow's policy of "peaceful coexistence" with the West, backed Hanoi's escalation by providing the Viet Cong with vital small arms and heavier weaponry.[46]: 21
Diệm's removal and assassination set off a period of political instability and declining legitimacy of the Saigon government. GeneralDương Văn Minh became president, but he wasousted in January 1964 by GeneralNguyễn 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, theGulf 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 theVũng 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 followedin September andFebruary 1965, the latter resulting in Air MarshalNguyễn Cao Kỳ becoming prime minister and GeneralNguyễn 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. TheSenate election took place on 2 September 1967. ThePresidential election took place on 3 September 1967, Thiệu was elected president with 34% of the vote in a widely criticised poll. TheParliamentary election took place on 22 October 1967.
On 31 January 1968, thePeople's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Việt Cộng broke the traditional truce accompanying theTết (Lunar New Year) holiday. TheTet 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 ofRichard Nixon introduced a policy ofVietnamization 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 ofattacks on PAVN/VC bases in Cambodia in April–July 1970. South Vietnam launched aninvasion 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.
North Vietnam launched aconventional invasion of South Vietnam in late March 1972 which was only finally repulsed by October with massive US air support.
Final years: 1973–1975
In accordance with theParis 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. 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 ofTrần 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 inLộc Ninh, about 60 mi (97 km) north of Saigon.
On 15 March 1973, Nixon implied that the US would intervene militarily if the communist side violated the ceasefire. Public reaction was unfavorable, and on 4 June 1973 theUS Senate passed theCase–Church Amendment to prohibit such intervention. Theoil 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".[47] 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.[48] The same month, China attacked South Vietnamese forces in theParacel Islands, taking control of the islands.
In August 1974, Nixon was forced to resign as a result of theWatergate scandal, and theUS 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 PAVNlaunched an invasion at Phuoc Long to test the 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.[49]
In 1975, the PAVN launched anoffensive at Ban Me Thuot in theCentral Highlands, in the first phase of what became known as theHo 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 Cambodiacapturing Huế and Da Nang and advanced southwards. As the military situation deteriorated, ARVN troops began deserting. By early April, the PAVN had overrun almost 3/5th of the South.
Thiệu requested aid from US PresidentGerald 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.
An emptyHuey helicopter is jettisoned over the side of a carrier to provide room on the ship's deck for more evacuees to land.
Morale was low in South Vietnam as the PAVN advanced. A last-ditch defense was made by the ARVN18th Division at theBattle of Xuân Lộc from 9–21 April. Thiệu resigned on 21 April 1975, and fled toTaiwan. He nominated his Vice PresidentTrần 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 forcescaptured Saigon. Minhunconditionally surrendered Saigon and the rest of South Vietnam to North Vietnam on 30 April 1975.[50]
During the hours leading up to the surrender, the United States undertook a massiveevacuation 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 multipleaircraft carriers waiting off the coast.
South Vietnam was bordered byNorth Vietnam to the north,Laos to the northwest,Cambodia to the southwest, andThailand across theGulf of Thailand to the southwest. The South was divided into coastal lowlands, the mountainous Central Highlands (Cao-nguyên Trung-phần), and theMekong Delta. South Vietnam's time zone was one hour ahead of North Vietnam, belonging to theUTC+08 time zone with the same time as thePhilippines,Brunei,Malaysia,Singapore, China, Taiwan, and Western Australia.
Apart from the mainland, the Republic of Vietnam also administered parts of theParacels andSpratly Islands. China seized control of the Paracels in 1974 after the South Vietnamese navy attempted an assault on PRC-claimed islands.
Government and politics
Government
South Vietnam went through many political changes during its short life. Initially, former Emperor Bảo Đại served asHead of State. He was unpopular, however, largely because monarchical leaders were considered collaborators during French rule and because he had spent his reign absent from France.
In 1955, Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm held a referendum to decide whether the State of Vietnam would remain amonarchy 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; inSaigon, 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 theCIA, 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 that 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 theRepublic 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.[52]: 273
In June 1965, Kỳ's influence over the ruling military government was solidified when he forced civilian prime ministerPhan Huy Quát from power.[52]: 232 Often praising aspects of Western culture in public,[52]: 264 Ky was supported by the United States and its allied nations,[52]: 264 though doubts began to circulate among Western officials by 1966 on whether or not Ky could maintain stability in South Vietnam.[52]: 264 A repressive leader, Ky was greatly despised by his fellow countrymen.[52]: 273 In early 1966, protesters influenced by popularBuddhist monkThích Trí Quang attempted anuprising in Quang's hometown of Da Nang.[52]: 273 The uprising was unsuccessful and Ky's repressive stance towards the nation's Buddhist population continued.[52]: 273
In 1967, theunicameralNational Assembly was replaced by abicameral system consisting of a House of Representatives orlower house (Hạ Nghị Viện) and a Senate orupper 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 aplurality 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% turnout. 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 North Vietnamese forces on 30 April 1975.
The National Assembly/House of Representatives was located in the Saigon Opera House, now theMunicipal Theatre, Ho Chi Minh City,[53]: 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 theHo Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.[53]: 218
Human rights
From 1972 to 1974,Freedom House rated the level of freedom in South Vietnam at 4.5/7 points (the higher the score, the lower the level of freedom). Compared to many other regimes in the Southeast Asia region at that time, it had a higher level of freedom, democracy, and human rights thancommunist North Vietnam in many aspects, especially personal freedom, press, religion, and cultural activities in urban areas, only behindMalaysia. It ranked in the group of "Partly Free" countries. However, 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 as "communist" political prisoners.[54]
1949–1955State of Vietnam (Quốc gia Việt Nam). Internationally recognized in 1950. Roughly 60 percent of Vietnamese territory was controlled by the communist-ledViet Minh. However, most delta and urban areas with large populations were under the administration of the State of Vietnam. Vietnam was partitioned at the17th parallel in 1954.
Bảo Đại (1949–1955). Abdicated as emperor (constitutional monarch) in 1945 following the surrender ofImperial Japanese occupying forces at the end ofWorld War II, later serving as head of state until 1955.
1955–1975Republic of Vietnam (Việt Nam Cộng Hòa). Fought in theVietnam 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-backedcoup in November 1963.
In 1963–1965, there were numerous coups and short-lived governments, several of which were headed byDương Văn Minh orNguyễn Khánh.
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (1965–1975). Prime MinisterNguyễn 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.
Throughout its history, South Vietnam had many reforms enacted that affected the organisation of its administrative divisions.[56]
On 24 October 1956 Diệm enacted a reform of the administrative divisions system of the Republic of Vietnam in the form of Decree 147a/NV.[56] This decree divided the region ofTrung phần into Trung nguyên Trung phần (the Central Midlands) and Cao nguyên Trung phần (the Central Highlands).[56]
The offices of appointed representative and assistant representative of the central government were created for the region of Trung phần, the main representative had an office inBuôn Ma Thuột, while the assistant had an office in Huế.[56]
Following the 1963 coup d'état that ousted Diem 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.[56] However, following the 1967 Senate election the military administration was replaced back with civilian administrators.[56]
On 1 January 1969, during the presidency of 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 theTư lệnh Vùng Chiến thuật.[56]
The Republic of Vietnam Military Forces (RVNMF;Vietnamese: Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa – QLVNCH), was formally established on 30 December 1955.[57] 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.
Conscription was practiced in South Vietnam, but soldiers could also join voluntarily. However, enforcement of conscription was lax. Conscription began in 1957, initially requiring adult males aged 20 and 21 to serve for 18 months in the military. Rules would change over time in regards to military conscription.[58][59]
The French ceased training the RVNMF in 1956, and training passed to American advisers who progressively restructured the military along US military lines.[60]: 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 AmericanEnhance 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.[61]: 28 [62]: 83
Foreign relations
International Relations of the Republic of Vietnam[63]
Countries that recognized the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) as of August 7, 1958.
South Vietnam
North Vietnam
Countries that officially recognized the Republic of Vietnam
Countries that haveimplicitly recognised the RVNde jure.
Countries that have recognised the RVNde facto.
During its existence, South Vietnam had diplomatic relations with Australia, Brazil, Cambodia (until 1963 and then from 1970), Canada, the Republic of China, France, Indonesia (until 1964), Iran, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, andWest Germany.
During its existence, South Vietnam had a close, strategic alliance with the United States and served as a major counterbalance to the communist-backedNorth Vietnam.
The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. Neither the United States government nor Ngô Đình Diệm's State of Vietnam signed anything at the 1954 Geneva Conference. With respect to the question of reunification, the non-communist Vietnamese delegation objected strenuously to any division of Vietnam, but lost out when the French accepted the proposal of Viet Minh delegatePhạm Văn Đồng,[66] who proposed that Vietnam eventually be united by elections under the supervision of "local commissions".[67] The United States countered with what became known as the "American Plan", with the support of South Vietnam and the United Kingdom.[68] It provided for unification elections under the supervision of theUnited Nations, but was rejected by the Soviet delegation and North Vietnamese.[68]U.S. PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower wrote in 1954 that "I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held as of the time of the fighting, possibly eighty percent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bảo Đại. Indeed, the lack of leadership and drive on the part of Bảo Đại was a factor in the feeling prevalent among Vietnamese that they had nothing to fight for."[69] According to thePentagon Papers, however, from 1954 to 1956 "Ngô Đình Diệm really did accomplish miracles" in South Vietnam:[70] "It is almost certain that by 1956 the proportion which might have voted for Ho—in a free election againstDiệm—would have been much smaller than eighty percent."[71] In 1957, independent observers from India, Poland, and Canada representing the ICC stated that fair, unbiased elections were not possible, reporting that neither South nor North Vietnam had honored the armistice agreement.[72]
The failure to unify the country in 1956 led in 1959 to the foundation of theNational Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (commonly known as the Việt Cộng), which initiated an organized and widespread guerrilla insurgency against the South Vietnamese government. Hanoi directed the insurgency, which grew in intensity. The United States, under President Eisenhower, initially sent military advisers to train the South Vietnamese Army. As historianJames Gibson summed up the situation:
Strategic hamlets had failed... The South Vietnamese regime was incapable of winning the peasantry because of its class base among landlords. Indeed, there was no longer a 'regime' in the sense of a relatively stable political alliance and functioning bureaucracy. Instead, civil government and military operations had virtually ceased. The National Liberation Front had made great progress and was close to declaring provisional revolutionary governments in large areas.[73]
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy increased the size of the advisory force fourfold and allowed the advisers to participate in combat operations, and later acquiesced in the removal of President Diệm in a militarycoup.
President Johnson conferring with South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in July 1968.
After promising not to do so during the 1964 election campaign, in 1965 PresidentLyndon B. Johnson decided to send in much larger numbers of combat troops, and conflict steadily escalated to become what is commonly known as theVietnam War. In 1968, the NLF ceased to be an effective fighting organization after the Tet Offensive and the war was largely taken over by regular army units of North Vietnam. Following American withdrawal from the war in 1973, the South Vietnamese government continued fighting the North Vietnamese, until, overwhelmed by a conventional invasion by the North, it finally unconditionally surrendered on 30 April 1975, the day of the fall of Saigon. North Vietnam controlled South Vietnam under military occupation, while the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, which had been proclaimed in June 1969 by the NLF, became the nominal government. The North Vietnamese quickly moved to marginalise non-communist members of the PRG and integrate South Vietnam into the communist North. The unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam was inaugurated on 2 July 1976.
The Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam in Washington donated 527 reels of South Vietnamese-produced film to theLibrary of Congress during the embassy's closure following the Fall of Saigon, which are in the Library to this day.[74]
South Vietnam maintained a capitalistfree-market economy with ties to the West. It established an airline namedAir 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.[75] During the same period, rice output increased by 203 percent and the number of students in university increased from 2,000 to 90,000.[75] US aid peaked at $2.3 billion in 1973, but dropped to $1.1 billion in 1974.[76]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.[76] The unification of Vietnam in 1976 was followed by the imposition of North Vietnam'scentrally planned economy in the South.
A 2017 study in the journalDiplomatic History found that South Vietnamese economic planners sought to model the South Vietnamese economy on Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, which were perceived as successful examples of how to modernize developing economies.[77]
Demographics
South Vietnam population density map (left) and South Vietnamese ethnic map (right)
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.[40]: 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.[78]
Starting from 1955, the South Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diệm 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.[79] This resulted in increasing nationalism and support for independence among the Cham and other indigenous peoples. Some Cham joined the Viet Cong, some others joined theFront de Libération des Hauts Plateaux du Champa. By 1964, civil rights activists and independent organizations of the indigenous peoples, including Cham organizations, had been merged into theFront Unifié de Lutte des Races Opprimées (FULRO), which struggled against both the governments of South Vietnam and the succeeding Socialist Republic of Vietnam until the late 1980s.[80][81]
South Vietnam had relatively greaterfreedom of religion than the North.[82][83]Confucianism as an ethical philosophy was an important influence in South Vietnam.[84][85] There were about 4 million Confucians in the proper sense. Between 3 and 4 million people, or up to 27% of the population, wereBuddhists of various schools. TheCao Đài andHòa Hảo religions together had between 2.5 and 3 million followers. About 10% of the population wasCatholic. Other citizens wereanimists, Taoists, Protestant Christians, Hindus, or Muslims.[86]: 215
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.
Media
This sectionis missing information about anti-communist rhetoric in South Vietnamese media and its effect on South Vietnamese society. Please expand the sectionto include this informationto include this information orby making an edit request. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(June 2023)
Radio
Radio Vietnam broadcast hours cards, denoting times and frequencies of radio broadcasts in 1960 and 1962. Address: 3 Phan Dinh Phung St., Saigon1974 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 the government (VTVN), namedRadio 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:
THVN-TV (Truyền hình 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.
^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 fromthe original(PDF) on 1 November 2021. Retrieved25 July 2021.
^Phi-Vân Nguyen (2024b). "Ngô Đình Diệm and the Birth of the Republic of Vietnam". In Miller, Edward (ed.).The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War, Volume I: Origins. Cambridge University Press. pp. 302–325.doi:10.1017/9781316225240.019.ISBN9781316225240.
^Moses, A. Dirk (2008).Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History. Berghahn Books. p. 213.ISBN978-1-84545-452-4.
^Guillemot, François (2019). "The Lessons of Yên Bái, or the "Fascist" Temptation: How the Đại Việt Parties Rethought Anticolonial Nationalist Revolutionary Action, 1932–1945".Journal of Vietnamese Studies.14 (3):43–78.doi:10.1525/vs.2019.14.3.43.
^abGuillemot, François (2004). "Au coeur de la fracture vietnamienne : l'élimination de l'opposition nationaliste et anticolonialiste dans le Nord du Vietnam (1945–1946)". In Goscha, Christopher E.; de Tréglodé, Benoît (eds.).Naissance d'un État-Parti: Le Viêt Nam depuis 1945. Paris: Les Indes savantes. pp. 175–216.ISBN9782846540643.
^Goscha, Christopher E. (2011)."Attentisme".Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945–1954): An International and Interdisciplinary Approach. NIAS Press.ISBN9788776940638.
^Vu, Tuong (2009). "'It's time for the Indochinese Revolution to show its true colours': The radical turn of Vietnamese politics in 1948".Journal of Southeast Asian Studies.40 (3):519–542.doi:10.1017/S0022463409990051.
^"Lời tuyên bố truyền thanh của Thủ tướng Chánh phủ ngày 16-7-1955 về hiệp định Genève và vấn đề thống nhất đất nước"; "Tuyên ngôn của Chánh phủ Quốc gia Việt Nam ngày 9-8-1955 về vấn đề thống nhất lãnh thổ"".Con đường Chính nghĩa: Độc lập, Dân chủ (in Vietnamese). Vol. II. Saigon: Sở Báo chí Thông tin, Phủ Tổng thống. 1956. pp. 11–13.
^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."
^abKarnow, Stanley (1997).Vietnam: A History. Penguin Books.ISBN0-670-84218-4.
^Pribbenow, Merle (2002).Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People's Army of Vietnam. University Press of Kansas. p. xi.ISBN0-7006-1175-4.
^Miller, Edward (2024). "Points of Departure – The Global and Local Origins of the Vietnam War". In Miller, Edward (ed.).The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War, Volume I: Origins. Cambridge University Press. pp. 8–23.doi:10.1017/9781316225240.002.ISBN9781316225240.
^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 & Schuster. p. 205.
^Rottman, Gordon; Bujeiro, Ramiro (2010).Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955–75, Men-at-arms series 458. Osprey Publishing Ltd. p. 7.ISBN978-1-84908-182-5.
^Veith, George (2012).Black April The Fall of South Vietnam 1973–75. Encounter Books.ISBN978-1-59403-572-2.
^"A Foreign Policy of Independence and Peace".Vietnam Bulletin. Vol XI No 1 January 1974. pp 4–5
^Connie L. McNeely (1995).Constructing the Nation-State: International Organization and Prescriptive Action. Greenwood Press. pp. 44–45.ISBN978-0-313-29398-6.
^Bühler, Konrad G. (2001).State Succession and Membership in International Organizations: Legal Theories versus Political Pragmatism. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 75, 82, 83.ISBN9789041115539.
^The Pentagon Papers (1971), Beacon Press, vol. 3, p. 134.
^The Pentagon Papers (1971), Beacon Press, vol. 3, p. 119.
^abThe Pentagon Papers (1971), Beacon Press, vol. 3, p. 140.
^Dwight D. Eisenhower.Mandate for Change. Garden City, New Jersey. Doubleday & Company, 1963, p. 372.
^The Pentagon Papers (1971), Beacon Press, vol. 3, p. 252.
^The Pentagon Papers (1971), Beacon Press, vol. 3, p. 246.
^Woodruff, Mark (2005). Unheralded Victory: The Defeat of The Viet Cong and The North Vietnamese. Arlington, Virginia: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-8914-1866-0. P.6: "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, comprising observers from India, Poland, and Canada, 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."
^James Gibson,The Perfect War: Technowar in Vietnam (Boston/New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986), p. 88.
^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).
Hoang, Tuan (2009). "The Early South Vietnamese Critique of Communism". In Vu, Tuong; Wongsurawat, Wasana (eds.).Dynamics of the Cold War in Asia: Ideology, Identity, and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 17–32.doi:10.1057/9780230101999_2.ISBN9780230101999.
Hoang, Tuan (2023). "The August Revolution, the Fall of Saigon, and Postwar Reeducation Camps: Understanding Vietnamese Diasporic Anticommunism". In Ho Peché, Linda; Vo, Alex-Thai Dinh; Vu, Tuong (eds.).Toward a Framework for Vietnamese American Studies: History, Community, and Memory. Temple University Press. pp. 76–94.ISBN978-1-4399-2288-0.
Tran, Nu-Anh (2023). "Denouncing the 'Việt Cộng': Tales of revolution and betrayal in the Republic of Vietnam".Journal of Southeast Asian Studies.53 (4):686–708.doi:10.1017/S0022463422000790.S2CID256739269.
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.jpg)
_as_of_August_7%2c_1958.svg)
.svg)
