South Vietnam

This article is about the former country. For a geographical region of Vietnam, see Southern Vietnam.

"Republic of Vietnam" redirects here. For the successor communist state, see Republic of South Vietnam. For the present-day Socialist Republic of Vietnam, see Vietnam.

Republic of Vietnam Việt Nam Cộng hòa (Vietnamese) République du Viêt Nam (French)
1955–1975 (1949–1955: State of Vietnam)
Flag Coat of arms (1963–1975)
Motto: Tổ Quốc – Danh Dự – Trách Nhiệm "Fatherland – Honor – Duty"
Anthem: Tiếng Gọi Công Dân "Call to the Citizens"
Presidential seal: (1955–1963) (1963–1975)
The administrative territory of South Vietnam according to the 1954 Geneva Accord (dark green); territory claimed but not controlled (light green).
Capital and largest city	Saigon 10°46′37″N 106°41′43″E 10.78°N 106.70°E / 10.78; 106.70
Official languages	Vietnamese
Recognised national languages	French
Religion	Buddhism Christianity Confucianism Taoism Folk religions Caodaism Hoahaoism
Demonym(s)	South Vietnamese Vietnamese
Government	Unitary presidential republic under a dictatorship (1955–1956) Unitary presidential constitutional republic under a dictatorship (1956–1963) Republic under military governments (1963–1967) Unitary presidential constitutional republic (1967–1975)
President
• 1955–1963	Ngô Đình Diệm
• 1963–1967	Vacant (Military junta)
• 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
• 1963–1967	Vacant
• 1967–1971	Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
• 1971–1975	Trần Văn Hương
• 1975	Nguyễn Văn Huyền
Legislature	National Assembly
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Historical era	Cold War
• Establishment of the State of Vietnam	8 March 1949
• Independence Accords	4 June 1954
• Geneva Accords	21 July 1954
• First Republic established	26 October 1955
• Start of the Vietnam War	1 November 1955
• Promulgation of the constitution	26 October 1956
• 1963 coup	2 November 1963
• Second Republic established	1 April 1967
• Paris Peace Accords	27 January 1973
• Fall of Saigon	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/km2 (242.3/sq mi)
Currency	đồng
Time zone	UTC+8 (Saigon Standard Time (SST))
Drives on	right
ISO 3166 code	VN
Preceded by Succeeded by French Indochina State of Vietnam Republic of South Vietnam
Today part of	Vietnam

Republic of Vietnam
Vietnamese alphabet	Việt Nam Cộng hòa
Chữ Hán	越南共和國

South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng hòa; VNCH, French: République du Viêt Nam), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1955 to 1975. It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam, with its capital at Saigon in the South. It was a member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War, especially after the division of Vietnam on 21 July 1954. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. On 2 July 1976, the Republic of South Vietnam and North Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

At the end of the Second World War, the communist Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh, started the August Revolution against the Nguyễn dynasty and its pro-Japanese government. In Hanoi (Northern Vietnam), Việt Minh proclaimed the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to replace the Nguyễn dynasty on 2 September 1945. The French returned to French Indochina (including Vietnam) to re-establish their colonial rule here with a legal recognition of the victorious Allies and later clashed with Hồ Chí Minh's government. During the First Indochina War on 8 March 1949, the French formed the State of Vietnam, a rival state of anti-communist Vietnamese politicians in Saigon, led by former Nguyễn emperor Bảo Đại. With this event, the French abolished the old-style colonial regime in Vietnam, France recognized the independence and unification of the State of Vietnam within the French Union, but this state still depended on France as an associated state like other two countries within Indochina. The French government agreed to give the State of Vietnam complete independence with the Matignon Accords on 4 June 1954, however they were never completed. After the Việt Minh defeated the French Union and the Geneva Accords in July 1954, the State of Vietnam was forced to abandon its claims to the northern while the Việt Minh's state was recognized by the French and took power in the North. With the American support, a 1955 referendum on the state's future form of government was widely marred by electoral fraud 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. The Saigon government also withdrew from the French Union on 9 December 1955. The Saigon regime then held parliamentary elections and subsequently promulgated a constitution on 26 October 1956. The Saigon regime became a unitary presidential constitutional republic after a 1963 coup, when Diệm was killed and his dictatorship was overthrown in a CIA-backed military rebellion on November 2, 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 Vietnam War, a Cold War conflict between North and South Vietnam, started on 1 November 1955 and escalated in 1959 with an uprising by the South Vietnamese communists who would become the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (Việt Cộng) members the next year, the Việt Cộng was de facto established by North Vietnam and North Vietnam was supported mainly from China and the Soviet Union. Larger escalation of the insurgency occurred in 1965 with foreign intervention to help South Vietnam (mostly the U.S.) and the introduction of regular forces of Marines, followed by Army units to supplement the cadre of military advisors guiding the Southern armed forces. North Vietnam was also aided by foreign troops, mostly Chinese. A regular bombing campaign over North Vietnam was conducted by offshore US Navy airplanes, warships, and aircraft carriers joined by the South Vietnamese and American Air Force squadrons from 1965 to 1968. 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. In 1969, the North Vietnam-controlled Việt Cộng established the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG) to challenge the legitimacy of the South Vietnamese government. 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 1972 Easter Offensive following US ground-forces withdrawal, and had nearly overrun some major southern cities until being 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 Viet Cong 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. In 1976, the North Vietnam-controlled Republic of South Vietnam (PRG) and North Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Etymology

Main article: Names of Vietnam

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. It is a variation of "Nam Việt" (南 越, Southern Việt), a name used in ancient times. In 1839, Emperor Minh Mạng renamed the country Đại Nam ("Great South"). In 1945, the nation's official name was changed back to "Vietnam" by the Empire of Vietnam under Bảo Đại. The name is also sometimes rendered as "Viet Nam" in English. The term "South Vietnam" became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and capitalist parts.

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

History

Founding of South Vietnam

See also: Élysée Accords, Geneva Conference (1954), Operation Passage to Freedom, and 1955 State of Vietnam referendum

The State of Vietnam leader Bảo Đại spoke in Bần Yên Nhân of Northern Vietnam, 20 September 1949

Anti-communist propaganda poster of the State of Vietnam "This is our true national flag", 27 March 1951.

A parade of the State of Vietnam army in Hanoi, 14 July 1951.

Before World War II, the southern part of Vietnam was the concession (nhượng địa) of Cochinchina, which had been administered as a complete colony of France since 1862. It had been annexed by France 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. The northern part of Vietnam or Tonkin (Bắc Kỳ) was under a French resident general (thống sứ). Between Tonkin in the north and Cochinchina in the south was Annam (Trung Kỳ), under a French resident superior (khâm sứ). The Nguyễn dynasty emperors of Vietnam, residing in Huế, since 1883 had been the nominal rulers of Annam and Tonkin protectorates, which had parallel French and Vietnamese systems of administration, but French political power in Tonkin was stronger than in Annam. A French governor-general (toàn quyền) administered all the five parts of French 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). During World War II, French Indochina was administered by Vichy France and occupied by Japan in September 1940. After Japanese troops overthrew the Vichy administration on 9 March 1945, Nguyễn Emperor Bảo Đại proclaimed his Vietnam independent and to regain Cochinchina to establish the Empire of Vietnam on 11 March 1945. However, it was de facto a puppet state of Japan within the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. After the Japanese emperor claimed to surrender to the Allies on the radio on August 15, Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated on 25 August 1945 and communist Việt Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi on September 2 after the August Revolution. 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. France returned to Vietnam but no longer recognized this place as a colony but a territory having a higher status. With co-operation between indigenous anti-communists and France, two preliminary treaties at Ha Long Bay recognizing Vietnam's independence and unity were signed between ex-emperor Bao Dai (representative of the anti-communist faction) and France on 7 December 1947 and 5 June 1948, and the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam was established on 27 May 1948 as a transitional government partly replacing the French protectorates of Tonkin (Northern Vietnam) and Annam (Central Vietnam), until French Cochinchina (Southern Vietnam) could be reunited with the rest of the country under a unified French-associated administration.

Anti-China propaganda poster of the Saigon regime, 20 March 1952.

The State of Vietnam was created as a unified and associated state within the French Union by the Élysée Accords on 8 March 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. The state came into operation on July 2. 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 1954, the French government of Prime Minister Joseph Laniel was forced to sign the Matignon Accords with the State of Vietnam government of Prime Minister Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lộc to recognize the complete independence of Vietnam within the French Union on 4 June 1954. However, the Accords had not yet been ratified by the heads of both countries.

About 1 million North Vietnamese refugees left the newly created communist North Vietnam during Operation Passage to Freedom (1954-1955).

On 21 July 1954, the war ended, France and the Việt Minh (DRV) agreed at the Geneva Conference under an armistice effective at 24:00 on 22 July accompanied by a declaration that the Viet Minh army withdrew all to the North and the French Union army withdrew all to the South, and 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. France also re-recognised independence of Vietnam. 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. The Saigon-Cholon Peace Committee, the first communist front, was founded in 1954 to provide leadership for this group.

Government of Ngô Đình Diệm: 1955–1963

Main article: Ngô Đình 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 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. As Saigon's delegation did not sign the Geneva Accords, it was not bound by it, despite having been part of the French Union, which was itself bound by the Accords because the Matignon Accords that made Saigon gain independence from France never took effect legally. He also claimed the communist government in the North created conditions that made a fair election impossible in that region. Dennis J. Duncanson described 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".

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. On 26 October 1955, Diệm declared himself the president of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam. The French, who needed troops to fight in Algeria and were increasingly sidelined by the United States, completely withdrew from Vietnam by April 1956.

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: "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 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.

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. 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. Regarding the relations with communist North Vietnam, Diệm maintained total hostility and never made a serious effort to establish any relations with it. However, in 1963, Diệm's government secretly discussed with North Vietnam on the issue of peace and reunification between the two sides and reached an important consensus with the communists.

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 – 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.

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." 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.

1963–1973

Main articles: Buddhist crisis and Vietnam War

The areas of responsibility of the South Korean army in Vietnam as of December 1966

Propaganda poster for South Vietnamese elections featuring Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, 1967

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's removal and assassination set off a period of political instability and declining legitimacy of the Saigon government. Saigon's ability to fight communism as well as build and govern the country was seriously weakened after the fall of his dictatorship. 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 Thiệu 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. Like Diệm, Thiệu was among the hardline anti-communists and did not accept a political alliance with the South Vietnamese communists (de facto controlled by the North); however, despite the South Vietnamese constitution considering Vietnam a unified country, he advocated a two-state solution with North Vietnam to join the United Nations together and co-exist peacefully to wait for the day of democratic unification. 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.

South Vietnamese M113 APC on a road in Cambodia, 1970

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.

Inauguration of South Vietnamese President Thieu, 1971.

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

The approximate areas of control at the time of the signing of the Accords. The South Vietnamese government controlled about 80 percent of the territory and 90 percent of the population, although many areas were contested.

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. 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". 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. The same month, China attacked South Vietnamese forces in the Paracel Islands on the South China Sea, taking control of the islands. Saigon later objected diplomatically. North Vietnam recognized Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea because China was one of two main allies in the Vietnam War. The "Operation Tran Hung Dao 48" was a campaign conducted by the South Vietnamese Navy in February 1974 to station troops on unoccupied islands to assert Vietnam's sovereignty over the Spratly archipelago after the Battle of the Paracel 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. On 10 December 1974, South Vietnam did recapture a series of hills from communist North Vietnam in the Battle of Phú Lộc, but this was the army's last victory before suffering repeated defeats and collapse.

President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu used samples of South Vietnamese off-shore oil to light a flame commemorating his country's war dead at the military cemetry in Thu Duc, 1 February 1975.

On 12 December 1974, the PAVN launched an invasion at Phuoc Long as the beginning of the 1975 spring offensive 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.

In 1975, the PAVN launched an offensive at Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands. 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 began deserting. By early April, the PAVN had overrun almost 3/5th of the South.

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: 30 April 1975

Main articles: Operation Babylift, Operation Frequent Wind, and Fall of Saigon

Two South Vietnamese soldiers in the Battle of Xuân Lộc, April 1975.

The president of the Saigon regime nominated Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and Trần Thiện Khiêm as his envoys to visit the Republic of China (Taiwan) and other countries, 25 April 1975

Morale was low in South Vietnam as the PAVN advanced. A last-ditch defense was made mostly by the ARVN 18th Division led by Brigadier General Lê Minh Đảo 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 communist North, however, was not interested in negotiations to create a coalition government in the South with anti-communists and neutrals, and its forces captured Saigon. Minh unconditionally surrendered to North Vietnam on 30 April 1975.

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.

Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG)

Main article: Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam

Following the surrender of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces on 30 April 1975; South Vietnam was de facto overthrown, while the communists took power throughout Vietnam and there was no place for neutrals and anti-communists. The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam of the Việt Cộng (de facto controlled by the North) officially became the government of South Vietnam, which merged with North Vietnam to create the communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 2 July 1976. The North's flag, national anthem, capital, and constitution were still chosen. The new state abandoned the policy of neutrality between the Soviet Union and China to choose to be pro-Moscow. The North Vietnam-controlled Việt Cộng was merged with the Vietnamese Fatherland Front of the North on 4 February 1977. Now the yellow flag of the old regime is being banned by the communist regime in Vietnam but is still being used in anti-communist Vietnamese overseas communities and is recognized by many places in Australia, the US, and Canada.

Geography

North and South Vietnam (1954–1976). A 1964 map

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.

Government and politics

Further information: Battle of Saigon (1955), 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, Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, 1963 South Vietnamese coup, Arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, and January 1964 South Vietnamese coup

South Vietnam's House of Representatives, 1967.

The nine justices of South Vietnam's Supreme Court, 1971.

South Vietnam went through many political changes during its short life. Initially, former Emperor Bảo Đại served as Head of State of the State of Vietnam and Emperor of its Domain of the Crown. 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.

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

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, 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.

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.

Leaders

Main article: Leaders of South Vietnam

Flag of Bảo Đại as the Head of State of the State of Vietnam (1949-1955)

• 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.
  • Nguyễn Văn Thinh (1946)
  • Lê Văn Hoạch (1946–1947)
  • Nguyễn Văn Xuân (1947–1948)
• 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.
  • Nguyễn Văn Xuân (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 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). It was de facto controlled by communists.

• Huỳnh Tấn Phát (1975–1976)

Ministries

South Vietnam had the following Ministries:

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

Administrative divisions

Provinces

Administrative divisions and military regions of South Vietnam, June 1967

South Vietnam was divided into forty-four provinces:

Name	Population (1968 est.)	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	Đà Lạt
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

See also: State of Vietnam § Autonomous regions

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

The "Bảo Đại Palace" in Buôn Ma Thuột, one of the residences of the Head of State located in the Domain of the Crown.

The Domain of the Crown was officially established as an administrative unit of autonomous territories within the State of Vietnam on 15 April 1950. In the areas of the Domain of the Crown, the Chief of State Bảo Đại was still officially (and legally) titled as the "Emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty". It was established to preserve French interests in French Indochina and to limit Kinh (Vietnamese) immigration into predominantly minority areas, halting Vietnamese influence in these regions while preserving the influences of both French colonists and indigenous rulers. On 11 March 1955 Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm dissolved the Domain of the Crown reducing both the power of the Chief of State Bảo Đại and the French directly annexing these areas into the State of Vietnam as the crown regions still in South Vietnam would later become Cao nguyên Trung phần in the Republic of Vietnam.

Following the creation of the State of Vietnam and the establishment of its government, the Chief of State Bảo Đại signed the two ordinances related to the administration and local governance of the State of Vietnam, namely Ordinance No. 1 ("Organisation and Operation of civil authorities in Vietnam") and Ordinance No. 2 ("Statutes of Government office"). These ordinances renamed the regions to Bắc Việt (北越), Trung Việt (中越), and Nam Việt (南越). Later on 4 August 1954 the government of the State of Vietnam enacted Ordinance No. 21 which renamed the regions to Bắc Phần (北分), Trung Phần (中分), and Nam Nhần (南分). On 24 October 1956 the South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm officially abolished the three region system as the regions were divided into smaller regions in South Vietnam. At the time, President Ngô Đình Diệm enacted a reform of the administrative divisions system of the Republic of Vietnam in the form of Decree 147a/NV. This decree divided the region of Trung phần into Trung nguyên Trung phần (the Central Midlands) and Cao nguyên Trung phần (the Central Highlands).

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 in Buôn Ma Thuột, while the assistant had an office in Huế.

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. However, following the 1967 Senate election the military administration was replaced back with civilian administrators.

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.

Foreign relations

President Ngô Đình Diệm receiving Mr. Carlos Garcia Vice-President of the Philippines. Saigon, October 1955.

Prime Minister Harold Holt of Australia with Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam on Kỳ's visit to Australia in 1967.

South Vietnam had diplomatic relations with 91 countries, the Holy See, and consular relations with 3 countries in October 1974. South Vietnam and its predecessor failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of Soviet vetoes in 1952, 1957, and 1958; however North Vietnam and its puppet state also failed to join it.

International Relations of the Republic of Vietnam
Region	Nation/State
Asia (22)	Bahrain, Burma, Cambodia, Republic of 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

Countries that recognized the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) as of August 7, 1958.

  Republic of Vietnam

  North Vietnam

  A countries that officially recognizes the Republic of Vietnam

   Countries that have implicitly recognised the RVN de jure.

   Countries that have recognised the RVN de facto.

Relationship with the United States

American President Johnson conferring with South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in July 1968.

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 communist Viet Minh delegate Phạm Văn Đồng, who proposed that Vietnam eventually be united by elections under the supervision of "local commissions". The United States countered with what became known as the "American Plan", with the support of South Vietnam and the United Kingdom. It provided for unification elections under the supervision of the United Nations, but was rejected by the Soviet delegation and North Vietnamese. U.S. President Dwight 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." According to the Pentagon Papers, however, from 1954 to 1956 "Ngô Đình Diệm really did accomplish miracles" in South Vietnam: "It is almost certain that by 1956 the proportion which might have voted for Ho—in a free election against Diệm—would have been much smaller than eighty percent." 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.

The failure to unify the country in 1956 led in 1959 to the foundation of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (abbreviated NLF but also known as the Việt Cộng) by North Vietnam, 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 historian James 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." President John 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 military coup.

After promising not to do so during the 1964 election campaign, in 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson decided to send in much larger numbers of combat troops, and conflict steadily escalated to become what is commonly known as the Vietnam War. In 1968, the communist Viet Cong 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. In Paris, President Thiệu, who had not even been informed of the secret negotiations between the U.S and North Vietnam, was presented with the draft of the new agreement, he was furious with Kissinger and Nixon (who were perfectly aware of South Vietnam's negotiating position) and refused to accept it without significant changes. He then made several public radio addresses, claiming that the proposed agreement was worse than it actually was. However, Nixon ordered a halt to bombings north of the 20th parallel on 30 December 1972. With the U.S. committed to disengagement (and after threats from Nixon that South Vietnam would be abandoned if he did not agree), Thiệu had little choice but to accede. South Vietnam was pressurized into accepting an agreement that virtually ensured its collapse.

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 surrender 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 North-controlled Viet Cong, became the nominal government. The North Vietnamese quickly moved to marginalise non-communist party 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 the Library of Congress during the embassy's closure following the Fall of Saigon, which are in the Library to this day.

International organisations

South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Văn Tâm welcoming delegates to The 3rd session of the WHO Regional Committee in Saigon capital, 1952.

The delegation of South Vietnam at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.

South Vietnam was a member or observer of many international organizations: 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),... Specially, from 1952 to 1975 South Vietnam was an observer of the United Nations while the North was not.

Military

Main article: Republic of Vietnam Military Forces

South Vietnamese armored reconnaissance unit stands inspection at Thu Duc Officers School, 1952. The vehicle is a 1939 French Panhard 178 B armored car.

The patch (1955-1975) of the South Vietnamese Airborne Division

A group of South Vietnamese troops celebrated victory after repelling North Vietnamese communist troops at An Loc, 1972.

The Republic of Vietnam Military Forces (RVNMF; Vietnamese: Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa – QLVNCH), was formally established on 30 December 1955. Created out from the Vietnamese National Army of the State of Vietnam (1949-1955). 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.

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.

The ARVN always had problems keeping men in the ranks, but during 1973–75, the problem reached epidemic proportions. During 1974, for example, only 65 percent of authorized manpower was present for duty at any time. The nation's officer corps still suffered from the promotion and retention of generals due to their political loyalties, not their professional abilities. Corruption and incompetence among officers was endemic, with some "raising it almost to an art form."

In 1972, General Creighton Abrams fumed at ARVN complaints that they lacked arms and equipment. He likewise harangued President Nguyen Van Thieu and chief of staff General Cao Van Vien: “Equipment is not what you need. You need men that will fight... You’ve got all the equipment you need... You lost most of your artillery because it was abandoned.”

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Republic of Vietnam

See also: Commercial Import Program

Anhao Paper Factory, 1961

Power plant in Nha Trang, 1968

South Vietnam Economic Map, 1972

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. South Vietnam had a small industrial sector and fell far behind other countries in the region in this respect. Output increased 2.5 to 3 times over the 20 years of the country's existence, but the share in total GDP remained at only around 10%, even dropping to 6% in some years, while the economy was dominated by strong agricultural and service sectors.

During the same period, rice output increased by 203 percent and the number of students in university increased from 2,000 to 90,000. US aid peaked at $2.3 billion in 1973, but dropped to $1.1 billion in 1974. 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. The fall of Saigon in 1975 and unification of Vietnam in 1976 were followed by the imposition of North Vietnam's economic system in the South.

Major Bridge along the Saigon Bypass Highway west of Saigon, under construction by the American company RMK-BRJ, 31 January 1972

South Vietnamese Boeing 707-331 in Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, 8 December 1974

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. However, political conflicts and unrests (armed conflicts between factions, continuous coup d'état) confined the efficiency of those policies.

Demographics

South Vietnam population density map (left) and South Vietnamese ethnic map (right), 1972

In 1968, the population of South Vietnam was estimated to be 16,259,334.

Vietnamese was the official language and was spoken by the majority of the population. Despite the end of French colonial rule in Vietnam in 1954, 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 as a national language. The ruling elite of South Vietnam spoke French. Due to its special relationship with France, South Vietnam became a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie in 1970, its membership was later inherited by unified communist Vietnam in 1979. 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.

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. This resulted in increasing nationalism and support for independence among the Cham and other indigenous peoples. Some Cham joined the communist Viet Cong, some others joined the Front 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 the Front Unifié de Lutte des Races Opprimées (FULRO), which struggled against both the governments of North and South Vietnam, as well as the succeeding Socialist Republic of Vietnam until 1992.

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

Culture

The South Vietnam national football team winning gold at the 1959 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games. During its existence (1949-1975), South Vietnam was a member of FIFA and AFC while the communist North was not

Saigon University, 1961

Cultural life of Vietnam was strongly influenced by China until the French colonial period. 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.

Music

Yellow Music (Nhạc vàng) refers to music produced in South Vietnam, especially after the country was divided; and it also refers to South Vietnamese flag being mostly yellow, named in opposition to "Red Music" (Nhạc đỏ) endorsed by the communist government of North Vietnam. The genre contained topics and characteristics considered decadent and was banned in 1975, with those caught listening to it punished, and their music confiscated. Most Yellow Music has been associated with the bolero genre. After the Fall of Saigon, many Vietnamese artists emigrated to the United States to pursue their careers and industry there instead. The ban on Yellow Music was lightened in 1986, but by then the music industry had ceased to exist.

In the 1990s, Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism promoted the "nhạc xanh" genre (literally "green music", which refers to music for young generations) to divert people from listening to yellow music, but with little success.

At the beginning of the 21st century, various yellow music concerts were held in Vietnam. In August 2010, two singers – Hương Lan and Tuấn Vũ – performed at the Hanoi Opera House for half a month.

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 the government (VTVN), named Radio Vietnam. 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 to the North Vietnamese army by South Vietnamese president 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

South Vietnamese Economic Minister Phạm Kim Ngọc on TV news, 20 August 1972

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.
• 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.

See also

• Leaders of South Vietnam
• Thanh Niên Hành Khúc
• History of Vietnam
• Overseas Vietnamese
• Vietnamese democracy movement

Further reading

Academic articles and chapters

• Nguyen, Phi-Vân (2018). "A Secular State for a Religious Nation: The Republic of Vietnam and Religious Nationalism, 1946–1963". The Journal of Asian Studies. 77 (3): 741–771. doi:10.1017/S0021911818000505. hdl:1993/34017. S2CID 165729774.
• 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. S2CID 256739269.
• Taylor, K. W. (2015). "Voices from the South". In Taylor, K. W. (ed.). Voices from the Second Republic of South Vietnam (1967–1975). Cornell University Press. pp. 1–8. ISBN 9780877277958.
• Gadkar-Wilcox, Wynn (2023). "Universities and Intellectual Culture in the Republic of Vietnam". 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. 57–75. ISBN 9781439922880.
• 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. ISBN 9781439922880.

Monographs and edited volumes

• 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.
• Vu, Tuong; Fear, Sean, eds. (2020). The Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975: Vietnamese Perspectives on Nation Building. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501745126.
• Stur, Heather Marie (2020). Saigon at War: South Vietnam and the Global Sixties. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316676752.
• 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) The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1956 (archived from the original on 2009-03-25).
• The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1967
• HIẾN PHÁP VIỆT NAM CỘNG HOÀ 1967 (in Vietnamese) (archived 5 June 2020)
• Timeline of NVA invasion of South Vietnam