South Vietnam

Republic of Vietnam Việt Nam Cộng hòa (Vietnamese) République du Viêt Nam (French)
1955–1975 (1949–1955: State of Vietnam[a])
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).
Status	Associated state of the French Union (1949-1954) Sovereign state of the French Union (1954-1955) Sovereign state (1955-1975)
Capital and largest city	Saigon 10°46′37″N 106°41′43″E / 10.77694°N 106.69528°E / 10.77694; 106.69528 10°47′N 106°42′E / 10.78°N 106.70°E / 10.78; 106.70
Official languages	Vietnamese
Recognised national languages	French[7]
Religion	Buddhism Christianity Confucianism Taoism Folk religions Caodaism Hoahaoism
Demonym(s)	South Vietnamese Vietnamese
Government	Unitary presidential republic under a dictatorship (1955–1956)[b] Unitary presidential constitutional republic under a dictatorship (1956–1963) The republic under transitional military governments (1963–1967) Unitary presidential constitutional republic (1967–1975)
President
• 1955–1963	Ngô Đình Diệm[c][d]
• 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[e]
• 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
• Complete independence Accords[f]	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
• Collapse	30 April 1975
• Reunification	2 July 1976
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[g]/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

Part of a series on the
History of Vietnam
Prehistoric Paleolithic Sơn Vi culture 20,000 BC–12,000 BC Mesolithic Hoabinhian 12,000 BC–10,000 BC Neolithic Bắc Sơn culture 10,000 BC–8,000 BC Quỳnh Văn culture 8,000 BC–6,000 BC Đa Bút culture 4,000 BC–3,000 BC Bronze and Iron Ages Phùng Nguyên culture 2,000 BC–1,500 BC Đồng Đậu culture 1,500 BC–1,000 BC Gò Mun culture 1,000–800 BC Dong Son culture (1,000 BC–100 AD) Sa Huỳnh culture (1,000 BC–200 AD) Óc Eo culture (1–630 AD)
Ancient Hồng Bàng dynasty 2879 BC–258 BC Thục dynasty 257 BC–179 BC Triệu dynasty 204 BC–111 BC
Dominated 1st Chinese domination 111 BC–40 AD Trung sisters' rebellion 40–43 2nd Chinese domination 43–544 Early Lý dynasty 544–602 3rd Chinese domination 602–938
Dynastic Ngô dynasty 939–965 Anarchy of the 12 Warlords 965–968 Đinh dynasty 968–980 Early Lê dynasty 980–1009 Later Lý dynasty 1009–1225 Trần dynasty 1225–1400 Hồ dynasty 1400–1407 4th Chinese domination 1407–1428 Later Lê dynasty 1428–1527 Mạc dynasty 1527–1592 Later Lê Restoration 1533–1789 Tây Sơn dynasty 1778–1802 Nguyễn dynasty 1802–1945
Colonial French Cochinchina 1862–1945 / 1945–1949 French Annam 1883–1945 / 1945–1949 French Tonkin 1883–1945 / 1946–1949 French Indochina 1887–1946/1954 Empire of Vietnam 1945
Republic North Vietnam 1945–1976 Republic of South Vietnam 1975–1976 South Vietnam 1955–1975 State of Vietnam 1949–1955 Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1976-now
Non-Vietnamese history Funan 68–627 Champa 192–1832 Cát Tiên archaeological site 300–800 Chenla 550–781 Nanzhao 738–902 Khmer Empire 802–1431 Dali Kingdom 937–1253 Nung-Zhuang kingdom 1042–1052 Ngưu Hống 1061–1432 Jarai kingdoms 1100–1904 Sip Song Chau Tai 1600–1954 Principality of Hà Tiên 1707–1832
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South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng hòa; VNCH, French: République du Viêt Nam), was a country^{[8][9][10][11]} in Southeast Asia from 1955 to 1975, with first international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam.^[h] Its capital was located in Saigon, a city in Southern Vietnam. It was a member of the anti-communist and capitalist Western Bloc during the Cold War. With 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. In 1975, it was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam, which was de facto controlled by the communist North.^[18][19] On 2 July 1976, 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 of Hồ Chí Minh, started the August Revolution of different political organizations against the Nguyễn dynasty and its Japanese puppet state on 16 August 1945. On August 19, the Việt Minh took control of Hanoi (Northern Vietnam). On August 25, the Nguyễn dynasty collapsed. The Revolution ended when the Việt Minh formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), known as "North Vietnam", in Hanoi on 2 September 1945.^[20] The French returned to French Indochina (including Vietnam) to re-establish their colonial rule here on 23 September 1945. French army later clashed with the Việt Minh in Hanoi on 19 December 1946, leading to the First Indochina War. The Viet Minh government then had to withdraw to the North. On 8 March 1949, the French formed the State of Vietnam with the Élysée Accords,^[i] it was 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. However, this state still depended on France as an associated state like other two countries within Indochina.^[21][22] The state was proclaimed on 2 July 1949. The formation of the State of Vietnam on 8 March 1949 made this French colonial war part of the Cold War between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union, culminating in the American recognition of Saigon regime in February 1950 and subsequent aid to the French in the war against the communist Việt Minh.^[23][24][21] 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 legally. After the Việt Minh with the aid of China defeated the French Union in the First Indochina War; an armistice and an accompanying declaration were made in the Geneva Conference on 21 July 1954, taking effect at 24:00 on July 22^[25]). The State of Vietnam was forced to abandon its claims to the North 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.^[26] South Vietnam also withdrew from the French Union on 9 December 1955.^[27] South Vietnam then held parliamentary elections and subsequently promulgated a constitution on 26 October 1956.^[28][29] After a 1963 coup, 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 civilian presidential election from 1967 until 1975.

During 1949-1975, both Saigon and communist governments coexisted, both claimed to be the representative of Vietnam; the communists accused Saigon of being puppet government (ngụy quyền) of France then the US to disguise foreign rule, while Saigon accused its enemy of being anti-free and spreading communism under nationalist guise.^{[30][31][32][33]} The Vietnam War, a Cold War military conflict between North and South Vietnam, started on 1 November 1955 and escalated in March 1959 when North Vietnam accepted the use of force in the South.^[34][35] North Vietnam de facto established the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (Việt Cộng) the next year. North Vietnam was aided mainly from China and the Soviet Union while South Vietnam was aided mainly from the US. 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 helped by foreign armies, mostly Chinese.^[36][37][38] 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 attack from the North commenced during the 1972 Easter Offensive following US ground-forces withdrawal. Under the support of the US air force, the South Vietnamese army successfully stopped the communist attack. In the Second Battle of Quảng Trị, the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) successfully recaptured part of Quang Tri territory from the enemy.^{[39]: 106 [40]} However, the Saigon government still lost about 10% of its territory to the communists.^[41]

Despite a truce agreement under the Paris Peace Accords, signed on 27 January 1973 and taking effect at 7:00 on January 28^[42] after five years of on-and-off negotiations, fighting continued almost immediately afterwards. The regular North Vietnamese army (PAVN) and Viet Cong auxiliaries launched a major second combined-arms conventional offensive in 1975. Communist forces overran Saigon and South Vietnamese president unconditionally surrendered on the radio on 30 April 1975, marking the end of capitalist South Vietnam and the Vietnam War. In 1976, the North Vietnam-controlled Republic of South Vietnam (PRG) and North Vietnam merged to form the communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

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