Vietnam, 1945-1954 South Vietnam
1963-1975







South Vietnam, 1954-1963


The Creation of the Republic of Vietnam At the Geneva Conference of 1954, the partition of French Indochina into 4 independent states - Laos, Cambodia, a State of Vietnam (i.e. South Vietnam) and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Communist North Vietnam) was decided. Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th degree northern latitude.

Foreign Policy . In 1954 SEATO extended the States of Cambodia and Laos and the free territory under the jurisdiction of the State of Vietnam into the area where SEATO responsibilities might apply; but SEATO never interfered in the Indochina Wars, because SEATO interference required unaminity which was never reached.
The Republic of Vietnam maintained diplomatic relations with Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, the Republic of China (Taiwan), France, the FR Germany, Italy, the Ivory Coast, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Madagascar, the Federation of Malaya, Mali, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Senegal, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. (StYB 1960-61 p.1569).

Administration . In 1955 the State of Vietnam became the Republic of Vietnam, capital Saigon. Emperor Bao Dai was deposed in a 1955 referendum. Following the election of 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem assumed the presidency. A constitution was promulgated in 1956. All-Vietnamese elections, scheduled for 1956 by the Geneva Accords, were not held. A coup attempt in 1960 failed; in 1962 an air force pilot dropped bombs on the presidential palace. In a 1963 coup, finally, President Diem was ousted and assassinated.

Domestic Policies . President Diem was a nepotist and favoured Catholicism over Buddhism. Catholics were treated preferentially when it came to hiring for the state service, promotions; Catholics were exempted from a form of corvee labour the government imposed on its citizens. In 1963, Buddhist monk expressed his protest against the government's religious policy by setting himself on fire. This case of self-immolation made headlines the world over.
President Diem's Catholicism affected policies and legislation; brothels and opium dens were closed, divorce and abortion made illegal (Wikipedia : Diem).
The country's ethnic Chinese minority, the Hoa, werre compelled to vietnamize their names.
President Diem was anti-Communist; real and perceived Communists were exposed to arrest, torture and even execution; the number of victims of politically motivated killings by the government is estimated at 50,000 (Wikipedia : Diem).
President Diem undid a land reformimplemented by the Vietminh during the war against the French, and in 1956 reluctantly had a law passed which limited the amount of land an individual could own, freeing land to be distributed to peasants. Land owned by the Catholic Church was exempted. Only 13 % of the land in Vietnam was redistributed; the peasants complained about the high costs of the land offered in the process.
President Diem ordered the inhabitants of the Central Highlands to be resettled in strategic hamlets (1961ff).

Civil War . When the all-Vietnamese elections scheduled for 1956 were not held in South Vietnam, the country's Communists vowed to take up violent resistance. In 1960 the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam was established (supported by the North).

The Economy . In 1955 the Republic of Vietnam introduced the (South) Vietnamese Dong, replacing the Indochina Piaster; banknotes were issued by the National Bank of Vietnam (South).
In 1954, South Vietnam produced 2.3 million metric tons of rice, in 1963 5.2 million metric tons (IHS p.203).

Social History . In 1959 the population of the Republic of Vietnam was estimated at 13.8 million, including 126,000 Chinese, 231,000 Cambodians and 12,000 French (StYB 1961-62 p.1565).

Cultural History . South Vietnamese athletes participated in the Summer Olympics in Melbourne 1956 and Rome 1960.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article South Vietnamese Election of 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnam, 1960 South Vietnamese Coup Attempt, South Vietnamese Presidential Palace Bombing 1962, National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, Strategic Hamlet Program, Thich Quang Duc, Vietnam at the 1956 Summer Olympics, Vietnam at the 1960 Summer Olympics, Hoa : History, from Wikipedia
A Global History of Currencies : Viet Nam
The Wars for Vietnam 1945 to 1975, by Vassar College
DOCUMENTS South Vietnamese Statesmen, from World Statesmen, by Ben Cahoon
Flag of the Republic of Vietnam, from Wikipedia, from FOTW
South Vietnam Dong, from Wikipedia
REFERENCE IHS : International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, edited by B.R. Mitchell, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 4th ed. 2003
Article : Vietnam, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1956 pp.733-734, 1957 pp.796-797, 1958 p.737, 1959 p.736, 1960 pp.735-736, 1961 pp.737-738, 1962 pp.726-728, 1963 p.842
Article : Vietnam, in : Americana Annual 1957 pp.827-828, 1961 pp.811-812, 1962 pp.818-820, 1963 pp.727-730 [G]
Documents on the Vietnam War, posted by Vassar College
Protocol to SEATO Treaty, September 8 1954, posted by Vassar College


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 19th 2002, last revised on June 5th 2007

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