Literature on the History of South East Asia |
Vietnam | North Vietnam |
NARRATIVE . References : Online Secondary Sources . Online Primary Sources . Bibliographic and Print Sources For the time before 1802, see Champa, Cochinchina, Annam For 1802-1859/1885, see Cochinchina, Vietnam 1802-1885 For 1859/1885-1954, see French Cochinchina 1859-1954, French Annam 1885-1954, French Indochina 1887-1954 For since 1975, see History of Vietnam see also History of Mainland Southeast Asia |
NARRATIVE For the country's earlier history, see French Annam, French Cochinchina, French Indochina 1954-1963 . 1963-1975 For the country's later history, see History of 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. |
1963-1975 Administration . On Nov. 2nd 1963 President Diem was ousted in a military coup d'etat. A Revolutionary Military Committee took over, on August 27th replaced by a Provisional Leadership Committee. Elections were held in 1964. Until June 14th 1965, the leaders changed frequently; from 1965 to 1975 Nguyen Van Thieu held the position of Chairman of the Provisional (since 1968 National) Leadership Committee. A new, specifically anti-Communist constitution was adopted in 1967. In 1969 the South Vietnamese Communists established the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Vietnam. Foreign Policy and Vietnam War . The Republic of Vietnam increasingly depended on U.S. financial, technical and military aid. From 1964 onward the Vietnam War escalated; North Vietnam was actively involved the rebellion of South Vietnamese communists; Cambodia pursued a policy benevolent to the rebels and in 1963 cut diplomatic relations with South Vietnam. The USSR, the PR China and the Communist bloc supported the North and the rebels in the South. In 1968 the Communists temporarily managed to get fighters on the roof of the U.S. embassy. In the Vietnam War, on the side of the Republic of Vietnam soldiers from the U.S., Australia (1962-1973), New Zealand (1962-1973), the Republic of Korea (1964-1973), the Philippines and Thailand (1965-1971) fought. Negotiations between the U.S. and the P.R. China, beginning in 1971, began a process of deescalation. The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 between the Republic of Vietnam (the South), the U.S., the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the North) and the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (Communists) resulted in a truce which permitted the U.S. and other western nations to withdraw their troops. In 1975 the Republic of Vietnam fell in a quick campaign (Operation Ho Chi Minh). Vietnam maintained diplomatic relationd with Australia, Belgium, the FR Germany, Italy, the Ivory Coast, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Senegal, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S. (StYB 1970-1971 p.1478). The Economy . In 1963, South Vietnam produced 5.3 million metric tons of rice, in 1973 7.0 million metric tons (IHS p.203). The extensive usage of the defoliant Agent Orange by the U.S. airforce did not only have the immediate effect of making troop movements on the ground visible, but left large tracts of land intoxicated and thus unfit for rice cultivation. Social History . The population of South Vietnam, for 1965, was estimated at 15.1 million, including 677,000 Montagnards and 454,000 Cambodians. In these figures, Vietnam's minority of ethnic Chinese, the Hoa, was included in the Vietnamese population. There were c.800,000 refugees from the North in the country (StYB 1970-1971 p.1475). The war produced internal displacement. Jan Lahmeyer gives the population of the agglomeration of Saigon for 1960 as 1.1 million, for 1968 as 1.25 million, for 1970 as 2 million and for 1973 as 1.76 million. An estimated 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers were killed during the Vietnam War; the number of South Vietnamese civilian dead, due to the war, is estimated at 2 million. Cultural History . In 1965 television broadcasting began in South Vietnam. South Vietnamese athletes participated in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972. Historical Atlas : Vietnam Page Students' Paper : Son, Bo Kyung, The History of Persecution of the Buddhist Faith (2011) Students' Paper : Kim, Youngmin, The South Vietnamese Economy During the Vietnam War, 1954-1975 |
Country Profiles | Modern |
from Wikipedia (South Vietnam) from CIA World Factbook Country : Vietnam from BBC News (Vietnam) from World Desk Reference (Vietnam) Library of Congress Country Studies : Vietnam Article : Republique du Vietnam, from Wikipedia French edition |
Historical |
Links | General |
Category : South Vietnam, from Wikipedia from Univ. Oregon, Asian Studies |
on History |
Organizations |
Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences Vietnamese Studies Group Vietnam Center and Archive, at TTU Vietnam War Historical Society |
Historical Dictionaries |
Timelines |
Timeline Vietnam, 1930-2002, from
BBC News; another one from
Ask Asia (206 BCE - 1073) |
Accounts of History | Modern |
History of Vietnam, from Lonely Planet,
from Asia Tours, 6 chapters;
from World Travel Guide,
from Vietnam, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
from Vietnam Online History of Vietnam, from Vietnam Tourism, 5 chapters, several sub-chapters Article History of Vietnam, from Wikipedia |
Historical |
Specific Periods |
Moments in U.S. Diplomatic History : Viet Cong Invade American Embassy; 1968 Tet Offensive J. Llewellyn et al., South Vietnam under Ngo Dinh Diem |
Historiography |
L.T. Bui, Suspended futures : the Vietnamization of South Vietnamese history and memory,
thesis Univ. of California San Diego 2011 |
Politics |
Article : Viet Cong, from Wikipedia Robert Toppmiller, The Buddhist Crisis of 1964, Selected Papers in Asian Studies 1996 |
Military |
See here Vietnam Wars Internet Project, links, documents, images, maps etc. Orders, Decorations and Medals : South Vietnam Vietnam Service 1962-1973, from Naval Historical Center B. Greiner, Case Study : The March 1968 Massacre in My Lai 4 and My Khe 4, from Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence B.C. Nalty, Air War Over South Vietnam, 1968-1975 2000, IA M.C. Conley, Communist insurgent infrastructure in South Vietnam 1967, IA J.L. Collins, The Development and Training of the South Vietnamese Army, 1950-1972 1991 A Brief History of the Australian Forces in Vietnam 1962-1972 M.D. Pinard, The American and South Vietnamese Pacification Efforts during the Vietnam War, thesis Louisiana State 2002 |
Ethnography |
Languages of Vietnam (103), from Ethnologue Minorities at Risk, scroll down for Vietnam - Chinese, Montagnards List of Ethnic Groups in Vietnam, from Wikipedia M.F. Cohen, "Bring security to the people and not the people to security": security, refugee, and ethnic minority policies and implementation in Vietnam's central highlands, 1968-1975, thesis Kansas State 2011 |
Religion |
Chronology of Catholic Dioceses : Vietnam History of Buddhism in Vietnam, by L. Clark, S. Brown Religions in Vietnam, from Vietnamese Culture Catholicism in Vietnam, by Dang Anh Tuan Catholic Church in Socialist Republic of Vietnam, from GCatholic Robert Toppmiller, The Buddhist Crisis of 1964, Selected Papers in Asian Studies 1996 Article : Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City, from Wikipedia Sacred Texts : Roman Catholicism in South Vietnam P. Hansen, The Virgin heads South: Northern Catholic Refugees in South Vietnam, 1954-64, thesis Melbourne College of Divinity 2009 Mae Chee Huynh Kim Lan, A Study on Theravada Buddhism in Vietnam, thesis Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya Univ. 2010 |
History of Regions |
C.G.C. Hermans,
Tumultuous Tides. Explaining and Understanding the Perpetuation of the South China Sea Conflict, thesis Leiden 2012 |
Local History |
History of Saigon, from Yahoo Travel;
from HVVT, from
Wikipedia History of Hue, from Wikipedia |
Institutions |
Vietnam, from Airline History |
Culture |
Biographies |
Environmental History |
B. Edmoundson, Anatomy of a Tragedy: Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, thesis Columbia 2012 War Legacies Project, Environmental Impacts of Agent Orange in Vietnam |
Others |
Historical Data | Lists of Statesmen |
from World Statesmen (B. Cahoon), scroll down;
from Rulers (B. Schemmel), scroll down Photos of Leaders of Vietnam, posted by Vern Weitzel (COOMBS) |
Lists of Ambassadors |
U.S. Ambassadors to South Vietnam, from NNDB |
Lists of Bishops |
Statistical Data | Responsible Institution |
Population Figures |
Historical Population Statistics : Vietnam, from Population Statistics at Univ. Utrecht |
Documents | Historical Newspapers |
Online Yearbooks - South Vietnam Entries |
Staatskalender |
Newsreels, Films |
Indisch Filmarchief - Netherlands Indies Movies Archive British Pathe Wochenschau-Archiv (in German) Archief Beeld en Geluid : Polygoon (in Dutch) |
Image Databanks |
License Plates : Vietnam, Historical, from Francoplaque Eddie Adams, Man suspected of being a Vietcong being shot in the street, Feb. 1 1968 Nick Ut, Photo of Napalm Girl, June 8 1972 Wikipedia Article U.S. Embassy Saigon : Tet Offensive has several photos of the Viet Cong attack, 31 Jan. to 1 Feb. 1968 |
Archival Deposits |
National Security Archive, search for Vietnam Search CIA Released Documents for Vietnam |
Constitutions |
Laws |
Treaties |
Historiography |
Document Collections |
Indochina - Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, Documents 1950-1964, from
Avalon Project at Yale Law School Documents : Vietnam, from CEAS at UCLA Documents : Vietnam Wars, from Vietnam Wars Internet Project Documents related to the Vietnam War, from Mt. Holyoke (has magazine articles from 1824 onward, documents from 1940 onward) A Selection of Documents in Vietnamese History, translated into English (1945-1992), posted by Vern Weitzel (COOMBS) Context : Kennedy and Foreign Policy, scroll down for Vietnam Document Trail |
Individual Documents |
A "white book" published by the government of South Vietnam :
Communist aggression against the Republic of Viet-nam 1964, IA Land reform failures in Communist North Vietnam 1956 (S. Vietnamese propaganda), IA Viet Cong Pamphlet : The NFL of South Vietnam : the only genuine and legal representative of the South Vietnam people 1965, IA U.S. Committee to Aid the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, Basic structure of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam 1965, Personalities of the Liberation movement of South Vietnam 1965, South Vietnam in struggle, 1968, IA Nationaal Archief (NL), Letter by Dutch Prime Minister de Quay to Vietnamese President Diem June 1 1962, expressing the Dutch government's support of Vietnam vis-a-vis Communist Infiltration, in Dutch |
Historical Maps |
click WHKMLA Historical Atlas, Vietnam Page Map : Indochina, ethnolinguistic groups, 1970, from Perry Castaneda Library, UTexas Maps on Vietnamese History, posted by Vern Weitzel (COOMBS) |
Historical Encyclopedia Entries |
Parliamentary Debates |
Hansard (British Parliament) |
Tour Guides |
Vietnam Tourist Organisation, Visit Fascinating Vietnam 1961, IA |
Travelogues |
Institutions | Archives |
Musea |
Monuments |
Libraries |
National Library of Vietnam, page in Vietnamese |
National Symbols | Flags, Coats of Arms |
Flag, from FOTW |
Coins, Banknotes |
Banknotes of South Vietnam, from World Currency Museum;
of <South Vietnam, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money Coins, from Zeno |
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PRINT SOURCES Bibliographies . Online Libraries . Thesis Servers . Online Journals . General Accounts . Specific Topics . Historical Dictionaries . Statistical Data . Yearbooks |
Bibliographies | general |
Search ISBN Database Search RHS Bibliography UK National Archive Online Library Search DBNG for Siak etc. C. Polin, Recommended books from and about Vietnam 1966, tendentious, pro-Vietcong |
Online Libraries | general |
Internet Archives Gutenberg Library Online e-corpus Gallica |
Thesis Server |
Open Access Theses and Dissertations |
Online Journals |
Directory of Open Access Journals Electronic Journals Online |
General Accounts |
Nicholas Tarling, The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, 4 vol.s, Cambridge : UP (1992) 1999, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959 T188c Stanley Karnow, Vietnam : a History, Penguin (1985) 1991, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.704 K18v |
Specific Periods |
Marvin E. Gettleman (ed.), Vietnam. History, Documents, and Opinions on a Major World Crisis, Greenwich : Fawcett Crest 1965 [G] Allan R. Millett, A Short History of the Vietnam War, Bloomington : Indiana UP 1978 [G] |
Specific Topics |
Phan Phat Huon, History of the Catholic Church in Vietnam, Vol.1 : 1533-1960, Long Beach :Cuu The Tung Thu 2000 [G] Marvin E. Gettleman (ed.), Vietnam. History, Documjents, and Opinions on a Major World Crisis, Grenwich : Fawcett Crest 1965 [G] |
Historical Dictionaries |
William J. Duiker, Historical Dictionary of Vietnam, Metuchen NJ : Scarecrow 1989, 269 pp. [G] Spencer C. Tucker, The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, A Political, Social & Military History, Oxford : UP 1998 [G] |
Historical Atlasses |
Jan M. Pluvier, Historical Atlas of Southeast Asia, Leiden : Brill 1995 [G] |
Statistical Data |
IHS : B.R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics. Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, London : Palgrave 2003 [G] Article : South Vietnam, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.204-205 [G] |
Yearbook Entries | Britannica Book of the Year |
Vietnam, 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,
1964 pp.856-857, 1965 pp.857-859, 1966 pp.797-801, 1967 pp.794-798, 1968 pp.798-802, 1969 pp.790-795, 1970 pp.788-793,
1971 pp.771-775, 1972 pp.725-729, 1973 pp.723-728, 1974 pp.720-726, 1975 pp.727-729, 1976 pp.725-728 [G] |
Statesman's Year-Book |
(South) Vietnam, 1970-1971 pp. 1473-1479, 1975-1976 pp. 1471-1476 [G] |
Americana Annual |
Vietnam, 1957 pp.827-828, 1961 pp.811-812, 1962 pp.818-820, 1963 pp.727-730, 1964 pp.710-713,
1965 pp.733-736, 1967 pp.734-739, 1968 pp.731-738, 1969 pp.735-742, 1970 pp.736-742, 1971 pp.741-743, 1972 pp.739-741,
1973 pp.737-739, 1974 pp.647-649, 1976 pp.103, 588-591 [G] |
YB on Int'l Communist Affairs | Republic of Vietnam 1968 pp.663-681, 1973 pp.567-579, 1974 pp.559-574 |