Republic of South Vietnam

Encyclopedia : R : RE : REP : Republic of South Vietnam

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Cộng Hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam

([Link])
Official language	Vietnamese
Capital	Saigon
Chairman	Huynh Tan Phat
Prime Minister	Nguyen Huu Tho
Area  - Total	173,809 km²
population  - Total  - Density	19,370,000 (1973 est.) 111.4/km²(1973 est.)
Independence  - Declared  - Recognized  - Dissolved	From South Vietnam government 8 June, 1969 April 30, 1975 July 2, 1976
Currency	Liberation dong
Time zone	UTC +7
National anthem	To Liberate the South
Caution: This data only applies to a communist provisional government that existed in South Vietnamses territory under the military occupation of North Vietnam from 1975-1976, "Population" excepted.

The Republic of South Vietnam (Vietnamese: Cộng Hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam) was a communist provisional government which claimed to represent South Vietnam following the defeat of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, on April 30, 1975. This shadow government known as the PRG or Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam was formed on June 8, 1969. It remained an underground government until the surrender of the South. After which, it was transformed into a provisional government that had no governing authority. South Vietnam remained under the military occupation by North Vietnam for the entire duration of the provisional government.

The Republic of South Vietnam existed in South Vietnam for 15 months as a puppet state of North Vietnam. On July 2, 1976, the Republic of South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) were officially unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam commonly called "Vietnam".

Government

The government of the Republic of South Vietnam was the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chính Phủ Cách Mạng Lâm Thời Cộng Hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam), often abbreviated to PRG. The PRG was largely a meaningless entity as South Vietnam was under the military rule of North Vietnam. The PRG had no other role than to rubber stamp the instruments of Vietnamese unification as written by North Vietnam. The PRG afterward attempted to explain its puppet status by claiming that it was just a provisional government and that the PRG trusted their comrades from North Vietnam to manage the affairs of the south until unification was completed.

History

The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRC) was an provisional government formed on June 8, 1969 in opposition to the Republic of Vietnam.

The PRG was formed by the National Liberation Front (NLF); the Alliance of National, Democratic and Peace Forces; and the People's Revolutionary Party. Although notionally non-partisan, and including a number of political viewpoints, in reality it was controlled by the North Vietnamese Communist government which backed it. The NLF's losses in the Tet Offensive had resulted in its destruction as a useful organization. The PRG was created after Tet to give the impression that the NLF was still a strong force rather than an organization whose strength was made up of soldiers from North Vietnam.

It proclaimed that its purpose was to assume power following the presumed victory of the opponents of the Republic of Vietnam (i.e. after the end of the Vietnam War). In reality, it was formed in large part as a political maneuver to provide a vehicle which could be used to undermine support for the policy of Vietnamization, particularly among the people of South Vietnam. It was also used for propaganda purposes as a means of claiming that opposition to South Vietnam was broadly based and not simply based around the communist party of North Vietnam.

During the period 1969-1970, most of the PRG's cabinet ministries operated inside Cambodia. It was driven deeper into Cambodia in April of 1970 by an offensive mounted by ARVN and US forces. For most of its existence thereafter it operated in exile.

Although it was a government of sorts, it did not present a serious challenge to the authority of the existing South Vietnamese government, which was only really vulnerable to a direct military attack from North Vietnam (which was eventually the reason for its demise).

After the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the PRG in theory assumed power as the Republic of South Vietnam but in practice had no authority at all.

Personnel

The personnels in the PRG was the members of the National Liberation Front which Communist "Vietcong" front grouping.

Post	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Note
Chairman	Huynh Tan Phat	8 June 1969	2 July 1976	None
Vice-Chairman	Phung Van Cung	?	?
Vice-Chairman	Nguyen Van Kiet	?	?
Vice-Chairman	Nguyen Doa	?	?
Prime Minister	Nguyen Huu Tho	8 June 1969	2 July 1976	None
Minister of Defense	Tram Nam Trung	?	?
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Nguyen Thi Binh	?	?
Minister of the Interior	Phung Van Cung	?	?
Minister of Justice	Truong Nhu Tang	?	?
Minister of Economy and Finance	Cao Van Bon	?	?
Minister of Information and Culture	Luu Huu Phuoc	?	?
Minister of Education and Youth	Nguyen Van Kiet	?	?
Minister of Health	Duong Quynh Hoa	?	?

National anthem

The national anthem of the Government was "To Liberate the South" (Vietnamese: "Giải phóng miền Nam"). The song was actually written in 1961 as the song of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, and it was adopted as the national anthem by the Republic of South Vietnam in 8 June, 1969. The choice of the song was seen as further proof that the Republic of South Vietnam was nothing more than the NLF under a different name. It was written and composed by Luu Huu Phuoc (Vietnamese: Lưu Hữu Phước, 1921-1989) after he converted to Communism.

Vietnamese words Giải phóng miền Nam, chúng ta cùng quyết tiến bước. Diệt Đế quốc Mỹ, phá tan bè lũ bán nước. Ôi xương tan máu rơi, long hân thù ngất trời. Sông núi bao nhiêu năm cắt rời. Đây Cửu Long hùng tráng, Đây Trường Sơn vinh quang. Thúc giục đoàn ta xung phong đi giết thù. Vai sát vai chung một bóng cờ. Vùng lên! Nhân dân miền Nam anh hùng! Vùng lên! Xông pha vượt qua bão bùng. Thề cứu lấy nước nhà! Thề hy sinh đến cùng! Cầm gươm, ôm sung, xông tới! Vận nước đã đên rồi. Bình minh chiếu khắp nơi. Nguyện xây non nước sáng tươi muôn đời.

English Translation To liberate the South, we decided to advance. To defeat the American Empire, and destroy the country sellers. Oh bones have broken, and blood has fallen, the hatred is rising high Our country has been separated for so long. Here, the sacred Cuu Long river, here, glorious Truong Son Mountains Are urging us to advance to kill the enemy, Arm-by-arm under a common flag Arise! ye brave people of the South Arise! Let us go through storms. We'll save the homeland, we'll sacrifice ourselves to the end. Hold your swords and guns and go forward! The chance is coming, the sun shines everywhere, We'll build up our country shining forever.

Further reading

• Truong Nhu Tang, David Chanoff, Doan Van Toai, A Viet Cong Memoir (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1985)

External links

Government

• [Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (1969-1975)]

Leaders

• [Rulers (Vietnam)]
• [WORLD STATESMEN, Vietnam (include South Vietnam)]

National anthem

• ["Ethnic Music" Room] (“Words” is Japanese version only.)

 

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