State of Vietnam

Template:Pp Template:Short description Template:About Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox former country

File:First Indochina War map 1954 en.svg

Violet indicates territories controlled by the Associated States of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, early 1954.

Template:History of Vietnam The State of VietnamTemplate:Efn (Template:Langx; Chữ Hán: 國家越南; Template:Langx) was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country (from 4 June 1954 to 26 October 1955). The state claimed authority over all of Vietnam during the First Indochina War, although large parts of its territory were controlled by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The state was created in 1949 by France as part of the French Union<ref>Hammer, Ellen J. "The Bao Dai Experiment". Pacific Affairs, vol. 23, no. 1, Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia, 1950, p. 55, {{#invoke:doi|main}}.</ref> and was internationally recognised in 1950. Former Emperor Bảo Đại became Chief of State. After the 1954 Geneva Agreements, the State of Vietnam lost its remaining foothold in the northern part of the country, most of which was already controlled by the Việt Minh.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Ngô Đình Diệm was appointed prime minister the same year and—after having ousted Bảo Đại in 1955—became president of the Republic of Vietnam.

HistoryEdit

Vietnam after the World War IIEdit

Template:See also The 16th parallel was established by the Allies on August 2, 1945, following the Potsdam Conference, dividing the former French Indochina into two military zones: Chinese Nationalist forces occupied the north, and British forces the south, to disarm Japanese troops.<ref name="HD 16th">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The Viet Minh launched the August Revolution to seek control in Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV).

Beginning in August 1945, the Viet Minh sought to consolidate power by terrorizing and purging rival Vietnamese nationalist groups and Trotskyist activists.<ref name="Guillemot 2004">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn On September 23, the British supported a French coup de force that overthrew the DRV government in Saigon and attempted to reinstate French control over southern Indochina.<ref name="23 Sept">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> In 1946, the Franco-Chinese and Ho–Sainteny Agreements enabled French forces to replace the Chinese north of the 16th parallel and facilitated a coexistence between the DRV and the French that strengthened the Viet Minh while undermining the nationalists.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn That summer, the Viet Minh colluded with French forces to eliminate nationalists, targeted for their ardent anti-colonialism.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn<ref name="Guillemot 2004"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Tran 2023">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

With most of the nationalist partisans defeated,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn and negotiations broken down, tensions between the Viet Minh and French authorities erupted into full-scale war in December 1946,Template:Sfn a conflict which became entwined with the Cold War. Surviving nationalist partisans and politico-religious groups rallied behind the exiled Bảo Đại to reopen negotiations with France in opposition to communist domination.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

On June 5, 1948, the Halong Bay Agreements (Accords de la baie d’Along) allowed the foundation of a unified Vietnamese government replacing the governments of Tonkin (North Vietnam) and Annam (Middle Vietnam) associated to France within the French Union. The Associated States of Indochina then also included the neighboring Kingdom of Laos and Kingdom of Cambodia. Cochinchina (South Vietnam), however, had a different status, both as a colony and as an autonomous republic, and its reunification with the rest of Vietnam had to be approved by its local assembly, and then by the French National Assembly. During the transitional period, a Provisional Central Government of Vietnam was proclaimed: Nguyễn Văn Xuân, until then head of the Provisional Government of South Vietnam (as Cochinchina had been known since 1947), became its president, while Bảo Đại waited for a complete reunification to take office.

Associated State in the French UnionEdit

Template:Also On May 20, 1949, the French National Assembly approved the reunification of Cochinchina with the rest of Vietnam. The decision took effect on June 4 and the State of Vietnam was officially proclaimed on July 2. From 1949 to 1954, after reunification with Cochinchina, the State of Vietnam had partial autonomy from France as an associated state within the French Union.

Bảo Đại fought against communist leader Hồ Chí Minh for legitimacy as the legitimate government of Vietnam through the struggle between the Vietnamese National Army and the Việt Minh during the First Indochina War.

The State of Vietnam found support from the French Fourth Republic and the United States while Ho Chi Minh's DRV was backed by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union (since 1950). Roughly 60% of Vietnamese territory was under Viet Minh control in 1952.<ref>Pierre Montagnon, L'Indochine française, Tallandier, 2016, p. 325</ref> However, most urban areas with large populations remained under the control of the State of Vietnam. While the State of Vietnam aligned with the anticommunist Western Bloc, the French exploited it to extend their colonial presence and to bolster their standing within NATO.Template:Sfn

Partition (1954–55)Edit

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File:French Indochina post partition.png

Indochina after the Geneva Conference.

After the Geneva Conference of 1954, as well as becoming fully independent with its departure from the French Union, the State of Vietnam became territorially confined to those lands of Vietnam south of the 17th parallel, and as such became commonly known as Republic of Vietnam. Communist forces entered Hanoi on 10 October 1954.

The massive semi-voluntary migration of anti-communist north Vietnamese, largely Catholics, proceeded during the French-American Operation Passage to Freedom from 1954 to 1955. Template:Clearleft

PoliticsEdit

Provisional Central Government of Vietnam (1948–49)Edit

On May 27, 1948, Nguyễn Văn Xuân, then President of the Republic of Cochinchina, became President of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam (Thủ tướng lâm thời) following the merging of the government of Cochin China and Vietnam in what is sometimes referred as "Pre-Vietnam".

State of Vietnam (1949–55)Edit

On June 14, 1949, Bảo Đại was appointed Chief of State (Quốc trưởng) of the State of Vietnam; he was concurrently Prime Minister for a short while (Kiêm nhiệm Thủ tướng).

On October 26, 1955, the Republic of Vietnam was established and Ngô Đình Diệm became the first President of the Republic.

Leaders (1948–55)Edit

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	Name	Took office	Left office	Title
	Nguyễn Văn Xuân	May 27, 1948	July 14, 1949	President of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam
1	Bảo Đại	July 14, 1949	January 21, 1950	Prime Minister; remained Chief of State throughout the State of Vietnam
2	Nguyễn Phan Long	January 21, 1950	April 27, 1950	Prime Minister
3	Trần Văn Hữu	May 6, 1950	June 3, 1952	Prime Minister
4	Nguyễn Văn Tâm	June 23, 1952	December 7, 1953	Prime Minister
5	Bửu Lộc	January 11, 1954	June 16, 1954	Prime Minister
6	Ngô Đình Diệm	June 16, 1954	October 26, 1955	Prime Minister

1955 referendum, Republic of VietnamEdit

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In South Vietnam, a referendum was scheduled for 23 October 1955 to determine the future direction of the south, in which the people would choose Diệm or Bảo Đại as the leader of South Vietnam.<ref>Moyar, p. 54.</ref> During the election, Diệm's brother Ngô Đình Nhu and the Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party (commonly known as "Cần Lao Party") supplied Diệm's electoral base in organizing and supervising the elections, especially the propaganda campaign for destroying Bảo Đại's reputation. Supporters of Bảo Đại were not allowed to campaign, and were physically attacked by Nhu's workers.<ref name="karnow55"/> Official results showed 98.2 per cent of voters favoured Diệm, an implausibly high result that was condemned as fraudulent. The total number of votes far exceeded the number of registered voters by over 380,000, further evidence that the referendum was heavily rigged.<ref name="karnow55">Karnow, pp. 223–24</ref><ref name="jacobs">Jacobs, p. 95.</ref> For example, only 450,000 voters were registered in Saigon, but 605,025 were said to have voted for Diệm. On 26 October, Diệm proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam—widely known as South Vietnam—whose reformed army, with American assistance, pursued the conflict with North Vietnam; the Viet Cong replaced the Viet Minh, in the Vietnam War.<ref name=jacobs/>

MilitaryEdit

Vietnamese National Army (1949–55)Edit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Following the signing of the 1949 Élysée Accords in Paris, Bảo Đại was able to create a National Army for defense purposes.

It fought under the State of Vietnam's banner and leadership and was commanded by General Nguyễn Văn Hinh.

File:French Indochina 100 Piastres.png

A 100 piastres sample note of 1954.

EconomyEdit

CurrencyEdit

The currency used within the French Union was the French Indochinese piastre. Notes were issued and managed by the "Issue Institute of the States of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam" (Institut d’Emission des Etats du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêt-Nam).

Foreign relationsEdit

By 1950, a number of countries recognized the State of Vietnam:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Columns-list

Administrative divisionsEdit

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Autonomous regionsEdit

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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").<ref name="Mocban-State-of-Vietnam-administrative-divisions">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These ordinances divided the State of Vietnam into three large autonomous regions, namely Bắc Việt (former Tonkin), Trung Việt (former Annam), and Nam Việt (former Cochinchina), the local government of each autonomous region was headed by a Thủ hiến (Governour).<ref name="Mocban-State-of-Vietnam-administrative-divisions"/> Since 1948, the three regions had also been referred to as Bắc Phần, Trung Phần, and Nam Phần.

On 4 August 1954 the government of the State of Vietnam enacted Ordinance No. 21 which abolished the autonomous status of the three regions and abolished the post of regional governour, replacing them with central government representatives in all parts of its territory.<ref name="Mocban-State-of-Vietnam-administrative-divisions"/>

Domain of the CrownEdit

The Domain of the Crown (Template:Vie; French: Domaine de la Couronne) was originally the Nguyễn dynasty's geopolitical concept for its protectorates and principalities where the Kinh ethnic group didn't make up the majority, later it became a type of administrative unit of the State of Vietnam.<ref name="Anh-Thái-Phượng">Anh Thái Phượng. Trăm núi ngàn sông: Tập I. Gretna, LA: Đường Việt Hải ngoại, 2003. Page: 99. (in Vietnamese).</ref> It was officially established on 15 April 1950 and dissolved on 11 March 1955.<ref name="Anh-Thái-Phượng"/> In the areas of the Domain of the Crown Chief of State Bảo Đại was still officially (and legally) titled as the "Emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty".<ref name="Lê-Đình-Chi">Lê Đình Chi. Người Thượng Miền Nam Việt Nam. Gardena, California: Văn Mới, 2006. Pages: 401-449. (in Vietnamese).</ref>

The Domain of the Crown contained the following five provinces established from the former Montagnard country of South Indochina:<ref name="Lê-Đình-Chi"/><ref name="Nhân-Dân-Hoàng-triều-Cương-thổ-2020-1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In Bắc phần it contained the following provinces:<ref name="Lê-Đình-Chi"/><ref name="Nhân-Dân-Hoàng-triều-Cương-thổ-2020-1"/>