Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam

Chính phủ Cách mạng lâm thời Cộng hoà miền Nam Việt Nam Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Provisional government ← 1969–1976 → Flag Anthem Giải phóng miền Nam (To Liberate the South) Capital Ho Chi Minh City Language(s) Vietnamese Religion Buddhism, Roman Catholicism Government Socialist republic Chairman of Consultative Council Nguyen Huu Tho Chairman of Consultative Council Huynh Tan Phat Historical era Cold War  - PRG founded June 8, 1969  - Unification with North Vietnam July 2, 1976 Area  - 1973 173,809 km2 (67,108 sq mi) Population  - 1973 est. 19,370,000       Density 111.4 /km2  (288.6 /sq mi) Currency Liberation dong

History of Vietnam

Hồng Bàng Dynasty prior to 257 BC Thục Dynasty 257–207 BC First Chinese domination 207 BC – 39 AD • Triệu Dynasty 207–111 BC Trưng Sisters 40–43 Second Chinese domination 43–544 • Lady Triệu's Rebellion 248 Early Lý Dynasty 544–602 • Triệu Việt Vương Third Chinese domination 602–905 • Mai Hắc Đế 722 • Phùng Hưng 791–798 Autonomy 905–938 • Khúc Family 906–930 • Dương Đình Nghệ 931–937 • Kiều Công Tiễn 937–938 Ngô Dynasty 939–967 • The 12 Lords Rebellion 966–968 Đinh Dynasty 968–980 Early Lê Dynasty 980–1009 Lý Dynasty 1009–1225 Trần Dynasty 1225–1400 Hồ Dynasty 1400–1407 Fourth Chinese domination 1407–1427 • Later Trần Dynasty 1407–1413 • Lam Sơn Rebellion 1418–1427 Later Lê Dynasty 1428–1788 • Early Lê 1428–1788 • Restored Lê 1533–1788 • Mạc Dynasty 1527–1592 • Southern and Northern Dynasties 1533–1592 • Trịnh-Nguyễn War 1627–1673 Tây Sơn Dynasty 1778–1802 Nguyễn Dynasty 1802–1945 • Western imperialism 1887–1945 • Empire of Vietnam 1945 Indochina Wars 1945–1975 Partition of Vietnam 1954 • Democratic Republic  of Vietnam 1945–1976 • State of Vietnam 1949–1955 • Republic of Vietnam 1955–1975 • Provisional Revolutionary  Government 1975–1976 Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 1976 Related topics Champa Dynasties 192–1471 List of Vietnamese monarchs Economic history of Vietnam Prehistoric cultures of Vietnam v • d • e

The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chính phủ Cách mạng lâm thời Cộng hoà miền Nam Việt Nam), or PRG, was formed on June 8, 1969 as an underground government opposed to the South Vietnamese government of President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. Delegates of the National Liberation Front, or Vietcong, as well as several smaller groups, participated in the creation of the PRG. The PRG was recognized as the government of South Vietnam by most communist states. It signed 1973 Paris Peace Treaty as a separate party. It became the provisional government of South Vietnam following the military defeat of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam on April 30, 1975. On July 2, 1976, the PRG and North Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

History

PRG was established on June 8, 1969 during a series of meetings held at a location on Route 22 near the Cambodia-South Vietnamese border. (The Vietcong was for the most part driven into Cambodia in the aftermath of the Tet offensive.) The main purpose of the new group was to help the Vietcong "acquire a new international stature," according to Justice Minister Truong Nhu Trang.^[1] There were delegates from the NLF, the Alliance of National, Democratic and Peace Forces, the People's Revolutionary Party (South Vietnamese communist party), and "the usual assortment of mass organizations, ethnic groups, and geopolitical regions."^[2] "South Vietnam is independent, democratic, peaceful, and neutral," according to one banner displayed prominently at the convention.^[2]

It reflected a number of nationalist, anti-imperialist and communist political viewpoints, including those of the Vietnam Workers Party (North Vietnamese communist party). Following the military and political results of the 1968 Tet Offensive and related military offensives in the South, in which the Vietcong suffered serious military losses, the PRG was envisioned as a political counter-force that could influence international public opinion in support of national independence and in opposition to the U.S. and the Republic of Vietnam.^[3]

The declared purpose of the PRG was to provide a formal NLF governmental structure and enhance its claim of representing "the Southern people".^[4] Included in this strategy was the pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the war leading to reunification. It was organized during the initial phase of the U.S. policy of Vietnamization, which was devised by U.S. President Richard Nixon and his national security advisor Henry Kissinger early in their administration.

During the period 1969-1970, most of the PRG's cabinet ministries operated near the Cambodia border. These areas were targeted by the invasion of Cambodia, in April 1970, attempted by ARVN and US forces. The central bodies of the PRG thus functioned as a government in exile. The PRG maintained diplomatic relations with many so-called 'non-aligned' countries, such as Algeria, as well as with the Soviet Union and with the People's Republic of China.

After the surrender of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the PRG assumed power in the South and subsequently participated in the political reunification of the country.

Personnel

National anthem

The national anthem of the Government was To Liberate the South (Vietnamese: Giải phóng miền Nam). The song was written in 1961 by Luu Huu Phuoc (Vietnamese: Lưu Hữu Phước, 1921-1989) and adopted at that time as the anthem of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam.

Origin of name

Since the Revolutions of 1848, the term provisional government has referred to liberal government created to prepared for democratic elections that would establish government on a permanent basis. Bolshevik leader Lenin defined a provisional revolutionary government as one that appeals to the people, but where workers and peasants "take the initiative."^[5] A PRG would, "convene on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot a constituent assembly," Lenin added.^[6] Algeria's National Liberation Front, a model for revolutionaries in the 1960s and 1970s, created a Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic in 1958. (This name is a variation of Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944-1946).)

References

Further reading

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

External links

Government

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

Leaders

• Rulers (Vietnam)
• WORLD STATESMEN, Vietnam (including South Vietnam)

National anthem

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