Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam

The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, , chữ Hán: ), was formed on 8 June 1969, by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), as an armed rival government opposing the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) under President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. Delegates of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong), as well as several smaller groups, participated in its creation.

The PRG was recognized as the government of South Vietnam by most communist states and Malta. It signed the 1973 Paris Peace Treaty as an independent entity, separate from both South Vietnam and North Vietnam. After the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, the PRG formally replaced the Republic of Vietnam to become the nominal and representative government of South Vietnam under the official name Republic of South Vietnam (), assuming the properties, rights, and obligations of the former Republic of Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, the Republic of South Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam constitutionally merged to form the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

History The Provisional Revolutionary Government was preceded by the Vietnam Alliance of National, Democratic, and Peaceful Forces (VANDPF) made up of anti-government forces and headed by Trinh Dinh Thao. The Alliance was a collection of individuals who wanted a new South Vietnamese government but disagreed with the ever-present Northern Communist presence.

Discussions about forming an alliance had begun as early as 1966, but plans were disrupted when South Vietnamese intelligence agents apprehended a prominent anti-government figure, Ba Tra. Ba Tra gave the South Vietnamese government extensive information on anti-government forces working in the city. This setback was compounded by his identification of one of the key cadre in the financial division.

Under torture, Ba Tra identified more figures in the underground, who were then arrested. By 1967, the entire Saigon organization had been sent further underground.

In early 1969, the then-new American president, Richard Nixon, started a process of Vietnamization to allow the United States Armed Forces to withdraw from South Vietnam.

1969–1975 On 8 June 1969 delegates from the Vietcong, the VANDPF, the People's Revolutionary Party (the South Vietnamese communist party) and "the usual assortment of mass organizations, ethnic groups, and geopolitical regions" met off Route 22 in Cambodia's Fishhook region and formed the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG). Banners displayed prominently at the convention proclaimed that "South Vietnam is independent, democratic, peaceful, and neutral".

Following the military and political results of the 1968 Tet Offensive and related military offensives in the South by Saigon and the United States, 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 reunification and in opposition to the United States and South Vietnam.

The declared purpose of the PRG was to provide a formal governmental structure to the NLF and enhance its claim of representing "the Southern people". Included in this strategy was the pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the war leading to reunification, organized during the initial phase of Vietnamization. According to Justice Minister Trương Như Tảng, the new group's main purpose was to help the NLF "acquire a new international stature."

During 1969–70, most of the PRG's cabinet ministries operated near the Cambodian border. Starting on 29 March to late April 1970, the US and South Vietnamese offensives forced the PRG to flee deeper into Cambodia. The stressful escape caused many of the PRG officials (such as Trương Như Tạng) to need extensive medical furloughs. After Trương Như Tạng returned, he noticed that new cadres from the north were causing problems for the non-communist members of the PRG. One member in particular, Ba Cap, harshly denounced most of the PRG as bourgeois. Tạng complained to the higher members of the DRV government, but was rebuffed. Tạng later saw this as the point when the PRG turned from being an independent South Vietnam-based alternative government to being a mouthpiece for the communist movement.

The central bodies of the PRG functioned as a provisional government. The PRG maintained diplomatic relations with many countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, such as Algeria and SFR Yugoslavia as well as with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.

1975–1976 After the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, the PRG assumed power in South Vietnam and subsequently participated in the reunification of Vietnam.

According to professor Ngô Vĩnh Long (University of Maine), in mid-July 1975, the delegates of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Nguyễn Văn Lưu) and the Republic of South Vietnam (Đinh Bá Thi) applied to join the United Nations (UN) as two independent member states. However, both countries failed in joining the United Nations due to American vetoes on 11 August and 30 September 1975 as the USSR and China refused to allow South Korea to join the organization on 6 August. However, North Vietnam and North Vietnamese-occupied South Vietnam became two UN observers in 1975. Kuwait was the last country to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of South Vietnam on 22 and 24 January 1976, before North and South Vietnam were eventually reunited on 2 July 1976.

Government and politics The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam was centralised as a part of the ideology of democratic centralism.

Cabinet Post Name Took office Left office Party Chairman of Consultative Council (Head of State) Nguyễn Hữu Thọ 6 June 1969 2 July 1976 People's Revolutionary Party and Democratic Party of Vietnam Chairman of Government (Prime Minister and de facto leader) Huỳnh Tấn Phát 8 June 1969 2 July 1976 People's Revolutionary Party and Democratic Party of Vietnam Vice-chairman Phung Van Cung 8 June 1969 1976 Democratic Party of Vietnam Vice-chairman Nguyễn Văn Kiệt 8 June 1969 1976 Vice-chairman Nguyen Doa 8 June 1969 1976 Minister of Presidential Palace of Government Tran Buu Kiem 8 June 1969 1976 People's Revolutionary Party and Democratic Party of Vietnam Minister of Defense Trần Nam Trung8 June 1969 1976 People's Revolutionary Party Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Thị Bình 8 June 1969 1976 People's Revolutionary Party Minister of the Interior Phung Van Cung 8 June 1969 1976 Minister of Justice Trương Như Tảng 8 June 1969 1976 Minister of Economy and Finance Cao Van BonDuong Ky Hiep (acting from 1975) 8 June 1969 died 1971 Minister of Information and Culture Lưu Hữu Phước 8 June 1969 1976 Minister of Education and Youth Nguyễn Văn Kiệt 8 June 1969 1976 Minister of Health, Social Action and Disabled Soldiers Dương Quỳnh Hoa 8 June 1969 1976 People's Revolutionary Party

Foreign relations Within a year of its establishment in 1969, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam was recognized by 25 countries and established diplomatic relations with them.阮文广大使举行盛大招待会热烈庆祝越南南方共和临时革命政府成立一周年.《人民日报》1970年6月7日：“（阮文广说）截至目前为止，她已获得二十五个国家的承认并建立了外交关系，同时以不同的形式或程度与其他四十多个国家建立了关系。越南南方共和临时革命政府的国际威望日益空前的提高。” By July 1976, before the formal reunification of North and South Vietnam, the Republic of South Vietnam had been recognized by 80 countries and established diplomatic relations with 71 of them.越南南方解放以来三十个国家决定同越南南方共和建交.《人民日报》1975年6月8日 CountryDate of RecognitionDate of diplomatic relationsNotes11 June 196911 June 196911 June 196911 June 196911 June 196911 June 196912 June 196912 June 196912 June 196912 June 196913 June 196913 June 196913 June 196913 June 196914 June 1969 14 June 196914 June 196914 June 196916 June 196916 June 196929 June 196920 June 196924 June 196924 June 196927 June 196927 June 196929 June 196929 June 19692 July 19692 July 19698 July 19698 July 19697 August 196922 August 19697 November 196925 November 19699 November 196929 November 196915 November 19698 December 196924 December 19698 July 197011 April 197023 April 1970This date marks the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Vietnam and the United Arab Republic.14 July 1970 24 June 1975 This date marks the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Vietnam and Ceylon.29 April 197122 May 197110 October 197114 February 1972 21 February 197225 February 1972 8 September 19728 September 1972 Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, the Republic of South Vietnam severed diplomatic relations with Chile on 14 September 197330 September 1972 17 January 197522 December 197219 April 19757 February 19739 February 1973 14 March 197314 March 1973 This date marks the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Vietnam and Dahomey.22 March 197316 April 19733 July 19733 July 1973 24 July 197325 July 19732 September 19738 September 1973 2 September 19738 September 197328 September 1973 20 May 1974 5 October 197324 October 197310 June 1974 10 June 197414 June 1974 13 September 1974 13 November 1974 1 January 19759 January 1975 5 March 19758 March 1975 15 March 197515 March 1975 5 April 19755 April 1975 30 April 1975 12 August 1975 1 May 1975 2 May 1975 13 July 1975 2 May 1975 4 July 19752 May 1975 2 May 197530 May 19752 May 19752 May 19753 May 1975 1 July 197511 May 1975 15 May 1975 20 June 1975 14 May 1975 15 May 1975 8 August 1975 16 May 1975 22 May 197526 May 1975 25 May 197530 May 1975 26 May 1975 4 July 1975 May 1975 26 May 1975 26 May 1975 5 November 197526 May 1975 26 May 197531 May 1975 23 June 1975 31 May 1975 9 July 1975 31 May 1975 25 June 197525 June 197525 June 197527 June 1975 9 July 1975 22 June 1975 20 June 1975 24 June 197520 June 197526 June 19752 May 19752 May 19753 July 197510 July 1975 7 July 197510 July 1975 8 August 197515 August 1975 28 August 197528 August 19756 October 19756 October 1975 22 January 197624 January 1976

Culture Music The national anthem of the Government was Liberate the South (Vietnamese: ). The song was written in 1961 by Lưu Hữu Phước (1921–1989) and adopted at that time as the anthem of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong).

In 1966, Lưu Hữu Phước wrote a military song () as an encouragement the soldiers going to attack Saigon in the Tet Offensive. The song was spread again during the fall of Saigon.

Photos

Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam

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