The National Social Democratic Front (), later named the Social Democratic Alliance (), was a

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

ese political party which was effectively a federation of different groups, united by their

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

stance. Its chairman was Lt. Gen.

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...

, leader of South Vietnam from 1965–1975.

History

Democratic Progressive Party

The party was founded as the Democratic Progressive Party () or simply Democratic Party () by Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in 1967. It was not linked with its

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

namesake A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...

, aligned with the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

and

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

. The Democratic Party, purportedly representing farmers, workers and small traders, participated in the presidential election of 1967, supporting President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and his military rule. The party also adopted the flag of the National Revolutionary Movement and the Vanguard Youth, a youth organization that participated to

August Revolution The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...

in 1945 against French colonial rule.

National Social Democratic Front

As the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

flared up, the Democratic Party tried to build a coalition with other anti-communist parties. In May 1969, the Democrats finally dissolved and formed a new party, the National Social Democratic Front. The party quickly became a federation of several organizations and parties, such as persecuted

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

who fled from North Vietnam; the Vietnam Republic Veterans Association, who sympathized with military rule; the Vietnamese

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

, ideologically opposed to

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

like its Chinese counterpart; the Democratic Socialist Party, who rejected communists' atheism for Buddhist socialism; the Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam (along with its militant's branch, the National Radical Movement), that desired to reunify Vietnam but not under communists; the Personalist Revolutionary Party, the heir of Can Lao Party; and the Peasants' and Workers' Party, supporting rural interests and opposed to the Viet Cong's

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

Social Democratic Alliance

The parties' federation was functional during Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's tenure as president and changed its name to Social Democratic Alliance in 1973. However, with the

Vietnamization Vietnamization was a failed foreign policy of the Richard Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a program to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnamese forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, a ...

policy adopted by U.S. President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, South Vietnam inexorably started its collapse. The

Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords (), officially the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (), was a peace agreement signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. It took effect at 8:00 the follo ...

of 1973 was a turning point in the war, causing the end of American intervention in Vietnam. Despite the peace agreement between communist North Vietnam and

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

South Vietnam, in 1975 North Vietnam broke the peace and started the takeover of South Vietnam. Since the United States refused another intervention, South Vietnam collapsed after the

Fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

, causing the reunification of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

under communist rule.

Democratic Alliance for Vietnam

Many members of the Front and South Vietnamese government were executed by the new administration, but others fled from Vietnam. In 1981, many former members of the Front created the Democratic Alliance for Vietnam, a pluralist extra-parliamentary opposition group based in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

who advocate for

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

in Vietnam

Prominent members

Bùi Diễm Bùi Diễm (1 October 1923 – 24 October 2021) was South Vietnam's ambassador to the United States under President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu from 1965 to 1972, then re-appointed ambassador-at-large and served until 1975. He played a key role in ...

Đỗ Mậu Đỗ Mậu (; 1 July 1917 – 11 April 2002) was a Major general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), best known for his roles as a recruiting strategist in both the 1963 South Vietnamese coup, 1963 coup that top ...

* Hồ Ngọc Nhuận * Hoàng Đức Nhã *

Lê Minh Trí Le is a romanization of several rare East Asian surnames and a common Vietnamese surname. It is a fairly common surname in the United States, ranked 975th during the 1990 census and 368th during the 2000 census. In 2000, it was the eighth-most-co ...

* Nguyễn Bá Cẩn * Nguyễn Bá Lương * Nguyễn Cao Kỳ * Nguyễn Hữu Có * Nguyễn Ngọc Huy * Nguyễn Tôn Hoàn * Nguyễn Văn Hảo *

Nguyễn Văn Hiếu Major General Nguyễn Văn Hiếu (23 June 1929, Tianjin, China – 8 April 1975, Biên Hòa, Vietnam) was a general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). As a child he lived in Shanghai. He later emigrated with h ...

* Nguyễn Văn Kiểu *

* Nguyễn Xuân Oánh * Phan Quang Đán * Tôn Thất Đính *

Trần Thiện Khiêm Trần Thiện Khiêm (; 15 December 1925 – 24 June 2021) was a South Vietnamese soldier and politician, who served as a General in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. He was born in Saigon, French Cochinchina, ...

* Trần Văn Đỗ * Trần Văn Đôn * Trần Văn Hương * Trần Văn Lắm * Trần Văn Tuyên * Trần Văn Chiêu * Trần Trung Dung * Trương Đình Dzu * Võ Long Triều *

Vương Văn Bắc Vương Văn Bắc (20 September 1927 – 20 June 2011) was a South Vietnamese lawyer and politician who served as the last Minister of Foreign Affairs (South Vietnam), Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Vietnam under the premiership of Prime ...

* ..

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Notes and references

Notes

References

, United States, 2021 * David Chanoff and Doan Van Toai (1986) ''Vietnam: A Portrait of Its People at War'', I.B. Tauris Publishers * Sharon, Ariel and David Chanoff (1989) ''Warrior : the autobiography of Ariel Sharon''; New York : Simon and Schuster * Good, Kenneth and David Chanoff (1992) ''Into the heart : one man's pursuit of love and knowledge among the Yanomami'', Ulverscroft * Crowe, William J and David Chanoff (1993) ''The line of fire : from Washington to the Gulf, the politics and battles of the new military'', Simon & Schuster * Elders, M Joycelyn and David Chanoff (1996) ''Joycelyn Elders, M.D. : from sharecropper's daughter to surgeon general of the United States of America'', Morrow * White, Augustus A. and David Chanoff (2011) ''Seeing Patients: Unconscious Bias in Health Care'', Harvard University Press *Zadman, Felix and David Chanoff (1995) ''Never the last journey: a Fortune 500 founder's life story from Holocaust survivor to victor on Wall Street'', Shocken * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1956
(archived fro
the original
on 2009-03-25)
The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1967
*
Ông Hoàng Đức Nhã : 45 năm nhìn lại biến cố 30/4
( VOA) *KIM NHUNG SHOW , SBTN , Cựu Tổng trưởng Hoàng Đức Nh�
123Chương trình Lịch Sử VNCH qua phỏng vấn đặc biệt Cựu Tổng Trưởng Hoàng Đức NhãNguyên Tổng trưởng Hoàng Đức Nhã và các tổng trưởng VNCH viếng Việt Museum
{{Vietnamese political parties 1967 establishments in South Vietnam 1970s disestablishments in South Vietnam 1975 disestablishments in Vietnam Anti-communism in Vietnam Anti-communist parties Banned political parties in Vietnam Defunct political party alliances in Vietnam Nationalist parties in Vietnam Political parties disestablished in 1975 Political parties established in 1967