Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam

Đại Việt Quốc dân đảng (Vietnamese for Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam), often known simply as Đại Việt, was a nationalist and anti-communist political party and militant organisation that was active in Vietnam in the 20th century. The party was founded by Trương Tử Anh^[1], known as Anh Cả Phương (Eldest Brother Phuong). Among the original members were several prominent figures in Vietnam's politics, such as Dr. Phan Huy Quat and Dr. Nguyen Ton Hoan.^[2] During the era of French colonialism, the Dai Viet engaged in military attacks in an effort to gain independence. Some Dai Viet members were trained in Chinese military academies in Yunnan run by the Kuomintang, before the Communist revolution in China. The party was pro-Japanese during World War II, when the Japanese occupied Indochina. After the partition of Vietnam in 1954, the Dai Viet were banned in the communist North Vietnam. They continued to be active in South Vietnam as an opposition to President Ngo Dinh Diem, and were often implicated in coup plots against Diem, led by Dai Viet officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

Notable members included:

• Phan Huy Quat served in different capacities with several government cabinets of the State of Vietnam and of the Republic of Vietnam. His highest position was Prime Minister in 1965.
• Nguyen Ton Hoan briefly served as first Deputy Prime Minister in 1964.
• Ha Thuc Ky ^[3] was Minister of Internal Affairs in 1964. In 1965, after a rift with other Dai Viet's leaders, he formed his own party, the Đại Việt Cách Mạng (Dai Viet Revolutionary Party).
• Nguyen Ngoc Huy ^[4], party's theorist and founder of the Tân Đại Việt (New Dai Viet Party), taught at Yale University after the Fall of Saigon.
• Bui Diem was Ambassador to the USA in the early 1970's.
• Nguyen Van Kieu, President Nguyen Van Thieu's brother, was Ambassador to the United Kingdom in the early 1970's.
• Duong Hieu Nghia, who participated in the 1963 coup d'etat, was one of the assassins who killed President Diem and National Adviser Ngo Dinh Nhu.

References

1. ^ [1], Official website of the Overseas DVQDD Party (in Vietnamese)
2. ^ Nguyen Ton Hoan, former South Vietnam deputy premier, 84
3. ^ [2], Official website of the DVCM Party (in Vietnamese)
4. ^ [3], Biography of Professor Huy