Independence
Palace (Dinh
Độc Lập), also known as Reunification Palace (Vietnamese: Dinh Thống Nhất), built on the
site of the former Norodom Palace, is a
landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was
designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ and
was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during
the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War
during the Fall of Saigon on
April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese
Army tank
crashed through its gates.
Colonial era
In 1858, France launched an attack on Đà Nẵng,
starting its invasion of Vietnam. In 1867, France completed its conquest of
southern Vietnam (Cochinchina), comprising the provinces of Biên Hòa, Gia Định, Định Tường, Vĩnh Long, An Giang,
and Hà Tiên. To consolidate the newly established
colony, on 23 February 1868, Lagrandière, Governor of
Cochinchina, held a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of a new palace to
replace the old wooden palace built in 1863. The new palace was designed by Charles Hermite,
who was also the architect of the Hong Kong City Hall. The first cubic stone,
measuring 50 cm along each edge, with indentations containing French gold
and silver coins bearing Napoleon III's
effigy, came from Biên Hòa.
The complex covered an area of 12 hectares,
including a palace with an 80-meter-wide façade, a guest-chamber capable of
accommodating 800 people, with a spacious gardens covered by green trees and a
lawn. Most of the building materials were imported from France. Owing to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, construction fell behind
schedule and was not completed until 1873. The palace was named Norodom Palace after the then king of Cambodia, Norodom(1834–1904). The avenue in front of the
palace bore the same name. From 1871 to 1887, the palace was used by the French
Governor of Cochinchina (Gouverneur de la Cochinchine); therefore, it
was referred to as the Governor’s
Palace. From 1887 to 1945, all Governors-General of French Indochina used the palace as their residence and
office. The office of the Cochinchinese Governors was relocated to a nearby villa.
World War II
On March 9, 1945, Japan defeated and replaced France in French Indochina in a successful coup. Norodom Palace became the
headquarters of Japanese colonial officials in Vietnam. In September 1945,
Japan surrendered to the Allied forces in World War II and France returned to
Vietnam and Norodom Palace was restored to its position as the office of the
French colonists.
After World War II
On May 7, 1954, France surrendered to the Việt Minh after its defeat at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ. France agreed to
sign the Geneva Accords and withdrew its troops from Vietnam.
According to the accords, Vietnam would be divided pending general elections.
The 17th Parallel would
act as the temporary border until a vote based on universal suffrage was held to establish a unified
Vietnamese government. North Vietnam was under the control of the Việt Minh
communists, while South Vietnam was under the anti-communist State of Vietnam.
On 7 September 1954, Norodom Palace was handed over to the prime minister of
the State of Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm by
a representative of the French presence in Vietnam, General Paul Ély.
In 1955, Diệm defeated former Emperor Bảo Đại, the chief of state of the State of Vietnam, in a referendum. Ngô Đình Diệm
declared himself president of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam and
renamed the building the Independence
Palace. According to fengshui,
the palace is located on a dragon’s head; therefore, it was also referred to as
the Dragon’s Head Palace.
Vietnam War
On 27 February 1962, two pilots of Diệm's Vietnam Air
Force, Nguyễn Văn Cử and Phạm Phú Quốc, rebelled and flew two A-1 Skyraider (A-1D/AD-6 variant) aircraft towards
the palace and bombed it, instead of going on a raid against the Việt Cộng.
As a result, almost the entire left wing was destroyed. However, Diệm and his
family escaped the assassination attempt. As it was almost impossible to
restore the palace, Diệm ordered it demolished and commissioned a new building
in its place. The new palace was constructed according to a design by Ngô Viết Thụ, a Vietnamese architect who won
the First Grand Prize of Rome (Grand Prix de Rome) in 1955, the highest
recognition of the Beaux-Arts school in Paris. He was also a laureate of the Rome Architecture Award.
The construction of the new Independence Palace started on 1 July 1962. Meanwhile, Diệm and his ruling family moved to Gia Long Palace (today the Ho Chi Minh City Museum). However, Diệm did not see the completed hall as he and his brother and chief adviser Ngô Đình Nhu were assassinated after a coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963. The completed hall was inaugurated on 31 October 1966 by the chairman of the National Leadership Committee, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who was then the head of a military junta. The Independence Hall served as Thiệu’s home and office from October 1967 to 21 April 1975, when he fled the country as communist North Vietnamese forces swept southwards in the decisive Ho Chi Minh Campaign.
On 8 April 1975, Nguyễn Thanh Trung, a pilot of the
Vietnam Air Force and an undetected communist spy, flew an F-5E aircraft from Biên Hòa Air Base to bomb the palace, but caused no
significant damage. At 10:45 on 30 April 1975, a tank of the North Vietnamese Army bulldozed
through the main gate, ending the Vietnam War.
In November 1975, after the negotiation convention
between the communist North Vietnam and their colleagues in South Vietnam was
completed, the Provisional
Revolutionary Government renamed
the palace Reunification Hall.