The Republic of Vietnam (Việt Nam Cộng hòa) was a nation is Southeast Asia from 1955 until 1975, also known as South Vietnam. Once considered a part of French Indochina, the region was occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War. Once the war had ended, the Việt Minh (who had fought the Japanese during the war) strongly opposed French re-occupation of the country. This opposition ultimately brought about the First Indochina War (1946 to 1954), in which French Colonial forces battled to preserve what remained of the old French Colonial Empire in Asia. After ten years of warfare, the Geneva Accords of 1954 effectively ended the conflict by declaring Indochina's independence from France. Two nations were created out of the territory traditionally considered Vietnamese: the Democratic Republc of Vietnam in the north, and the State of Vietnam in the south. Within a year, the South Vietnam was established after Ngô Đình Diệm deposed Emperor Bảo Đại and proclaimed himself president following a controversial election. His refusal to enter negotiations with North Vietnam over holding elections covering all of Vietnam led to gradual disintegration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and instigated the Second Indochina War (1959 to 1975).
