"During the revolutionary conflict, the antirevolutionary state was always flawed in terms of its legitimacy to govern the Vietnamese people because it was either the creation of some foreign power or dependent on foreign support. From the early 1930s to 1955, the playboy emperor, Bao Dai, occupied the role of puppet for whichever outside power was paying the bills. Diem, dependent on US economic and military aid, which was used to suppress revolutionaries and Buddhist religious leaders alike, also failed to gain the support of most Vietnamese. The succession of generals who followed Diem included General Thieu during 1967–1975; he had previously served in the French colonial army. The coercive capability of the antirevolutionary state fluctuated over time. On paper it was high at the time of the victorious communist offensive in 1975. Saigon had 1 million soldiers and outnumbered its adversaries in the south by about three to one. But South Vietnam’s army was riddled with corruption. After US combat troops departed in 1973, the South Vietnamese economy went into decline, deprived of US service members shopping for goods, bars, drugs, and prostitutes. Urban unemployment rose to 40 percent. Many Saigon officers embezzled army funds and even charged tolls for other military units to cross through areas they controlled. By 1975 the large majority of enlisted soldiers were not earning enough to support their families, and morale was low (Karnow 1983; Kolko 1985; Turley 1986). Deprived of US support, the Saigon government and military could not withstand the onslaught of highly motivated revolutionary forces"