HIST 3580

Sept 29

Creation of the S. VIE state (1954-1963: often referred to as the period of Diem)

1. The French leave VIE, but by the terms of the Geneva Accords, N & S VIE is to be separated
a. ~150K Viet Minh troops move N to N. VIE where the DRV was est.
b. Many Viet Minh remained in the S. tho and stayed secretly, merging with the general
pop.
2. In this period, a massive evac of noncommunists exodus from the north w/ the help of the US
Navy
a. This exodus organized by American CIA agent Edward Lansdale (prev. in charge of
American opp. to the PHP communists, now in charge of supervising the Diem gov’t)
i. Most of those who left were Catholics
ii. Only half left of the Catholics left, mainly those who collabbed with the French
were the ones who did
iii. Advertisements (Lansdale was a former ad agent) illustrated N  S emigration
as fleeing anti-Catholic persecution, and more importantly, COMMUNISM
iv. Most were settled in & around Saigon (capital of S. VIE) in ab 200 villages

*Discussion on the Geneva accords* to start SE 29 class

 Article 14: there’s supposed to be an election in 1956, but there never is (S. VIEese gov’t & the
Americans refuse to hold it)
 Heller: Geneva accords a net loss for the DRV & a win for the USA
o See the prev. lec notes, the CHNese & SU pressured DRV to take the losing deal b/c they
didn’t want a hot conflict to deal w/ @ the moment
 DRV had no choice to accept the advice of CHN & SU b/c they depended on
them

17th II becomes the de-militarized zone b/w N & S VIE

Consolidation of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime:

 Northern exodus (~150K Viet Minh went N to the DRV) & the Americans evacced 800-900K
VIEese from the N.
o Managed by CIA operative Edward Landsdale, whose xp as an ad agent was
instrumental in driving the propaganda effort that helped to encourage many of the
evacuees to leave
 Many evacuees were Catholics or VIEese who cooperated w. the French
 Landsdale suggested they were fleeing communism w/ this newsreels of this,
getting American public opinion on the pro-war side!
 Evacuees settled in makeshift villages surrounding Saigon
 Key supporters of Diem:
o VIEese Catholics (~10% of the pop.) had largely supported the French, and now sided
with the USA
o Landlords supported Diem to protect their property rights
 o Middle-class also supported the New Gov’t
 Bao Dai was the nominal head of gov’t, but Diem the real leader (official pos = Premier) in S. VIE
 Diem gov’t lasted from 1954-1963
 Diem came from a landlord backgrd; was a Catholic
o Hated the French, but was loyal to the USA (which trumped the drawback of being
Catholic)
o An aloof, authoritarian type
o Important American Backers of Diem:
 Catholic Archbishop of NY: Spellman – a religious figure but also a conservative
politician (close friend of McCarthy)
 Sen from MA: JFK (a catholic)
 Sen Mike Mansfield of MT (head of senate foreign rel’ns committee)
 Fundamentalist evangelicals also backed the fight against communism
o American Friends of VIE: A liberal democrat group key to the political backing and media
backing for the creation of the Diem gov’t in S. VIE

Algeria colonial revolt  French leave their “dirty war” in Indo-CHN

Problems to be ctrlled for Diem gov’t:

o Cao Dai & Hoa Hao religious sects (discussed w/ ~15 mins left) were militarized but neutralized
by the Americans (how tho..?)
o Saigon mafia
o Binh xuyen mafia’s power destroyed w/ ctrl over the army and above Buddhist religious
sects
o With these powers subdued (mainly by Landsdale), Diem govt consolidates its power

Americans now begin to provide aid & financial support to 20K businessmen (new bourgeoisie), mainly
in Saigon

o Allow them to buy USD @ half the going rate

o Allows them to buy real estate & American consumer goods
o Gives a big ECON’c boost to the Diem gov’t
o Not investing productively though (not setting up industry), thus there remains no basis
for ind’t ECON’c growth w/o US money flowing in
 ECON’c downturn ended up being instrumental in the downfall of Diem gov’t

Diem Gov’t now has the milt, new bourgeoisie, Catholics, landlords, all come together in support;
Buddhist sects, mafia lose their power

Recall, elections avoided in 1956 on the excuse that Bao Dai never signed it

 Also claim the DRV will fix the elections despite the fact that the ICC would oversee
o Chinese and Russians chose to ignore Ho’s appeals to force the Geneva accords (i.e.,
elections) to be upheld

Things are going well for Diem, so he puts up a referendum proposing the republic of VIE (that is, to
remove the emperor Bao Dai)
  Diem wins w/ 98% (hmmmmm….)
 Holds parliamentary elections, but one with no real power (all pwr conc’ in the hands of Diem
and his family)
o Diem & fam create the Can Lao party based on Catholicism (also a yth mvmt in support
of this)
 Archbishop of Hue: Ngo Dinh Thuc (brother of Diem)
 Political chief of Hue: Ngo Dinh Can
 Ngo Dinh Nu & wife: rule together with Bao Dai

Oct. 10

o Diem also abolished village councils, using his governors in the provinces instead
(further centralizing his power and limiting local autonomy)
o In both N & S VIE (rural A’s) , peasantry gained ctrl of the land
 In the N., peasantry is given title to confiscated land frm the landlords (many of
whom already left)
 When Diem takes over in 1954, he tries to reestablish landlords’ rights to claim
rent in the S.
 This becomes another big problem for Diem, helping to tank his
popularity  peasant insurgency
o Even the most anticommunist of ‘em all – the USA – doesn’t do
this in KOR when they wrestle S. KOR from Communist
advancement (they know it will turn the rural peasantry against
them)
o Diem attempted to isolate peasantry from communist infl. by
putting them into fortified towns (“agrovilles”) that amounted
to detention camps (this makes things worse for Diem rather
than better)
 USA tries to cont’ this in 1962 under the name
“strategic hamlets”, but that too failed
o Diem shoulda seen the writing on the wall and given the land to
the peasants to bolster his pop. (landlord class be damned)
o When Diem did agree to land to the peasants, he got not credit
b/c they already had ctrl after the peasant insurgency
 Description of peasant insurgency
o Begins organically, then by ~1959, the communist party tries to
organize it & bring it under their ctrl
o Many landlords [# in video ~20 mins frm end] killed in the
process of land reform
 N. VIE: Peasants want to set up co-ops for collective farming (buy
machinery together, bring products to market w/ one another, etc.) –
productivity grew from 1954-65
  N. VIE able to hold out in the war b/c they had more
than sufficient food supply
 Public secular EDUC est.
 Had some of the foundations of ECON’c dev’t as well
(also contributed to the ability of the N. VIEse to field
regular forces, giving N. VIE milt capacity – along with
the food production)
 These regular forces cross to the S. to join with
the guerrilla forces in the struggle against ARVN
&/then the USA
 Although the ultimate goal of Ppl’s War was to def. the
enemy in open combat, N. VIE never did this, rather
they inflicted heavy casualities and the Americans
eventually w/d
 Back to the Insurgency: Mekong delta
o Ben Tre province’s peasants were pushed so hard that they
attacked the ARVN, seizing their weapons, and thus ctrl over the
province

DE 1960: Communists create the NLF (Americans call it Viet Cong) – the Guerrilla organization virtually
synonymous w/ the Viet Minh

 Not only commies (who still dominate), but Buddhists and nationalists as well
 Controlled ~60% of the land in S. VIE by 1961 (& virtually the whole of Mekong Delta)
o Diem & Americans (ofc) refused to recognize it, rather they referred to it as an invasion
from the N.
o N. VIEese, conversely, did not recognize the 17th II boundary (as Gen Accs said itd be
temporary)
 By 1964, regular army units “enter the frey” in S. VIE
 Diem’s regime so corrupt & authoritarian that it begins to see political resistance in Saigon by
~1960
o AL 1960, press conference at Caravel Hotel: major denunciation of Diem gov’t, called
out his phony election & the arbitrary arrest of thousands
 Called the Caravel Manifesto
 Attempt a coup, but its leaders dithered too long disagreeing ab priorities, giving
Diem t to organize loyal police forces to successfully counter the coup
o This was not led by Commies, important to note (this was a liberal anticommunist elt)

Growing American infl. in the S….

 Americans talked ab liberalizing the regime (realizing Diem’s authoritarianism was highly
unpopular)
o Diem’s ctrl begins to crack – begins to realize that the growing American infl. begins to
pose a threat to him: Americans are liberal & foreign, he is nationalist authoritarian
 Americans end up getting rid of him