PART A: AFTERMATH OF THE GENEVA ACCORD
Unhappiness over the Geneva Accord
While the Geneva Accord marked the end of French colonial rule in Vietnam, Vietnam remained temporarily divided:
o North: under Ho Chi Minh's communist government
o South: under Bao Dai's government
● The goal of reunification and independence was still not achieved, which was a major disappointment for the Vietnamese.
● The two governments in Vietnam had different visions for an independent and reunified Vietnam, which led to conflict and instability in Vietnam 🡪 Discontentment over the Geneva Accords in the North:
o Under the Geneva Accords, Vietnam would be reunified under one government after national elections were held in 1956.
o The elections would be overseen by an International Control Commission and provide a fair means to determine which government Vietnam would be unified under.
o However, Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh were dissatisfied with this arrangement 🡪 by 1954, the Viet Minh had defeated the French and controlled more than half of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh was a more popular leader than Bao Dai.
o Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh felt that they were forced to accept the division of Vietnam by the Soviet Union and China.
o This caused further delay for Vietnam to be reunified as an independent country under one government.
Failure to carry out national elections in 1956
● The national elections which were scheduled for 1956 failed to occur: Both the governments in North and South Vietnam were unwilling to give up their control of Vietnam and wanted reunification to be carried out according to their own terms.
o South Vietnam: wary that national elections might result in the victory of Ho Chi Minh and his communist party, and Vietnam would be unified under a communist government.
o North Vietnam: reluctant to hold national elections since the Viet Minh were popular in the North 🡪 worried they might lose overall if it came down to national elections.
● The 1956 national elections proposed by the Geneva Accords was thus never carried out and Vietnam remained divided and led by two separate governments.
Developments in South Vietnam
● In South Vietnam, Bao Dai who remained as Head of State, was ousted by his prime minister, Ngo Dinh Diem in 1955.
o In 1955, Diem called for a plebiscite to remove Bao Dai from power and establish himself as President of a new republic that would be known as the Republic of Vietnam.
o Despite Bao Dai's protests, elections were held in South Vietnam and rigged in Diem's favour.
o Diem's government received the support of the USA as he was strongly anti-communist and was prepared to imprison or exile Communists.
Developments in North and South Vietnam from 1956
● Both Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem attempted to strengthen their own governments in the North and South respectively.
● However, both leaders experienced varying degrees of success in garnering domestic and international support for their own government.
● Subsequently, the North began to take advantage of the growing instability in the South by supporting armed struggle against Diem's government.
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Consolidation of communist control in North Vietnam
● To consolidate communist influence in the North, Ho Chi Minh introduced reforms to re-distribute land from the landowners to the peasants.
● Those who opposed his reforms were persecuted.
● A large number of Vietnamese Catholics also fled from the North to the South.
● Nevertheless, support for the communist government in the North remained strong.
Instability in South Vietnam + Unpopularity of Diem
● Support for Diem's government in the South was eroding.
● Diem belonged to the landlord class, which treated the Vietnamese peasants with contempt.
o Landowners were allowed to retain their holdings, much to the disappointment of landless peasants who had hoped that land reform would improve their standard of living.
● President Diem had little regard for democracy 🡪 rapidly established a dictatorship and practised nepotism (The practice of unfairly giving the best jobs to members of one's family when one is in a position of power.) by assigning the majority of important government positions to close friends and family members.
o The Americans were concerned and frustrated by his actions, but said, 'We knew of no one better'.
● He was a Catholic and showed little respect for the Buddhist religion of most Vietnamese peasants.
o He gave preference to fellow Catholic believers for government jobs.
1963 Buddhist Crisis:
One of Diem's unpopular policies was the declaration of Catholicism as the state religion as the majority of Vietnamese were Buddhists.
▪ On 7 May 1963, the day before Buddhist followers in Hue celebrated Vesak Day, the Diem government invoked a previously ignored law prohibiting the display of religious flags.
▪ The South Vietnamese police tore down Buddhist flags and this ignited waves of protest from the Buddhists.
▪ Many participated in marches and demonstrations calling for religious equality.
▪ The South Vietnamese police fired shots and grenades to disperse the protesters, resulting in severe casualties.
▪ The crisis ultimately caused Diem to lose the support of the USA.
● Opposition to his rule, including Viet Minh supporters, Buddhists and intellectuals in the South, was suppressed.
● In a bid to escape Diem's rule, many fled to the North, or the jungles in the South where they launched an armed struggle against Diem's regime.
● Extensive economic and military aid by the USA to prop up the Diem government failed to bring about stability in the South.
● American funds and military advisers helped to establish the South Vietnamese Army (SVA) against possible invasion attempts from the North.
● However, conventional warfare training for the SVA proved inappropriate for the jungle terrain that the troops were fighting in, and also against the guerrillas.
● Furthermore, American economic aid was diverted to sustain Diem's corrupt practices.
● Hence, American support did not boost South Vietnam's capabilities to contain an emerging armed struggle which had now turned into a communist insurgency in the South.
● Diem was overthrown by his own army leaders in November 1963, but the governments that followed were equally corrupt. Even so, they also received massive US support.