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Geneva accord - Coggle Diagram
Geneva accord
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● While the Geneva Accord marked the end of French colonial rule in Vietnam, Vietnam remained temporarily divided:
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● 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.
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● 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.
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● 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.
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● 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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