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Geneva accord part 2 and insurgence in South Vietnam and the VIETCONG -…
Geneva accord part 2 and insurgence in South Vietnam and the VIETCONG
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.
nstability 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.
o 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.
Support from the North for the insurgency in the South
● The actions of these anti-Communist governments increased support among the ordinary peasants for the Communists.
● By 1959, the communist government in the North authorised armed struggle against Diem's regime, which included supporting armed groups that were carrying out guerrilla attacks on Diem's government officials.
● Ho Chi Minh encouraged these armed groups to join together in a collective resistance organisation to overthrow Diem's government and subsequently unify Vietnam.
● In 1960, the National Liberation Front (NLF) was established in the South.
o South Vietnamese opponents of the government (of various religious, political and ethnic minority groups)
o Large numbers of Communist North Vietnamese taking their orders from Ho Chi Minh.
● The military arm of the NLF, the People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF), was formed in 1961 to coordinate the insurgency in the South.
● These insurgents came to be known as the Viet Cong, a derogatory term used by the Diem regime and the USA, meaning Vietnam Communists.
Strategies of the Viet Cong (Armed Struggle):
o Reinforcements and supplies to the guerrilla fighters were transported from the North to the South via a trail known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
o They attacked South Vietnamese government military forces, officials and buildings, gradually making the countryside unsafe for government forces.
o They also attacked American air force and supply bases to undermine American support for the Diem regime.
Strategies of the Viet Cong (Winning Hearts and Minds):
o Their promises of land reform to the peasants contrasted sharply with Diem's unpopular policies and practices, further undermining Diem's control of the countryside.
o Support for the NLF grew, with villagers readily supporting the guerrillas by providing food, shelter and information.
o Many others even joined the guerrilla forces.
o A network of anti-Diem and communist supporters began to form in the South, strengthening communist influence in the area.