Ngo Dinh Diem Research Paper

However, Diem was a poor controller, a bad ruler. He, along with his brother, made brutal policies against Buddhists and eliminated a large amount of them in the Buddhists sanctuaries of Saigon. Diem's brother Nhu was heavily involved in these activities together with his brother's full support and the army trained by American military advisors (Moss, 2010). Nhu's wife even referred to the Buddhists as "barbecue" on a television show. All of this along with the fact that the Buddhists were denied the right to display their holy flags on the birthday of Buddha caused an immediate outburst in South Vietnam. Heavy protests started taking place and several Buddhist monks even burnt themselves to fatality as

When it became clear that Bao Dai could not expel the communists, the United States decided to support the puppet, Ngo Dinh Diem, whose brother abused government powers for personal interests, such as raiding pagodas. After refusing to sign the agreements at the Geneva Conference, the United States elected Diem, who adopted “a policy of peace” as the governor of South Vietnam (Elections). Diem became a key pawn in American attempts of stopping communism, but Diem occasionally disregarded advice and did little to end the poverty that plagued the majority of the Vietnamese. In early efforts of containing communism, the United States made an alliance with Southeast Asia, known as the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO, to protect the developing egalitarian nations from falling to the Marxists. However, Diem’s brother, Nhu, took the top position in the government and abused its

Contrasty key political consequences of the Geneva Peace Agreement was the political ineptitude and corruption in South Vietnam, this shows the Geneva Peace Agreements had a negative impact and a considerable importance. Although many Vietnamese migrated to the South to avoid communism due to the terms of the Treaty the South Vietnamese government found it troublesome to garner support. Leader Ngo Dihn Diem turned away the largest group, the peasants, by distributing their land to landowners. Only 18% of tenant farmers received land. In doing so many famers rebelled making Diem extremely unpopular, this

Diem's nationalism and administrative experience made him the logical choice for the premiership of an independent Vietnam, but he was lacking many qualities that were required for the challenges he would face. Herring admits that even now it is unclear how Diem became the premier of Vietnam. The US did not think that Diem was capable of controlling the nation, but at the same time, "there was no one to take his place who would serve US interests better"(55). Through his bungling of responsibilities, Diem was found to be nothing but trouble for the United States and France, therefore; officials in Saigon were convinced that he must be removed. Now the experiment in nation building assumed the form of a crusade. Private charitable agencies provided food, soap, toothbrushes and emergency medical supplies. American money and technology helped to repair the vast damages resulting from more than a decade of war. More than any other single group, American aid allowed South Vietnam to survive the first few critical years after independence. By the late 1950s it appeared as though the new nation was flourishing.

The United States played a very crucial role in the conflict that occurred in Southeast Asia between the U.S.-backed democratic South Vietnam, and Soviet-backed communist North Vietnam. Following the defeat of its French administration in 1954, North Vietnam, led by Communist leader Ho Chi Minh, wanted to reunify the country with the help of its rebel allies in the south, known as the Viet Cong. Out of this chaos emerged a difficult situation for the United States, as Cold War sentiments were present within this proxy war between the two powerful nations and the third party of Vietnam. The United States wanted to support Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of South Vietnam, in order to ensure his government would not fall into ruins and be taken control by the communists, but President Eisenhower was also hesitant to get his troops involved in this large scale conflict in Southeast Asia.

As it would appear from documented accounts, the Eisenhower administration made a full-scale commitment to the Diem regime in wake of the aftermath of the others success in terms of the rebellion. It seemed that the promotion of the South Vietnamese accomplishments provided the United States with more than one billion dollars gross revenue in terms of the economy, and aided the military with enlistments, and such between the dates of 1955 and 1961. The United States used their militia advisors to build an army in the South of Vietnam with the idea that they’d be able to fend off any, and all anticipated attacks from the north across the seventeen parallel. The civilians also assisted in the “war” and remilitarization effort by constructing

The United States began to support South Vietnam, but Diem proved to be a horrible leader and in 1963 was killed during a coup issued by John F. Kennedy. The National Liberation

Vietnam Fact Sheet Date: Nov. 1, 1955-Apr. 30, 1975 BACKGROUND: Prior to World War II, the French had controlled most of Indochina, and Vietnam. Once Japan lost the war, they left the country in 1945 which led to the French wanting control of Vietnam again. Vietnam wanted to pursue a communist way of living since China had become a communist country in 1949. Ho Chi Minh, a national leader, had declared Vietnam an independent country. Minh’s leaders declared a war against the French, and the country was soon divided after the French lost the battle at Dien Bien Phu.

The Vietnam War began in 1959. Five years earlier the country had split in two, the northern half ruled by the communist Ho Chi Minh and the southern half ruled by Ngo Ding Diem under a democratic

He was supported by the United States, as he was anti- communist. He was a catholic and he discriminated against the Buddhists who made up approximately 90% of the population. On May 8, 1963, South Vietnamese soldiers killed nine civilians, who were protesting the ban of the Buddhist flag. Diem refused to respond to Buddhist leaders’ demands to end religious oppression.

From 1954-1963, Diem presided over an increasingly corrupt, devious, and repressive regime. Communist guerrillas backed by North Vietnam launched a new rebellion, but a civil disobedience campaign led by the country's Buddhist monks contributed more directly to his downfall. Brutal persecution of the dissident monks in 1963 damaged the regime's already shaky international reputation. With American support, Vietnamese

In 1958, Communist-led guerrillas, eventually known as the Viet Cong, began to battle the government of the South Vietnamese. The United States then sent 2,000 military advisors t support South Vietnam’s government. This number grew to 16,3000 by 1963. The military force slowly deteriorated. By 1963 the fertile Mekong Delta was lost to the overpowering Viet Cong. The war rose in 1965, when President Johnson issued commencing air strikes on North Vietnam and ground forces, which had risen to 536,000 by 1968. The Tet Offensive by North Vietnam turned many Americans against the waging war. President Nixon, following Johnson, promoted Vietnamization, the withdrawing of American troops and handing over the great responsibility of the war to South Vietnam. Protesting of the war dramatically increased, especially after Nixon’s attempt to slow North Vietnam forces and supplies into the South by sending American forces to destroy supply bases in Cambodia in 1970, which violated Cambodian neutrality. This provoked antiwar protests on many of the United Stats’ college campuses. In 1968 through 1973 attempts were made to end the ongoing conflict through diplomacy. Then in January 1973, an agreement was reached. U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam and the U.S. POWs were released. In April 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to the North and Vietnam was once again united. The Vietnam War ended, but it took the lives of 58,000

Diem helped rule the South of Vietnam with the Emperor Bao Dai, until he removed the Emperor and replaced him with himself. He then further abused his position and appointed his family and friends with the most beneficial positions. He then introduced new laws and taxes which greatly upset the peasants, especially with the new farming policies. It was these laws that led to protests such as the Monks which burnt themselves to death as they were unable to practise freely. Unfortunately for America the harm Diem was creating and led to an increase in their involvement.

---Between 1955 and 1960, the North Vietnamese with the assistance of the southern communist Vietcong, tried to take over the government in South Vietnam, and in November 1963 President Diem was overthrown and executed. The following year, the North Vietnamese began a massive drive to conquer the whole country aided by China and Russia.

From the beginning of his term, Diem felt that North Vietnam was planning to forcefully take over South Vietnam. Diem began to arrest anyone who was suspected of being a Communist. Soon after, North Vietnam began attempting to reunify Vietnam through political means, and not through the use of violence. After this proved to be an unsuccessful attempt, North Vietnam and the Communist Party finally approved the use of violence to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diems government. The National Liberation Front (NLF) was thus developed by the Communists, allowing anyone who was against Diem and for the unification of Vietnam to join to join their alliance.