beginning of conflict

• who were the leaders of vietnam in 1955?

  North: Ho Chi Minh

  South: Ngo Dinh Diem
• what were the aims of each leader?

  North: construct a solid communist stare in the North to fight for the reunification of Vietnam

  South: repression and political opponents were silenced, his interests was preserving his own power
• how did Minh cause further instability of the North?

  agricultural reform: caused migration. his regime seized privately owned land and redistributed it among rural farming pop.

  • thousands executed/ imprisoned in labour camps, causing a revolt and 6,000 were killed
• how did Diem cause instability in the South?

  leadership was corrupt and nepotistic (gave job to brother as PM), committed fraud and took US aid money for “agriculture“ (gave to family), mainly focuses on repression:

  • EG burnt houses to forcibly relocate
• why did the US support Diems leadership?

  US at the time knew nobody better/available. Diem also wasn’t communist, the US considered a “nepotistic fraud“ better than a communist
• key timeline of this era

  • Aug 1955, Diem refused to hold elections on reunification
  • Jan 1959, North uses violence to reunite Vietnam
  • Jan 1961, Kennedy replaces Eisenhower as US president
  • March 1962, Strategic Hamlet program introduced
  • June 1963, buddhist monk burns self to death as protest
  • Nov 1963, Diem assassinated