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Fall of Diem Regime 1963 Examine the causes and consequences of a significant historical event that had an impact

on the lives of a significant number of people. On 1 November 1963, the President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown by coup forces led by discontented Vietnamese generals and executed the following day. Diem was unrepresentative of South Vietnam and unpopular with the people most due to his personality and his repressive, nepotistic rule as well as the Strategic Hamlets policy which were unsuccessful in winning the favour of the South Vietnamese citizens. Other more immediate causes that led to his unpopularity and eventual death was the Buddhist Crisis brought about by his pro-Catholic policies and the United States tacit agreement to the army coup after losing their faith in Diem. As a result of Diems demise, there was a period of political instability followed by the heavy involvement of United States in Vietnam as well the use of Agent Orange and Napalm which still cause birth defects to both soldiers and citizens affected today. Diems personality and his corrupt, repressive rule of South Vietnam was one of the background causes to his unpopularity and ultimately his death. Diem was known to have rigged the elections to become President to defeat his rival, Emperor Bao Dai, with a 99% majority vote which was the first clue of his corruption. He then immediately resorted to nepotism in order to gain loyalty and control, appointing family members into important roles of power such as his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, as the chief adviser and head of the secret police. Diems relied on his brother to maintain control over the people, leading to arbitrary arrests of communist sympathisers and repression of those who opposite the regime by violent methods carried out by Diems brother. The South Vietnamese did not appreciate these methods or the way Diem repressed them. Diem also refused to hold the elections in 1956 as agreed in the Geneva Conference claiming he did not trust the Communists. The Americans supported this view and Diem himself because he was a nationalist, a Catholic and most importantly an anti-communist which the Americans thoroughly approved of. Diems oppressive rule and refusal to let the South Vietnamese have a voice made Diem unpopular with the very people he ruled. This caused a growth in opposition against his regime and eventually fuelled his unpopularity which became a background cause to his deposition and downfall nine years later. With the growing Viet Cong influence in the provinces of South Vietnam, Diem established a strategic hamlet programme in order to protect the citizens from the communist infiltration which was also another background cause to Diems downfall. The programme evacuated peasants forcefully from their villages where the Viet Cong were supposedly active only to herd them into farm communities protected by village militia and a stockade of ditches and barbed wire fences. This strategy backfired on Diem as the peasants disliked being uprooted against their own will and treated harshly by soldiers if they tried to resist. This turned much of the peasants away from Diem and converted many into Viet Cong sympathisers, especially since they were also required to pay the South Vietnamese government for the resources to rebuild and protect their homes which were provided by the American government free of charge. The programme further alienated Diem from his people and shifted their favour towards the very people Diem was trying to counter subvert, adding to Diems already growing unpopularity and consequently one of the causes of his death. A more immediate cause to the fall of Diem was the Buddhist Crisis. As a devout Catholic, Diem typically favoured the Catholic minority. Diem gave Catholics preferences in jobs in his regime and exempted Catholic families from obligations. In May 1963, Diems brother declared it illegal to fly any other flag other than that of South Vietnam. However, Catholics were given permission to fly

their religious flags to celebrate their Archbishops birthday which enraged the Buddhists who were given no such privileges. They in turn flew their own religious flags to celebrate Buddhas birthday and ended up being fired upon by government troops with nine people killed, eight being children. Buddhist anti-Diem protests were launched as a result of this, accumulating into events of strikes and rallies which are known as the Buddhist Crisis. The events reached a climax when Buddhist monk Quang Duc immolated himself in a street of Saigon in silence, shocking the public and resulting in a great loss of support for Diem particularly because 90% of the South Vietnamese were Buddhists. This further contributed to Diems rapidly declining popularity and in due course, his death. The last and most immediate cause of Diems death was the loss of faith the Americans had in Diem. The events of the Buddhist Crisis, in particular the immolating monks, shocked both President Kennedy and the world. The Americans began to reconsider their decision in supporting Diem which led to Kennedy appointing a new ambassador, Henry Cabot Lodge, who was not sympathetic or supportive of Diem at all. The American government cut off some of its aid to Diems government and Kennedy commented that a victory in a war required the support of the people which was a thinly veiled warning for Diem to make reforms or face removal. The loss of support from both Vietnam and America directly led to the tacit agreement to the army coup which brought about Diems demise shortly thereafter. The unhappy South Vietnamese took things into their own hands when Diems own personal military adviser, General Duong Van Minh, Chief of Staff, General Tran Van Don and some influential regimental commanders approached Ambassador Lodge who gave his tacit approval for their planned coup. On 1 November 1963, the Presidential Palace in Saigon was surrounded by tanks and coup forces, forcing Diem and his brother to flee to a nearby Catholic church. The two were captured and shot the following day and the news of their deaths brought about joy and celebration in the streets of South Vietnam. Diems death became a historical event which resulted in several consequences that still have lasting effects today. Immediately after Diems death came a state of political instability as the state of South Vietnam required a new ruler as a consequence of Diems absence. Many different factions staged coups and counter-coups in a fight for power but they all proved unsuccessful. None of the generals that led South Vietnam proved to be very effective leaders either, resulting in much confusion created by the political disputes and street violence. The Saigon government lost much of its influence by 1964 while the Viet Cong held one-third of the country and dominated the rest in a matter of time. As a consequence of the political vacuum Diem left behind in his death, South Vietnam was left open to communist influence which would soon affect the Vietnamese in the wars that were to come. Lyndon Johnson came to presidency after Kennedy was assassinated and quickly came to the decision to continue and increase American involvement in Vietnam as a long-term consequence of Diems demise. Johnson claimed that nothing could be worse than being responsible for America losing a war to the Communists and felt threatened by the communist influence in Vietnam. Johnson searched for a justified reason to wage war against North Vietnam due to the impending threat of communism and luckily for him, the opportunity arose in late July 1964. Two US destroyers, the Maddox and the C. Turner Joy were allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin yet no damage was sustained and no evidence of any attack was found. However, Johnson wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation and launched 64 American bombers to North Vietnam whilst telling the American people that it was because of renewed hostile actions against US ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin. On the 10 August, the Gulf of Tonkin resolution was drawn and passed which then granted Johnson the power to take all necessary

measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression including the use of armed force. Americas involvement led to the search and destroy tactic by General Westmoreland in which soldiers found and killed any Viet Minh or Viet Cong guerrillas on sight. Westmoreland believed Americas superior armed forces would overwhelm the communists into defeat and asked for thousands of troops. This had an impact on the soldiers who returned home psychologically damaged by the constant fear of attack as well as the two million innocent Vietnamese civilians caught in the crossfire. Diems death had left South Vietnam open to the influences of communism, thereby consequently provoking President Johnson to heavily increase American involvement in Vietnam, affecting thousands of lives of soldiers and the millions of Vietnamese civilians. One of the final long-term consequences of the downfall of Diem was the use of Agent Orange and napalm which affect the lives of many soldiers and particularly the Vietnamese today. Over the next few years, the Viet Congs power increased significantly and it was said that they were everywhere but nowhere. The Viet Cong guerrillas used the dense jungles and undergrowth of Vietnam to their advantage, prompting the Americans to use defoliants in order to even out the playing field. More than 25,0000 square kilometres of jungle and cropland were sprayed with defoliants, the harshest being Agent Orange which contained a highly toxic chemical called dioxin. The chemicals effects not only contaminated the environment but the people who were exposed to it, resulting in shortterm effects such as vomiting and headaches to long-term effects including hereditary birth defects for future generations. Another chemical with negative effects was the use of napalm bombs which burned its victims alive. After the death of Diem, the spreading Viet Cong influence had taken over Vietnam and driven the increased foreign involvement of the Americans. The actions of the Americans in order to target the Viet Cong have instead caused devastating effects on the people of South Vietnam, doing more harm with the use of these chemicals than good, a long-term consequence which lives on in the deformed infants of Vietnam today. The fall of Diem Regime followed by his execution in the following day became a significant historical event brought about by several foreshadowing causes and resulted in consequences that still take effect today. Diem and his style of rule from when he rigged the election was the start of his repressive actions in the years to come, up until his death when American had given its tacit approval in staging his coup. As a result of his death, a political vacuum followed by many attempts at power drove the United States to turn the war into their own in an attempt to contain the threat of communism. Their actions, as a consequence of their involvement, has led to the birth deformities that still occur in Vietnam and causes issues for families today. By Ye Rim Won.

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