PSEM developments in North/South , US policy to 64 Flashcards
How many commies in the South after the split of Vietnam?
40,000 commies stayed in the South to agitate for communism and perform organisational tasks for the North
North & South’s opinions on the reunification referendum of 1956
- The North was mad that it didn’t happen but did not feel as though they were in a stable enough place to actually take action until later
- The South didn’t hold it because they claimed, back by the US (who were sure that the North would win bc of the instability of the South) that the North would rig it.
How much did the North recieve from the USSR and China?
As they were a pariah state globally, NV relied a lot on political alliances & eco support from other commie states - hence, USSR gave the North $100million USD and China gave then $325M USD
Brain Drain in the North?
The South’s policies towards the Catholics appealed strongly to them, hence the North lost 9,000 Catholics, creating a ‘brain drain’
The Land tribunals of the North
Redistributing 7,000 ha of land to the peasantry but it was resultant in excessive persecution , with Fall estimating that at least 50,000 were killed - led to HCM publicly apologising for going too far, stating “We have made mistakes”, shifting away from extremism and released over 24k prisoners
Collaborative policies of the North following the failure of the Land tribunals?
Due to their wish to “avoid errors” of the tribunals (Kolko), the North introduced new policies in which over 85% of the peasantry were involved. This meant by 1957, the North’s economy had stabilised a lot
NLF in the South in the 1960s?
In 1959, secret troops had entered the South to determine whether or not it was ripe for an uprising. When it was concluded that it was, over 2,000 village officials getting killed in an uprising in the South catalysed the beginning of the North’s revolution in the South. By 1963, the NLF controlled approx. 80% of the countryside.
Binh Xuyen, Cao Dai and the Hoa-Hao
1954- BX and ARVN get into a street brawl, resulting in 500 dead and 20,000 left homeless bc the ARVN’s tanks recklessly razed the streets of Saigon
CD- Diem and US offer them half a million dollars as bribe to work with them
HH- CIA and ARVN bribe them for support after decapitating the head
^ his annihilation of his opps in this way created a political void as well as pockets of resistance that the north capitalised on
1955 election to get rid of Bao Dai
Diem rigged it by claiming that 100% of Saigon and 99% of the total population supported getting rid of Bao Dai (2,000 more votes than registered voters)
US backed this rigging and even advised that he give 70% as a more believable stat (he did not)
1955 campaign of denunciation in the South
20,000 supposed commies in jail by the end of the year
10/59 law in 1959
could indefinitely detain anyone suspected of being a commie which only further contributed to Diem’s unpopularity
Economic position of the South
- had the Mekong Delta
- US gave them $1.2B USD
DIem being stupid to the buddhist majority
- buddhists were 80-90% of South
- imposed land reforms that were the opposite of HCM’s land tribunals, in which he to0ok land away from the peasants and gave them back to landlords
- silly move because “with 85% of the population living in the countryside, it was difficult to find a single issue of more profound social, economic and political sensitivity than land” (Sheehan) –> he was effectively building up his own opposition base
- 50% of the population owned no land and 45% of the land was owned by 2% of the population
Agrovilles 1960 in the South to counter growing Northern counterinsurgency
Placing peasant population in these little villages which only failed to acknowledge the matter of sensitivity that was the land (Sheehan) and thus only succeeded in “alienating a significant proportion” of the population (Kahin), as well as “unleashing social discontent and creating actual and potential enemies” (Kahin) deterring them away from the US and Diem and instead towards communism
Buddhist protests and self-immolation in the South
Hunger strikes and protests as Buddhist rebellion
De-facto first lady: “If the buddhists wish to have another BBQ, I will be glad to supply the gasoline and match” in response to the self immolation of a buddhist monk (because people setting themselves on fire is not funny on an international stage)
1959-1960: people turning to communism in masses