The two Vietnams

With the 1954 Geneva Convention, the French were finished in Vietnam. Although the Viet Minh expected support for their claims to all of Vietnam, Vietnam itself was divided temporarily into two areas, separated at the 17th parallel, pending elections to be held in 1956. In the north, Ho Chi Minh set about consolidating his power, moving to eliminate all non-Communist elements in society. In the south, an October 1955 referendum saw Ngo Dinh Diem defeat former emperor Bao Dai and proclaim the Republic of Vietnam, with himself as president. Diem's early opposition came not from communists, but from several religious sects and the criminal Binh Xuyen force. With the help of the American C.I.A., Diem then turned on the communists and was firmly in control by the end of 1956.

Now began the attempt by the DRV to destroy the RVN. In 1959 the North Vietnamese Communist Party established a Central Office in South Vietnam in order to run a war there. In 1960 the North Vietnamese Politburo established a classic Communist front organization, the National Liberation Front, to create the impression that what was really a war between north and south was rather a popular uprising. One of the more well-known efforts to supply Northern-supported forces in the south was the creation of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which ran down the spine of the Chaine Annamitique mountains in eastern Laos.

Readings:

1. Kolko, pp. 80-108.
2. Langguth, pp. 112-158.

Questions for consideration and further discussion:

1. What was the real agenda of the Geneva Convention of 1954?
2. What was Ho Chi Minh's agenda?
3. Was the Communist nature of the DRV an important factor in world opinion about Southeast Asia?
4. How did the North benefit from the fiction of a popular uprising when it created the NLF?
5. Who was Diem and how was he qualified to lead the RVN?
6. Did Diem's suppression of the Cao Dai, the Hoa Hao, and the Bin Xuyen differ essentially from Ho Chi Minh's suppression of non-communists?