VIETNAM & THE CONFLICT IN INDO-CHINA – HISTORICAL FORCE ESSAY
“Describe the background and outcomes of an event that affected the lives of ordinary
people. How did an historical force or movement related to this event have an
influence on ordinary people’s lives at this time?”
There are two parts to this question. You must write about both:
1.) Causes of your chosen event.
2.) How that event affected ordinary people (particularly with reference to your
chosen historical force).
This model essay will be talking about:
1.) The event of the fall of Ngo Dinh Diem.
2.) How the assassination and the force of Nationalism affected ordinary people.
The first job is to plan your essay. It is vital that you do this in the exam. People who
fail are always the ones who didn’t do the plan. It looks like this:
Selected historical force or
movement
Selected topic
Selected event
Communism
Vietnam & The Conflict In IndoChina
The Fall Of Diem
Background to the event
Diem’s nepotism
Strategic Hamlets
1963 Buddhist Crisis
Outcomes of the event
Social and political chaos in Saigon after the coup
Possibility of victory by the North
Influence of the force/movement on people’s lives
Fear of the spread of Communism and the Domino Theory
Controversy surrounding the second attack
The bits in italics are the bits that you would have filled in during the exam. Your job
now is to go back through your notes and textbook to re-familiarise yourself with some
of the things I have filled in for you. This plan is not exhaustive, so there might be other
things you would like to add.
The next job is to write the actual essay. Below I have written the points which could be
included based on the essay plan. However, I have not included any critical analysis. It
is therefore your job to write the essay making sure you include the words
“because”
“therefore”
“as a result of”
These words ensure that your sentence is analysis rather than story telling. When
discussing causes (background) and consequences (influence on people) you could also
include critical analysis by arguing which ones are more important than others and
why e.g.
“However, perhaps of more importance is…”
“Although … was important, it was vital that …”
You will need to link the points below together, as simply stating simple sentences is
story telling and NOT GOOD! You should also add relevant information from your notes
and textbook. You should see that at roughly the end of each paragraph I have written
[ANSWER THE QUESTION!] That means that you need to refer back to the essay
question at that point. You should also add relevant information from your notes and
textbook. When you have completed this essay you should hand it in for marking.
When it is correct, you should learn it for the exam.
Introduction
An event that had an impact on the lives of ordinary people was the fall from power and
subsequent death of Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963.
The force of Communism, an ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless
society characterised by common ownership, had an influence on ordinary people’s lives because it
was one of the causes of this event.
The causes of this event were more than a decade of opposition to the Diem regime, as well as issues
such as the Strategic Hamlet programme, which forced South Vietnamese peasants into the hands of
the Communist Viet Cong.
The Buddhist Crisis, caused by Diem’s favouritism of Catholicism and suppression of Buddhism, led
the Americans to turn their backs on Diem, who was captured and shot.
The main consequence of this event was an instability of the Saigon Government and a
corresponding rise in the strength of the VC in the South, resulting in the fall of Saigon to
Communism; the very thing which, as a result of the “Domino Theory”, the Americans had feared so
much and worked so hard to prevent.
This had an impact on ordinary people’s lives as the fear of Communism eventually drove the US to
commit combat troops and the entire population of North and South Vietnam ended up living
under the tenets of Communism.
Main Body – Background To The Event
One of the long term causes of the fall of Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963 was more than a decade of
simmering opposition caused by Diem’s nepotism, which created a virtual family dictatorship, as well
as his suppression of the Viet Minh “Winter Cadres” in the South, which involved censorship,
imprisonment and capital punishment.
As far as US policy in the 1950s was concerned, Diem was to be an anti-Communist domino.
The U.S. supported Diem when, in 1956, he refused to hold the elections called for under the Geneva
Accords, stating he did not trust the Communists to carry out free elections.
Diem was no friend of the US, mistrusting them after the 1960 coup and viewing democracy as a
western disease.
Both parties needed each other in order to prevent the spread of Communism.
Due to his sense of Nationalism, Diem’s rule was authoritarian, nepotistic and pervaded by family
corruption.
By 1960 it was clear that Diem’s anti-Communist, pro-Catholic regime had created many enemies in
South Vietnam and there was significant political instability.
Diem’s response was to become a political recluse, leaving his despotic brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and his
wife Madame Nhu to enforce the regime’s brutal and bloody policies.
This had significant consequences for US policy in South Vietnam because by 1961 Kennedy had
announced that, rather than let Vietnam fall to Communism and become another domino, he
would use military intervention to prop up the South against Communist pressures.
The force of Communism therefore had a significant impact on ordinary people’s lives because belief
in the “Domino Theory” led the US to become increasingly entangled in a conflict which they would
find, in the fullness of time, they were ill-equipped to win. [ANSWER THE QUESTION!]
Another cause of the fall of Diem was his misguided Strategic Hamlet programme, which aimed to
protect villagers from the Communist VC, but which actually served only to alienate the villagers
and make Communism all the more attractive.
The ideology of Communism became appealing to the South Vietnamese villagers due to their
resentment at being unceremoniously uprooted from their ancestral homelands and being forced to
pay the pro-Democratic anti-Communist Diem government for materials to rebuild their homes
which the US had supplied to Diem at no cost.
Suggestions that these Strategic Hamlets were being used by Ngo Dinh Nhu as a military solution,
and therefore bore more resemblance to concentration camps, was of extreme concern to the
Kennedy administration.
Although his motivations must be taken into account, it was extremely significant that Pham Van
Dong, Premier of North Vietnam, declared that the Diem regime was organising camouflaged
concentration camps dubbed “Prosperity Zones” and “Strategic Hamlets”. This example is an
effective illustration of Diem’s alienation of the US government, as well as his alienation of his own
villagers.
Diem’s Strategic Hamlet programme, rather than countering subversion, actually assisted the process
of conversion to the ideology of Communism. For example, by 1962 the Saigon government itself
declared that they had relocated 39% of the population into the Strategic Hamlets. [ANSWER THE
QUESTION!]
The Buddhist Crisis of 1963 can justifiably be perceived as the most serious crisis the Diem regime
faced.
The grave situation of government troops firing into protest crowds was caused by Diem’s repressive
legislative, political and religious measures directed against the Buddhist population.
Given the fact that the Buddhists represented 95% of the population, it is a damning testimony of
Diem’s ineptitude that he did not seek to negotiate a political solution, and the importance of this
miscalculation was not lost on the Americans.
Images of Buddhist monks self-immolating as a means of protesting against the Diem regime
shocked the Kennedy administration to the core and all confidence that Diem could be an effective
anti-Communist domino was lost.
Although the executions of Diem and his brother were not a part of Washington’s agenda, Cabot
Lodge’s “Green Light” tacit approval of the coup by South Vietnamese Generals does make the US
culpable.
Kennedy’s interview on CBS News was evidence that he believed Diem had lost touch with his own
people and was therefore incapable of stopping the tide of Communism.
Although this resulted in Diem’s downfall, the US agenda at all times was driven by the philosophy
of the “Domino Theory” and the fear that Asia, Australia and NZ would all become Communist.
[ANSWER THE QUESTION!]
Main Body – Outcomes Of The Event
The fall of Diem and his nepotistic regime set in motion a series of events which eventually forced
Johnson in 1965 to choose between accepting defeat and letting the dominoes fall, or committing
combat troops.
After the executions, Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese Politburo predicted that there would
be further coups, more instability and the outcome would be very different from that which the US
imperialists calculated.
Indeed, this prediction proved to be accurate, since while a gunman was taking aim from a book
depository in Texas, Saigon was experiencing social and political chaos.
Despite the succession of ineffective Generals who came to power, the US was motivated by the fear
of being unable to contain Communism to continue to support South Vietnam. [ANSWER THE
QUESTION!]
By 1964 the Saigon government was facing the real possibility of defeat.
The VC openly held one third of the country and dominated the other two thirds by night.
The North Vietnamese Army was able to wage a total war as a result of consistent leadership under
Ho Chi Minh, the discipline and unity created by the ideology of Communism and the mobilisation of
the entire population in the cause of unifying Vietnam.
In contrast to this resolve and determination in North Vietnam, Johnson was facing pivotal decisions
and even advisors such as Robert McNamara performing U-turns on their policies. [ANSWER THE
QUESTION!]
Main Body – Influence On People
Communism was having an impact on ordinary people in two different populations because, on the
one hand, it was a unifying force which made total war possible, and on the other it was a threat to
democracy so terrible that it had to be stopped at all costs. [ANSWER THE QUESTION!]
The instability created by Diem’s death caused the US to fear they might lose containment of global
Communism, and therefore they were already prepared to commit to a conflict when the 1964 Gulf
of Tonkin Incident gave them a convenient excuse to do so.
The resulting Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, an effective example of how US foreign policy decision
making was becoming increasingly the domain of the Oval Office rather than Congress, gave
Johnson the mandate to act virtually at will and plunged the US into a conflict against Communism
they were ill-equipped to win. [ANSWER THE QUESTION!]
Conclusion
Although Diem certainly helped to create the causes of his own demise, particularly in terms of his
nepotism and suppression, the US must also bear some culpability, since having chosen Diem as an
anti-Communist domino and propped him up in order to contain Communism, it was the Kennedy
administration’s tacit approval of the coup in 1963 which encouraged the coup leaders.
The most ironic consequence of the fall of Diem was that, despite American suspicions that he could
no longer maintain control over South Vietnam, it was actually the instability created by Diem’s
absence which precipitated further American involvement.
The force of Communism had a significant impact on people’s lives because the policy making of the
US government was driven by the fear of Communism, so US troops would therefore be required to
fight to prevent its spread.
Communism had furthermore been the unifying force behind the efforts of the North and would
eventually also rule over the South.