Cauldron of Resistance

M. Chapman Jessica

Description

In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem organized an election to depose chief-of-state Bao Dai, after which he proclaimed himself the first president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam. The United States sanctioned the results of this election, which was widely condemned as fraudulent, and provided substantial economic aid and advice to the RVN. Because of this, Diem is often viewed as a mere puppet of the United States, in service of its Cold War geopolitical strategy. That narrative, Jessica M. Chapman contends in Cauldron of Resistance, grossly oversimplifies the complexity of South Vietnam's domestic politics and, indeed, Diem's own political savvy. Based on extensive work in Vietnamese, French, and American archives, Chapman offers a detailed account of three crucial years, 1953-1956, during which a new Vietnamese political order was established in the south. It is, in large part, a history of Diem's political ascent as he managed to subdue the former Emperor Bao Dai, the armed Hoa Hao and Cao Dai religious organizations, and the Binh Xuyen crime organization. It is also an unparalleled account of these same outcast political powers, forces that would reemerge as destabilizing political and military actors in the late 1950s and early 1960s.Chapman shows Diem to be an engaged leader whose personalist ideology influenced his vision for the new South Vietnamese state, but also shaped the policies that would spell his demise. Washington's support for Diem because of his staunch anticommunism encouraged him to employ oppressive measures to suppress dissent, thereby contributing to the alienation of his constituency, and helped inspire the organized opposition to his government that would emerge by the late 1950s and eventually lead to the Vietnam War.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• United States of America
• History of the Americas
• History of Asia
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 25 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801467417
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

CAULDRONOFRESISTANCE

Avolumeintheseries

TheUnitedStatesintheWorld Edited by Mark Philip Bradley, David C. Engerman, and Paul A. Kramer

Alistoftitlesinthisseriesisavailableatwww.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

CAULDRONOFRESISTANCE

NgoDinhDiem,theUnitedStates, and 1950s Southern Vietnam

JessicaM.Chapman

CornellUniversityPress IthacaandLondon

Copyright©2013byCornellUniversity Allrightsreserved.Exceptforbriefquotationsinareview,this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, NewYork 14850. Firstpublished2013byCornellUniversityPress

PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica

LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Chapman, Jessica M. (Jessica Miranda), 1977–  Cauldron of resistance : Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s southernVietnam / Jessica M. Chapman.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 9780801450617 (cloth : alk. paper)  1. Vietnam (Republic)—Politics and government. 2. Ngo, DInh Diem, 1901–1963. 3. Vietnam (Republic)—Foreign relations— United States. 4. United States—Foreign relations—Vietnam (Republic) I. Title.  DS556.9.C454 2013  327.59707309'045—dc23 2012028850

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

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Contents

Preface Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Anticolonialism in Vietnam’s Wild South

2. The Crucible of Southern Vietnamese Nationalism and America’s Cold War 3. “Sink or Swim with Ngo Dinh Diem” 4. The “Sect” Crisis of 1955 and America’s Miracle Man in Vietnam

5. Destroying the Sources of Demoralization: Ngo Dinh Diem’s National Revolution 6.Referendum toSouth Vietnam’s A Different Democracy: Depose Bao Dai

ix xiii

1 13

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86

116

146

viii

Contents

7. The Making of a Revolution in South Vietnam

Conclusion

Appendix: Select Vietnamese Names with Diacritics Notes Bibliography Index

173 196

205 207 251 269

Preface

A few notes on language and sources are necessary at the outset. Readers familiar with the Vietnamese language will notice the absence of diacritics and tone markers on Vietnamese words in the pages of this book. These marks are, of course, critical for understanding and identifying Vietnamese words. I have chosen to exclude them from the text to render it more accessible to a wider range of readers. However, several important proper names, place names, and names of organizations appear with diacritics in an appendix. This book is a product of many years of research inVietnam, France, and the United States, in the languages of those three countries. My desire to understand the complex political sphere of 1950s southern Vietnam took me first to Ho Chi Minh City, where I poured over documents from the Republic ofVietnam in the Vietnamese National Archives #2, as well as stacks of southern Vietnamese newspapers from that same period in the General Sciences Library across town. While those sources did not always illuminate the inner workings of Ngo Dinh Diem’s government, they spoke volumes of his administration’s broad objectives, methods, and processes. Just as important, they presented a full picture of the southern Vietnamese civil society with which his government interacted.