Explain the causes of the conflict in South Vietnam between 1954 and 1963.

The conflict in South Vietnam in the 1950s and early ‘60s was the result of a series of political, economic and social factors.

Political factors:

  • The South Vietnamese regime had very dubious legitimacy, had a very narrow base of support (Catholics and landowners), and had an inappropriate leader (Diem).
  • Diem exacerbated these problems by attacking groups that might otherwise have supported him. These included the Cao Dai and Hoa Hau sects.
  • He refused to carry out nationwide elections in 1956, crushing any hope that Vietnam would be reunified.
  • He attacked the Vietminh, subjecting them to death and imprisonment.

Economic factors:

  • Diem seized land that had been given to the peasants by the Vietminh, and returned it to its original owners.He also gave land to Catholic refugees from the North. This created considerable resentment in the South.

Social factors:

  • Diem infuriated the country’s majority Buddhist population by introducing pro-Catholic laws, such as banning divorce, contraception, spiritualism and occultism.
  • He also appointed Catholics to most of the key government posts in the country.

The resumption of hostilities:

  • The Vietminh reacted to Diem’s repression by resuming hostilities in 1957. They began assassinating officials appointed by Diem and attacking the ARVN.
  • In 1960, the NLF was formed, under the control of the government of North Vietnam. Supplies and troops began moving south to bolster the guerrilla forces.

Diem’s methods of quelling the rebellion:

  • He bombed suspected Viet Cong villages. This only infuriated the peasants who lost their homes and made them more conducive to supporting the guerrilla forces.
  • He herded the peasants into strategic hamlets, to keep them under army control. This further alienated the peasantry, and drove them into the arms of the Viet Cong.
  • He used totalitarian methods to maintain control of the cities, prompting a wave of protest led by Buddhist monks.

By 1963, South Vietnam was in crisis. While much of this was of Diem’s own making, much was also the result of the decision to divide Vietnam and create a separate regime in the south. In abandoning the election promised for 1956, the US made an enemy of the Vietminh. In placing a reactionary like Diem at the helm of the newregime, the US alienated large numbers of people who were not yet supporting Ho Chi Minh. Only direct intervention by American forcescould now hope to save the government America itself had helped to create.