The Chronicles of the Great Opposition

The review is given on the book Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 19451975 by the English historian and publicist Max Hastings. The author builds the history of the struggle of the Vietnamese people against the French colonialists and American imperialists based on extensive factual evidence. Anti-communist beliefs do not allow the author to fully appreciate the role of the Viet Minh front and the Vietnamese communists in the victory over the French, but he recognizes the enormous authority of Ho Chi Minh. Objectively depicting the anti-national character of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam and the American aid, the English journalist confirms with his book the main lesson of the Vietnam War, which proves that the internal political problems of another country cannot be solved by an outside invasion.

Xuan

This chapter details Xuan's path that led her from the jungle to London and back to Saigon in 1956. It narrates how she first met Lau in the maquis and then in England where they got married. It also talks about Xuan's studies in piano at the Royal College of Music and Lau's education at the London School of Economics and Oxford. The chapter discusses Xuan and Lau's return to southern Vietnam, where they had to keep a low profile teaching piano and raising four children. It mentions Xuan's resentment of the rule of Ngo Dinh Diem, which she described as a dictatorial regime whose injustice the people had to bear daily.

Political, Military, and Cultural Memoirs in Vietnamese

This chapter discusses how historians view the values and limitations of personal memoirs. It also reviews some of the most important memoirs written in the Vietnamese language by former government and civil society leaders of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN). These memoirs have been published in the United States for many years, but scholars have hardly used them. This chapter's review helps not only to provide a broader context for the testimonies in this volume but also to draw out the major themes in those memoirs that parallel the discussion on the challenges facing nation-building efforts in the republic. These themes include communist violence that explains the harsh anticommunist policies in the early years of Ngô Đình Diệm, contested views of the First Republic, and a generally more positive assessment of the Second Republic. The bourgeois values embraced by the RVN, the chapter points out, drew support from many Vietnamese at the time and are a source of nostalgia for many in Vietnam today.

“Let History Render Judgment on My Life”

The famous writer and revolutionary Nhất Linh (Nguyễn Tường Tam) committed suicide on July 7, 1963, in protest against Ngô Đình Diệm, the first president of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam). Although largely ignored by Western scholars, the suicide was a major catalyst for the growing resistance to Ngô Đình Diệm and contributed to a deeper transformation of Vietnamese political culture. Even decades after the collapse of the RVN, the event remains central to the historical memory of the Vietnamese diaspora.

The intentions to replace Ngo Dinh Diem of us officials from ambassador lawton collins to ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge (1955 - 1963)

After the Geneva Agreement of 1954, the US officials supported Ngo Dinh Diem come to power in South Vietnam in the hope that he would obey, but later realized that they could not control him. While Americans were worried about Diem, he himself was worried about the US. The US viewed economic aid and their increased military presence as a prerequisite, if not a guarantee for a must-have reform to win the war in Vietnam. Diem accepted all the support in terms of military and economy but he still acted on his will, not being subject to the US advice. Despite all warnings, Diem continued dealing with, in an unwise manner, movements against the Ngo government. This approach made the US war target in Vietnam at risk of failure. Diem's government gradually eliminated all political oppositions and created a power vacuum in South Vietnam that gave Americans no other choice but the existing government. Therefore, Americans were forced to “swim” or to “sink” with Diem even though this regime became increasingly unpopular. US officials had almost never found a perfect solution for South Vietnam. The intentions to replace Diem appeared once he came to power (1955) until it became a reality (1963).

Xây dựng và phát triển lực lượng cách mạng tiến tới Đồng Khởi ở Gia Định (1955 - 1960)

Trong những năm 1955-1960, quân dân Gia Định đã kiên cường đấu tranh, giữ gìn, xây dựng và phát triển lực lượng cách mạng trước sự đàn áp, khủng bố khốc liệt của chính quyền Ngô Đình Diệm. Với sự chủ động trong xây dựng lực lượng cách mạng và phương cách đấu tranh đúng đắn, phong phú, sáng tạo của Tỉnh ủy, Đảng bộ Tỉnh, lực lượng cách mạng Gia Định không ngừng phát triển lớn mạnh và tiến tới cuộc quật khởi lớn - cao trào Đồng Khởi thắng lợi trong toàn tỉnh năm 1960 - đã giáng đòn mạnh mẽ làm lung lay chế độ thống trị của Mĩ - Diệm ở địa phương, đồng thời góp phần chuyển tình thế cách mạng của tỉnh phát triển sang một giai đoạn mới với những tiền đề tích cực.

“Mourning a Loss: Conservative Support for Ngo Dinh Diem”

The U.S. conservative movement in the mid-20th Century argued that the United States needed to continuously get tougher in the fight against communism worldwide. It remained supportive of U.S. efforts throughout the Vietnam War. However, in the period immediately preceding Americanization of the war in 1965, conservatives were uncertain about the outcome of any fighting in Vietnam. Specifically, they claimed that optimism for the Republic of Vietnam was lost with the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. Without Diem, conservatives claimed, the Vietnam War was likely lost before it began. This article discusses how Diem went from a barely talked-about anti-Communist ally prior to his death to becoming posthumously the last great hope for Southeast Asia. Conservatives argued that without Diem, the only way the United States would be able to stop Communist expansion in Indochina would be to engage in a massive aerial bombing campaign and find a regional partner to deploy troops. Had he survived, this might not have been necessary. Learning why and how conservatives supported Diem after his death helps us better understand how conservatives reacted to the Vietnam War once Americanization began in 1965.