In this Book

  • Cauldron of Resistance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s Southern Vietnam
  • Book
  • Jessica M. Chapman
  • 2013
  • Published by: Cornell University Press
buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary

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.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title Page, Copyright Page
  2. pp. 2-7
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Preface
  2. pp. ix-xii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Abbreviations
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-12
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 1. Anticolonialism in Vietnam’s Wild South
  2. pp. 13-39
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 2. The Crucible of Southern Vietnamese Nationalism and America’s Cold War
  2. pp. 40-60
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 3. “Sink or Swim with Ngo Dinh Diem”
  2. pp. 61-85
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 4. The “Sect” Crisis of 1955 and America’s Miracle Man in Vietnam
  2. pp. 86-115
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 5. Destroying the Sources of Demoralization: Ngo Dinh Diem’s National Revolution
  2. pp. 116-145
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 6. A Different Democracy: South Vietnam’s Referendum to Depose Bao Dai
  2. pp. 146-172
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. 7. The Making of a Revolution in South Vietnam
  2. pp. 173-195
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Conclusion
  2. pp. 196-204
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix: Select Vietnamese Names with Diacritics
  2. pp. 205-206
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 207-250
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 251-268
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 269-276
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.