South Vietnam

1
South Vietnam

• Diem Regime

2
Emperor Boa Dai

• Playboy lifestyle
• Had 5 wives and a lot
• of mistresses
• Prime Minister
• Ngo Dinh Diem removed
• Emperor using a
• referendum widely thought
• to be fraudulent

3
Ngo Dinh Diem

• Referendum was rigged, with Diem gaining 98 of
  the vote.
• Diems rule was authoritarian and nepotistic
  (favouring his family)
• Ngo Dinh Nhi was his brother and trusted
  official.
• He was an opium addict and admired Hitler.
• Secret Police was styled on the Gestapo

4
Family Corruption

• Widely believed to be involved in smuggling rice
  to North Vietnam and Opium throughout Asia.

5
Madame Nhu

• Vietnams first lady, Dragon Lady of Vietnam
• Enjoyed power, Power is wonderful, total power
  is totally wonderful
• Catholic values formed the policy
• Brothels, opium dens closed, divorce and abortion
  illegal and adultery laws strengthened.

6
Religious Sects

• Under the Diem Regime the Hoa Hao and Cao Dai
  Sects were crushed
• Discrimination
• Ban on flying the Buddhist Flag

7
Protests against the Government

• Quang Duc, 73 year old monk
• Protesting the anti-Buddhist policies
• Madame Nhu hoped for more barbecues
• Ngo Dinh Nhi offered to supply the gasoline

8
Anti-Communist

• Tortures and killings of "communist suspects"
  were committed on a daily basis
• The death toll was put at around 50,000 with
  75,000 imprisonments, and Di?m's effort extended
  beyond communists to anti-communist dissidents
  and anti-corruption whistleblowers