The History of South Vietnam - Lam

The Quest for Legitimacy and Stability, 1963-1967

Vinh-The Lam

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367621216
• eBook ISBN: 9781000246445
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: Social Sciences

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the political instability of South Vietnam between the two Republics and offers a valuable contribution to the study of the history of Vietnam as it focuses on a decisive period in the history of South Vietnam.

A much-needed examination of the political environment of the Republic of Vietnam between 1963-1967, this book shows how South Vietnamese leadership failed to form a stable civilian government and to secure South Vietnam against the increasing threat by North Vietnam. Through a detailed assessment of political difficulties during the period, the book suggests that, to prevent the imminent loss of South Vietnam to the Communist forces, the United States government did not have any other option than to escalate the war by committing its combat ground forces in the South and beginning the sustained bombing in the North. Moreover, the book analyses the administration of General Khánh and Prime Minister Phan Huy Quát and includes a full account of the War Cabinet of General Nguy?n Cao K?. The achievements, the difficulties and the sudden death of the National High Council as well as the confrontation between the Buddhists and the Tr?n Vãn Hýõng government are also explored.

This book will be of interest to researchers and students of the contemporary history of Vietnam, the history of the Republic of Vietnam, the Vietnam War and Southeast Asian history and politics.

1 Introduction

From November 1963, after the November 1 military coup that overthrew the Ngô Đình Diệm regime and ended the First Republic, to November 1967, after Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ were inaugurated as the first President and Vice-President of the Second Republic, the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam) went through a time of political instability. The five civilian and military governments during this period of time, namely, the Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Nguyễn Khánh, Trần Văn Hương, Phan Huy Quát and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ cabinets, have successively tried really hard to re-establish the legitimacy for the new regime as well as to achieve political stability for the country.

From the military viewpoint, this period witnessed the fierce escalation of the Vietnam War. In Hà Nội, at its Ninth Plenum (December 1963), Vietnam Workers’ Party (Đảng Lao Động Việt Nam) passed the resolution to adopt First Secretary Lê Duẩn’s strategy for General Offensive – General Uprising, mandating “a major buildup of conventional military force in the Central Highlands and the area northwest of Saigon to bring the war to a speedy end.”^1,2 North Vietnam, therefore, increased the infiltration of their troops to the South along the Hồ Chí Minh Trail. According to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the level of infiltration of North Vietnamese troops to the South has gone from 35,000 in 1965 to 90,000 in 1967.³ The military situation in South Vietnam was so bad that the US Government decided to introduce combat troops to South Vietnam and to carry out sustained bombing of North Vietnam. At the end of 1963, there were only about 20,000 US military advisors in South Vietnam. By the end of 1967, the total US military force in South Vietnam was 486,000 men.⁴ The sustained bombing campaign of North Vietnam, codenamed Operation Rolling Thunder, started on March 2, 1965 and lasted until October 31, 1968.⁵ According to the joint monthly report of the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for the month of January 1968, the total number of strike sorties carried out against North Vietnam of this month was 16,307.⁶ In addition to the US forces, there were also troops from the following Allied countries: South Korea, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. During this period of time, with military aids from the United States, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam totaled 650,000 men,⁷ with their equipment greatly improved by modern American materiel.

From the social-economic viewpoint, due to the presence of US and Allied military personnel, there was a tremendous impact on the daily life of the South Vietnamese people. Commodity prices went up with the galloping inflation and caused misery to people with steady incomes such as the civil servants and the soldiers. Social problems, such as prostitution and drugs, increased steadily in cities and rural areas surrounding US military bases. With the continuously increasing atrocities of the war, villages and rural communities became very much unsafe, and the peasants were forced to leave their villages for a safer life in cities. The number of displaced persons and refugees continued to increase and made urban life just more miserable.

In summary, the period of 1963–1967 was a time when the RVN had to cope with all kinds of political, military, and socio-economic difficulties. This book looks only into the political situation. Occasionally, there are military and/or socio-economic details in the book and they are mentioned just to illustrate the political point being discussed.

It is safe to say that during these four years of this historical period, all successive governments of the RVN took efforts, in their own way, to search for a sound legal basis for the authority and power they exercised. This was a primary political need because the legal basis that had existed for the previous eight or nine years, the Constitution promulgated on October 26, 1956, was suspended after the November 1, 1963 military coup.

The Hôi Đồng Quân Nhân Cách Mạng (Military Revolutionary Council or MRC), headed by Lieutenant-General Dương Văn “Big” Minh, right after the November 1, 1963 coup, promulgated the Hiến Ước Tạm Thời số 1 (Temporary Charter No. 1) on November 4, 1963. Three months later, Lieutenant-General Nguyễn Khánh carried out another coup on January 30, 1964, and replaced it with the Hiến Ước Lâm Thời số 2 (Temporary Charter No. 2) on February 7, 1964. By the summer of 1964, thinking that the time was right to grant himself the absolute power, General Khánh gave birth to the Hiến Chương Việt Nam Cộng Hòa (Charter of the Republic of Vietnam, often referred to as Vũng Tàu Charter) on August 16. However, the Charter was strongly opposed by the students and the MRC had to rescind the Charter. After this setback, General Khánh had to share power with Generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh in the newly created triumvirate called the Ban Lãnh Đạo Lâm Thời Quốc Gia và Quân Lực (Provisional Committee for the Leadership of the Nation and the Armed Forces) with General Minh as Chairman. On September 8, General Minh signed the Resolution No. 7/BLĐQGQL to establish the Thượng Hội Đồng Quốc Gia (High National Council). After more than one month of hard work, the Council completed the Hiến Chương Lâm Thời (Provisional Charter) on October 20, which annulled the two Temporary Charters No. 1 and No. 2. On the basis of this Provisional Charter of October 20, 1964, the two civil governments of Trần Văn Hương (from November 4, 1964 to January 27, 1965) and Phan Huy Quát (from February 16, 1965 to June 18, 1965) were installed. The cabinet crisis of the Phan Huy Quát government, beginning on May 25, 1965, led the civil administration to an impasse and resulted in the return of the power to the generals. The Great Council of the Armed Forces of the RVN promulgated the Ước Pháp (Provisional Constitution) of June 19, 1965, which annulled the Provisional Charter of October 20, 1964. This Provisional Constitution of June 19, 1965 was in effect until the promulgation of the new Constitution of April 1, 1967.

All efforts to create a legal basis for the new regime after the November 1, 1963 military coup, as described earlier, did not achieve the desired goal. The main reason for this failure could be found in the wrong way in which they were carried out. The right way should have been in the opposite direction. All of these temporary and provisional charters and provisional constitution were, through all of these committees and councils, “handed down” to the people from individuals or institutions that were not elected by the people. They were produced to serve those individuals in power and not the people. They were not emanating from the representatives of the people and, thus, not reflecting the aspirations of the people. As a result, it was only natural that the people opposed all of these pieces of “legislation.” During this period of time, all successive governments have promised to organize elections for the Quốc Hội Lập Hiến (Constituent Assembly), which, in turn, would create the new constitution for the country. They all failed to keep that promise. It was only after the Civil Revolt in Central Vietnam in the summer of 1966, and under heavy pressure from the US Government that the Thiệu-Kỳ military government decided to call elections for the Constituent Assembly.

The lack of a legal basis, as previously described, was not the only reason for the extreme political chaos in the RVN during that period of time. There were other factors that contributed to that extreme political chaos.

The political parties of South Vietnam constituted the first factor. After the November 1, 1963 coup succeeded in the overthrow of the Ngô Đình Diệm regime, all political parties and their leaders had high expectations for their roles in the new government. General “Big” Minh made a big political mistake when he appointed Mr. Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, former Vice-President under the Ngô Đình Diệm administration, to form a cabinet filled mostly by technocrats, causing tremendous disappointments among the politicians. The creation of the Hội Đồng Nhân Sĩ (Council of Notables) also did not satisfy everyone. A number of Đại Việt leaders who were not chosen to sit in the Council were unhappy and participated in the coup led by Generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Nguyễn Khánh on January 30, 1964. When General Nguyễn Khánh formed his government, Đại Việt Party members held a number of important cabinet posts with Dr. Nguyễn Tôn Hoàn, a Đại Việt leader from the Southern sect holding the position of Vice Prime Minister Responsible for Pacification. But not long after that, the Đại Việt Party became unhappy with General Khánh and plotted again to overthrow him, but this time it failed and one of its leaders, Mr. Hà Thúc Ký, Minister of the Interior, was forced to resign from the cabinet. This kind of action by the Đại Việt Party was not unfamiliar with the political parties in South Vietnam. The main objective of all political parties was to topple the government, not to make contributions as loyal opposition parties to make the government work better because, in reality, no government in South Vietnam has ever tolerated a formal loyal opposition. The political parties, therefore, were always willing and ready to take part in any coup plot. In addition, one could not ignore the personalities, the narrow minds and visions, and the boundless ambitions of the party leaders. All of these factors caused them to continuously fight with each other. Many US classified documents used the word “bickering” with contempt to depict these fights. It was the real reason behind the cabinet crisis of the Phan Huy Quát administration that ultimately put an end to the civil government and hand the power back to the generals.

The second factor contributing to the political chaos was the popular and religious forces that had participated in the struggle against the dictatorial Ngô Đình Diệm regime during the Buddhist Crisis of 1963. These forces demanded that the new government pay attention to their political views and aspirations. The most important groups among them were the students and the Buddhists.

The students actively participated in all these chaotic events during this period. They organized countless political seminars, “nights without sleep,” “takes-to-the-street,” and demonstrations, and also bloody street confrontations and violence. They were the most idealistic and the most easily incitable crowds.

For the Buddhists, to achieve the necessary strength, all regional and dogmatic sects grouped together under a unique organization called the Vietnamese Buddhist United Church (VBUC) and decided not to accept being discriminated and oppressed by the government again. In order to have influence with the government, the Buddhists wanted to have the final word in the formation of the cabinet’s membership and policies. If these demands were not met, the Buddhists immediately exerted their pressure by inciting their followers, mostly students, to take to the streets and demonstrate. In some cases, like the case of opposing the Vũng Tàu Charter, they could obtain their goals just with demonstrations. If these pressuring measures did not get them results, they would use the two stronger measures: self-starvation and self-immolation. The most extreme measure of ordering their followers to bring Buddha’s altars to the streets was used only once when they were facing with the desperate situation in Huế and Đà Nẵng during the Civil Revolt in Central Vietnam in June 1966.

The last factor causing the political chaos of this period was the military establishment. The military, traditionally, would be non-political and always under the control of the civil government. But in the RVN, at this point in time, after the military coup of November 1, 1963, the Armed Forces have become a political force, and, in fact, have created a series of governments for the country. General Khánh has actually said that “The Army is the father of the nation.”⁸ During a period of less than two years, the RVN has witnessed four military coups (on November 1, 1963, on January 30, 1964, on September 13, 1964, and on February 19, 1965) and two coup attempts (the coup attempt by the Đại Việt against General K...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The November 1, 1963 coup aftermath
• 3 The January 30, 1964 Coup of General Nguyễn Khánh
• 4 The rise and fall of General Nguyễn Khánh
• 5 Nguyễn Khánh Government 1964: a year of total chaos
• 6 High National Council
• 7 The Buddhists and Trần Văn Hương government
• 8 Phan Huy Quát government and the cabinet crisis of May/June 1965
• 9 Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Government: the War Cabinet
• 10 Moving toward the Second Republic
• Appendix A: Biographical sketches of the Republic of Vietnam personalities
• Appendix B: Temporary Charter No. 1 – November 4, 1963
• Appendix C: Temporary Charter No. 2 – February 7, 1964. Replacing Temporary Charter No. 1 – November 4, 1963
• Appendix D: Charter of the Republic of Vietnam – August 16, 1964 (Vũng Tàu Charter)
• Appendix E: Provisional Charter – October 20, 1964
• Appendix F: Provisional Constitution – June 19, 1965
• Bibliography
• Index