-
Period: to
Vietnam War
-
Stepdown
Vietnam leader Le Duc Tho departed from the sourthern part of Vietnam for Nortth Vietnam in accordance with the Geneva Accords which permitted free movement for 300 days between the provisional states of North and South Vietnam. -
Violent Crackdown
Prime Minister Diem wages a violent crackdown agaisnt the Binh Xuyen organized crime group that was based in Saigon where they would operate casinos, brothels, and opium dens. -
Ho CHi MInh
Ho Chi MInh visits Moscow and agrees to accept Soviet Aid. -
Presidency
South Vietnam declares itself the Republic of Vietnam, with the newly elected president Ngo Dinh Diem. -
Military Assisssitance Advisory Group
US President Dwight Eisenhower sent the Military Assisstance Advisory Group to help in the training of the South Vietnam Army. This was considered the involvement from the United States. -
Communists
In North Vietnam, radical land reforms by Communists result in land owners being hauled before "people's tribunals." Thousands are executed or sent to forced labor camps during this period of ideological cleansing by Ho Chi Minh. In South Vietnam, President Diem rewards his Catholic supporters by giving them land seized from Buddhist peasants, arousing their anger and eroding his support among them. Diem also allows big land owners to retain their holdings, disappointing peasant
