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After graduating at the top of his class, Diem enters the imperial bureaucracy as a mandarin of the lowest grade, but is soon promoted

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1933- Diem controls the most important ministry in Emperor Bao Dai's cabinet

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1933- Diem controls the most important ministry in Emperor Bao Dai's cabinet

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Diem, at 32 years old, assumes the position of the minister of the interior, beginning his extraordinary political career

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1946- Diem co-founds the Vietnam National Alliance

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1946- Diem co-founds the Vietnam National Alliance

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Diem teams up with Catholic politician Nguyen Ton Ho to found the Vietnam National Alliance. It called for Paris to accord Vietnam dominion status within the French Union. (similar to Britain's commonwealths)

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1954- Diem becomes the premier of Bao Dai's Republic of Vietnam

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1954- Diem becomes the premier of Bao Dai's Republic of Vietnam

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After becoming premier, Diem demands full powers over all aspects of South Vietnamese government, military and economy.

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July 20 1954- The French high command and the Viet Minh sign a truce to end hostilities

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July 20 1954- The French high command and the Viet Minh sign a truce to end hostilities

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At the Geneva Conference in 1954, the French high command and the Viet Minh sign a truce to end hostilities and create a demarcation line along the 17th parallel, resulting in two temporary Vietnamese political entities.

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August 1954- The Passage to Freedom is arranged

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August 1954- The Passage to Freedom is arranged

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The US Defense Department organized for an evacuation from NV to SV. There were over two hundred thousand North Vietnamese awaiting passage to SV.

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1954- Colonel Edward Lansdale and his psywar team used different methods to persuade the North Vietnamese to come to SV

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1954- Colonel Edward Lansdale and his psywar team used different methods to persuade the North Vietnamese to come to SV

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The psywar team engaged in tactics such as propaganda in the form of posters aimed at North Vietnamese Catholics to persuade individuals to evacuate to SV.

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October 23 1955- Diem stages a referendum to determine if he or Bao Dai would lead Vietnam

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October 23 1955- Diem stages a referendum to determine if he or Bao Dai would lead Vietnam

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Diem wins an election against Bao Dai, making him the president (dictator-like), although the election was rigged in various ways. For example, campaigning for Bao Dai was illegalized.

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Post-election 1955- Diem engages in nepotism, and surrounds himself with family members in delegation

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Post-election 1955- Diem engages in nepotism, and surrounds himself with family members in delegation

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Diem appoints members of his family to any position in delegation that he could. One example is how he made his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, political counselor

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1966- Diem escalates his Anti-Communist Denunciation Campaign

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1966- Diem escalates his Anti-Communist Denunciation Campaign

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Diem escalates his campaign to root out communist sympathizers in SV by passing Ordinance No. 6, which removed almost all restrictions on officials combatting political opponents.

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January 1955- Diem passes the first set of land ordinances 

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January 1955- Diem passes the first set of land ordinances 

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Diem declared that landlords could collect no more than 25 percent of a farmer's crop; rents could be higher if the landlord furnished supplies like fertilizer. Diem also gave tenants the right to farm abandoned or uncultivated land.

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January 1955- Washington passes the Commercial Import Program

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January 1955- Washington passes the Commercial Import Program

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This program was an agreement between SV and the US, allowing for the US to pump huge sums of money into SV for the purpose of promoting industrialization and economic self-sufficiency.

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August 1959- Elections were held concerning the National Assembly in SV

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August 1959- Elections were held concerning the National Assembly in SV

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These elections were once again rigged in favor of Diem. The Saigonese government took actions to ensure that candidates were disqualified, threatened, etc.

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December 20 1960- The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam was formed at Xom Guia

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December 20 1960- The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam was formed at Xom Guia

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This organization was formed with the goal of deposing Diem and repelling the Americans from SV in favor of a communist government in SV.

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1961- Diem launches his aggroville campaign

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1961- Diem launches his aggroville campaign

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Diem proposed a plan to organize peasants in small communities with various amenities for the purpose of repelling VC influence and raise living standards. This plan backfired due to Diem's expectations of having the peasants construct the aggrovilles as well as his push for them to abandon ancestral land.

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January 2 1963- The Battle of AP Bac leads to a VC victory

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January 2 1963- The Battle of AP Bac leads to a VC victory

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During the Battle of AP Bac, a small village southwest of Saigon, ARVN soldiers lost to the VC guerrilas despite being better equipped with weapons and vehicles. The soldiers were reluctant to fight and the generals were incompetent.

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After the US Ambassador to SV left office, the head priest of the Buddhist heirarchy called for a two day fast to protest Diem's policies.

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June 10 1963- A Buddhist demonstration of solidarity

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June 10 1963- A Buddhist demonstration of solidarity

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Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, burned himself for a demonstration of Buddhist solidarity against Diem's policies (which were oppressive to the Buddhist).

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1963- The new US Ambassador to SV calls for a coup

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1963- The new US Ambassador to SV calls for a coup

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Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. hinted at the possibility of a coup against Diem's government, after seeing how he handled Madame Nhu's comments against the Buddhist. Kennedy saw this as an opportunity for victory, learning from the failed Bay of Pigs.

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1963- Many statesmen agreed on the possibility of agreements between the SV and the NV

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1963- Many statesmen agreed on the possibility of agreements between the SV and the NV

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French President Charles De Gaulle called for peace agreements between Diem and Ho Chi Minh. Discussions regarding the possible conditions of such agreements were discussed amongst the statesmen.

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September 2 1963- The US launched its coup against Diem's government

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September 2 1963- The US launched its coup against Diem's government

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The fighting lasted less than a day, with the rebel count severely overwhelming Diem's loyalist forces.

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September 2 1963- Diem and Nhu are assassinated

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September 2 1963- Diem and Nhu are assassinated

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They were killed in St. Francis Xavier church, and their bodies were taken to the JGS. Despite this coup, the VC still claimed SV after various governments rose and fell in SV following Diem's assassination.