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Starting with Emperor Minh Mang's (shown above) policy of Catholic persecution in the 1830s, violence against Catholics faced new extremes as France tighten their control over Vietnam. As a result, many Catholics were killed and Catholicism began to be associated with the foreign oppressor.

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Diem graduates from school and enters public service, starting as a low-grade mandarin then rising quickly in the ranks. At 25, he became province chief, supervising three hundred villages and working to lessen colonial restrictions imposed on Vietnamese citizens.

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Diem exposed some of the earliest communist cells in Quang Tri, a province north of Hue. In the following years, Diem would root out communist leaders and demonstrations, crushing peasant revolts alongside the French in 1930 and 1931.

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At the age of 32, Diem was promoted with the request of Nguyen Huu Bai to the French, now controlling the most important ministry in Bao Dai's cabinet. However, Diem resigned less than 3 months later after the French would not consider any of Diem's suggestions for administrative reform. Diem did not care and told a reporter "I was convinced that the people must be alerted to the need for wholesale reforms and... must strive for them energetically- even violently."

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Both Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem desired change in Vietnam on behalf of their people. However, what needs to be changed and how is different for each; where Minh could be considered a true "revolutionary" fighting for a Vietnam free of French control and advocating in other countries, Diem is more passive and believes that uprisings are not the way to go (interesting because of Diem's actions towards the end of this regime), but the problem is instead the King (not exactly opposed to the French), which is a big difference between the two.

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The Japanese take over Vietnam and offer premiership of a puppet regime to Diem under his older sovereign, Bao Dai. Diem turned down this request because he realized that the new Vietnamese government would not have any real independence. However, when Diem regretted this decision and tried to get an offer again, Bao Dai had already chosen someone else.

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September 1945: Communist Control, Diem is arrested

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September 1945: Communist Control, Diem is arrested

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Ho Chi Minh led the communists into Hanoi and proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam after the surrender of the Japanese. Diem was taken under custody and placed in a communist camp where Diem almost died from disease. When Viet Minh took Khoi (Diem's brother) and his son in September, they did not survive and were buried alive.

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In order to gain the support of Vietnam's Catholic minority, Ho brought Diem to Hanoi for treatment and so that he might be able to recruit Diem as the minister of the interior. Diem refused to work under a regime who killed his brother and who he did not approve of. After seeing hundred die in a "post liberation revolt" in Ho's words, Diem could not support Ho.

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France re-occupies Vietnam  giving way to the Franco-Viet Minh War, which gave Ho Chi Minh a new problem to focus on instead of Diem. As fighting broke out throughout the North, Diem moved to live with his brother Thus outside of Saigon in the South. The image above shows Viet Minh troops planting their flag over captured French headquarters at Dien Bien Phu.

The Vietnam National Alliance was also founded by Diem a the Catholic politician Nguyen Ton Ho in this year, aiming to establish anti-communist and anti-colonist sentiments.

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The US government decided to intervene a support a "third" force that was neither communism nor colonialist. In this sense both the US and Diem had shared ideologies of allying oneself with anticommunist movements of national liberation. The US also liked Diem for his Catholic beliefs.

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This is what Eisenhower's men saw Diem as: his great performance as a South Vietnamese leader, being able to create policies, implement them, and impact people, a strong contrast to his narrative in Vietnam, where he was a source of terror to the Vietnamese.  The second narrative was how his leadership was perceived in the U.S., as a "Miracle Man" whereas his own people lived in fear of him.

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With the fall of Dien Bien Phu came the end of French dominance in Indochina. Diem is appointed as premier by Bao Dai, fully aware that Diem was popular among American politicians and that by having Diem, he would have American aid. Diem demanded "full powers" of all South Vietnamese government, military, and economy.

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Truce signed between the French and the Viet Minh, pausing any hostile actions. The agreement included a demarcation line along the 17th parallel, temporarily dividing Vietnam into two separate political bodies. The Viet Minh pushed for partitioning south of the 17th parallel so that Hue (the ancient capital) was in their area and that elections be held within six months for the entire nation. If this were to happen, eighty percent of the population is said to have voted for Minh, as stated by Eisenhower, but is something that did not happen. Elections would be held in 1960 in both North and South Vietnam. Both entities agreed that whatever the result of the election, they would be bound to that government (part of the Geneva Accords).

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Diem refused to hold the 1956 all Vietnam elections scheduled for this date because he believed that if he had talks with the North, it would mean that he had accepted the Geneva Accords and Ho Chi Minh when he had done neither. He claimed that since he never signed the accords, they were invalid and he would not want his fate to be in the hands of communist control although he supported free elections (but was also not obligated to hold them by the accords).

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In South Vietnam, the government barred landlords from taking more than 25% of profit from tenants and also allowed tenants to farm unoccupied land; this was not very effective in terms of enforcement among landlords.

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A series of propaganda-esque actions followed Diem's victory against Bao Dai in this election. This included voter intimidation, threats, and a strong authoritative control over the people. Eventually, he won the election by 98.2%. Five months later, a constitution was written. The constitution gave Diem the power to control the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of their new government, meaning he could issue and change laws as he pleased, along with dismiss and enforce officers in all fields, both civil and militaristic. Diem also had the right to rule by "emergency" and could use this power whenever he deemed there to be a situation of emergency (like the rise of various movements).

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Known as the "darkest period" in Vietnamese history. The Anti-Communist Denunciation Campaign, created to maintain control, backfired because it led to "guerilla uprisings" in the countryside and a lack of support from urban and peasant residents. This is because the campaign tactics were so brutal- beheading, punishing, executions- that when people saw their family being killed or targeted, they stopped supporting Diem.

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The Commercial Import Program (CIP),allowed the money the U.S. gave to be gradually going into the economy through importers, who bought dollars at half the exchange rate, and purchased American imports; Diem also used this money to pay various groups, like police. This prevented inflation.

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Around 100,000 refugees moved from North to South Vietnam in the Passage to Freedom. Many refugees were Catholics, shifting the majority of Catholics to be in the South instead of the North, like it was before the split along the 17th parallel.

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Diem initiated an "Anti- Communist Denunciation Campaign" to root out the Viet Minh, resulting in thousand to be jailed or executed. Under this ordinance, restrictions on officers were removed in regards to combating political opponents. Anyone considered a danger to public order/defense of the state was jailed or put on house arrest.

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North Vietnam would kill landlords or send them to labor camps which resulted in around 15,000 deaths by mid-1956. As a result, the land was divided among landless farmers.

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Elections were being held in South Vietnam for the National Assembly. However, these elections were corrupt as a result of it being a threat to Diem's authoritarian hold over the South Vietnam. Candidates were threatened and forced to leave, newspapers were not allowed to cover the events taking place, and soldiers were deployed throughout.

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The Caravelle Group, consisting of 18 South Vietnamese politicians who joined together in order to create reform, wrote a letter known as "Manifesto of the Eighteen" and was read at a press conference. This letter detailed how South Vietnam's economy was in terrible condition even after aid, how the military is not at its best due to influence from Diem, and how the government chooses people based on family influence.

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In order to guarantee social structure, increase the living standard of peasants, and stop the spread of Viet Cong influences in rural areas, Diem started the Agroville Campaign. However, the treatment of peasants were poor as they were forced to build these agrovilles and also had no compensation.

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US ambassador to South Vietnam, Frederick Nolting, left office. Closely following behind, Thich Tin Khiet, head of the Buddhist hierarchy in Vietnam, called for a two day fast in order to protest Diem. On June 3rd, government troops attacked protestors in Hue and had put Hue under martial law. A monk set himself on fire and more people followed in his steps, attracting the attention of the entire world.

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JFK: The president stated that "no news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one."

Madame Nhu: In an interview for CBS she said "What have those so-called 'Buddhist leaders' done? ... All they have done is to barbeque a bonze."

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Measure against Vietnam are taken by the new U.S. ambassador Lodge, who did not believe an anti-military solution was possible to bring down Diem, but to also not fall to communism. As such, Lodge sought to create a military coup against the ARVN. This of course came with some form of hesitancy from generals who they had recruited, since Lodge could not recruit the Brigadier General Dinh who held extensive control over the army and could possibly destroy a rebellion through those means.

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Kennedy gave the ARVN generals the signal to stage the coup in an interview. He did not believe that Diem could remain in control if he did not change his policies and approaching, explicitly stating "I don't think that unless a greater effort is made by the government to win popular support that the war can be won." He implied that if Diem did not enforce their opinions, the US would take action.

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The ARVN leads a coup against the South Vietnamese government that ends successfully after 17 hours. This coup, although short, was extremely violent. Diem and his brother Nhu are assassinated. This news is taken positively by the people of South Vietnam, who celebrate his death.