Ngô Dinh Diệm was born on the 3rd of January 1901, in the Quảng Bình Province in central Vietnam, about 100 kilometres north of the city of Huế. During 1955 he managed to depose Emperor Bảo Đại and declared himself as president of the Republic of Vietnam. This marked the beginning of Diệm’s authoritarian rule.Once he gained total power, Diệm – supported by American supplied weapons and advisors, established an autocratic regime that was staffed at the highest levels by members of his own family. Diệm appointed his brother Ngô Đình Nhu, an opium addict, and admirer of German dictator Adolf Hitler, as his chief adviser. Together they built a secretive political organization “The Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party”, often simply called the Kan Lao Party. This organization was in many ways a semi cult centered around Diệm and his personality, and had members in the military, the civil service, and in local government. It served as a secret network that ensured the loyalty of people to the regime. Members of the Can Lao Party were used as spies of the regime, and helped to suppress any opposition. They used propaganda, surveillance, and if needed – force. Despite having a relatively small official number of members, the party managed to create a network that infiltrated all levels of society. Diệm’s youngest brother Luyện was appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and his elder brother, Ngô Đình Thục, was Archbishop of Huế.
Diệm imposed programs to reform Saigon society in accordance with Catholic and Confucian values. Brothels and opium dens were closed, divorce and abortion were made illegal, and adultery laws were strengthened. On the 1st of November 1963, South Vietnamese generals launched a violent coup with silent approval from the U.S.. With only the palace guard remaining to defend Diệm and his younger brother Nhu, the generals called the palace and offered Diệm exile if he surrendered. That evening, however, he and his entourage escaped via an underground passage to Cha Tam Catholic Church in Cholon, where they were captured the following morning. On the 2nd of November 1963, the brothers were assassinated together in the back of an M113 armored personnel carrier with a bayonet and revolver – by Captain Nguyễn Văn Nhung, under orders from general Dương Văn Minh. The executions of Diệm and his brother proved to be a turning point in the Vietnam War, leading South Vietnam to chaos, and Diệm’s removal did not lead to any improvement or stability. Instead, a series of weak and unstable governments followed, weakening the country’s ability to resist the Viet Cong insurgency. The political instability led to assassinations of rival factions, and to an increasing American military involvement.
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