South Vietnam

Diem Regime

Emperor Boa Dai

Playboy lifestyle

Had 5 wives and a lot

of mistresses

Prime Minister

Ngo Dinh Diem removed

Emperor using a

referendum widely thought

to be fraudulent

Ngo Dinh Diem

• Referendum was rigged, with Diem gaining 98% of the vote.

• Diem’s rule was authoritarian and nepotistic (favouring his family)

• Ngo Dinh Nhi was his brother and trusted official.

• He was an opium addict and admired Hitler.• Secret Police was styled on the Gestapo

Family Corruption

• Widely believed to be involved in smuggling rice to North Vietnam and Opium throughout Asia.

Madame Nhu

• Vietnams first lady, Dragon Lady of Vietnam

• Enjoyed power, “Power is wonderful, total power is totally wonderful”

• Catholic values formed the policy• Brothels, opium dens closed, divorce and

abortion illegal and adultery laws strengthened.

Religious Sects

• Under the Diem Regime the Hoa Hao and Cao Dai Sects were crushed

• Discrimination• Ban on flying the

Buddhist Flag

Protests against the Government

• Quang Duc, 73 year old monk

• Protesting the anti-Buddhist policies

• Madame Nhu hoped for more “barbecues”

• Ngo Dinh Nhi “offered to supply the gasoline”

Anti-Communist

• Tortures and killings of "communist suspects" were committed on a daily basis

• The death toll was put at around 50,000 with 75,000 imprisonments, and Diệm's effort extended beyond communists to anti-communist dissidents and anti-corruption whistleblowers