In May of 1954 the French surrendered at Dien Bien Phu after being overrun by superior Viet Minh forces in fierce combat. The military consequence would be less significant for France had it not been for the lassitude of a long and costly war with no end in sight. French weary political leaders were pressuring the government at home to settle for a negotiated end to the conflict. The following July, the Geneva Agreement was concluded with the partition of Vietnam into 2 military zones, at the 17th parallel. The North will be under Ho Chi Minh rule and the South under France's trusteeship for a two-year period, until general elections could take place...
In the meantime Bao Dai and the government of prince Buu Loc his cousin, bitterly opposed the Accord. The emperor was known to be easily influenced by the French during the whole episode prior to 1954. It struck me that his [puppet] regime has decided to dissent at this later stage. The only reasonable explanation is that he wanted to distance himself from the French protective umbrella and bet on the Americans who recognized his government since 1950. The French didn't make a fuss out of it and were puzzled by Bao Dai's about face. Maybe there's a sign of his long delayed resurgence and last ditch effort for redemption.
Unable to sway the French in Geneva, his cabinet resigned and Bao Dai has to find a true 'nationalist', a credible and strong political figure to salvage the situation and avoid a permanent partition of the country. He put his cards on Ngo Dinh Diem, a diminutive 5'3'' ex mandarin to become the new premier of South Vietnam. The French have no objection on the choice. Bao Dai would have had a hard time finding someone for the job, for the odds of succeeding were slim indeed. The dice was cast: the French have overlooked Bao Dai's and the Vietnamese interests. They conceded to Uncle Ho's demands and accepted a de facto communist regime in the north. Their demoralized troops were gradually disengaging from the north. Diem facing a fait accompli steadfastly refused to sign the Agreement and the Americans followed suit by just witnessing it in Geneva.
Washington had an ambivalent and reluctant approach to Vietnam and the Geneva accord. On one hand the US under Eisenhower and Foster Dulles didn't want a communist takeover in the north, but on the other hand they couldn't support any longer a French colonial regime in South East Asia. The US did acquiesce to the French returning after the Japanese surrender in 1945 for reasons that had more to do with France's internal politics. And due to her costly victory over Nazi Germany, France should be in a position to reclaim its colony and rightly so, after being humiliated by the Japanese takeover just before the cessation of hostilities in WW2.
Washington feared that a communist victory in Indochina would tilt the balance of power to the Communist party in the French National Assembly! And nine years after, the situation just kept sliding downward from bad to worse, and the French troops suffered their final blow at Dien Bien Phu. It was time for the US government to let go. With its hard learned lesson in Korea, America has no mood for intervention. Without a political solution, the best possible outcome for Indochina would be a military stalemate. Moreover, the Americans realized that Bao Dai was a liability rather than a solution. In fact he never took his role seriously since his abdication in 1945. Becoming a nominal head of state, he preferred gambling, hunting or having a luxurious life in France and calling the shots thousands of miles away.
Diem was not really the best bet for the Americans in this political void. They have doubts about his popular base and his political instinct, being in self exile since 1945. They considered him a passive man and a quitter. After a few disappointed runs with power, Diem had decided to withdraw from politics and went into religious hiding as a seminarian in New York in 1950. But in the US he has a powerful ally and friend by the name of Francis Cardinal Spellman, the Vicar General for the US army, who found in Diem the right stuff to lead Vietnam. And the Cardinal reasoning could be summarized in two words: catholic and anti-communist. Diem was more than that, he was an ardent nationalist, an anti-colonialist and by ricochet an anti-collaborator (i.e anti-Bao Dai). Diem the politician was better judged for his negatives than for his qualities. But two negatives putting together became a plus according to US calculations. It seized the opportunity to eventually get rid of Bao Dai and the French in Vietnam by endorsing Diem.
In 1950 Diem was introduced to cardinal Spellman through the good offices of his brother Thuc, a bishop who happened to be in the US at that time. Diem impressed the Cardinal as a fierce anti-communist and a devout catholic with personal honesty and integrity. He also caught the eye of some US government circles. A few arranged meetings between the two brothers and State Department officials including Dean Rusk convinced the Americans to overcome their initial reservations about their man as the next leader of Vietnam. With the backing of his Eminence and the blessings of the Vatican for Diem, Bao Dai might have got some clues from the US when he decided to change the course of his country and his own!
Bao Dai was lukewarm about Diem but he had no choice. The two could not be more different in personality and character. Bao Dai knew that he is dealing with a difficult man, not easy to please. He also sensed that his new appointee has some kind of superior [moral] complex! As a leader, his Majesty did have blatant shortcomings but he was no fool. Diem didn't hold him in high esteem but the emperor had to be forgiving and swallowed hard his ego for the sake of the country. Diem didn't seem to be interested in the proposal at first. And it created a double dilemma for Bao Dai who felt already uncomfortable by appointing an egocentric person, on top of the fact that there was no alternative available if Diem failed to accept the offer.
Diem genuinely was considering to devote his life to religion according to Bao Dai during their 1954 fateful meeting in Cannes. And His Majesty had to use all his persuasive talent and appealed to Diem's patriotism to convince him to undertake the mission. Diem finally accepted but not without raising the stake. He demanded from Bao Dai full power to deal with the French and the communists. As his brother Thuc the bishop said, Diem was waiting for that moment and he knew that his time has come to rule Vietnam and put his own imprint into the future of his country for better or for worse. Bao Dai probably sensed that his fate is sealed or he just made an act of self destruction.
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