The whole region was supposed to have an election after 1954 [when the Vietminh kicked out the French from North Vietnam], but this never happened because the US [with good reason] was afraid that Ho Chi Minh and the communists from the North would win.
As much as the leadership of the Vietnamese struggle for national unification were communists, most North Vietnamese did not particularly care for communist ideology. They were nationalists who sought to end hundreds of years of foreign domination. The communist leadership knew this and manipulated it to its advantage.
Diem and those who succeeded him did little to shake Vietnamese' perception of them as installed puppets whose sole purpose is to put a Vietnamese face on foreign occupation. Diem's famous crackdown on Buddhist monks and the monks' famous protests of self immolation are clear examples of this disconnect.
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Originally posted by Pathfinder
Well true Fascism exhalts nation/race above individuals. Italy and Germany were Fascist governments during Mussolini and Hitlers days.
Actually the government of South Vietnam was a puppet of the USA during the war. JFK gave authorization for our CIA to over throw Diem and every President after that was basically controlled by the USA (although some were alittle difficult at times), so I am not sure what a proper definition would be other than a USA puppet government.
Yes, all so called "communist" countries are Police States.
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