1963 South Vietnamese Coup - Reaction

Reaction

The reaction to the coup was mixed. The coup was immediately denounced by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, asserting that the coup had brought a US "puppet" government. The remainder of the world expressed the general hope that the junta would end persecution against Buddhists and focus on defeating the communist insurgency.

Both North Vietnam and the Vietcong were caught off guard by the events in Saigon. Hanoi initially did not comment apart from repeating the news, as they had not been prepared. On one hand, the communist leaders were disheartened that they could no longer exploit Diệm's unpopularity. On the other hand, they were confident that Diệm's successors would be weak, fall apart easily and facilitate a communist revolution. The official newspaper, the Nhan Dan, opined that "By throwing off Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, the US imperialists have themselves destroyed the political bases they had built up for years. The deaths of Diem and Nhu were followed by the disintegration of big fragments of the ... machine."

On the night of 1 November, as Gia Long Palace was besieged, Vietcong radio in South Vietnam had urged the Vietnamese people, the National Liberation Front and ARVN loyalists to resist the coup. However, the general's quick and successful coup prevented any joint action. Within a week of the coup, the Vietcong had regained its direction and launched more than one thousand attacks. A communist spokesperson expressed shock that the Americans had appeared to support the removal of Diệm, believing him to have been one of their strongest opponents. The leader of the Vietcong, Nguyễn Hữu Thọ termed the coup a "gift from Heaven for us". Some Vietcong officials were so surprised that the Americans would remove Diệm that they thought it was a trick. They felt Diệm's removal was a blunder on the part of the Americans. Tho said “Our enemy has been seriously weakened from all points of view, military, political and administrative.” Thọ said:

For the same reasons, the coercive apparatus, set up over the years with great care by Diệm, is utterly shattered, specially at the base. The principle chiefs of security and the secret police, on which mainly depended the protection of the regime and the repression of the revolutionary movement, have been eliminated, purges.

Troops, officers, and officials of the army and administration are completely lost; they have no more confidence in their chiefs and have no idea to whom they should be loyal.

From the political point of view the weakening of our adversary is still clear. Reactionary political organizations like the Labor and Personalism Party, the National Revolutionary Movement, the Republican Youth, the Women's Solidarity Movement etc...which constituted an appreciable support for the regime have been dissolved, eliminated.

The deposition of the Ngô brothers was greeted with widespread joy by the South Vietnamese public. Large spontaneous street demonstrations took place. The offices of the Times of Vietnam, the Ngô family's propaganda mouthpiece, were burned. Elsewhere, the crowd smashed windows and ransacked any building associated with Nhu. The tension released by the downfall of the regime sparked off celebrations similar to Lunar New Year celebrations. Americans were treated and received with great enthusiasm and Lodge was mobbed by the Saigon public and it was joked that Lodge would win any Vietnamese election by a landslide. Lodge recommended immediate recognition of the new regime by Washington, asserting that the popular approval of the Vietnamese for the coup warranted it. Lodge reported: "Every Vietnamese has a grin on his face today". The crowds swarmed onto the grounds of Gia Long Palace in a carnival atmosphere, punctuated by celebratory ARVN gunfire, while a sea of Buddhist flags flew throughout the city. As Lodge traveled from his residence to the US embassy, the crowds cheered his convoy, and when he walked past the Xá Lợi Pagoda, the focal point of violent government raids by Nhu's Special Forces on 21 August which had left a large death toll, he was mobbed by jubilant Buddhists. The people were very happy with the soldiers, giving them fruit, flowers and garlands of roses.

Madame Nhu, who was in the United States at the time, denounced the coup and angrily accused the Americans of orchestrating it. When asked about whether the US was involved, she replied "definitely", elaborating that "no coup can erupt without American incitement and backing" and declaring that she would not seek asylum "in a country whose government stabbed me in the back". She said "I believe all the devils of hell are against us" and that "whoever has the Americans as allies does not need enemies".

The United States publicly disclaimed responsibility or involvement in the coup. Many, including Harriman, General Maxwell Taylor, and Assistant Secretary of State Roger Hilsman, denied involvement, although Hilsman admitted that American disapproval of Diem's policies would have encouraged the generals. Privately, the White House was elated the coup, as it had been relatively bloodless. The White House fostered the impression that the coup was purely Vietnamese and claimed to have no knowledge of it. A year later, Trueheart was quoted that the United States had been aware of the generals' actions.