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The country was separated. In the north Ho Chi Minh ruled his communist government supported by Russia. The capital was Hanoi and all territories north of the 17th parallel line belonged to the DRV. A radical land reform was implemented providing about half a hectare of land each to some 1.5 million peasants. Enemies of the government were imprisoned or executed (more than fifteen thousand people died under the regime of Ho Chi Minh). The contact to the south was totally shut down. In Saigon Ngo Dinh Diem was the new president of south Vietnam. He worked in tight collaboration with the Americans. At first Diem did his job very well but he became more and more tyrannical and the government was more a family affair lead by his relatives.
In the meantime the Americans implemented a military-political force in south-east Asia and at a conference in Manila the SEATO was founded on 8 September 1954. The signatories were countries like Great Britain, France, Australia, the Philippines and Pakistan. They all felt menaced by the communists and had established an union Russia would never dare to overran. Eisenhower also promised Diem that in the future he would render his government every necessary aid, economic as well and military, to develop and maintain a strong, viable state. Without any doubt Diem was a real Vietnamese nationalist, who was born out of a Catholic family in Hue. He always fought for the independence of his country without a communist impact. Menaced by Ho Chi Minh´s party he escaped to America and Europe. Together with his friend Bao Dai he realised that the SOV would never survive without foreign aid from the United States. With their assistance Diem was determined that south Vietnam would remain an independent, anticommunist state, and one firmly under his personal control. In the 1950s about one million refugees from the DRV came to the south because they didn\'t see a future under the communists. In addition only two hundred thousand people migrated to the DRV. Obviously this was a first victory but the American government slowly lost the confidence in Diem\'s abilities to rule a viable state. The former prime minister Dulles reported Eisenhower after a short trip to Saigon that many non-communist elements were ready to challenge Diem. However, this man regained his popularity and declared him self as the unique leader of the SOV in 1955. He converted the State of Vietnam in the Republic of Vietnam (ROV) and they reached a membership in the SEATO.
At the beginning of the year 1956 the remaining communists in south Vietnam organised themselves and started to challenge Diem\'s dictatorship, that suppressed the whole country. For example Diem and the Viet Minh eliminated enemy landowner and redistributed the territories. He also restored the economic system before the war. The citizens were unsatisfied and aided the Viet Cong (VC), a communist organisation who wanted to kill Diem. Always informed by the CIA the United States government were not ignorant of his repressive and undemocratic measures. The VC were defeated and Diem\'s regime was forced to moderate its policies. But the policies began to alienate even commanders and troops in the national army (ARVN) and the smouldering resentment among the military burst into the open on 11 November 1960. Three paratroop battalions attempted to overthrow the cruel dictatorship. It miscarried and the leaders fled to Cambodia. American officials in Vietnam could no longer shut their eyes to the effects of Diem\'s policy. They had to handle as soon as possible and find an alternative to Diem.
Doubtless Ho Chi Minh was really provocated by the situation in the south caused by Diem\'s regime, who refused to participate the elections and had started a war against the supporters of Communism. This had been enough for Ho to support an insurgency against the Republic of Vietnam. Thousands of people were convicted of being enemies of the state. The punishment was usually prison for the rest of the life or the death penalty. He wanted to purify the population and to have a country full of loyal people, but when the first riots started Ho Chi Minh recognised that he had gone too far. One of his generals became the scape goat and in the rehabilitation the image of nice \"Uncle Ho\" appeared. For some time north Vietnam nevertheless was unable to assist the Viet Cong due to other small mistakes. In the year 1959 the DRV reactivated the Ho Chi Minh trail to infiltrate supply and weapons. The VC had to be supported in their quarrel for the power. They began to support the small farmers in sowing and harvesting the rice crop and opposed Diem to gain their popularity among the citizens of the ROV. There was a rebellion to be created. In December 1960 Eisenhower\'s administration was over and John F. Kennedy became the new president of the United States.
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