Turning Points: The Buddhist Riots Of 1963
Turning Points: The Buddhist Riots of 1963
Vietnam & 20th Century Experience
Turning Points: The Buddhist Riots of 1963
In the early 1960’s, there were many events that took place in Vietnam and the United States that qualified as turning points, critical events that changed the course of history, but the Buddhist riots of 1963 proved to be instrumental in Ngo Dinh Diem’s, Southern Vietnam’s leader, demise. For some time Diem had been ruling with a dictatorship and never gained the support of the Vietnamese people. Despite the United States best attempts, Diem was unable to succeed because he was appointed by the US, did not know or care about the Vietnamese people and their culture, and did not listen to or trust …show more content…
Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shrivelling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think ... As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him"(as cited in Bowyer, 2013, para. 15).
Diem never thought that the US would go against him in any way. But he was wrong. In addition to this, for the first time, the opposition of the people also shifted from the country side to the cities and from the communist to the Buddhist. This is why the riots were a major turning point not just another event, because of the publicity of the Buddhist Riots the US was forced to take action and begin planning the coup that ultimately killed Diem and his family. References
Bowyer, M. (2013). A traveler’s guide to Vietnam’s Buddhist Crisis of 1963 A traveler’s guide to Vietnam’s Buddhist crisis of 1963. Retrieved from
Vietnam & 20th Century Experience
Turning Points: The Buddhist Riots of 1963
In the early 1960’s, there were many events that took place in Vietnam and the United States that qualified as turning points, critical events that changed the course of history, but the Buddhist riots of 1963 proved to be instrumental in Ngo Dinh Diem’s, Southern Vietnam’s leader, demise. For some time Diem had been ruling with a dictatorship and never gained the support of the Vietnamese people. Despite the United States best attempts, Diem was unable to succeed because he was appointed by the US, did not know or care about the Vietnamese people and their culture, and did not listen to or trust …show more content…
Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shrivelling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think ... As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him"(as cited in Bowyer, 2013, para. 15).
Diem never thought that the US would go against him in any way. But he was wrong. In addition to this, for the first time, the opposition of the people also shifted from the country side to the cities and from the communist to the Buddhist. This is why the riots were a major turning point not just another event, because of the publicity of the Buddhist Riots the US was forced to take action and begin planning the coup that ultimately killed Diem and his family. References
Bowyer, M. (2013). A traveler’s guide to Vietnam’s Buddhist Crisis of 1963 A traveler’s guide to Vietnam’s Buddhist crisis of 1963. Retrieved from