On September 23, 1946, 8,000 railway workers in Busan went on strike. This strike escalated into a nationwide leftist uprising, killing over 200 police officers. How did the nascent South Korea overcome this first major state-building crisis?
November 1963: Diem surrendered to generals who promised safe passage. Hours later, he was dead. This is the story of how South Vietnam’s founding president fell—and what his fall reveals about state-building’s limits.
Ngo Dinh Nhu built the hidden machinery of South Vietnam: secret police, intelligence networks, the Can Lao party. His methods kept Diem in power for nine years—and ultimately destroyed them both.
April 1955: Diem’s army vs. Binh Xuyen mafia in 48 hours of street fighting. This battle determined whether South Vietnam would have a state at all—and established the violent pattern of Diem’s rule.
Cao Dai had 30,000 soldiers. Hoa Hao controlled the Mekong Delta. Binh Xuyen ran Saigon’s police. These were the ‘states within a state’ that made South Vietnamese state-building nearly impossible.
In 1954, Diem faced impossible odds—enemy generals, religious armies, and crime syndicates all aligned against him. This article dissects how he used divide and conquer to survive.