Political Warfare in Republican Vietnam

   This work examines the development of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces as a national institution; explores the historical origins of the political warfare system; and assesses that system’s nurturing of military morale, popular support, and ways to weaken enemy resolve. North Vietnam in the 1940s and South Vietnam in the 1960s embraced the system of political control over the military that was developed in Soviet Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and in Republican China in the 1920s where it influenced both the Nationalist and Communist movements. The book discusses the overall effectiveness of political warfare activities in the Republic of Vietnam’s army, the advice and support offered by the U.S. military to the South Vietnamese political warfare establishment, and the consequences of the war’s end for the members of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces who served in the political warfare system.

The late Robert A. Silano was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1966, and was an instructor at the Army Special Warfare School in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from 1969 to 1971 and continued his service in the Department of the Army until 1977. He was a faculty member of the Institute of Higher Defense Studies, National Defense University, from 1986 to 1992 and served as editor of The Joint Force Quarterly from 1992 to 2004, and as director of the National Defense University Press.

Robert A. Silano
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 360
Bibliographic Info: 1 map, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6811-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5191-0
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments ix

Foreword by Lewis M. Stern 1

Preface 4

Introduction: Propaganda and Political Warfare 7

Leaflets and Loudspeakers  9 | The Commissar  12 | Two Chinas  13 | Two Vietnams  16 | Army of the Republic  20

1. Toward a National Army 23

Military Culture  25 | Troupes Indigènes  29 | On the Western Front  33 | The Interwar Years  41

2. War Over French Indochina 47

Oriental Vichy  48 | Greater East Asia  53 | Victory Without Peace  60 | Yellowing the Force  66

3. Independence Under Fire 70

Contra Mundum  71 | The Brothers Ngô  79 | Personalism as Ideology  82 | Party in the Army  85

4. A Directorate of Generals 88

The Rolling Coup  89 | Men on Horseback  94 | Regular and Territorial Forces  102 | Soldiering  108

5. The Polwar Establishment 111

A Chinese Model  114 | Organizational Structure  116 | Advisory Relations  121 | The Cultural Divide  127

6. Conducting Political Warfare 134

Policy Guidance  135 | The Polwar Staff  135 | Battalions and Companies  136 | Branch Training  138

7. Troop Action—Body, Mind, and Spirit 146

Psychological Warfare  152 | Indoctrination  154 | Military Security  159 | Welfare  161 | Chaplaincies  163

8. Civic and Enemy Action—Suasion 169

Words and Deeds  171 | Target Audiences  173 | Media Selection  175 | Joint and Combined Efforts  183

9. Agitation and Integration Propagandas 190

The Intangibles  192 | Morale and Welfare  197 | Popular Support  199 | Enemy Susceptibilities  200

Epilogue: Without Army or State 204

Final Things  205 | Army of the Republic  206 | Vengeance Is Mine  209 | The Diaspora  211 | A Cynical Peace  214 | Rites of Passage  216

Appendix 1: RVNAF Leadership and Command 221

Appendix 2: RVNAF General and Flag Officers 229

Appendix 3: Vietnamese Piaster Conversion Table 254

Abbreviations and Acronyms 255

Chapter Notes 259

Bibliography 309

Index 343