Ba Cut
Encyclopedia
Lê Quang Vinh popularly known as Ba Cụt (Short Third in Vietnamese
, referring to a shortened third finger), was a military commander of the Hòa Hảo
religious sect, which operated from the Mekong Delta
and controlled various parts of southern Vietnam
during the 1940s and early 1950s.
Ba Cụt and his forces fought the Vietnamese National Army
(VNA), the Việt Minh
, and the Cao Đài
religious movement from 1943 until his capture in 1956. Known for his idiosyncrasies
, he was regarded as an erratic and cruel leader who fought with little ideological purpose. His sobriquet
came from the self-amputation of a finger as part of a vow during his teenage years to defeat the French
colonial forces; he later swore not to cut his hair until the communist Việt Minh
were defeated. Ba Cụt frequently made alliances with various Vietnamese factions and the French. He invariably accepted the material support offered in return for his cooperation, and then broke the agreement—nevertheless, the French made deals with him on five occasions. The French position was weak because their military forces had been depleted by World War II, and they had great difficulty in re-establishing control over French Indochina
, which had been left with a power vacuum after the defeat of Japan
.
In mid-1955, the tide turned against the various sects, as Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm of the State of Vietnam
and his VNA began to consolidate their grip on the south. Ba Cụt and his allies were driven into the jungle, and their position was threatened by government offensives. After almost a year of fighting, Ba Cụt was captured. He was sentenced to death and publicly beheaded in Cần Thơ.
Ba Cụt was born in 1923 in Long Xuyên
, a regional town in the Mekong Delta
, in the far south of Vietnam. He was orphaned at an early age and adopted by a local peasant family. Ba Cụt was illiterate and was known from childhood as a temperamental and fiery person. The family's rice paddies were confiscated by a prominent landlord, the father of Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ
. Ba Cụt's bitter personal experience imbued him with a permanent and fanatical hatred towards landowners. Thơ rose to become a leading politician in the 1950s and played a key role in Ba Cụt's eventual capture and execution.
Vietnam was a tumultuous place during Ba Cụt's youth, particularly in the Mekong Delta. In 1939, Huỳnh Phú Sổ founded the Hòa Hảo
religious movement, and within a year had gained more than 100,000 followers. He drew adherents for two reasons: the prophecies he made about the outbreak of World War II and the conquest of South East Asia by Japan, which proved to be correct; and his work as a mystical healer—his patients claimed to have been miraculously cured from all manner of serious illnesses after seeing him, when Western medicine had failed. Sổ's cult-like appeal greatly alarmed the French colonial authorities. During World War II, Imperial Japan invaded and seized control of Vietnam from France; its defeat and withdrawal at the end of the war in 1945 left a power vacuum in the country.
The Hòa Hảo formed their own army and administration during the war, and started a de facto state in their Mekong Delta stronghold. They came into conflict with the Cao Đài
, another new religious movement, which also boasted a private army and controlled a nearby region of southern Vietnam centred around Tây Ninh
. Meanwhile in Saigon, the Bình Xuyên
organised crime syndicate ruled much of the city through its gangster militia. These three southern forces vied for control of southern Vietnam with the main protagonists: the French, who were attempting to re-establish colonial control across the entire nation; and the communist-dominated Việt Minh
, who sought Vietnamese independence.
At the time, the many groups vying for power—including their respective factions—engaged in alliances of convenience that were frequently broken. Historian David Elliott said that "the most important eventual cause of the French decline was the inherently unstable nature of the political alliances they had devised ... The history of the French relations with the Hoa Hao sect is a telling illustration of the pitfalls of short-term political deals between forces whose long-term interests conflict."
The Hòa Hảo initially engaged in large-scale clashes with the Việt Minh in 1945, but by mid-1946 the two groups had agreed to stop fighting one another and to fight the French instead. However, in June 1946, Sổ became estranged from his military leaders and started the Dan Xa (Social Democratic Party). Because of his charisma, the Việt Minh saw Sổ as a threat and assassinated him, leaving the Hòa Hảo leaderless and causing Sổ's military leaders to go their separate ways. The split caused an increase in violence as the various Hòa Hảo factions engaged in conflicts among themselves.
, "The hapless farmers who were under the rule of the maniacal Ba Cut fared worse [than those under other military leaders], for the latter [Ba Cụt] was given to fits of incredible cruelty and had no sense of public duty." American journalist Joseph Alsop
described Ba Cụt as "war-drunk". Ba Cụt was famous for inventing a torture contraption that drilled a steel nail through the victim's ear, a device he used to force villagers and wealthy landlords to fund his forces. He was said to have "arranged temporary marriages between his troops and village girls". He raised a large amount of funds for the Hòa Hảo and himself personally by charging traders and landlords high prices to stop pirates in the local area. The decapitated heads of the pirates were subsequently impaled on stakes and put on public display.
In 1947, he led his own faction of the sect after its various military leaders pursued their own policies towards the French and Hồ Chí Minh
's Việt Minh
in the wake of Sổ's death. At the time, France was in a ruinous financial state following World War II, and was experiencing great difficulty in its attempts to re-establish control over its colonies. Ba Cụt had only 1,000 men in five battalions at the time, less than 5% of Hòa Hảo forces, whereas Tran Van Soai had 15,000 men. The French tried to maintain their hold with a divide and conquer strategy towards the Hoa Hao. They coaxed Soai into joining with them and rewarded him with recognition as the leader of the Hoa Hao. In 1948, Ba Cut also rallied to the French and Soai, but broke away again soon after, relocating to Dong Thap Muoi and resuming his military activities against the French.
In 1950, Ba Cụt was involved in a battle with another Hòa Hảo leader, Nguyen Giac Ngo. He was defeated and driven from the district of Chợ Mới in February, provoking Soai to attack Ngo. Ba Cut then moved to Thot Not
and began attacking the civilians and the French forces there. The French saw the disagreements as an opportunity to divide the Hòa Hảo and gain an anti-Việt Minh ally, and offered material aid, which Ba Cụt accepted. Ba Cụt repeatedly made treaties with the French colonial forces to fight the Việt Minh in return for arms and money, but he broke his end of the bargain and sometimes fought the Cao Đài instead of the communists. Ba Cụt made five such deals with the French, but he abandoned his military responsibilities each time. It was said that Ba Cut sometimes broke away with the encouragement of Soai, who was still allied to the French. Soai was nevertheless believed to have given Ba Cut weapons to fight the French. The French continued to furnish him with supplies despite his disloyalty and unreliability because they lacked the personnel to patrol all of Vietnam, but had spare equipment. Some historians have claimed that Ba Cut's anti-French activities were not taken seriously as he was able to pass through French checkpoints without incident. There are also reports that he was accompanied by French intelligence agents during periods when he was nominally opposed to the French.
The other Hòa Hảo commanders generally had the same general outlook as Ba Cụt; they were stridently opposed to the Việt Minh because of Sổ's assassination, and sometimes fought alongside and received supplies from the French, but at times they lapsed into apathy and refused to attack. Although Ba Cụt was infamous for his temper and cruelty, he was regarded as a moderate in outlook compared to the other Hòa Hảo leaders. The French continued to provide him with equipment despite the fact that when he was seventeen, Ba Cụt had cut off the top of his third finger as a symbol of his commitment to always fight the French.
The most notable instance of Ba Cụt's abandoning the fight against the Việt Minh came in mid-1953. At that time, his forces had been helping to defend the regional Mekong Delta town of Mỹ Tho, but the French decided to transfer more of the military power to their more mainstream allies, the Vietnamese National Army
(VNA). As the French tried to undermine his position, tensions with Ba Cụt increased. On June 25, the Hòa Hảo leader ordered his men to evacuate their French-supplied bases; they took their weapons with them and razed the camps. Ba Cụt then withdrew his forces from a string of military posts in the Plain of Reeds and retreated to Châu Đốc
in the extreme south of the country. As a result, the French-aligned presence in the Mekong Delta was severely dented and the Việt Minh made substantial gains in the area. Eventually, the French defeat at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ
in northern Vietnam in May 1954 signalled the end of French Indochina
.
When the Geneva Conference
in July 1954 ended the First Indochina War
, it handed North Vietnam
to Hồ Chí Minh
's Việt Minh, and the south to the State of Vietnam
. To reunify the country, national elections were scheduled for 1956, following which the French would withdraw from Indochina
. The partition of Vietnam
angered Ba Cụt and he vowed not to cut his hair until the nation was reunified. Having fought against the Việt Minh since 1947, Ba Cụt's principal criticism of Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm's State of Vietnam government stemmed from his belief that Diệm had been too passive in rejecting the partition, and that half of the country should not have been yielded to the communists.
In mid-1954, General Nguyễn Văn Hinh
, the head of the State of Vietnam's VNA, announced that he did not respect the leadership of Prime Minister Diệm, and vowed to overthrow him. The coup never materialised and Hinh was forced into exile, but not before appointing Ba Cụt to the rank of colonel in the VNA in an attempt to undermine Diệm, as the Hòa Hảo warlord was openly contemptuous of the prime minister. In August, Ba Cụt and his 3,000 men broke from the VNA and left their Thot Not base for the jungle, and fought against those who had briefly been their comrades; this put him at odds with most Hòa Hảo leaders, who accepted government payments to integrate their forces into the VNA. Operation Ecaille, the initial military offensive by the VNA against Ba Cụt was a failure, possibly because the details of the planned attack on his forces were leaked to him by Soai, a Hòa Hảo member of the National Defence Committee.
During the transition period between the signing of the Geneva Accords and the planned reunification elections, South Vietnam remained in chaos as the VNA tried to subdue the remaining autonomous factions of the Hòa Hảo, Cao Đài, and Bình Xuyên militias. In early 1955, during a battle with the Cao Đài forces of Trình Minh Thế
, after a dispute over control of the That Son region, Ba Cut was wounded in a disputed incident. The claimed to have tried initiating peace talks with Ba Cut, but received no reply, so he decided to try and capture his rival. He sent some of his militant disciples to infiltrate Ba Cut's force and then try and capture the Hoa Hao leader. When they located Ba Cut and surrounded him, he refused to surrender but instead tried to shoot his way out. Ba Cụt was severely wounded by a bullet that penetrated his chest. It seemed that he would die, but a French Air Force
helicopter flew in and airlifted him to a colonial hospital. Ba Cụt eventually recovered, and in the meantime, the fighting stopped. Another account claims that the two military leaders had been on good terms and exchanging diplomatic missions, but that the skirmish was caused by one of Ba Cut's aides addressing a The envoy in an abrasive and rude manner, and that the injuries were minor. Yet another account holds that the reaction by The's envoy was premeditated and that the claim the firing was in response to rudeness was merely a cover for an assassination attempt. According to this theory, The, whose units were then being integrated into Diem's VNA, had given orders to target Ba Cut. This was allegedly done on the orders of CIA agent Edward Lansdale
, who was trying to help secure Diem in power at the time. Lansdale has been accused of failing at an earlier attempt to bribe Ba Cut to cease his activities. The attempted bribe has been speculated as a reason for Ba Cut to be uncooperative, in the knowledge Diem may have been very desperate to make concessions.
By this time, with France preparing to withdraw from Indochina, senior French officers had begun to undermine Diệm's leadership and his attempts to stabilise South Vietnam. The VNA later implicated the French in the organisation of weapons air drops to Ba Cụt, prompting a protest from Diệm's government. Diệm complained to a French general, alleging that Ba Cụt's men were using French equipment that was of higher quality than that given to the VNA. For the Hoa Hao's part, they accused Diem of treachery in his negotiations with various groups. They charged the prime minister with integrating The's forces into the VNA in return for them being allowed to attack Ba Cut with the aid of the VNA, and that this part of the deal had been kept secret. They warned that other Hoa Hao leaders who had stopped fighting could join Ba Cut, and appealed to Diem's US sponsors. In response, Ba Cut ambushed a VNA unit in Long My, killing three officers and injuring thirty men.
In 1955, Diệm tried to integrate the remaining Hòa Hảo armies into the VNA. Ba Cụt was one of four Hòa Hảo military leaders who refused the government offer on April 23, and continued to operate autonomously. At one stage, the Cao Đài, Hòa Hảo and Bình Xuyên formed an alliance called the United Front, in an attempt to pressure Diệm into handing over power, and Ba Cụt was named as their senior military commander. However, this had little meaning as the various units were still autonomous of each other, and the United Front was more a showpiece than a means of facilitating coordinated action, and did not in any way strengthen any military threat to Diem. The leaders were suspicious of one another and often sent subordinates to meetings. Initially, American and French representatives in Vietnam hoped that Diệm would take up a ceremonial role and allow the sect leaders—including Ba Cụt—to hold government positions. However, Diệm refused to share power and launched a sudden offensive against Ba Cut's base in Thot Not on March 12, shelling the area heavily. The battle was inconclusive and both sides blamed the other for causing instability and disrupting the situation. Diem then attacked the Bình Xuyên's Saigon headquarters in late April, quickly crushing them.
During the fighting, the Hòa Hảo attempted to help the Bình Xuyên by attacking towns and government forces in their Mekong Delta heartland. Ba Cụt's men, who had also been angered by the recent arrest of some colleagues, blockaded the Mekong and Bassac
rivers and laid siege to various towns, including Sa Dec
, Long Xuyen
and Chau Doc
, stifling the regional economy. The Hoa Hao shut down several important regional roads and stopped the flow of agricultural produce from the nation's most fertile region into the capital, causing food prices to rise by 50%, as meat and vegetables became scarce. Ba Cut then attacked a battalion of VNA troops south of Sa Dec. Soon after, they retreated to a Hòa Hảo citadel on the banks of the Bassac. After reinforcing their base, the Hòa Hảo proceeded to fire mortars across the water into the city of Cần Thơ, which stood on the opposite side of the river. During this period, the United Front publicly accused Diem of trying to bribe Ba Cut with 100 million piasters.
With the Bình Xuyên vanquished, Diệm turned his attention to conquering the Hòa Hảo. As a result, a battle between government troops led by General Dương Văn Minh
and Ba Cụt's men commenced in Cần Thơ on June 5. Five Hòa Hảo battalions surrendered immediately; Ba Cụt and three remaining leaders had fled to the Cambodia
n border by the end of the month. The soldiers of the three other leaders eventually surrendered, but Ba Cụt's men continued to the end, claiming loyalty to the Emperor Bảo Đại
. Diệm responded by replacing the officers of Bảo Đại's personal regiments with his own men and used the royal units to attack Ba Cụt's rebels near Ha Tien
and Rach Gia
, outnumbering the Hoa Hao by at least a factor of five. Knowing that they could not defeat the government in open conventional warfare, Ba Cụt's forces destroyed their own bases so that the VNA could not use their abandoned resources, and retreated into the jungle. Ba Cụt's 3,000 men spent the rest of 1955 evading the 20,000 VNA troops who had been deployed to quell them, and a reward of one million piaster
s was put on their leader's head. Ba Cụt scattered trails of money in the jungles, hoping to distract his pursuers, but to no avail. The communists claimed in a history written decades later that Ba Cut had tried to forge an alliance with them, but that talks broke down a few months later.
Despite his weak military situation, Ba Cụt sought to disrupt the staging of a fraudulent referendum that Diệm had scheduled in order to depose Bảo Đại
as head of state. Ba Cụt distributed a pamphlet condemning Diệm as an American puppet, asserting that the prime minister was going to "Catholicize" the country— the referendum was partly funded by the U.S. government and various Roman Catholic organisations. Diệm had strong support from American Catholic politicians and Cardinal Francis Spellman, and his brother Ngô Đình Thục was a bishop. Ba Cụt said that the referendum was a means "for Diem to gather the people from all towns and force them to demonstrate one goal: to depose Bao Dai and proclaim the puppet Diem as the chief-of-state of Vietnam." On the day of the poll, Ba Cụt's men prevented voting in the border regions that they controlled, and ventured out of the jungles to attack polling stations in Cần Thơ. Despite that disruption, Diệm was fraudulently credited with more than 90% of support in Hòa Hảo-controlled territory, and a near unanimous turnout was recorded in the area. These results were replicated across the nation, and Diệm deposed Bảo Đại.
Eventually, Ba Cụt was surrounded, and sought to make a peace deal with the Diệm government to avoid being taken prisoner. Ba Cụt sent a message to Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ
, the public official who oversaw the civilian side of the campaign against the Hòa Hảo, asking for negotiations so that his men could be integrated into mainstream society and the nation's armed forces. Thơ agreed to meet Ba Cụt alone in the jungle, and despite fears that the meeting was a Hòa Hảo trap, he was not ambushed. However, Ba Cụt began asking for additional concessions and the meeting ended in a stalemate. According to historian Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Ba Cụt's lifelong antipathy towards Thơ's family influenced his behaviour during his last stand. Ba Cụt was arrested by a patrol on April 13, 1956, and his remaining forces were defeated in battle.
Diệm's government put Ba Cụt on trial. During the proceedings, Ba Cụt theatrically removed his shirt so that the public gallery could see how many scars he had suffered while fighting the communists. This, according to him, demonstrated his devotion to Vietnamese nationalism. He challenged any other man to show as many scars. However, Diệm's judge was unimpressed; Ba Cụt was found guilty of committing multiple murders, and sentenced to death. Diệm's adviser, Colonel Edward Lansdale
from the CIA, was one of many who protested against the decision. Lansdale felt that the execution would tarnish Diệm—who had proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam) and declared himself President—and antagonise Ba Cụt's followers. Ngô Đình Nhu
—Diệm's younger brother and chief adviser—said that a reprieve was not possible, as the army, particularly Minh, was opposed to clemency. Some sections of the southern public were sympathetic to Ba Cụt, who was compared to a character from the Wild West.
Ba Cụt was publicly guillotine
d on July 13, 1956, in Cần Thơ. His body was later diced into small pieces, which were then buried separately. Some followers, led by a hardcore deputy named Bay Dom, retreated to a small area beside the Cambodian border, where they vowed not to rest until Ba Cụt was avenged. Many of his followers later joined the Vietcong—the movement that succeeded the Việt Minh their leader had fought—and took up arms against Diệm.
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
, referring to a shortened third finger), was a military commander of the Hòa Hảo
Hoa Hao
Hòa Hảo is a religious tradition, based on Buddhism, founded in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ, a native of the Mekong River Delta region of southern Vietnam. Adherents consider Sổ to be a prophet, and Hòa Hảo a continuation of a 19th-century Buddhist ministry known as Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương...
religious sect, which operated from the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
and controlled various parts of southern Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
during the 1940s and early 1950s.
Ba Cụt and his forces fought the Vietnamese National Army
Vietnamese National Army
On March 8, 1949, after the Elysee accords, the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after that. It was commanded by...
(VNA), the Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
, and the Cao Đài
Cao Dai
Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. Đạo Cao Đài is the religion's shortened name, the full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ...
religious movement from 1943 until his capture in 1956. Known for his idiosyncrasies
Idiosyncrasy
An idiosyncrasy is an unusual feature of a person . The term is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be .-Etymology:...
, he was regarded as an erratic and cruel leader who fought with little ideological purpose. His sobriquet
Sobriquet
A sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation...
came from the self-amputation of a finger as part of a vow during his teenage years to defeat the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colonial forces; he later swore not to cut his hair until the communist Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
were defeated. Ba Cụt frequently made alliances with various Vietnamese factions and the French. He invariably accepted the material support offered in return for his cooperation, and then broke the agreement—nevertheless, the French made deals with him on five occasions. The French position was weak because their military forces had been depleted by World War II, and they had great difficulty in re-establishing control over French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
, which had been left with a power vacuum after the defeat of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
In mid-1955, the tide turned against the various sects, as Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm of the State of Vietnam
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam was a state that claimed authority over all of Vietnam during the First Indochina War, and replaced the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam . The provisional government was a brief transitional administration between colonial Cochinchina and an independent state...
and his VNA began to consolidate their grip on the south. Ba Cụt and his allies were driven into the jungle, and their position was threatened by government offensives. After almost a year of fighting, Ba Cụt was captured. He was sentenced to death and publicly beheaded in Cần Thơ.
Early life and background
Long Xuyen
Long Xuyên is the capital city of An Giang Province, in the Mekong Delta region of southwestern Vietnam. It is located at approximately 1,950 km south of Hanoi, 189 km from Ho Chi Minh City, and 45 km from the boundary with Cambodia...
, a regional town in the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
, in the far south of Vietnam. He was orphaned at an early age and adopted by a local peasant family. Ba Cụt was illiterate and was known from childhood as a temperamental and fiery person. The family's rice paddies were confiscated by a prominent landlord, the father of Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ
Nguyen Ngoc Tho
Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ is a Vietnamese politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving from November 1963 to late January 1964. Thơ was appointed to head a civilian cabinet by the military junta of General Dương Văn Minh, which came to power after overthrowing and assassinating Ngô...
. Ba Cụt's bitter personal experience imbued him with a permanent and fanatical hatred towards landowners. Thơ rose to become a leading politician in the 1950s and played a key role in Ba Cụt's eventual capture and execution.
Vietnam was a tumultuous place during Ba Cụt's youth, particularly in the Mekong Delta. In 1939, Huỳnh Phú Sổ founded the Hòa Hảo
Hoa Hao
Hòa Hảo is a religious tradition, based on Buddhism, founded in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ, a native of the Mekong River Delta region of southern Vietnam. Adherents consider Sổ to be a prophet, and Hòa Hảo a continuation of a 19th-century Buddhist ministry known as Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương...
religious movement, and within a year had gained more than 100,000 followers. He drew adherents for two reasons: the prophecies he made about the outbreak of World War II and the conquest of South East Asia by Japan, which proved to be correct; and his work as a mystical healer—his patients claimed to have been miraculously cured from all manner of serious illnesses after seeing him, when Western medicine had failed. Sổ's cult-like appeal greatly alarmed the French colonial authorities. During World War II, Imperial Japan invaded and seized control of Vietnam from France; its defeat and withdrawal at the end of the war in 1945 left a power vacuum in the country.
The Hòa Hảo formed their own army and administration during the war, and started a de facto state in their Mekong Delta stronghold. They came into conflict with the Cao Đài
Cao Dai
Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. Đạo Cao Đài is the religion's shortened name, the full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ...
, another new religious movement, which also boasted a private army and controlled a nearby region of southern Vietnam centred around Tây Ninh
Tay Ninh
Tây Ninh is a town in southwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of Tay Ninh province, which encompasses the town and much of the surrounding farmland....
. Meanwhile in Saigon, the Bình Xuyên
Binh Xuyen
Bình Xuyên, often linked to its infamous leader, General Le van "Bay" Vien, was an independent military force within the Vietnamese National Army whose leaders once had lived outside the law and had sided with the Viet Minh...
organised crime syndicate ruled much of the city through its gangster militia. These three southern forces vied for control of southern Vietnam with the main protagonists: the French, who were attempting to re-establish colonial control across the entire nation; and the communist-dominated Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
, who sought Vietnamese independence.
At the time, the many groups vying for power—including their respective factions—engaged in alliances of convenience that were frequently broken. Historian David Elliott said that "the most important eventual cause of the French decline was the inherently unstable nature of the political alliances they had devised ... The history of the French relations with the Hoa Hao sect is a telling illustration of the pitfalls of short-term political deals between forces whose long-term interests conflict."
The Hòa Hảo initially engaged in large-scale clashes with the Việt Minh in 1945, but by mid-1946 the two groups had agreed to stop fighting one another and to fight the French instead. However, in June 1946, Sổ became estranged from his military leaders and started the Dan Xa (Social Democratic Party). Because of his charisma, the Việt Minh saw Sổ as a threat and assassinated him, leaving the Hòa Hảo leaderless and causing Sổ's military leaders to go their separate ways. The split caused an increase in violence as the various Hòa Hảo factions engaged in conflicts among themselves.
Career
Ba Cụt joined the Hòa Hảo militia when it was formed in 1943–44 and became a commander within a year. He was feared by his enemies, and was described as "a sort of lean Rasputin", who claimed to be immortal. According to Bernard B. FallBernard B. Fall
Bernard B. Fall was a prominent war correspondent, historian, political scientist, and expert on Indochina during the 1950s and 1960s...
, "The hapless farmers who were under the rule of the maniacal Ba Cut fared worse [than those under other military leaders], for the latter [Ba Cụt] was given to fits of incredible cruelty and had no sense of public duty." American journalist Joseph Alsop
Joseph Alsop
Joseph Wright Alsop V was an American journalist and syndicated newspaper columnist from the 1930s through the 1970s.-Early years:...
described Ba Cụt as "war-drunk". Ba Cụt was famous for inventing a torture contraption that drilled a steel nail through the victim's ear, a device he used to force villagers and wealthy landlords to fund his forces. He was said to have "arranged temporary marriages between his troops and village girls". He raised a large amount of funds for the Hòa Hảo and himself personally by charging traders and landlords high prices to stop pirates in the local area. The decapitated heads of the pirates were subsequently impaled on stakes and put on public display.
In 1947, he led his own faction of the sect after its various military leaders pursued their own policies towards the French and Hồ Chí Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
's Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
in the wake of Sổ's death. At the time, France was in a ruinous financial state following World War II, and was experiencing great difficulty in its attempts to re-establish control over its colonies. Ba Cụt had only 1,000 men in five battalions at the time, less than 5% of Hòa Hảo forces, whereas Tran Van Soai had 15,000 men. The French tried to maintain their hold with a divide and conquer strategy towards the Hoa Hao. They coaxed Soai into joining with them and rewarded him with recognition as the leader of the Hoa Hao. In 1948, Ba Cut also rallied to the French and Soai, but broke away again soon after, relocating to Dong Thap Muoi and resuming his military activities against the French.
In 1950, Ba Cụt was involved in a battle with another Hòa Hảo leader, Nguyen Giac Ngo. He was defeated and driven from the district of Chợ Mới in February, provoking Soai to attack Ngo. Ba Cut then moved to Thot Not
Thot Not
Thốt Nốt is a urban district of Can Tho in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. To the south and west it borders Vinh Thanh and An Giang Province, and to the north with Dong Thap....
and began attacking the civilians and the French forces there. The French saw the disagreements as an opportunity to divide the Hòa Hảo and gain an anti-Việt Minh ally, and offered material aid, which Ba Cụt accepted. Ba Cụt repeatedly made treaties with the French colonial forces to fight the Việt Minh in return for arms and money, but he broke his end of the bargain and sometimes fought the Cao Đài instead of the communists. Ba Cụt made five such deals with the French, but he abandoned his military responsibilities each time. It was said that Ba Cut sometimes broke away with the encouragement of Soai, who was still allied to the French. Soai was nevertheless believed to have given Ba Cut weapons to fight the French. The French continued to furnish him with supplies despite his disloyalty and unreliability because they lacked the personnel to patrol all of Vietnam, but had spare equipment. Some historians have claimed that Ba Cut's anti-French activities were not taken seriously as he was able to pass through French checkpoints without incident. There are also reports that he was accompanied by French intelligence agents during periods when he was nominally opposed to the French.
The other Hòa Hảo commanders generally had the same general outlook as Ba Cụt; they were stridently opposed to the Việt Minh because of Sổ's assassination, and sometimes fought alongside and received supplies from the French, but at times they lapsed into apathy and refused to attack. Although Ba Cụt was infamous for his temper and cruelty, he was regarded as a moderate in outlook compared to the other Hòa Hảo leaders. The French continued to provide him with equipment despite the fact that when he was seventeen, Ba Cụt had cut off the top of his third finger as a symbol of his commitment to always fight the French.
The most notable instance of Ba Cụt's abandoning the fight against the Việt Minh came in mid-1953. At that time, his forces had been helping to defend the regional Mekong Delta town of Mỹ Tho, but the French decided to transfer more of the military power to their more mainstream allies, the Vietnamese National Army
Vietnamese National Army
On March 8, 1949, after the Elysee accords, the State of Vietnam was recognized by France as an independent country ruled by Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại. The Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army was the State of Vietnam's military force created shortly after that. It was commanded by...
(VNA). As the French tried to undermine his position, tensions with Ba Cụt increased. On June 25, the Hòa Hảo leader ordered his men to evacuate their French-supplied bases; they took their weapons with them and razed the camps. Ba Cụt then withdrew his forces from a string of military posts in the Plain of Reeds and retreated to Châu Đốc
Chau Doc
Châu Đốc is a district and town in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 112,155. The district covers an area of 100 km²....
in the extreme south of the country. As a result, the French-aligned presence in the Mekong Delta was severely dented and the Việt Minh made substantial gains in the area. Eventually, the French defeat at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
in northern Vietnam in May 1954 signalled the end of French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
.
When the Geneva Conference
Geneva Conference (1954)
The Geneva Conference was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to unify Korea and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina...
in July 1954 ended the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
, it handed North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
to Hồ Chí Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
's Việt Minh, and the south to the State of Vietnam
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam was a state that claimed authority over all of Vietnam during the First Indochina War, and replaced the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam . The provisional government was a brief transitional administration between colonial Cochinchina and an independent state...
. To reunify the country, national elections were scheduled for 1956, following which the French would withdraw from Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
. The partition of Vietnam
Partition of Vietnam
The Partition of Vietnam was the establishment of the 17th parallel as the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone in 1954, splitting Vietnam into halves after the First Indochina War.The Geneva Conference was held at the conclusion of the First Indochina War...
angered Ba Cụt and he vowed not to cut his hair until the nation was reunified. Having fought against the Việt Minh since 1947, Ba Cụt's principal criticism of Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm's State of Vietnam government stemmed from his belief that Diệm had been too passive in rejecting the partition, and that half of the country should not have been yielded to the communists.
In mid-1954, General Nguyễn Văn Hinh
Nguyen Van Hinh
Nguyễn Văn Hinh , was appointed the Vietnamese National Army Chief of Staff by Emperor Bảo Đại. On November 8, 1954, after the First Indochina War he left South Vietnam in exile for France....
, the head of the State of Vietnam's VNA, announced that he did not respect the leadership of Prime Minister Diệm, and vowed to overthrow him. The coup never materialised and Hinh was forced into exile, but not before appointing Ba Cụt to the rank of colonel in the VNA in an attempt to undermine Diệm, as the Hòa Hảo warlord was openly contemptuous of the prime minister. In August, Ba Cụt and his 3,000 men broke from the VNA and left their Thot Not base for the jungle, and fought against those who had briefly been their comrades; this put him at odds with most Hòa Hảo leaders, who accepted government payments to integrate their forces into the VNA. Operation Ecaille, the initial military offensive by the VNA against Ba Cụt was a failure, possibly because the details of the planned attack on his forces were leaked to him by Soai, a Hòa Hảo member of the National Defence Committee.
During the transition period between the signing of the Geneva Accords and the planned reunification elections, South Vietnam remained in chaos as the VNA tried to subdue the remaining autonomous factions of the Hòa Hảo, Cao Đài, and Bình Xuyên militias. In early 1955, during a battle with the Cao Đài forces of Trình Minh Thế
Trinh Minh The
Trình Minh Thế was a Vietnamese nationalist and military leader during the end of the First Indochina War and the beginning of the Vietnam War.-Biography:...
, after a dispute over control of the That Son region, Ba Cut was wounded in a disputed incident. The claimed to have tried initiating peace talks with Ba Cut, but received no reply, so he decided to try and capture his rival. He sent some of his militant disciples to infiltrate Ba Cut's force and then try and capture the Hoa Hao leader. When they located Ba Cut and surrounded him, he refused to surrender but instead tried to shoot his way out. Ba Cụt was severely wounded by a bullet that penetrated his chest. It seemed that he would die, but a French Air Force
French Air Force
The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...
helicopter flew in and airlifted him to a colonial hospital. Ba Cụt eventually recovered, and in the meantime, the fighting stopped. Another account claims that the two military leaders had been on good terms and exchanging diplomatic missions, but that the skirmish was caused by one of Ba Cut's aides addressing a The envoy in an abrasive and rude manner, and that the injuries were minor. Yet another account holds that the reaction by The's envoy was premeditated and that the claim the firing was in response to rudeness was merely a cover for an assassination attempt. According to this theory, The, whose units were then being integrated into Diem's VNA, had given orders to target Ba Cut. This was allegedly done on the orders of CIA agent Edward Lansdale
Edward Lansdale
Edward Geary Lansdale was a United States Air Force officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services and the Central Intelligence Agency. He rose to the rank of Major General and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1963. He was an early proponent of more aggressive US actions in...
, who was trying to help secure Diem in power at the time. Lansdale has been accused of failing at an earlier attempt to bribe Ba Cut to cease his activities. The attempted bribe has been speculated as a reason for Ba Cut to be uncooperative, in the knowledge Diem may have been very desperate to make concessions.
By this time, with France preparing to withdraw from Indochina, senior French officers had begun to undermine Diệm's leadership and his attempts to stabilise South Vietnam. The VNA later implicated the French in the organisation of weapons air drops to Ba Cụt, prompting a protest from Diệm's government. Diệm complained to a French general, alleging that Ba Cụt's men were using French equipment that was of higher quality than that given to the VNA. For the Hoa Hao's part, they accused Diem of treachery in his negotiations with various groups. They charged the prime minister with integrating The's forces into the VNA in return for them being allowed to attack Ba Cut with the aid of the VNA, and that this part of the deal had been kept secret. They warned that other Hoa Hao leaders who had stopped fighting could join Ba Cut, and appealed to Diem's US sponsors. In response, Ba Cut ambushed a VNA unit in Long My, killing three officers and injuring thirty men.
Last stand against Diệm
During the fighting, the Hòa Hảo attempted to help the Bình Xuyên by attacking towns and government forces in their Mekong Delta heartland. Ba Cụt's men, who had also been angered by the recent arrest of some colleagues, blockaded the Mekong and Bassac
Bassac River
The Bassac River is a distributary of the Tonle Sap and Mekong River. The river starts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and flows southerly, crossing the border into Vietnam near Châu Đốc....
rivers and laid siege to various towns, including Sa Dec
Sa Dec
Sa Đéc is a city in Đồng Tháp Province in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. It is a river port and agricultural and industrial trading center. During the Vietnam War in 1966 and 1967, it was the site of an American PBR Patrol Boat, River base...
, Long Xuyen
Long Xuyen
Long Xuyên is the capital city of An Giang Province, in the Mekong Delta region of southwestern Vietnam. It is located at approximately 1,950 km south of Hanoi, 189 km from Ho Chi Minh City, and 45 km from the boundary with Cambodia...
and Chau Doc
Chau Doc
Châu Đốc is a district and town in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 112,155. The district covers an area of 100 km²....
, stifling the regional economy. The Hoa Hao shut down several important regional roads and stopped the flow of agricultural produce from the nation's most fertile region into the capital, causing food prices to rise by 50%, as meat and vegetables became scarce. Ba Cut then attacked a battalion of VNA troops south of Sa Dec. Soon after, they retreated to a Hòa Hảo citadel on the banks of the Bassac. After reinforcing their base, the Hòa Hảo proceeded to fire mortars across the water into the city of Cần Thơ, which stood on the opposite side of the river. During this period, the United Front publicly accused Diem of trying to bribe Ba Cut with 100 million piasters.
With the Bình Xuyên vanquished, Diệm turned his attention to conquering the Hòa Hảo. As a result, a battle between government troops led by General Dương Văn Minh
Duong Van Minh
Minh was born on 16 February 1916 in Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong Delta, the son of a wealthy landowner who served in a prominent position in the Finance Ministry of the French colonial administration...
and Ba Cụt's men commenced in Cần Thơ on June 5. Five Hòa Hảo battalions surrendered immediately; Ba Cụt and three remaining leaders had fled to the Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n border by the end of the month. The soldiers of the three other leaders eventually surrendered, but Ba Cụt's men continued to the end, claiming loyalty to the Emperor Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
. Diệm responded by replacing the officers of Bảo Đại's personal regiments with his own men and used the royal units to attack Ba Cụt's rebels near Ha Tien
Hà Tiên
Hà Tiên or Ha Tien is a town in Kien Giang Province, Tay Nam Bo of Vietnam. Area: 8,851.5 ha, population : 39,957. The town borders Cambodia to the west....
and Rach Gia
Rach Gia
Rạch Giá is the capital city of Kien Giang province, Vietnam. It is located around on the coast of Gulf of Thailand, 250 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City...
, outnumbering the Hoa Hao by at least a factor of five. Knowing that they could not defeat the government in open conventional warfare, Ba Cụt's forces destroyed their own bases so that the VNA could not use their abandoned resources, and retreated into the jungle. Ba Cụt's 3,000 men spent the rest of 1955 evading the 20,000 VNA troops who had been deployed to quell them, and a reward of one million piaster
French Indochinese piastre
The piastre de commerce was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1952. It was subdivided into 100 cent, each of 5 sapeque.-History:...
s was put on their leader's head. Ba Cụt scattered trails of money in the jungles, hoping to distract his pursuers, but to no avail. The communists claimed in a history written decades later that Ba Cut had tried to forge an alliance with them, but that talks broke down a few months later.
Despite his weak military situation, Ba Cụt sought to disrupt the staging of a fraudulent referendum that Diệm had scheduled in order to depose Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
as head of state. Ba Cụt distributed a pamphlet condemning Diệm as an American puppet, asserting that the prime minister was going to "Catholicize" the country— the referendum was partly funded by the U.S. government and various Roman Catholic organisations. Diệm had strong support from American Catholic politicians and Cardinal Francis Spellman, and his brother Ngô Đình Thục was a bishop. Ba Cụt said that the referendum was a means "for Diem to gather the people from all towns and force them to demonstrate one goal: to depose Bao Dai and proclaim the puppet Diem as the chief-of-state of Vietnam." On the day of the poll, Ba Cụt's men prevented voting in the border regions that they controlled, and ventured out of the jungles to attack polling stations in Cần Thơ. Despite that disruption, Diệm was fraudulently credited with more than 90% of support in Hòa Hảo-controlled territory, and a near unanimous turnout was recorded in the area. These results were replicated across the nation, and Diệm deposed Bảo Đại.
Eventually, Ba Cụt was surrounded, and sought to make a peace deal with the Diệm government to avoid being taken prisoner. Ba Cụt sent a message to Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ
Nguyen Ngoc Tho
Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ is a Vietnamese politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving from November 1963 to late January 1964. Thơ was appointed to head a civilian cabinet by the military junta of General Dương Văn Minh, which came to power after overthrowing and assassinating Ngô...
, the public official who oversaw the civilian side of the campaign against the Hòa Hảo, asking for negotiations so that his men could be integrated into mainstream society and the nation's armed forces. Thơ agreed to meet Ba Cụt alone in the jungle, and despite fears that the meeting was a Hòa Hảo trap, he was not ambushed. However, Ba Cụt began asking for additional concessions and the meeting ended in a stalemate. According to historian Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Ba Cụt's lifelong antipathy towards Thơ's family influenced his behaviour during his last stand. Ba Cụt was arrested by a patrol on April 13, 1956, and his remaining forces were defeated in battle.
Trial and execution
Edward Lansdale
Edward Geary Lansdale was a United States Air Force officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services and the Central Intelligence Agency. He rose to the rank of Major General and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1963. He was an early proponent of more aggressive US actions in...
from the CIA, was one of many who protested against the decision. Lansdale felt that the execution would tarnish Diệm—who had proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam) and declared himself President—and antagonise Ba Cụt's followers. Ngô Đình Nhu
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngô Ðình Nhu was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963...
—Diệm's younger brother and chief adviser—said that a reprieve was not possible, as the army, particularly Minh, was opposed to clemency. Some sections of the southern public were sympathetic to Ba Cụt, who was compared to a character from the Wild West.
Ba Cụt was publicly guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
d on July 13, 1956, in Cần Thơ. His body was later diced into small pieces, which were then buried separately. Some followers, led by a hardcore deputy named Bay Dom, retreated to a small area beside the Cambodian border, where they vowed not to rest until Ba Cụt was avenged. Many of his followers later joined the Vietcong—the movement that succeeded the Việt Minh their leader had fought—and took up arms against Diệm.