The Strategic Hamlets Programme Flashcards

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What was the Strategic Hamlets Programme in South Vietnam?

It was a plan in the early 1960s to move peasants into new, defended villages to keep them away from the Vietcong.

Who set up the Strategic Hamlets Programme and which country helped?

President Ngo Dinh Diem set it up, with advice, money and support from the United States, especially under President Kennedy.

What was the main aim of the Strategic Hamlets Programme?

Its main aim was to protect peasants from the Vietcong and stop them giving food, shelter and information to the communists.

How did the Strategic Hamlets Programme try to control where peasants lived?

It moved peasants out of scattered villages and into new, planned hamlets, often forcing them to move whether they wanted to or not.

What kinds of defences were built around strategic hamlets?

They had fences, ditches, barbed wire or bamboo spikes, watchtowers and armed guards to try to keep the Vietcong out.

Why did many Vietnamese peasants resent being moved into strategic hamlets?

They had to leave their family land and ancestors’ graves, travel further to their fields, and often had to pay extra taxes and do unpaid labour.

How did corruption weaken the Strategic Hamlets Programme?

Some officials stole money and supplies, took the best land for themselves, and left peasants in poorly built hamlets with few services.

Why did the Strategic Hamlets Programme fail to stop the Vietcong?

Hamlets were badly planned and defended, peasants still helped the Vietcong, and Vietcong fighters often slipped inside or controlled hamlets at night.

What happened to the Strategic Hamlets Programme after Diem was overthrown in 1963?

After Diem was killed, the new South Vietnamese leaders slowly dropped the programme and many hamlets were abandoned or destroyed.

How did the failure of the Strategic Hamlets Programme affect Diem’s government?

It made Diem’s government even more unpopular in the countryside and helped increase support for the Vietcong.