ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how the revolutionaries broke through the barriers to activating the rural population by a complex combination of appeals, incentives, psychological manipulation, group pressure, threats, and the terror. The revolutionary movement was much larger than the Party which led it, and the mass organizations composed of non-Party members were crucial to the revolutions success. These organizations were also not under the political or administrative control of the national liberation front (NLF). The revolution was organizing for the overthrow of the Diem government; it would be the Communist Party organization and leadership that would provide the guidance and structure for the movement. The My Tho revolutionary forces available to accomplish these tasks were still minuscule in relation to the task that confronted them. The rural defense youth were intimidated by the sporadic presence of a few armed cadres, and the interfamily chiefs were neutralized by the threat of arrest or assassination.
