Buddhist crisis

Buddhist crisis
Buddhist crisis
Part of the Vietnam War
	Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation (top); Altar to the Buddhist victims to the 1963 turmoil at Từ Hiếu Temple, Huế (bottom)
Date	May 8 – November 2, 1963; (5 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
Location	South Vietnam
Resulted in	Violent repression of Buddhists and death of Ngô Đình Diệm; 1963 South Vietnamese coup;
Parties
Buddhists of South Vietnam	South Vietnamese government Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces; Vietnamese Catholic loyalists;
Lead figures
	Thích Trí Quang; Thích Tâm Châu; Thích Thiện Minh; Thích Tịnh Khiết; Thích Quảng Đức † Ngô Đình Diệm ; Ngô Đình Nhu ; Ngô Đình Cẩn; Trần Lệ Xuân; Lê Quang Tung
Casualties and losses
Hundreds killed in the Xa Loi Pagoda raids, 8–9 killed in the Hue Phat Dan shootings, At least 1 self-immolation, 9 ARVN rebels and 20 civilians killed in coup that ended the crisis	5 ARVN members killed in coup

The Buddhist crisis (Vietnamese: Biến cố Phật giáo) was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam between May and November 1963, characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks.

The crisis was precipitated by the shootings of nine unarmed civilians on May 8 in the central city of Huế who were protesting against a ban of the Buddhist flag. The crisis ended with a coup in November 1963 by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and the arrest and assassination of President Ngô Đình Diệm on November 2, 1963.