The 1963 Buddhist Crisis in South Vietnam: course of events and its nature. Part I. Three paths - one state: Buddhism, Confucianism and Catholicism in Vietnam by the 1960s

The Buddhist crisis of 1963 became one of the most important events in the Republic of Vietnam (1955–1975), as well as in the history of Vietnamese Buddhism in the 20th century. The close interweaving of the political, religious and ideological components of the crisis, the difficulty of reliably assessing the motivations of all parties involved in it, the presence of a number of external and internal factors predetermined different views of the essence and nature of this conflict, not allowing them to be given an unambiguous interpretation. The publication, which will consist of several parts, reproduces the main event outline of the crisis, identifies the role of key participants and demonstrates possible options for revealing the nature of this phenomenon. In the first part of the article, the author gives a brief description of the existing approaches to the Buddhist crisis. Special attention is paid to the religious and political processes of the first half of the 20th century, which predetermined the final clash.