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Ho Chi Minh founds the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP).
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The Viet Minh seizes power. Ho Chi Minh announces Vietnam's independence.
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The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors arrived beginning in 1950.
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In July 1954, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem rejected the nationwide elections agreed to by France and North Vietnam.
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In 1965, the number of U.S. troops was highly increased when 200,000 American combat troops arrived in South Vietnam.
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1969 - Ho Chi Minh dies. President Nixon begins to reduce US ground troops in Vietnam as domestic public opposition to the war grows.
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1973 - Ceasefire agreement in Paris, US troop pull-out completed by March.
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1975 - North Vietnamese troops invade South Vietnam and take control of the whole country after South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh surrenders.
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Vietnam and US restore full diplomatic relations. Vietnam becomes full member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
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. Over the course of the year the virus claims more than 30 lives.