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Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh is trained in the Soviet Union as an agent of the Communist International (Comitern). -
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany takes control of France. -
Ho Chi Minh and communist colleagues establish the League for the Independence of Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh and communist colleagues establish the League for the Independence of Vietnam. Known as the Viet Minh, the movement aims to resist French and Japanese occupation of Vietnam. -
Ho Chi Minh declares an independent North Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh declares an independent North Vietnam and models his declaration on the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 in an (unsuccessful) effort to win the support of the United States. -
Japan is defeated by the Allies in World War II
Japan is defeated by the Allies in World War II, leaving a power vacuum in Indochina. France begins to reassert its authority over Vietnam. -
President Truman states the foreign policy
In an address to Congress, President Harry Truman states that the foreign policy of the United States is to assist any country whose stability is threatened by communism. The policy becomes known as the Truman Doctrine. -
Bao Dai
The French install former emperor Bao Dai as head of state in Vietnam. -
The Soviet Union and Kazakhstan
The Soviet Union explodes its first atom bomb in a remote area of Kazakhstan, marking a tense turning point in the Cold War with the United States. -
Mao Zedong
Following a civil war, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declares the creation of the People’s Republic of China. -
China and the Soviet Union
The People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union formally recognize the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam and both begin to supply economic and military aid to communist resistance fighters within the country. -
Viet Minh as a Communist threat
The United States, identifying the Viet Minh as a Communist threat, steps up military assistance to France for their operations against the Viet Minh. -
Viet Minh forces at Dien Bien Phu
French troops are humiliated in defeat by Viet Minh forces at Dien Bien Phu. The defeat solidifies the end of French rule in Indochina. -
domino theory
In a speech, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower says the fall of French Indochina to communists could create a “domino” effect in Southeast Asia. This so called domino theory guides U.S. thinking on Vietnam for the next decade. -
Ngo Dinh Diem
Catholic nationalist Ngo Dinh Diem emerges as the leader of South Vietnam, with U.S. backing, while Ho Chi Minh leads the communist state to the north. -
North Vietnam and Cambodia to South Vietnam
North Vietnam forces begin to build a supply route through Laos and Cambodia to South Vietnam in an effort to support guerrilla attacks against Diem’s government in the south. The route becomes known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail and is greatly expanded and enhanced during the Vietnam War. -
John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy sends helicopters and 400 Green Berets to South Vietnam and authorizes secret operations against the Viet Cong. -
Ngo Dinh Diem survives a bombing
Ngo Dinh Diem survives a bombing of the presidential palace in South Vietnam as Diem’s extreme favoritism toward South Vietnam’s Catholic minority alienates him from most of the South Vietnamese population, including Vietnamese Buddhists. -
The United States backs a South Vietnam military
The United States backs a South Vietnam military coup against the unpopular Diem, which ends in the brutal killing of Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu. Between 1963 and 1965, 12 different governments take the lead in South Vietnam as military coups replace one government after another. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.
