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In the early 1900's, nationalism had become a powerful force in Vietnam. Vietnam formed several political parties to push for independence of the French colonial government. Ho Chi Minh was one of the leaders of the nationalist movement.
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Ho Chi Minh became an advocate of communism. In 1930, he returned to Southeast Asia. He helped find the Indochinese Communist Party and worked to overthrow the French rule.
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Ho Chi Minh fled Indochina and spent several years in exile in the Soviet Union and China.In 1941, he returned to Vietnam to form the nationalist group, Vietminh. It united both communist and noncommunist to expel the Japanese forces.
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When the Japaense surrendered the control of Indochina, Ho Chi Minh and his fcorces announced Vietnam as an independent nation. He created the Vietnam Declaration of Independence. Archimedes Patti, an American officer stationed in Vietnam, helped Ho Chi Minh develope the document. When the translator read the document, Patti recognized it was similar to the American Declaration of Independence.
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In 1946, French troops returned to Vietnam to regain their colonial empire in Southeast Asia. They drove the Vietminh forces into hiding in the countryside and by 1949, the French set up a new government in Vietnam.
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The Vietminh, beginning to fight back, increased their control over large areas of the countryside. As fighting escalated, France appealed to the United States for help.
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American officials were put in a different situation. They did not think France should control Vietnam, but they did not want Vietnam to be communist either. Two events convinced the Truman administration to help France: the fall of China to communism, and the outbreak to the Korean War. After the Korean War began, Truman authorized a massive program of military aid to French forces in Vietnam.
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President Eisenhower took office in 1953. He continued to support the French military campaign against Vietminh.
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By 1954, the U.S. was paying 3/4 of France's war costs. During a news conference, he defended U.S. policy and mentioned the Domino Theory. He believed if Vietnam fell to communism, so would other nations of Southeast Asia.
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On May 7, 1954, the French force at Dien Bien Phu fell to the Vietminh. It forced the French to make peace and withdraw from Indochina.
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During 1954, the Vietminh were using a hit-and-run tactic known as guerrillas. These were irregular troops who usually blend into the civilian population and are different for regular armies to fight.
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In 1956, Diem refused to hold countrywide elections by the Geneva Accords. Ngo Dinh Diem was a nationalist leader in the South's government. Eisenhower supported Diem and increased American military and economic aid to South Vietnam.
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After Diem refused elections in 1956, Ho Chi Minh of the north, and his followers, began to try to reunify the nation. Vietcong was their new guerrilla army. President Eisenhower increased American aid and sent hundreds of military advisers to train south Vietnam's army.
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By 1961, Vietcong had assassinated thousands of government officials and had control over much of the countryside. By this time, Kennedy took office and continued the nation's policy of support for South Vietnsm. He saw Southeast Asian country as vitally important in the battle against communism.
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In August 1963, Henry Cabot Lodge, an American Ambassoder, learned of Diem's unpopularity. Vietnamese officals were plotting to overthrow him.
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American generals launched a military coup. They seized power on November 1, 1963 and executed Diem shortly after.
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On November 22, 1963, JFK was assassinated and Lyndon Johnson came into office. Having already enough to deal with, America was too deeply involved to prop up the weak South Vietnamese government.
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On Aug. 7, 1964, the Senate and House passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing the president to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression."
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Officials prosecuted more than 3,300 Americans for refusing to serve. THe draft became less of an issue in 1969 when the government introduced a lottery system, in which only those with low lottery numbers were subject to the draft.
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On February 1965, the Vietcong attacked on base at Pleiku. They left 7 Americans dead and more than 100 wounded.
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In March 1965, Johnson expanded American involvement by shifting his policy to a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam. It was called Operation Rolling Thunder.
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A group of faculty members and students at the University of Michigan abandoned their classes and joined together in a teach-in. They informally discussed the issues surrounding the war and reaffirmed their reasond for opposing it. And in May 1965, 122 colleges held a "National Teach-In" by radio for more than 100,000 antiwar demonstrators.
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The Students for a Democratic Society, a left wing student organization, organized a march on Washington, D.C., that drew more than 20,000 participants.
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By the end of 1965, more than 180,000 American combat troops were fighting in Vietnam. in 1966 that number became doubled.
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By the end of 1966, more than 6,700 American soldiers has been killed. When many citizens came back home, they began to question the nation's involvement in the war.
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By 1967, African Americans accounted for about 20 percent of American combat deaths. About twice their proportionation of the population within the U.S.
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Two years later, a rally at Washington's Lincoln Memorial drew thousands of protesters.
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By 1968, the nation seemed to be divided into two camps. Those who wanted the United States to withdraw from the Vietnam were known as "Doves." Those who wanted America to stay and fight back were known as "Hawks."
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During the Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong and North Vietnam launched a massive surprise attack. The guerrilla fighters attacked virtually all American airbases in South Vietnam and most of the South's major cities and provincial capitals. Vietcong commandos even blasted their way into the American embassy in Saigon.
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When President Nixon came into office, he appointed Henry Kissinger as special assistant for national security affairs and gave him wide authority to use diplomacy to end the conflict. Kissinger rekindled peace talks with the North Vietnamese. In August 1969, Kissinger entered into secret negotiations with North Vietnam's negotiator, Le Duc Tho. For four years, their talks argued over a possible crease fire, the return of American P.O.W., and the ultimate fate of South Vietnam.
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An American platoon under the command of Lieutenant William Calley had massacre possibly more than 200 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet of My Lai. Most were old men, women, and children.
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Nixon ordered Americans troops to invade Cambodia. Troops went to destroy Vietcong military bases.
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Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the president near complete power in directing the war.
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Vietnam and America signed an agreement "ending the war and restoring the peace in Vietnam." The U.S. promised to withdraw the rest of its troops and both sides agreed to an exhange of prisoners of war. But, South Vietnam's future was not restored. Congress passed the War Powers Act as a way to reestablish some limits on executive power. The act required the president to inform Congress of any commitment of troops abroad within 48 hours and to withdraw them in 60 to 90 days.
