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Vietnamese communist leader, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence from France, which also freed the country from Japanese Fascists. This declaration of independence led to the French (First) Indochina war.
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Vietnam is divided into a non-communist south and a communist north after the communist vietnamese won the First Indochina War. Laos and Cambodia got independance. This war led to the Second Indochina War, also known as the Vietnam War.
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The President of France and Bao Dai sign the Elysee Agreement. This agreement said that the French would pledge to assist in building a national anti-communist army. This agreement made Vietnam more independant from France.
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President Harry Truman pledges to help the French in the Vietnam war. He offers $15 million in aid. This is the beginning of the US's military involvment in the war.
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In a speech given by Eisenhower, he gives the idea that if the French Indochinas' lose to the communists, it will create a "domino effect" in the rest of the Southwest Asia. This theory was used to "justify the need for American Intervention areound the world."
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The Geneva Conference was a turning point in the US involvement in Vietnam. The conference ended with a ceasefire agreement and it was a settlement that ended up leading to the end of the first Indochina war. As a result Indochina split into three different countries.
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France surrendered to Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh troops at Dien Bien Phu, despite American support for the French.
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Ngo Dinh Diem declares himself the new president of Republic of Vietnam. This brought the US deeper into the involvment in Vietnam. The election was claimed to be rigged.
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Americans, Maj. Dale R. Ruis and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand are the first American men to die in the Vietnam War. Viet Minh guerilla soldiers killed these men during an attack on a Bien Hoa compound in South Vietnam.
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Vice President Lyndon B Johnson tours South Vietnam to offer millitary aid. Johnson meets with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh sand calls him the "Churchill of Asia" before he offers him this aid in hopes to defeat the communists.
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President John F Kennedy was assassinated driving through Dallas, Texas. After Kennedy's assassination, the duration of how to continue in the Vietnam war was now up to the Vice President, Lyndon Johnson.
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Viet Cong invades Chuong Thien Provience in South Vietnam. South After eight long days of battle, Viet Cong leaves the provinence and Vietnam has defeated them.
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The US will begin numerous bombings known as a bombing campaign on North Vietnam. The first attack happens on March 2, 1965 when the US bombs an ammunition base at Xom Bang.
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Communist Viet Cong forces launch a cordinated attack on people in South Vietnam. "Tet" refers to the lunar new year holiday on which day this took place. The Tet Offensive strongly weakened the US public support in Vietnam. This was the first "televised" war.
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The US ends its involvement in the Vietnam War, for them the war is over and the South Vietnamese will no longer recieve thieir help. The war will still continue for another 2 years.
