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1880
From the 1880s up until World War II, Vietnam was part of french indochina, a french colony in southeast Asia that also included Cambodia and laos. -
1941
In 1941, a Vietnamese communist, Ho Chi Minh, drew on that history to stir up nationalist feelings. -
1945
On September 2, 1945, the same day that japan formally surrendered to the Allies, Vietnam declared its independence. -
1951
By 1951, thousands of U.S. soldiers had already died in Korea trying to halt the spread of communism. -
1954
By 1954, the United States was paying 80 percent of the cost of the war in Indochina. -
1954
The decisive battle of the war began in March 1954, when the Viet Minh launched a surprise attack on a large French Military base at Dien Bien Phu, in the mountains of northern Vietnam. -
1954
Finally, in July 1954 the French and Viet Minh signed the Geneva Accords. -
1954
On May 7, 1954, the Viet Minh finally overran the French base, ending the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and shattering French morale. -
1955
In 1955, the United States used its influence to put an anticommunist South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, in charge. -
1955
In October 1955, he declared himself president of South Vietnam. -
1956
In 1956, he offered his own version of the domino theory. -
1959
They were noncombat troops killed in a surprise attack on their camp in 1959. -
1960
In 1960, the Viet Minh formed a group called the National Liberation Front and invited all opponents of Diem to join. -
1961
When Kennedy became president in 1961, he sent an inspection team to South Vietnam to evaluate the situation. -
1962
By mid-1962, the number of military advisers had soared to around 9,000. -
1963
In May 1963,at a Buddhist rally opposing Diem's policies, South Vietnamese police killed nine demonstrators. -
1964
In May 1964, he expressed his ambivalent feelings about Vietnam to an adviser.