Vietnam War

By achudleigh

  • Ngo Dinh comes to power

    The pro-American Ngo Dinh Diem becomes president of South Vietnam in October. America agrees to train Diem’s army. This is seen as the start of the war as Diem is harshly anti-communist and gains backing from the US, he launches attacks on the North and is unrelenting in his ideological views.
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    Vietnam War

  • Vietminh arrested

    Diem starts arresting any suspected viet minh. Huge numbers are arrested for being suspected of being Viet minh, in many cases, lots are arrest, tortured and executed for their suspected political ties

  • Ho Chi Minh Trail

    American advisors killed in Vietnam, first American casualties, then Ho Chi Minh trail first starts to be used, the Ho Chi Minh trail was used by Vietcong to deliver and move supplies through jungle terrain easily and used to out maneuver and ambush American forces.

  • NLF

    Hanoi authorises the organisation of the National Liberation Front who would be controlled by the communists in the south. These soldiers, also known as Viet Cong are experts in guerilla fighting and become too much for American forces, who are fighting in foreign land and foreign terrain against foreign tactics of warfare.

  • Diem Killed

    Diem is overthrown in a military coup and executed, along with his brother. This caused chaos and communist forces in Hanoi took advantage, pushing guerilla warefare and hitting the South hard.

  • Golf of Tonkin

    The USS Maddox, on an intelligence mission along North Vietnam's coast, allegedly fires upon and damages several torpedo boats that have been stalking it in the Gulf of Tonkin. This was the first American attack on the Vietnamese, America was then permitted to conduct military operations in South Asia without decarling war.

  • Operation Rolling Thunder

    Operation Flaming Dart, Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Arc Light commenced, these operations were set out to bomb North Vietnam is an attempt to stop the North Vietnamese from supporting the National Liberation Front. The campaign lasted three years, during Operation Rolling Thunder, the US Air Force dropped a million tonnes of explosives on North Vietnam

  • Start of the Ground War

    3,500 American marines are deployed in Vietnam, this is the start of the American ground war in Vietnam. By the end of the year, America had deployed 200,000 troops in Vietnam.

  • The Tet Offensive

    An all round assault of South Vietnam was conducted by communist forces, over 100 cities were attacked, as well as the US embassy in Saigon. The Tet Offensive was a turning point for America in the war as it marked the start of major protests and a lack of support in the US for the war, the US could not say that they were winning and the public wanted the US to pull out of Vietnam, in Chicago and Paris peace protests even when there was a 540,000 man presence in Vietnam.

  • Vietnamization

    President Nixon becomes elected into office, he begins the Vietnamization of Vietnam, in which he planns to take over the defense of South Vietnam. The US begins taking out troops and within the first 15 months of the Nixon administration 265,500 troops have been withdrawn.

  • Operation Menu

    Operation Menu was the secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos by the Nixon administration. Cambodia had remained neutral since 1955, but under pressure from Washington, Cambodia becomes hostile to the Vietnamese in 1969, and the communists are not welcome. The US bombs the borders of Laos and Cambodia, where many communists have havens and strongholds.

  • Kent State University Deaths

    4 student protesters to the Vietnam war at the Kent State University, Ohio, are shot. Nationwide protests ensue and public support for the war dramatically drops. News such as the massacre of My Lai becomes revealed and support for the war is at an all time low.

  • Paris Peace Accords

    The Republic of Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the U.S. all sign the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam on January 27, 1973. This treaty temporarily stops the fighting between the North and South and ends US military involvement in Vietnam. The US start to remove all of its troops and the South Vietnamese are left to defend themelves.

  • War Ends

    The war in Vietnam ends with the capture of Saigon by communist forces and the NLF raise their flag in the Presidential palace. This marks the end of 116 years of war with other nations such as the US, France and Britain. The U.S removes the last of its personell in Vietnam and the war officially ends.