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Apr 29, 1428
Vietnam Independence
In the 1400s China tried to reassert control over Vietnam. A Vietnamese military leader named Le Loi used guerrilla warfare to defeat the Chinese invaders. Le Loi's rebels worked as peasants by day and took up arms to attack the Chinese by night. The rebels had driven the Chinese from the country and won independence for Vietnam. Le Loi became the new emperor. -
French Control
In 1883 the Vietnamese were forced to grant France complete control of the country. France later combined Vietnam with Laos and Cambodia to form French Indochina, one of its richest colonial possessions. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
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Armp Occupation
In 1940 the Japanese army occupied all of Indochina and threatened the rest of Southeast Asia. -
French Vs. Vietnamese
The French and the Vietnamese were locked in battle. President Truman ignored Ho's pleas for assistance and threw U.S. support behind France. Truman viewed France as a vital ally in the struggle against the spread of communism in postwar Europe. -
USA and North Korea alliance
The United States was caught up in a bloody ground war, trying to turn back communist North Korea's invasion of South Korea. Meanwhile, Communist-led nationalist revolts rocked Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaya. -
Vietnam Attack
On May 7th Vietnam defeated France and forced surrender. Even though France was getting a lot of support from other countries. -
Dien Bien Phu
an international conference to settle the Indochina conflict began in Geneva, Switzerland. There, representatives of the French and the Vietminh attempted to map out Indochina's future. Cambodia, Great Britain, Laos, the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and the United States joined the discussions. -
General Elections
General elections to reunify the country were scheduled for July 1956. Fearing that the Communists would win a nationwide election, the United States refused to support the agreement. -
Alliance
military assistance began flowing from the north to the Vietminh who had stayed in the south -
Kennedy Authorization
Kennedy authorized U.S. forces to engage in direct combat. As a result, the number of Americans killed or wounded climbed from 14 in 1961 to nearly 500 in 1963. -
Diem's assassination
The plotters struck in early November 1963, murdering both Diem and his brother. Diem's assassination upset U.S. advisers, who had been prepared to fly Diem out of the country. -
US involvement
President Lyndon B. Johnson appeared on national television. His announcement to the American people that night marked a new stage in U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam. -
American Troops
This was the first commitment of American combat troops in South Vietnam and there was considerable reaction around the world to the new stage of U.S. involvement in the war. -
Antiwar Demonstration
The SDS organized the first national antiwar demonstration. It was held in Washington, D.C., on April 17, 1965. More than 20,000 people participated. After an afternoon of speeches, the crowd marched to the Capitol and delivered to Congress a petition demanding that lawmakers "act immediately to end the war." -
Selective Services
President Johnson soon called for an escalation, or buildup, of U.S. military forces in Vietnam. He ordered the Selective Service, the agency charged with carrying out the military draft, to call up more young men to serve in the armed forces, the Selective Service notified 13,700 draftees. -
Tet
marked the start of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. In past years the holiday had been honored by a lull in fighting. However, late that night, as most South Vietnamese and their U.S. allies slept, Vietcong guerrillas and North Vietnamese troops struck. -
Nixon war expansion
Nixon planned to expand the war into neutral Cambodia to cut off the North Vietnamese supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Early in 1969 Nixon ordered the widespread bombing of Cambodia. He wanted to show Hanoi that the United States was still willing to use force, and even expand the war, in pursuit of his goal of "peace with honor." Nixon and Kissinger concealed the Cambodian air strikes from the American people, Congress, and key military leaders—even the secretary of the air force. -
Kent State Shootings
National Guard troops that had been sent to control demonstrators shot randomly into a large group of students. They killed four and injured nine others. Some of the students were merely walking across campus. The Kent State shootings shocked the nation. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution repealed
Congress repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in December 1970 after teh kent state shootings becuase they were so upset -
Pentagon Papers released
another incident boosted the antiwar movement. The New York Times began publishing a collection of secret government documents relating to the war. Known as the Pentagon Papers, these documents revealed that the government had frequently misled the American people about the course of the war. The documents had been leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg, a former Department of Defense official. -
South Vietnam Invasion
Hoping to reveal the weaknesses of Nixon's Vietnamization strategy, North Vietnam staged a major invasion of South Vietnam in March 1972. NVA troops drove deep into South Vietnam. In response, Nixon ordered heavy bombing of North Vietnam. Despite these steps, the opposition now held more territory in South Vietnam than ever. -
Peace Settlement
The negotiators in Paris announced a cease-fire. The plan differed little from the one agreed to in October, but minor changes allowed each side to claim a victory. The United States pledged to withdraw its remaining forces from South Vietnam and to help rebuild Vietnam. The peace settlement also included a prisoner-exchange agreement. It did not, however, address the major issue behind the war—the political future of South Vietnam. -
Northern South Korea overran
In January 1975, North Vietnamese troops overran the northern part of South Vietnam. As South Vietnamese troops retreated in panic, new waves of refugees poured into Saigon. -
Surrender
On April 30, 1975, South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally.
For Americans the Vietnam War was over. The long, costly effort to prevent the creation of a united, independent Vietnam under Communist rule had failed.