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The Vietnamese won their independence from the Chinese after Chinese invaded in the 1400s.
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France invaded Vietnam and eventually won control. Vietnam was joined with Laos and Cambodia to form French Indochina.
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The Japanese occupied Vietnam and threatened to take over all of Southeast Asia.
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When France and Vietnam battled again, Truman supported France, viewing them as a vital ally, and disagreeing with Vietnam's communist views.
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The US sided with South Korea and helped them fight Communist North Korea.
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The French were trapped by the Vietminh. With no help from the US, France was forced to surrender.
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A great conference was held to decide the fate of French Indochina. A cease-fire was declared and Vietnam was divided between the French and the Vietminh.
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The Geneva convention set an election date for July 1956, but Diem knew he wouldn't win so he didn't set one up.
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The Northern Vietnimh sent help to the revolutionaries in the south.
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Nixon began turning the fight over to the South Vietnamese, while pulling out US troops.
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The first time US forces participated in major combat in Vietnam.
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When this was signed, the US pledged to defend countries under Communist attack.
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Diem and his brother were assassinated by plotters.
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Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, allowing the president to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States.
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The US started bombing the North to try to weaken them. This assured the South of US's committment, and they were able to bomb important transport routes.
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The Selective Services drafted men to join the war. Most of those that served were poor and uneducated. African Americans suffered a very high percentage of the casualties, though they made up 11% of the population.
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A Student-Activist group in DC protestest against US involvement in the Vietnam War.
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Vietcong forces drive into the South on the first day of their new year, striking cities, provinces, and military bases.
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US began bombing neutral Cambodia to show our willingness to use force and to cut off the North's resources from the trail.
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After Nixon ordered more bombings of North Vietnam, the opposition counter-attacked with an intense invasion. Though the North was bombed again, the opposition aquired more territory.
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A student at Kent State University, Ohio, set fire to the schools ROTC building. In response, National Guard Troops were sent to erardicate the protestors. They shot randomly into a group of students, killing four and injuring nine.
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Congress, in response to the Cambodia bombings, repealed the Tunkin Gulf Resolution.
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The NY Times started publishing secret government documents about the war. They showed how the government had misled the public.
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A cease-fire was announced. It didn't approach the problem of government in the South, so the US secretly pledged to aid the South.
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After the Southern government collapsed, the North invaded the northern part of the South, and paniced Southerns fled and retreated.
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As the North continued to invade, Americans and some Vietnamese were evacuated. The South eventually surrendered unconditionally.