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Start of Vietnam War
The Vietnam war started in 1954 when Ho Chi Minh and his communist party took over North Vietnam. -
Dien Bien Phu
This battle resulted in the French losing to Viet Minh forces and resulted in a split in rulers of North and South Vietnam. -
Ngo Dinh Diem takes control of S. Vietnam
Ngo Dinh Diem removed Bao from his ruling of South Vietnam and became the leader of the Government of the Republic Vietnam. -
U.S involvement
President Eisenhower declared support for Ngo Dinh Diem and started equipping them with military and weapons.They arrested and tortured over 100,000 people who were seen as supported of the communist party -
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Viet Cong fight back
In 1957 the Communist party, referred to as the Viet Cong by the anti-communist community, started attacking government officials. By 1959 they started attacking South Vietnam Armies with weapons. -
NLF Formed
"Diem’s opponents within South Vietnam–both communist and non-communist–formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) to organize resistance to the regime." The NLF was seen as just a puppet for Hanoi, creating an uprise in military forces needed in the South. -
Increase of U.S military presence
By 1962, Kennedy had increased the U.S military presence in Vietnam from 500 (in the 50's) to 9,000. -
Deaths of Kennedy and Diem
Diem was murdered at the hand of his own men, along with his brother. Three weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated. These deaths lead President Johnson to increase military involvement in the war. -
U.S soldiers battle in the war
By 1965, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution had been put into place, allowing Johnson many broad military powers. By June, 82,000 U.S soldiers were stationed in Vietnam. -
Troops in Vietnam
By the end of 1965, 100,000 more troops were ordered to go fight the war. Other countries such as New Zealand and Australia also had troops stationed in Vietnam. -
Free-Fire Zones
A large portion of South Vietnam was labeled as "Free-Fire Zones" which meant that all civilians needed to evacuate the area, seeing as the military, on both sides, would fire at will. Heavy bombing made these zones inhabitable. -
U.S gets fed up
By 1967, more than 500,000 men were fighting the war. Over 15,000 U.S soldiers were dead and more than 100,000 were wounded. Soldiers started retaliating against their own government, causing mutinies and participating in drugs. U.S civilians started to speak up against the war at this time as well. -
Tet Offensive and Johnsons reconsideration
"On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 DRV forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet offensive (named for the lunar new year), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam." The South fought back and the North was unable to keep going for more than 2 days. Johnson decided to stop bombing in the North and dedicate his time to figuring out a way for peace. -
Talks of Peace of Nixon's election
Peace talks started between the U.S and Vietnam, during which Richard Nixon was elected President with a plan to withdraw troops from Vietnam -
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Protests and Peace talks
During this time, there were many peace protests in the U.S and in 1972, Nixon ended drafting for the war. In 1969, the biggest peace protest occurred in Washington D.C. Protesting was very popular among college students. During this time, Nixon was negotiating Peace treaties in Paris, trying to find a way to end the war. -
Vietnam war ends
January of 1973 the U.S and Vietnam come to a peaceful negotiation, ending the war between the two. The war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam continued for several more months, finally ending in April of 1973. By the end of the war, 2 million Vietnamese were dead, with 3 million wounded and 12 million refuges. The country united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and they slowly started rebuilding all the destroyed aspects of the economy, land, and community.
