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Introducing Hồ Chí Minh
In 1941, Hồ Chí Minh drew up on Vietnam's 2000 year history of resisting foreign rule to stir up nationalistic feelings. He also helped found a group in Northern Vietnam opposed to foreign occupation known as Viet Minh -
Japan Surrenders
After a long fought out war, in 1945 Japan surrenders to the allies, thus ending World War 2 -
Vietnam declares independence
Coincidentally, on the same day that Japan surrenders to the allies, Vietnam declared its independence from France -
France opposes independence
French warships attacked the port city of Haiphong, killing around 6,000 Vietnamese civilians, which sparked the start of the First Indochina War. A war that would continue for eight years -
Communism or Independence
Despite Vietnam fighting France in order to gain their independence, Truman suspected that the Viet Minh intended to create a communists dictatorship, and was thus determined to block any further communist advance in Asia. In order to help the efforts, Truman increased military aid to French Indochina which started out with $10 million in 1950 and then rose to more than $100 million in 1951. BY 1954 the U.S. was paying 80% of the cost of war in Indochina -
The end of the French Indochina War
The French and the Viet Minh signed the Geneva Accords which stopped the fighting among the two and split Vietnam along the 17th parallel temporarily. The Viet Minh went North of the line, while the French went South -
French Morale Deteriorates
Following Viet Minh's surprise attack on a large French military base at Dien Bien Phu in March 1954, which by April had caused more than 12,000 French soldiers prepared to give up, on May 7, 1954 the Viet Minh had finally conquered the base. Which in turn ended the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and shattered the French Morale -
U.S Influence
As France began to remove itself from Vietnam the United States took its place. They hoped to develop a strong noncommunist state in South Vietnam. To follow up, they used their influence to put anticommunist South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem in charge in 1955. -
The First Two
On the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, more commonly known as "the Wall", the first two men listed are Chester Ovnand and Dale Buis. They were the first U.S soldiers to die in Vietnam, killed by a surprise attack in 1959 on their camp. They were noncombat soldiers. -
Viet Minh fight back
Following Ngo Dinh Diem's bogus election as president, his brutal government policies caused the Viet Minh communists still living in Southern Vietnam to launch a guerrilla war against them. Their strategy included the use of terrorism and assassination. In turn, in 1960, the Viet Minh formed a group called the National Liberation Front and invited all opponents of Diem to join. Ngo Dinh Diem referred to the group as Viet Cong, slang for "Vietnamese communists." -
A New President
John F Kennedy becomes president -
Tensions Rise
Diem was losing his grasp of control, in May 1963 at a Buddhist rally in protest of Diem's policies nine demonstrators were killed by South Vietnamese police officials. In addition, several Buddhist monks set themselves ablaze in protest. It was clear that Diem had failed as a leader. In November a coup was staged by South Vietnamese generals and Diem was assassinated as he tried to flee Saigon -
Another New President
After Kennedy's assassination, the issue of the war in Vietnam now fell into the lap of newly elected president Lyndon B. Johnson -
Whose war is it?
Before, the Vietnam war was simply between North and South Vietnam, with the United States supporting South Vietnam. With the introduction of combat troops from the U.S. into Vietnam it became a war of the United States vs North Vietnam, with South Vietnam only being a supporting role to the United States. -
More Americans begin streaming in
By the end of 1965, the total number of U.S. combat soldiers in Vietnam added up to 184,000. By late 1967, almost half a million Americans were serving in Vietnam and that number only continued to grow -
Troops roll in
After much debate, Johnson decided to send combat troops to Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, the first U.S. combat troops to set foot in Vietnam waded ashore at a beach near Da Nang, South Vietnam
