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Ho Chi Minh returns to Vietnam after years of exile in the USSR and China, and organizes the Vietminh, A nationalist group which later becomes N. Vietnam's military.
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After WWII was over, the Vietnamese wanted independence from France, who ruled them for a very long time. When the Vietminh started rebelling against the French, America sent aid to the French to help them quiet the revolution. This was uncharacteristic of America as they did not support colonialism, but they valued not letting Vietnam fall to communism more.
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The turning point for the Vietminh against the French, French troops entered the town of Dien Bien Phu with hopes of cutting of supply lines to the Vietminh. However, once the French troops were there, the town was surrounded by Vietminh soldiers who held the French troops until they surrendered.
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After Dien Bien Phu, the French no longer wanted part in Vietnam. The Geneva Accords was a treaty that divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel, with two sides: North Vietnam, controlled by the very communist Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh, and South Vietnam, controlled by the very anti-communist Ngo Dinh Diem, and the US became S. Vietnam's sole protector
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In 1956, an election was supposed to take place to reunify Vietnam between either Ho Chi Minh or Diem. However, fearing he would lose, Diem called off the elections. In response, Minh started an armed attempt at reunifying the nation. They took South Vietnamese communists and made them into a militia group trained with Guerilla tactics, called the Vietcong. These would later become the main force the US fought during the war.
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After many unpopular decisions and remarks, public support for Diem dwindled very low. Many people wanted him out of power for the things he did, like openly criticizing Buddhism and forcing people out of their homes. A US ambassador learned from several of Diem's advisors were planning to overthrow him, and when that ambassador expressed sympathy for their cause, Diem was overthrown
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Just a couple weeks after Diem's death, Kennedy was assassinated. This let Lyndon B. Johnson take over. He was somewhat cautious at first with Vietnam, but was determined to keep Vietnam from becoming communist. He blamed the Democrats for letting China fall to communism, and feared that they would also let Vietnam fall, ruining his presidency/administration
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N. Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on two US navy destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. These attacks were unprovoked, and caused Johnson to order light air strikes on N. Vietnam's naval bases. The next day, he asked congress for permission to defend attacks by N. Vietnam, which was approved and the Gulf of Tonkin resolution was signed, giving the president authority to repel any attack on the US in Vietnam. This was the "official" start of the Vietnam war.
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In 1965, there were 180,000 US troops deployed in Vietnam, and by 1966, there was double. But still, Americans at home were being told of great successes in the war, and that the end was in sight. The truth was, however, there was no end in sight. The Vietcong, lacking the firepower of the US, used ambushes, booby traps, stealth, and other guerilla tactics to beat the US in a way they had not yet seen before. This was the beginning of a divide between the US Government and the people of the US.