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From the late 1880s to World War II, the French ruled over most of Indochina, which included Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. In 1940, however, the Japanese took control of Vietnam.
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This party was founded in 1930 and was led by Ho Chi Minh. The party held a series of revolts against foreign leadership. After the French condemned Ho Chi Minh, he fled to the Soviet Union and later China, but still organized Vietnam's independence movement. -
In 1940, the Japanese took control of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh returned home to Vietnam and formed the Vietminh, an organization who fought for the independence of Vietnam. Japan's defeat in WWII forced them to leave Vietnam. On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam a independent nation.
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At the end of 1945, France took control of southern Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh swore to take back control of the South. The policy of containment that the US had at the end of WWII made them choose to support France, since Vietnam was a communist nation. Over the next four years, America had spent almost $1 billion into supporting France in the war for Vietnam. -
Even though the US poured tons of money into the supporting France, the Vietminh overran the French outpost at Dien Bien Phu and they were forced to surrender. -
After the surrender of France to the Vietminh, Great Britain, France, the US, the USSR, Cambodia, China, and Laos met in Geneva, Switzerland, with the Vietminh and South Vietnam to come up with a peace agreement, called the Geneva Accords. This split up Vietnam in two along the 17th parallel. In 1956, an election to unify the country was supposed to be held, but the president of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem refused. -
A communist-opposition group known as the Vietcong began assassinating South Vietnam government officials. Ho Chi Minh supported the group and supplied them with weapons on a path that became known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Eisenhower administration did little about the Vietcong, though. -
Because of the corruption of the Diem Regime, a US-supported coup took place. JFK wanted Diem alive, but he was killed.
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A North Vietnamese patrol boat fired a missile at the USS Maddox. It missed, but the Maddox fired one back and heavily damaged the boat. President Johnson ordered bombing strikes on North Vietnam. -
President Johnson asked Congress to give him the power to "repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression”, which Congress granted.