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Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference of 1954 was an attempt to find a way to reunify Vietnam and to restore peace in Indochina. This ultimately allowed the Vietminh to regroup in the North and French in South. The Vietminh established a Communist based government and the Geneva Conference attempted to reunify Vietnam but failed due to the South and the US who did not accept the Communist views. This showed the involvment of the US in stopping the spread of communism within Vietnam leading to the war. -
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Pre-Vietnam
Various events which occured and led to the War in Vietnam. -
Ngo Dinh Diem Presidency
In October 23 1955, a referendum was held to determine the style of government South Vietnam would follow. Bảo Đại, the Emperor was advocating for a monarch based government while Bgo Ding Diem advocated for a democratic based government. Ngo Dinh Diem won 98.2% of the vote and declared presidency of the South which was to be known as the Republic of Vietnam. -
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh was a "Stalinist" revolutionary leader who was Prime Minister and President of The Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He led to the way for the creation of People's Army of Vietnam and the Vietcong. At the Geneva Accord in 1954 where the French and Vietnamesse conflict concluded, the North was allowed to regroup its forces where he established a Communist State Government. -
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The War in Vietnam
The War in Vietnam was the most controversial war in American History. It lasted nearly twenty years with a total causaulty number of five million. It's contreversy ranged from politcal dishonesty, massacres of innocent lives, protests against the war that would go unheard and the aftermath of losing the war. It was the first time the American public was able to see what was happening in Vietnam due to the involvement of photo journalism which brought the war itself to the US. -
Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a series of paths which allowed the North to route soldiers into South Vietnam. The trails extended from Cambodia to Vietnamese borders. The "trail" allowed cover through the folliage in the jungles. The Americans adapted to exposing the trail by the use of a defoilant known as Agent Orange. It killed of the folliage that was used as cover. The use of Agent Orange was extensive during the war primarily due to exposing North Vietnamese soldiers. -
Vietcong Establishment
The Vietcong also known as the National Liberation Front was a politcal army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought South Vietnam and the US during the war. They emerged successful agaisnt the South Vietnam. They had their own guerilla groups and regular army units.They were highly controversial with the Hanoi government. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed after the Gulf of Tonkin incident which involved North Vietnamese and US and then the second incident which invovled the US and "Tonkin Ghosts" which were false radar signatures. The resolution itself gave authority to President Johnson to allow assist any South Asian country which government was threathened by the communists. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder objective was to constantly bomb North Vietnam over the course of three years. Though they were restricted to what they could target due to their fear of provoking the Chineese, they sought to undermine Ho Chi Minh's government by bombing key targets in North Vietnam. This utlimately failed and allowed them to only bomb certain supply routes. The total financial cost for the US in this operation was 900 million dollars. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was an attack launched by the People's Army of Vietnam. The Purpose of the Tet offensive was to suprise attack military command centers of the Republic of Vietnam during a cease fire due to celebrations of the New Lunar Year. The Communists attacked approximately 100 cities and small towns including an American embassy in the city of Saigon. Even Though they were pushed back, it showed the ferocity of the North and what they were willing to do to win the war. -
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was a mass murder commited by a US soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most victims were women, infants, children and the elderly that were massacred in the village of My Lai. This news become public in 1969 and media coverage of it prompted global anger and grief on the US reputation in the war. -
Vietnamizarion
The goal of Vietnamization was to strengthen the South Vietnamesse forces and slowly reduce the number of American soldiers in the war. President Nixon's goal with this was to quickly de-Americanize the war and have South Vietnamesse forces fight on their own with American help. He felt it was more important to focus on larger communist powers such as China and the USSR, instead of the fate of South Vietnam. -
Cambodian Campaign
The Cambodian Campaign was a series of military operations which were conducted in Cambodia. The objective was to defeat the PAVN and the NLF who were in the border regions in Cambodia. President Nixon proclaimed it as the most successful operation in the entire war, but the reprecussions in America sought to poor negative as many protested against the invasion. -
Kent State Shootings
On May 4th 1970, a group of protestors in Kent State University were shot at by the National Guard killing four students and permanantly paralysising another. The protestors were agaisnt the American Invasion of Cambodia which Nixon had annoucned on April 30th 1970. This did not have a postive image on the government for the American people as they already disliked the government due to the war and this pushed it even further to larger strikes and congregations. -
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers demonstrated that the Nixon and Johnson adminsitration had systematically lied to the public and congress about their actions in the War of Vietnam. This brought huge controversy towards the Government as the papers indicated various unauthorized tasks such as the expansion of the bombing of Cambodia and Laos. It demonstarted the unethical and unconstitutional behavior of the presidents and did not look in any way positive for the parties involved. -
Operation Linebacker
Operation Linebacker was a aerial offense attack on the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It's purpose was to halt or slow materials and supplies needed by the North for the Nguyen Hue Offensive. It was the first continous bombing of North Vietnam after President Johnson called a halt to the previous bombings. This bombing and offensive within the South caused both groups to reconvene at the bargaining table in Hanoi by early August. -
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the final battle and the end of the war which led to the reunification of North and South Vietnam into a communist state. Operation Frequent Wind was initiated for the Americans which was the final evacution of American personel from Vietnam. The Fall of Saigon was suprising to the Americans and North Vietnamesse as they were expecting more resistance but overestimated the power of the South.
