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The Viet Minh form to Resist Japan
With the help of the U.S., Vietnam received support and equipped the Viet Minh with weapons. And with the formation of the Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam successfully resisted Japan's invasion. Photo URL: https://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/vietminh.jpg -
Vietnam's Independence Declared at Ba Dinh Square
Ho Chi Minh would go on to declare independence at Ba Dinh Square. He would unite the country to be independent. Photo URL:
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/2021-09/5332_ngay-QuYc-khanh.jpg -
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Vietnam War
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The French Proposal
After declaring independence, the French thought they would be able to take over Vietnam and assert their authority once again. Ho Chi Minh rejected France's proposal subjecting France and Vietnam to continue fighting, which would later be known as the First Indochina War. Photo URL: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LenCZlyza20/TSRU0MJZ2nI/AAAAAAAAJuM/JSJFc2iS4NU/tmp21134_thumb_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800 -
The Surrender of France at Dien Bien Phu
The U.S. provided France with support because they were fearful communism would spread like wildfire. After 4 intense months at Dien Bien Phu, the French were humiliated in this defeat by
the much smaller and weaker Vietnam which utilized guerilla warfare once again. This would give Vietnam confidence and the independence they desired. Photo URL: https://www.itourvn.com/images/easyblog_articles/431/b2ap3_large_battle_dien_bien_phu_1954.jpg -
The Geneva Accords
The Geneva Accords was set to split Vietnam into two parts, the north, and the south along the seventeenth parallel. The Geneva accords gave civilians of Vietnam three hundred days to decide where they chose to reside in the north or south. The north would remain Communist, and the south would become known as the Republic of Vietnam. Photo URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.timetoast.com/public/uploads/photo/13913679/image/3650a524f42e3d077f34400565383f8b -
The Start of the Vietnam War
With the north and south divided, both rules look to have one ultimate power. This would cause the U.S. to eventually get involved in supporting the south to not fall to communism. This would in turn cause hundreds of thousands of casualties and last for almost two decades. Photo URL:
https://www.history.com/.image/ar_1:1%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200/MTU3ODc5MDg2OTc0MjQ4MjY1/vietnamese-armys-crack-troops-in-action.jpg -
Integration of South Vietnam
North Vietnam looks to fully integrate South Vietnam under one communist leader. They do this by invading and creating routes throughout Laos and Cambodia which becomes known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail to form an attack on South Vietnam. Photo URL: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/03/21/magazine/21mag-AgentOrange2-map/21mag-AgentOrange2-map-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg -
The Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
With corruption and mistrust throughout the city, South Vietnamese Prime Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother would be assassinated due to his ruling as a dictatorship. Photo URL: https://cdn.historycollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/diem-south-vietnamese-soldiers-posing-with-the-corpse-of-diem..jpg -
The Assassination of Jonh F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President
With more casualties, more Americans grew irritable with the status of the war. Shortly after Ngo Dinh Diem's death, Kennedy was assassinated, resulting in Lydon B. Johnson being president, enforcing America's militant presence in the Vietnam War. Photo URL: https://npg.si.edu/media/9400412C_1.jpg -
Operation Rolling Thunder
The USS Maddox was allegedly attacked by a North Vietnamese torpedo patrol. And Viet Cong would soon kill several American and blow-up hotels. Johnson launched Operation Rolling Thunder which would drop aggressively drop bombs throughout Vietnam which would put America in a disastrous situation. Photo URL: https://stationhypo.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/rolling.png -
Johnson Orders Ground Troops to South Vietnam
U.S. marines would land near Da Nang to assimilate into South Vietnam. Johnson would eventually order 50,000 more ground troops to accommodate for the war. North Vietnamese fully utilized guerrilla warfare which the Americans failed to control. By 1968 there were more than 30,000 American casualties, causing American civilians back home to protest to disengage from war. -
The Tet Offensive
By early 1968, while the South Vietnamese army was caught off guard, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong guerrillas would go on to attack the remainder of the South Vietnamese capitals on the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, hence the name "Tet", but it didn't go well for them. South Vietnamese and U.S troops were able to get ahold of their capitals and resist the North. Photo URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Tet_Offensive_map.png -
The End of Bombings on North Vietnam
President Lydon B. Johnson halts the bombings on North Vietnam, expressing how he looks to calm tensions and will not be running for president. Photo URL: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwLNCxPXEAAWOj8.jpg -
Richard Nixon is Elected as President
President Nixon is elected and promises to end the war altogether and bring soldiers back home. He looked to "de-Americanize" the war or Vietnamization. Photo URL: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/07/04/books/review/25Greenberg/merlin_188107737_4ba01537-a671-4c52-a515-cf45f5da97df-superJumbo.jpg -
Ho Chi Minh Dies
Ho Chi Minh Dies of a heart attack in Hanoi. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see the fruits of his labor. Even though his life was short-lived, his legacy remained forever throughout Vietnam. Photo URL: https://cdni.russiatoday.com/files/2019.06/xxl/5d0b726cdda4c8b2178b458d.jpg -
Vietnamization
Nixon looked to gradually lure American soldiers out of Vietnam and return back home and left the burden on the South Vietnamese. Americans would opt to train the South Vietnamese soldiers, but it was well known the war was ending, with North Vietnamese catching up. Photo URL:
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Nixon signs the Paris Peace Accords
With the Paris Peace Accords in place, it was an agreement to end the war peacefully, and the U.S. would withdraw more troops, and North Vietnam would release U.S prisoners of war. Photo URL: https://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/__sized__/canonical_images/feature/Honor_Paris_canonical-resize-1200x0-50.jpg -
President Nixon Resign
Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal to not risk impeachment. Gerald R. Ford becomes president, and with Nixon no longer in office, America cuts funding completely leaving South Vietnam vulnerable. Photo URL: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Vs72s0dhL._AC_SY580_.jpg -
The Fall of Saigon and The End of the Vietnam War
The South was bound to fall to North Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops rolled into the Capital Saigon taking over and raising their flags, marking the end of the Vietnam War. Photo URL: https://cdn.britannica.com/59/214959-050-5F63BE50/Air-America-helicopter-evacuates-Vietnamese-officials-families-South-Vietnam-April-29-1975.jpg
