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Ho Chi Minh is born
Ho Chi Minh was the leader is the Vietnamese Nationalist movement and president of North Vietnam. This was important because it set up years of a divided North and South nation. -
Vietnam declares independence from France, but neither France nor the United States recognize Vietnam as a separate nation.
Ho Chi Minh, the communist leader of North Vietnam, responds to the declaration of independence with the creation of the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh were important because they were a Vietnamese guerrilla group organized to fight for independence. -
The Geneva Accords cause Vietnam to be split into North and South.
At the 17th parallel Vietnam was now split into North and South Vietnam. It gave the North the power to be communist and the South to not. This was important because it split the nation as they prepared for an election for president. -
President Eisenhower declares "Domino Theory".
They idea behind the Domino Theory and Vietnam is that if Vietnam becomes communist the so will the nations around it. It was important because the idea in this Theory feared nations that repelled communism and scared citizens of more communists in their homeland. -
The Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu.
The Vietnamese had been under French control before World War 2 so coming out of the war they hoped that with a revolution they could prevent the French from reclaiming them. This also marked the first departure of U.S. troops over to Vietnam for aid. This is important because it defined the end of French rule in Southeast Asia and paved the way for the division of Vietnam. -
Ngo Dinh Diem cancels the elections in Vietnam.
Ngo Dinh Diem decides to cancel the elections for president of Vietnam because he realized that he was not going to win against Ho Chi Minh. This was important because it showed that Diem didn't want to lose Vietnam to communism and neither did the people of South Vietnam. -
The National Liberation Front is formed.
The National Liberation front were known as the Viet Cong and they occupied South Vietnam. The Viet Cong was important because it instilled fear in the South Vietnamese as they would launch surprise attacks. -
The United States withdraws support of Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of South Vietnam.
After the U.S. withdrew support of Ngo Dinh Diem has enemies planned and successfully executed an assassination. This was important because it showed the U.S. not to trust everyone like how they trusted him and he started killing people who opposed him. -
A South Vietnamese Monk sets himself on fire.
On this day a Buddhist monk set himself on fire to protest the prosecution of Buddhists by the government in South Vietnam. This was important because he was a symbol of people fighting back to a controlling and targeted government. -
President Kennedy is assassinated, leading to the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson
If Kennedy was never assassinated then if he kept to his word we would have withdrawn from the war. Lyndon B. Johnson did the opposite of what he promised and drove us deeper into the war. This is important because we could have saved lives and money if Kennedy was still alive to pull us out of the war. -
President Johnson claims a U.S. ship had been fired upon by the North Vietnamese.
On this day the destroyer USS Maddox was allegedly fired on by North Vietnamese troops. The response following this event was Lyndon B. Johnson creating the Tonkin Gulf Resolution giving him the ability to enter in a war against the Vietnamese. This is important because it marks the beginning of the U.S. heavy involvement in Vietnam. -
The first combat troops arrive in Vietnam.
The U.S. government had previously sent around 23,000 military advisers before sending in combat troops. They first sent advisers when September of 1950. The importance of this was to control the spread of communism to other countries.
