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Birth of Ho Chi Minh
Born in Kim Lien, Vietnam; he was an advocate of communism who formed the Vietminh. -
Japan Occupies Vietnam
Japanese troops enjoying leave in Saigon during World War II. The Japanese occupied Vietnam in September 1940 and remained there until the end of World War II (August 1945). -
Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam
He returned from hiding in China and Russia to avoid arrest. Then once he came back he formed the Vietminh. -
Geneva Conference in Switzerland
Diem and his supporters in the United States realized that if the elections were held, Ho Chi Minh and the more populous north would probably win, thereby reuniting Vietnam under the Communist banner. -
French Surrender at Dien Bien Phu
The french were surrounded and harassed by the Vietminh using guerilla warfare. -
France takes control of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia forming French Indochina
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Ngo Dinh DIem refuses to allow national elections
Diem and his supporters in the United States realized that if the elections were held, Ho Chi Minh and the more populous north would probably win, thereby reuniting Vietnam under the Communist banner. -
Religious flag for Buddha's birthday banned
In April 1963, the government ordered provincial officials to enforce a ban on displaying religious flags. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The Gulf of Tonkin incident, also known as the USS Maddox incident, drew the US more directly into the Vietnam War. It involved two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. -
Operation Rolling Thunder begins
A sustained bombing campaign of the North ordered by Johnson. -
Tet Offensive begins
The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched on January 30, 1968, by forces of the Vietcong and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. -
The Christmas Bombings
Operation Linebacker II was a US Seventh Air Force and US Navy Task Force 77 aerial bombing campaign, conducted against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam during the final period of US involvement in the Vietnam War. -
North Vietnamese capture Saigon
Saigon is the capital of South Vietnam.
