-
Ho Chi Minh is born
Ho Chi Minh first emerged as an outspoken voice for Vietnamese independence while living as a young man in France during World War I. Inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution, he joined the Communist Party and traveled to the Soviet Union. -
Vietnam declared independence from France, but neither France nor the U.S. recognize Vietnam as a separate nation.
On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi's Ba Dinh square. The first lines of his speech repeated verbatim the famous second paragraph of America's 1776 Declaration of Independence. All men are created equal. But when France reject this, N. Vietnam responds aggressively against France, because when Dien Bien Phu fell, it was a perfect opportunity to achieve their independence. -
President Eisenhower declares "Domino Theory"
Though Eisenhower did not use the term "Domino Theory" he still made a speech about the concept of the Domino Theory. What Domino Theory is that once one Country falls into Communism other Countries WILL follow. -
The Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu
After French's defeat U.S. responded by taking over anti-communist fight which led to 20 more years of warfare in Vietnam. The reason why is because that French were poor, U.S. often supplied them with many supplies and soldiers (volunteers) but it was never enough, so French was out but U.S. could have just left Vietnam alone, but the insisted on protecting the newly established Anti-Communist South Vietnam. -
The Geneva Accords Cause Vietnam to be split into North and South
In July 1954, the Geneva Agreements were signed. As part of the agreement, the French agreed to withdraw their troops from northern Vietnam. Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, pending elections within two years to choose a president and reunite the country. -
Ngo Dinh Diem cancels elections in Vietnam
Secretary of State John F. Dulles supports Ngo Dinh Diem’s Presidential position regarding his refusal to hold “national and general elections” to reunify the two Vietnam.these elections were called for by the Geneva Accords of July 1954, Diem and his supporters in the U.S. realized that if the elections were held, Ho Chi Minh and the more populous north would probably win, reuniting Vietnam under the Communism. So, he canceled the elections in 1956 and the separated N & S Vietnam permanently. -
The National Liberation Front is Formed
It is also known as Viet Cong was a mass political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia with its own army, this organization occupy and operate in the south of Indochina -
South Vietnamese monk sets himself on fire
In June of 1963, Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thích Quang Duc burned himself to death at a busy intersection in Saigon. He was attempting to show that to fight all forms of oppression on equal terms, Buddhism too, needed to have its martyrs. -
The U.S. withdraws support of Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of S. Vietnam
Eisenhower approves a National Security Council paper titled “Review of U.S. Policy in the Far East.” This paper supported Secretary of State Dulles’ view that the U.S. should support Diem, while encouraging him to broaden his government and establish more democratic institutions. Ultimately, however, Diem would refuse to make any meaningful, significant new reforms and U.S. support was withdrawn. Diem was assassinated during a coup by opposition generals on November 2, 1963. -
President Kennedy is assassinated and Lyndon B. Johnson becomes a new president
If JFK was alive... Historians believe that if Kennedy was alive then the U.S. would have been pulled out long ago, because he tried to pull U.S. out of conflict. -
President Johnson claims a U.S. ship had been fired upon by the North Vietnamese
The ship's name was U.S.S. Maddox model DD-731 and it was sunken in the International Waters in Gulf of Tonkin. President Lyndon B. Johnson reacted to this by requesting increase of U.S. Military Presence in Indochina to the U.S. Congress. -
The First Combat Troops arrive in Vietnam
In September 1950 Harry S. Truman sent MAAG (Military Advisory Assistant Group to Vietnam to support French in the first Indochina War then the first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam as 3500 Marines land at China Beach to defend the American air base at Da Nang. They join 23,000 American military advisors already in Vietnam.
