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Hoe Chi Minh is born
Hoe Chi Minh will be the symbol and leader of North Vietnam. Known as Uncle Ho he would raise nationalism and wanted to take action against colonist. Uncle Ho was a communist and wanted to bring all of Vietnam together with no colonial rule over it. -
Vietnam declares independence from France, but neither France nor the United States recognize Vietnam as a separate nation
Even though Ho Chi Minh announced independence from colonial rule he didn't fully receive that until 30 years later when the country was under full communist rule. When he announced independence neither America or France recognized it and continued the war for Vietnam back. Until eventually Vietnam was united but under Communist rule. -
The Geneva Accords cause Vietnam to be split into North and South Vietnam
After the French lost control of Indochina they made a deal splitting Vietnam at the 17 parallel. The South would still be controlled by the French and have influence while the North was in control by the Vietnamese Communist Party led by Ho Chi Minh. -
Eisenhower declares "Domino Theory"
Eisenhower told the Domino Theory during a news conference. Where he explained Communism in Indochina and what would happen is Communism would have spread through there. Basically saying that if Vietnam turns into Communism nearby countries would soon follow. -
The Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu
The French were defeated by the Vietnamese showing the world how weak they were. This made America nervous because the spread of communism would be incredibly bad especially with the domino theory. This lead to America's involvement in the war more heavily in order to contain communism. -
Ngo Dinh Diem cancels elections in Vietnam
Realizing the popularity of Communism it was certain he would have lost the election. But instead of letting him lose power he canceled the whole entire election. This caused an outrage and many government officials were killed. This led to his government being taken over and eventually his murder. -
The National Liberation Front is formed
This group also known as Mat-Tran Dan-Toc Giai-Phong Mien-Nam was a organization formed to overthrow the South Vietnam government and unify North and South.They occupied the South and then many became Communist they had both parties in there group until 1976 when they joined the Communist Party. -
A South Vietnamese monk sets himself on fire
This man was a Mahayana Buddhist named Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire in a busy street to fight against all forms of oppression. This was done to protest South Vietnamese pro-catholic policies and discriminatory Buddhist laws. This picture brought a lot of emotions and caused more people to take action against their oppression. -
The United States withdraws support of Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of South Vietnam
When United States withdraw there support for Ngo Dinh Diem he was quickly assasinated because of how unpopular he was. He was an extremist and would kill communist or nonchristians causing a lot of tension between America and Ngo Dinh Diem. -
President Kennedy is assassinated, leading to the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson
Even though we do not know for sure all signs point that Kennedy would have taken us out of the war. This would saved America from embarrassment and countless lives lost on both sides. But when Kennedy died the new president Johnson pushed for more action in Vietnam and ordered more troops into the war. -
President Johnson claims U.S. ship had been fired upon by the North Vietnamese
Johnson claimed that the American ship USS Maddox was attacked by the North Vietnamese in order to gain more support in his war efforts. The best way to get the people to want war is to make them think they were attacked. Though there is a chance that the whole event could have been made up as the sailors themselves seemed to have different versions of the story. -
The first combat troops arrive in Vietnam
In September 1950 the first group of Military advisers called the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG). They were there to help but when troops were sent they met up with the advisers to defend an American air base at Da Nang.
