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Viet Minh
The Viet Minh was founded as a league for the independence from France. The Viet Minh also opposed Japanese occupation in 1945 for the same reason. -
deep famine
A deep famine struck northern Vietnam due to a combination of poor weather and French/Japanese exploitation -
power vacuum
The Japanese had been defeated and surrendered unconditionally. In French Indochina this created a power vacuum as the French were still interned and the Japanese forces stood down. -
Ho Chi Minh
The leader of the Viet Minh, declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam before a crowd of 500,000 in Hanoi. -
Viet Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam
The communist nations, led by the People's Republic of China (PRC), recognized the Viet Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam as the government of Vietnam. -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and enthusiastically declared Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia." -
Nikita Khrushchev
John F. Kennedy bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier when they met in Vienna over key U.S.-Soviet issues. -
Khrushchev
John F. Kennedy bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met in Vienna over key U.S.-Soviet issues -
Mekong Delta
Johnson said, "the battle against communism... must be joined... with strength and determination.” -
Rolling Thunder
"Rolling Thunder" deluged the north with a million tons of missiles, rockets and bombs.