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Geneva Accords
At the end of the French Indochina War, it was decided that Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel into Northern and Southern territories. Vietnam was supposed to have elections in 1956 to unify again. -
Diem's Assassination
The unpopular leader of South Vietnam, President Diem, was assassinated by a coup supported by the United States. After his death, South Vietnam would go through many unstable and inefficient governments. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
A United States destroyer ship, the USS Maddox, was fired at by North Vietnamese while in North Vietnam's waters. -
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution granted military powers to the US president without a formal declaration of war. President Johnson would use the military power granted to him. -
Operation Rolling Thunder Begins
50,000 United States troops fought against the Vietcong. The Vietcong were South Vietnamese that supported the North. -
Tet Offensive
On the Buddhist holiday of Tet, over 80,000 Vietcong troops emerged from tunnels and attacked major cities and United States bases in South Vietnam. The United States forces recaptured all the lost territory and killed twice as many Vietcong, though American morale suffered as a result. -
My Lai Massacre
American soldiers invaded the small village of My Lai, Vietnam and killed around 300-500 people unnecessarily. Doves, Americans who protested the war, used the massacre as an example of innocent Vietnamese being hurt in an unnecessary war. -
Vietnamization
After President Nixon was elected, he created a plan that the United States would gradually withdraw from Vietnam while turning more and more fighting over to the South Vietnamese. However, doves (US citizens that did not support the war) did not like the plan because they wanted immediate and complete departure. -
Kent State Massacre
Protesting grew in the United States as the Vietnam War became controversial. Students at Kent State University were protesting the war when they were shot at by the National Guard, killing four students. -
Capture of Saigon
North Vietnam eventually captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, after US troops had left around 2 years earlier. Vietnam was united into one communist nation.
