-
Geneva Accords
Geneva Accords, collection of documents relating to Indochina and issued from the Geneva Conference of April 26–July 21, 1954, attended by representatives of Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, France, Laos, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, the Viet Minh -
Domino theory coined
Called the domino effect, the theory adopted in U.S. foreign policy after World War II according to which the “fall” of a noncommunist state to communism would precipitate the fall of noncommunist governments in neighboring states -
LBJ sends troops to Vietnam
The United States first deployed troops to Vietnam in 1965 in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964. On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed near Da Nang in South Vietnam -
assassination of diem
, Ngô Đình Diệm, the president of South Vietnam, was arrested and assassinated in a successful coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh. The coup was the culmination of nine years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in the country. Discontent with the Diệm regime had been simmering below the surface and exploded with mass Buddhist protests against long-standing religious discrimination after the government shooting of protesters who defied a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag -
The Gulf Tonkin incident
During August 1964, two separate confrontations occurred between Vietnamese and American forces in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin that became known as the Gulf of Tonkin (or USS Maddox) Incident. Initial reports from the United States blamed North Vietnam for the incidents -
Tet offensive
The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. The offensive was an attempt to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Nixon’s Vietnamization policy
Vietnamization was a policy of the Nixon administration during the Vietnam War soon after President Nixon took office in January 1969. The plan was to train, equip and expand South Vietnamese forces so that they could take over more military responsibilities for their own defense against the North communists -
Kent State Shooting
Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War -
Hard Hat Riot
The Hard Hat Riot occurred on May 8, 1970, in New York City. It started around noon when around 400 construction workers and around 800 office workers attacked around 1,000 demonstrators affiliated with the student strike of 1970. -
Nixons Christmas Bombing
Infuriated, President Nixon ordered plans drawn up for retaliatory bombings of North Vietnam. Linebacker II was the result. Beginning on December 18, American B-52s and fighter-bombers dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. The United States lost 15 of its giant B-52s and 11 other aircraft during the attacks -
Paris peace accords
The Paris Peace Accords, officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến Tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam war. -
War Powers Act
War Powers Act, law passed by the U.S. Congress on November 7, 1973, over the veto of Pres. Richard Nixon. The joint measure was called the War Powers Resolution, though the title of the Senate-approved bill, War Powers Act, became widely used. -
Fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon, capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese forces, which occurred from March 4 to April 30, 1975. It was the last major event of the Vietnam War.