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Domino Theory
Eisenhower spoke of the Domino theory in 1953 and it came true in the Vietnam war because communism began to spread like crazy in the area. The north was communist and it began to spill into the south as the Viet Cong gained more and more sympathizers. -
Geneva Accords
The Geneva Accords officially split Vietnam down the 17th parallel making the two main sides of the war down the line. The point was to make peace, but later it would just lead to more trouble. -
Assassination of Diem
Diem was the leader of the south, but many people disagreed with his choices. When he was assassinated there was honestly a lot of celebration throughout the nation, but there was also a lot of political chaos. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
It stated that "Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression." This was important because it would open up the war and allow for more conflict with America right front and center. -
LBJ ordered 1st troops to Vietnam
LBJ ordered the first combat troops to be sent, and on March 8th 1965 they landed on the shores of southern Vietnam. Their main mission was to protect an air base, and this battalion would be the first of many that would lead to a very controversial time in America and it's involvement in this war. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a massive military campaign by North Vietnam to invade and capture the South. n the end there was loss on all sides, but the South and the U.S troops managed to regain all territory the North had gained. -
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was a search and destroy mission by the U.S troops. In this incident the U.S force invaded a village in south Vietnam looking for communists and people helping the north and about 500 innocents were killed. -
Nixon’s Vietnamization policy
The whole point of the Vietnamization policy was to expand the South Vietnamese army and make them skilled enough that the U.S could leave the war. -
Nixon sends troops into Cambodia
The main purpose of sending troops into Cambodia was to disrupt supply lines for North Vietnam. They also destroyed plenty of Viet Cong bases. However, this move was extremely controversial. -
Kent State shooting
The young college men and women were protesting anti-war stuff then the national guard was called in because the protests were believed to have gone too far. The guard fired rounds into the crowds killing 4 people. -
Hard Hat Riot
The hard hat riot occurred because many working class people came to be annoyed or even outraged at the anti-war movement. -
Nixon’s Christmas bombing
The Christmas bombings dropped over 20 thousand tons of bombs on the North. The point was to shake them up and force them back to the planning board; however, depending on who you talk to it was either ineffective and really only caused death and destruction , or you could hear that it helped. -
Paris Peace Accords
This was the ceasefire between the north and south of Vietnam. The U.S agreed to pull all their troops and the north planned on releasing all their prisoners. It was pretty much the end of the war. -
War Powers Act
This was an act to check the president's power when it came to global conflict. It ensured that both Congress and the president's decisions would be heard before causing any trouble. -
Saigon Falls
This was when the North officially took over the South and the country was unified under the communist government of the North. This effectively ended the Vietnam war.