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Creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh, tries to gain independence for Vietnam from France, who at the time were basically in control of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh blends nationalist, anti-French with Marxist-Leninist. -
Declaring of the Republic of Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh declares independence from the French (who controlled Vietnam at the time) and forms the Republic of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh believes in nationalist, anti-French, Marxist-Leninist ideas, gaining support from the people of Vietnam. -
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Battle of Dien Bein Phu
The Viet Minh, who were Vietnamese communists and nationalists, and the French. It was a fight for a small outpost that was near Laos. The French eventually lost to Ho Chi Minh and his forces and fled the region. It also allowed for the division across the 17* parallel. -
Creation of the 17th parallel between North and South Vietnam
Vietnam was cut into two pieces, the North and the South. This decision was made by the Geneva Conference in 1954. The North of the country was communist and nationalist, led by Ho Chi Minh. The South was against communism, but not really a democratic republic. The North was backed by the Soviets, so naturally the US backed the anti-communist South. -
Establishment of the National Liberation Front
The National Liberation Front is a South Vietnamese. It was a communist group who worked with North Vietnam in hopes to capture South Vietnam. Their founder was Nguyen Van Hieu. They are often called the Viet Cong. -
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Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin is a body of water that borders the East of Vietnam. A US ship was sailing around in North Vietnamese waters and reported that North Vietnamese ships had fired at them. There was no actual evidence to suggest any of this happened, and some think that it was fake or that the US ship fired at the Vietnamese ships. Either way, this began the US's full scale involvement in Vietnam. -
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Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was a American military campaign that caused aerial bombing against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). By the end of the war, 4.6 million tons of bombs were dropped, and a very large handful of them hit the neighboring countries, Laos and Cambodia. It was supposed to weaken the North Vietnamese military. -
US combat troops arrive in Vietnam
US soldier's deploy in Vietnam, which eventually would lead to a large amount of deaths on all sides, including civilians. Supposedly 58,220 U.S. soldiers died, around 1,100,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong (added together), somewhere between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, and civilian deaths could be as high as 2,000,000. The numbers are never very consistent, but in any count, millions of people were killed or injured in some way, and effects are still present. -
Tet Offensive
During the celebration of Tet Nguyen Dan, a celebration of the Lunar New Year in Vietnam, referred to as Tet, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong launched a series of surprise attacks on multiple cities, an embassy, and outposts, causing many deaths on the South Vietnamese and American sides. Americans and South Vietnamese soldiers eventually repelled the attacks. Despite this, the attacks marked a new part of the war and destroyed the American and South Vietnamese morale. -
My Lai Massacre
US soldiers fired at at least 300, but more commonly said to be 500, unarmed Vietnamese civilians in a small village named My Lai. My Lai was in South Vietnam and believed to be connected to Viet Cong. Some stories and sources claim that the soldiers didn't only kill the village's residents but also abused and assaulted them. The killing was covered up before being exposed by press and fueled the anti-war sentiments and movements in America. -
1968 Democratic National Convention
Pigasus for President !!! Huge protest and eventually the police were involved and arrested the Chicago Seven. -
1968 Presidential Election
Richard Nixon won. He beat George Wallace (American Independent Party), and Hubert Humphrey (Democratic Party). Nixon focused on the "silent majority", the white middle class. -
Tinker v. Des Moines
A group of students at a public school decided to wear black armbands as a sign of antiwar sentiments. The school board did not like this and banned it, so eventually multiple students, including Mary Beth Tinker (where the name comes from), were suspended. When they came back they filed a law suit saying that the school broke the First Amendment. Then Supreme Court stuff, eventually Tinker won, and Justice Abe Fortas said that public schools cannot restrict speech unless it impacts learning. -
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Woodstock 1969
Woodstock was a concert/festival that captured the hippie culture. There were bad weathers and it was in New York, far away from California where most hippies traveled to; however, despite all of what most would consider miserable conditions, tons of people went, mainly hippies. It wasn't for money, just to hang out, do drugs, and listen to music that expressed the cultural independence of the 60s hippies. -
Kent State University Protest
Ohio National Guard shot at a crowd of Kent State University students during a protest about keeping the US's conflict with Vietnam out of Cambodia. They also were protesting the presence of the National Guard on campus. Four students were killed and nine were injured. None of the students had weapons and one was left paralyzed. Tons of people and media were highly upset about the ordeal, and it pushed more movements to spark. -
Jackson State College Protest
After the Kent State Protest, another antiwar protest took place in Jackson State College. Police again shot at a group of protestors outside of a dormitory and killed 2 students and injuring 12. -
Pentagon Papers
The Times published the first Pentagon Papers, and America basically, for lack of better words, got angry. Very angry, especially antiwar supporters. The Papers explain that the US was looking for a war in Vietnam far before a war started and that they had taken the war into neighboring countries, Cambodia and Laos, something that no other media had reported on. Needless to say, tons of people were very angry. -
Watergate
5 people break into the Democratic Convention at the Watergate Hotel. Nixon was trying to spy on the Democrats. Most of the 5 burglars and 2 planners had ties to the CIA and Nixon, but it was claimed that it was an anticommunism act and that Nixon was not involved. (He was) -
1973 Paris Peace Accords
Peace treaty between the US and Vietnam. Nixon was worried about the 1972 elections and the Vietnamese were losing their support from Russia and China. -
United States vs. Nixon
After the Watergate Hotel was broken into, NIxon was being questioned about his involvement. He lied under oath by saying that he didn't do it. Multiple other people testified both for and against him. In the end, he was found guilty, he resigned, multiple people who worked for him went to prison, but Nixon got off without much punishment. He resigned shortly after, and Vice President Gerald Ford became president. He once said "I am not a crook." He was. -
Fall of Saigon
Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam, and after the U.S. moved out of Vietnam, the South Vietnamese military was weakened and the North Vietnamese invaded Saigon. The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War.