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The Viet Minh seizes power
The Viet Minh, a front of Vietnamese nationalists who were controlled by the Communist Party, located in the Northern half of Vietnam, seized power and their leader Ho Chi Minh declared independence. He modeled his own declaration on the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 to win the support of the US, but it was unsuccessful. -
French forces attack Viet Minh
In November, French forces attacked Viet Minh in Haiphong which began the fight of resistance against the French in Vietnam. -
The Truman Doctrine
President Harry Truman of the United States creates a policy known as the Truman Doctrine where the US has to assist any country whose stability is threatened by communism. -
US targets communist Vietnam
The US saw the Viet Minh as a communist threat and steps up their military assistance to France for their attacks against the Viet Minh. -
Geneva Conference
At the Geneva Conference, Vietnam becomes officially split into the North and the South at the 17th Parallel. This agreement stated that elections were to be held in two years to unify all of Vietnam under a single democratic government, but this never ended up happening. -
North Vietnam begins to attack the South
The Viet Minh began sending weapons and men from the North to the South and since America was against communism (in the North) spreading to other countries, American aid was increasingly sent to President Ngo Dinh Diem in the South. -
Communist North start supply route to Viet Cong
Ho Chi Minh starts to send more and more supplies to groups of militants who were opposed to President Diem. The Trail goes through Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam to get to South Vietnam. (YouTube, YouTube, 26 May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=huRWshoW7T8.) -
US starts using Herbicides as Weapons
A project called Operation Ranch Hand by the U.S. army was to use plaes to drop poisonous gases, such as the infamous Agent Orange, which had deadly chemicals such as diotoxin on the people of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. This would not only kill so many people but Viet Cong food and shelter vegetation. (History.com Staff, S. (2011). Agent Orange. Retrieved April 21, 2018, from https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/agent-orange) -
Buddhist Crisis
Southern Vietnamese government opens fire on Buddhist protesters who felt they were being suppressed. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized
Two U.S. boats had been attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin so President Lindon Johnson wanted to increase their involvement. Congress approved of The Gulf of Tonkin which gave the president little limitations of power when dealing with that area. -
Operation Rolling Thunder Launched
Operation Rolling Thunder is a U.S. program to bomb northern Vietnam. This sent a lot more troops into this conflict. (History.com Staff. (2010). Operation Rolling Thunder. Retrieved April 24, 2018, from https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/operation-rolling-thunder) -
American aircrafts attack targets in Hanoi and Haiphong
U.S. planes strike North Vietnamese petroleum facilities in a series of raids that were apart of Operation Rolling Thunder; launched in 1965 after a sustained bombing campaign of North Vietnam was initiated. The attack was executed in order to ban Vietnamese transportation routes in the north and to slow the invasion of materials and forces into South Vietnam. -
Massive Vietnam War protests occur in Major Cities Across the U.S.
In Washington, D.C. nearly 100,000 people gather to protest the American war effort in Vietnam. More than 50,000 of the protesters marched to the Pentagon in order to potentially end the conflict. American support for the war dropped below 50 percent. Although the Johnson administration responded by announcing a vigorous series of propaganda campaigns to replenish public support, however later attacks diminished much of its credibility. -
U.S. aircrafts bomb Haiphong Harbor and North Vietnamese airfields
The stated goal of the three-month long engagement involving the was to locate the hidden headquarters of the Communist uprising in South Vietnam (Central Office of South Vietnam). The main tactical plan was to have airborne forces completely dismantle the headquarters, which would inadvertently send them to withdraw against other forces. -
U.S. Marine Is Bombarded By Communist Forces
Located in Khe Sanh, The People’s Army of North Vietnam assaults a garrison from the United States with massive artillery. For months following, the U.S. and Vietnamese forces in the south fend off their siege. -
U.S. Paratroopers Strike Entrenched North Vietnamese Fighters
Located at Ap Bia Mountain, U.S. paratroopers attack Vietnamese fighters from the north in an attempt to cut off infiltration from Laos. U.S. troops eventually capture the site only temporarily (later nicknamed Hamburger Hill due to the immense carnage on site). -
Preliminary Findings from the 1971 DoD Survey of Drug Use is Published
In this journal it is stated that in the U.S. armed forces 51% had used marijuana, 31% had used psychedelics, and 28% had used hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin. (Fisher, A. H., Jr. (n.d.). Preliminary Findings from the 1971 DoD Survey of Drug Use. Retrieved April 24, 2018, from http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0743852) -
Draft Ends
After the war, the United States' Selective Service decides to end drafting civilians into war. Instead, people can volunteer to participate in future wars. -
Nixon signs Paris Peace Accords
This agreement was supposed to stop the violence in Vietnam, but North Vietnam had plans to do otherwise. Also, this would remove the United States from the war. -
Impeachment of Nixon
After being the war, the United States was desperate. President Nixon was caught in a crime during campaigning for reelection, the Watergate Scandal. This crime took Nixon out of office and Ford into office. Ford later ensures no possibility of the United States getting involved in the war. -
South Vietnam Surrenders
North Vietnam took over Saigon and tried attacking, but was faced with a surrender from South Vietnam. This ended the war. Although South Vietnam did surrender, North Vietnam did not see it as a loss and only saw the losers as the United States. -
Republic of Vietnam
North and South Vietnam come together and create a communist ruling over their lands.