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Ho Chi Minh is born.
Ho Chi Minh would go on to, do many different things. Those things were, attempting to unite all of Vietnam under communism. Spreading Communism and anti-colonialism. Eventually he ran North Vietnam. And his ideas led to the war itself. -
Vietnam declares independence from France, but neither France nor the United States recognize Vietnam as a separate nation.
Vietnam or more specifically 'Ho Chi Minh' declared Independence from France but the French did not take that seriously. So in December 19, 1945 the Viet Minh attacked the French in Hanoi. -
The Geneva Accords caused Vietnam to split into North and South Vietnam.
The Geneva Accords occurred in July, 1954. Essentially the French agreed to withdraw their troops from North Vietnam. This caused Vietnam to be split into North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. (exact day is N/A) -
President Eisenhower declares "Domino Theory."
The idea behind the Domino Theory in Vietnam was that, if Vietnam falls to communism other countries will. And that's the U.S. public's biggest fear... Communism. -
The Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu.
The united states responded to this by, sending more troops to Vietnam. The U.S. in a way took over for the French. Which of course lead to many long years of extensive warfare. -
Ngo Dinh Diem cancels elections in Vietnam.
Ngo Dinh Diem decided to cancel the elections because he did not want the people to vote on unifying the country. So the unification of Vietnam was on the ballot. -
The National Liberation Front is formed
The "National Liberation Front" otherwise known as the Viet Cong was formed on December 29, 1960. They occupied South Vietnam. They essentially were a rag tag group of communist North Vietnamese supporting South Vietnamese folk who were volunteer soldiers who EXCELLED in guerrilla warfare. -
A south Vietnamese monk sets himself on fire
This an was a monk so he was a Buddhist. The monk did this unfathomable act because He was attempting to show that to fight all forms of oppression on equal terms, Buddhism too, needed to have its martyrs. -
The United States withdraws support of Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of South Vietnam.
After the U.S. withdrew it's support for Ngo Dinh Diem, the south Vietnamese leader was assassinated. He was viewed as an impediment to the goals of the U.S. in southeast Asia. He was killed for not giving the U.S. what it wanted or needed, and was a nuisance. (Dear Mr. Fryman, I realize that this specific date is his death date, but this is the most relevant date that I could find. Thanks) -
President Kennedy is assassinated, leading to the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.
The situation in Vietnam would, most likely have been handled much differently, under JFK then under Lyndon B. Johnson. The situation would probably have been handled differently in the sense of, we would have slowly stopped involvement in Vietnam, rather then increasing it. -
President Johnson claims a U.S. ship had been fired upon by the North Vietnamese
The Name of the ship in the Gulf of Tonkin that was supposedly attacked was the U.S.S. Maddox. The response to this "attack" was The Gulf of Tonkin resolution. This resolution allowed president Johnson to aide any country neighboring Vietnam that is experiencing communist aggression. The U.S.S. Maddox was fired upon August 2nd, 1964. -
The first combat troops arrive in vietnam
The United States first sent military advisers in 1963. This was pre combat involvement for the U.S. but advisers were sent to analyze the situation on a security level. Supposedely advisers were sent in 1963 according to jfklibrary.org . (Sorry if the date is incorrect , it was the best that I could find.)
