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Colonialism in Indochina
- 1883 -- French establish 3 colonies in Vietnam.
- 1940 -- Japanese take over Indochina from French.
- September 2, 1945 -- Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnamese independence.
- 1946 -- French return.
- March - May 1954 -- Viet Minh under Gen. Vo Nyugen Giap defeated French at Dien Bien Phu (major turning point battle in world history)
- terms of Geneva Conference:
(1) regroupment north (Viet Minh) and south (French) of the 17th parallel; (2) internationally supervised elections within 2 years
Creeping U.S. Involvement
- U.S. tried to disrupt the Geneva Accords almost immediately -- sabotage, misinformation about Catholics, supports Ngo Dinh Diem's established of Republic of Vietnam in the South.
- 1960 -- establishment of the National Liberation Front (NLF); U.S. military personnel number 900
- 1962 -- U.S. advisors authorized to return fire; U.S. military personnel number 11,000.
- 1963 -- U.S. military personnel number 16,000
- November 1, 1963 -- U.S. complicity in the assasination of Diem.
- November 22, 1963 -- President Kennedy assasinated in Dallas; Lyndon Johnson becomes President.
- August 2-4, 1964 -- Tonkin Gulf Incident allegedly involving U.S. destroyers and North Vietnamese PT boats.
- August 7, 1964 -- Tonkin Gulf Resolution gives President Johnson green light to escalate the war.
Why U.S. Involvement?
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product of containment policy and fear of economic independence by Third World countries (neocolonialism).
- Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsberg
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Massive Intervention
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February 1965 -- Operation Rolling Thunder begins massive bombing of the North.
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March 1965 -- 1st U.S. combat units arrive at Danang.
- May 1965 -- 1st Anti-war Teach-Ins in the U.S.
- End of 1965 -- U.S. military personnel total nearly 200,000.
- February 1966 -- Sen. Fulbright begins congressional hearings on the war.
- March - May 1966 -- Bhuddist demonstrations against the war.
- End of 1966 -- U.S. and "allied" military personnel total nearly 400,000.
- April 1967 -- Major peace demonstrations at cities throughout the U.S.
- October 1067 -- Demonstration at the Pentagon.
"Light at the End of the Tunnel"?
- November 1967 -- Gen. Westmoreland gives Congress optimistic prognosis on the war.
- January 1968 -- Seige of Khe Sanh
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February 1968 -- Tet Offensive
- March 1968 -- Peace candidate Eugene McCarthy wins NH Democratic primary; Johnson announces he will not run for another term and order partial bombing halt of North Vietnam.
- April 1968 -- Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated.
- June 1968 -- Sen. Robert Kennedy assassinated.
- August 1968 -- "The Battle of Chicago" at the Democratic Convention.
- November 1968 -- Nixon elected President; claims to have "secret" peace plan.
- End of 1968 -- U.S. troops number 535,100.
- January 1969 -- Peace talks begin in Paris.
- March 1969 -- Secret Bombing of Cambodia begins.
"Vietnamization" and Watergate
- June 1969 -- Vietnamization begins with first U.S. troop withdrawal; NLF announces formation of PRG.
- September 1969 -- Ho Chi Minh dies.
- November 1969 -- Massive anti-war demonstrations; My Lai Massacre exposed.
- March 1970 -- U.S. instigated coup overthrows neutral Prince Sihanouk in Cambodia.
- April 1970 -- U.S. invasion of Camodia.
- May 1970 -- Kent State; Jackson State.
- February-March 1971 -- U.S. supports South Vietnamese invasion of Laos.
- June 1971 -- New York Times begins publication of "Pentagon Papers"; Nixon forms "plumbers" to investigate Daniel Ellsberg.
- May 1972 -- Nixon orders mining of Haiphong Harbor.
- June 1972 -- Watergate break-in.
- November 1972 -- Nixon defeats peace candidate McGovern.
- December 18-30, 1972 -- "Christmas Bombing" of North Vietnam.
- January 27, 1973 -- U.S., South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and NLF sign peace agreement.
- March 29, 1973 -- last U.S. soldiers leave Vietnam.
- November 1973 -- Congress passes War Powers Act over presidential veto; bans funds for U.S. military action anywhere in Indochina.
- May 1974 -- House Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings on President Richard M. Nixon.
- August 1974 -- Nixon resigns; VP Gerald Ford becomes President and pardons Nixon.
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April 30, 1975 -- Saigon liberated by the North Vietnamese and the NLF.
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