Chronology of the War in Vietnam, 1945-1975 & Vietnam History

208 B.C.

Chinese general Trieu Da becomes emperor of Nam Viet.

A.D. 40

Trung sisters revolt against Chinese rule, set up independent state.

1545

Civil unrest begins two centuries of internal strife in Vietnam

1627

Missionary Alexandre de Rhodes paves way for French influence in Vietnam

1787

Louis XVI supports French missionary, commercial interests in Vietnam

1861

After 20 years of fighting between Vietnamese and French, French forces capture Saigon.

1890

Ho Chi Minh born in central Vietnam , leaves Vietnam in 1911 for 30 years, travels through U.S. to Paris, Moscow and Hong Kong.

1930

Ho and Comrades form Indochinese Communist Party in Hong Kong

1940

Japan occupies Indochina

1941

Ho return to Vietnam , forms Vietminh to fight French and Chinese

1944

Vo Nguyen Giap forms Vietminh army.

1945

August 23, Bao Dai abdicates

September 2, Ho Chi Minh Declares the Independence of Vietnam

September 13, French regain authority in Saigon.

September 26,  American Peter Dewey becomes first American casualty

1946

Beginning of French-Vietminh war after negotiations fail.

1950

Ho declares Democratic Republic of Vietnam is nation’s only legitimate government.

1952

Giap’s army defeated by French in red River campaign.

November 4, Dwight D. Eisenhower elected President

1954

May 7, French defeated by Giap’s army at Dienbienphu

May 8, Geneva Conference on Indochina begins

June 16, Emperor Bao Dai selects Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister 

July 21, the Geneva Agreement divides Vietnam at 17th parallel

Geneva agreements call for cessation of hostilities, partition at 17th parallel, nationwide elections to settle political issues.

1955

U.S. begins funding Diem government, agrees to train SVN Army.

October, Ngo Dinh Diem defeats Bao Dai in referendum, and becomes Head of State of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam

1956

Diem begins crackdown on Vietminh suspects and dissidents

1957

Communist insurgency in South Vietnam rises

1959

North Vietnam begins infiltrating troops and weapons into south along Ho Chi Minh trail.

May 6, Diem promulgates law against dissidents

First two American soldiers die in Vietnam .

AMERICAN ADVISERS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 760

1960

November 8, Kennedy is elected President

November, attempted SVN Army coup d’etat against Diem fails

December, North Vietnam forms the National Liberation Front, called Vietcong, meaning Communist Vietnamese.

AMERICAN ADVISERS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 900

1961

May, Vice President Johnson visits South Vietnam and proposes additional aid to Diem

June 4, Kennedy meets Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna ("Vietnam is the place”)

AMERICAN ADVISERS ARRIVE IN SOUTH VIETNAM

1962

February 6, American Military Assistance Command formed in South Vietnam

February 27, two Vietnamese pilots bomb Presidential palace without harming Diem

AMERICAN ADVISERS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 11,300

1963

January 2, Vietcong defeat South Vietnamese army at Ap Bac

May, June, Buddhist protests lead by Tri Quang reach high intensity

May, Diem’s troops fire on Buddhists in Hue

August 22, Henry Cabot Lodge takes office as Ambassador

November 1, Duong Van Minh and other generals remove Diem from power.  He is murdered the next day.

November 22, Kennedy assassinated. Johnson takes oath as president

AMERICAN ADVISERS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 16,300

1964

January 30, General Nguyen Khan seizes power in Saigon.

Pentagon starts developing strategy to bomb North Vietnam

August 2 and 4, U.S. destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy are allegedly attacked in Gulf of Tonkin

August 7, Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

August, American aircraft bomb North Vietnam for the first time

October 30, NLF attacks Bienhoa air base. Johnson rejects proposed raids against North Vietnam

November 3, Johnson wins by landslide against Goldwater

AMERICAN ADVISERS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 23,300

1965

February 7, Vietcong attacks American installations in Pleiku

Johnson authorizes air raids against N. Vietnam (Flaming Dart)

February 24, starts Operation Rolling Thunder, sustained bombing of North Vietnam

March 8, two Marine battalions arrive in Danang to defend the airfield--first U.S. combat troops in Vietnam .

April 7, Johnson, in a speech at Johns Hopkins University, offers Hanoi a settlement, including North Vietnamese participation in a very large development program. Hanoi rejects the proposal

June 11, Nguyen Cao Ky takes over as prime minister in Saigon

July 8, Lodge is reappointed Ambassador.

July 28, Johnson approves Westmoreland’s request for troops and sends 44 additional combat battalions.

December 25, Johnson suspends bombing of North Vietnam to entice DRV into negotiations

AMERICAN TROOPS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 184,300

1966

January 31, Johnson resumes bombing of North Vietnam

June 29, American airplanes bomb areas near Hanoi and Haiphong

AMERICAN TROOPS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 385,300

1967

March 19-21, Johnson meets in Guam with Ky and Thieu. North Vietnamese reveal letter exchange between Johnson and Ho Chi Minh.

April, Gen. Westmoreland visits Washington, addresses Congress

May 1, Bunker replaces Lodge as Ambassador.

August, McNamara tells Congress that bombing North Vietnam is ineffective

September 3, Thieu is elected President

September 29, Johnson offers to halt the bombing in exchange for "productive discussions"

December, domestic anti-war protests rise

AMERICAN TROOPS IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 485,600

1968

January, Prince Norodom Sihanouk gives permission for American forces to pursue Vietcong inside Cambodian territory

January 31, Tet offensive begins. U.S Embassy in Saigon is attacked.

CJCS General Earle Wheeler brings request from Westmoreland for 206,000 additional troops

March 1, Clark Clifford replaces McNamara as SecDef

March 16, U.S. Army troops brutally massacre over 400 civilians at My Lai

February-March, Vietcong massacre thousands of governments workers, intellectuals, clergymen, and other “reactionary elements” in Hue.

March 31, Johnson announces bombing halt and declines running for reelection

May, contacts between U.S. and North Vietnam start in Paris

August, Hubert H. Humphrey is designed presidential candidate in the Democratic Convention in Chicago, amid riots, protests and widespread violence

November 5, Nixon wins the elections

AMERICAN TROOP STRENGTH PEAKS AT 536,100

1969

March 18, Nixon begins secret bombing of Cambodia

June 8, Nixon announces withdrawal of 25,000 troops

September 3, Ho Chi Minh dies at age 79

October 15, massive anti-war demonstrations in Washington, DC

November 16, public revelation of My Lai massacre

AMERICAN TROOP STRENGTH REDUCED TO 475,200

1970

February 20, Kissinger begins secret talks with Le Duc Tho in Paris

Nixon announces offensive in Cambodia

May 4, four students are killed in protests at Kent State University (Ohio)

AMERICAN TROOPS ARE REDUCED TO 334,600

1971

Lt. William Calley convicted of murder for My Lai.

AMERICAN TROOPS DOWN TO 156,800

1972

February 21, Nixon arrives in China for unprecedented visit

April 15, Nixon authorizes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong

June 17, Watergate scandal—five secret White House operatives arrested

October, Tho and Kissinger reach a preliminary agreement in Paris.

November 7, Nixon reelected in landslide

December, Kissinger declares “peace is at hand,” but bombing resumes

AMERICAN TROOP STRENGTH DOWN TO  24,200

1973

January 27, cease-fire agreements are signed in Paris

March 29, last American troops leave Vietnam

April 1, last American prisoners leave Hanoi

August 14, U.S. stops bombing Cambodia under pressure from Congress

Watergate scandal erupts

AMERICAN TROOPS LEFT IN SOUTH VIETNAM : 50

1974

Thieu declares that war has begun again.  Communist buildup in South continues.

August 9, Nixon resigns, is replaced by V.P. Gerald Ford

1975

January 6.  Communist forces north of Saigon

March 25; Hue falls to Communists, Danang 5 days later.

April 29, Ambassador Graham Martin evacuates the U.S. Embassy in Saigon

April 30, Saigon falls to the Communist offensive

1978

December 25, Vietnam invades Cambodia

Thousands of “boat people” flee Vietnam .

1982

Vietnam Veterans Memorial unveiled in Washington

1985

Famine spreads in Vietnam following failure of agricultural reform program

1995

United States opens full diplomatic ties with Vietnam

Cold War Home Updated September 26, 2013