1858-83: France, competing for power with Great Britain, established colonial rule in three states -- Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia -- known as Indochina.
1930: Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), who was educated in Paris, founded the Indochinese Communist Party, or ICP.
1941: During World War II, Japan invaded Vietnam, and the ICP formed a guerrilla force.
Sept. 2, 1945: After leading an independence movement that established new local governments throughout northern Vietnam, Ho proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi. The first lines of his speech were taken from America’s Declaration of Independence. (Read it on George Mason University's History Matters website.)1946 – Attempting to reassert control, French forces attacked the Vietnamese rebels. Within three months, the French controlled the southern portion of Vietnam.
1950: With the approval of President Harry S. Truman, 35 men from the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group arrived in Saigon to assist and advise South Vietnamese troops. (See the History.com website.)1954: French troops pulled out of Vietnam and colonial rule ended. North Vietnam pushed to unify the country as a communist regime. The South Vietnamese government wished to remain aligned with the U.S., and the U.S. refused to recognize the government in North Vietnam.
1955: President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved sending approximately 700 military personnel, along with economic aid, to the government of South Vietnam.
1961: President John F. Kennedy authorized sending 500 Special Forces troops (the Green Berets) and military advisers to assist South Vietnam.
1962: By the end of the year, 11,000 military advisers were in South Vietnam, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library recounts. That year, 53 military personnel were killed.
1963: The numbers increased again, and at the end of 1963, 16,000 advisers were in Vietnam, according to the library.
Aug. 7, 1964: The Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to send combat troops to Vietnam.
March 8, 1965: Two battalions of U.S. Marines became the first combat troops dispatched by the United States to support the Saigon government.
To know more:
Related:
Four phrases associated with the Cold War
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