| A | B |
|---|
| 1945 | Allies defeat Japanese imperialism with Ho Chi Minh's nationalist forces |
| 1945 | Ho chi Minh issues Declaration of Independence for Vietnam |
| 1945 | French grant independence to Cambodia and Laos, but not to Vietnam |
| 1945 | USA gives military assistance to French imperial forces |
| 1945 | US fears Ho's nationalist/anti-imperialist communism |
| 1945 | Truman Doctrine and Domino Theory are justification |
| 1954 | French suffer crippling defeat at Dien Bien Phu (in North) and leave |
| 1954 | US takes over leadership of South Vietnam |
| 1954 | Agreement in Geneva divides country North and South at 17th parallel |
| 1954 | Elections are scheduled for 1956 to unite country |
| 1954 | South Vietnam: govt is anti-communist; capital=Saigon;led by Diem, corrupt, Catholic dictator |
| 1954 | North Vietnam: communist, supported by the Soviets and China; capital=Hanoi; led by Ho Chi Minh |
| South Vietnamese Army | led by corrupt, disloyal generals |
| North Vietnamese Army | called Vietminh |
| Rebels in South Vietnam | Viet Cong (VC) |
| 1956 | Elections to unite Vietnam cancelled by US (Ho would have won) |
| 1963 | Diem overthrown and killed by generals with US nod (quiet ok) |
| 1963 | JFK (Pres. Kennedy) assassinated in Dallas |
| 1963 | South Vietnam's government very unstable and unpopular |
| 1963 | Kennedy's plans to withdraw forces cancelled by President Johnson |
| 1964 | Gulf of Tonkin incident (non-incident?) off North Vietnam coast |
| 1964 | Tonkin Gulf Resolution gives Johnson free reign to wage war |
| 1964 | Johnson wins re-election |
| 1965 | US commits 125,000 troops and massive firepower to fight the Vietcong guerillas |
| 1965 | Operation Rolling Thunder: massive bombardment, defoliation campaign |
| 1965 | anti-war and civil rights movements heating up in US |
| 1968 | US troop numbers up to 500,000 |
| 1968 | Tet offensive destroys US will to fight |
| 1968 | MLK and RFK assassinated; riots, protests and crackdowns in the US |
| 1968 | Nixon eleted president |
| 1969 | peace negotiations and secret bombings begin |
| 1973 | Sec. of State Henry Kissinger signs peace treaty in Paris |
| 1973 | 3.2 million Vietnamese and 58,000 US soldiers dead |
| 1973 | millions of Vietnamese refugees "boat people" escape from Vietnam |
| 1973 | Conflict between communist powers |
| 1973 | Vietnamese side with Soviets against the Chinese |
| 1973 | Vietnamese take over communist Cambodia and Laos |
| 1973 | Communism DID NOT spread through region after US withdrawl |
| 1973 | "Domino Theory" turned out to be wrong! |
