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939 CE
Vietnam gains independence from China
1279
China launches new invasion of Vietnam but is driven back
1407
China reinvades Vietnam, this time successfully
1428
Vietnamese finally drive Chinese out
1620
Vietnam is divided between Trinh in north, Nguyen in south
1858
French invade Vietnam
1862
French establish protectorate of Cochin China
1887
French merge Vietnam and Cambodia to form French Indochina
1893
French add Laos to their territory of French Indochina
1919
France ignores Ho Chi Minh’s demands at Versailles Peace Conference
1926
Bao Dai becomes last Vietnamese emperor
1930
Ho founds Indochinese Communist Party
1940
Japan occupies Vietnam
1941
Ho founds Viet Minh
1945
Viet Minh takes Hanoi in August Revolution
Ho takes power, establishes Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV)
Truman rejects DRV’s request for formal recognition
1946
First Indochina War begins
1947
Containment doctrine begins to influence U.S. foreign policy
1948
USSR blockades Berlin; United States responds with Berlin airlift
1949
USSR conducts first successful atomic bomb test
China falls to Communist rebels under Mao Zedong
1954
Viet Minh defeat French at Dien Bien Phu
Eisenhower articulates domino theory
1955
U.S.-backed Ngo Dinh Diem ousts Bao Dai from power in South Vietnam
Diem initiates ARVN-enforced land redistribution
1959
Diem regime passes Law 10/59 to root out Communists
Students for a Democratic Society is founded
1960
South Vietnamese Communists form National Liberation Front
USSR begins airlifting to Communist Pathet Lao forces in Laos
1961
John F. Kennedy becomes president
1962
United States (MACV); sends first “military advisors” to Vietnam
Cuban Missile Crisis increases Cold War tensions
1963
Battle of Ap Bac sees Viet Cong forces rout ARVN
Buddhist monk immolates himself in protest of Diem’s policies
Diem overthrown in U.S.-backed coup
Kennedy assassinated; Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president
1964
August: U.S. destroyers in Gulf of Tonkin report North Vietnamese attacks
U.S. Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
November: Johnson wins presidential election
1965
First draft riots occur on college campuses
February: Pleiku Raid kills eight U.S. soldiers
U.S. forces begin Operation Rolling Thunder bombing campaign
June: United States reaches 75,000 troops in Vietnam
July: Johnson authorizes an additional 100,000 troops, allocates 100,000 more for 1966
November: Battle of Ia Drang
1966
Fulbright publishes The Arrogance of Power
1967
CIA initiates Phoenix Program
Johnson authorizes CIA to investigate antiwar activists
35,000 protesters demonstrate outside the Pentagon
January: United States reaches nearly 400,000 troops in Vietnam
1968
January: NVA attacks U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh
North Vietnamese launch Tet Offensive
February: Robert McNamara resigns as secretary of defense
March: General Westmoreland causes uproar by requesting 200,000 more troops
U.S. soldiers kill 500 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai Massacre
Protest outside Democratic National Convention turns violent
Richard M. Nixon is elected president
1969
Nixon announces policy of Vietnamization and Nixon Doctrine
Ho Chi Minh dies
1970
National Guard kills four protesters at Kent State University
United States bombs Viet Cong sites in Cambodia
Student protests in United States turn violent
1971
Nixon sends forces into Laos
My Lai court-martial begins
The New York Times publishes Pentagon Papers
1972
Henry Kissinger begins secret negotiations with North Vietnam
Nixon visits China and USSR
Last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam
Nixon wins reelection
Nixon authorizes Christmas Bombing in North Vietnam
1973
Cease-fire declared in Vietnam; Last U.S. military personnel leave
Watergate scandal escalates
Congress passes War Powers Resolution
1974
Nixon resigns; Gerald Ford becomes president
1975
Saigon falls to North Vietnamese
