Path+to+Vietnam+5.23.12




 * A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIETNAM [[image:turningpoints/vietnamsill.gif align="right" caption="vietnamsill.gif"]]**

Pre 1800s – **Vietnam has dynastic rulers, influenced by China. Was independent country**

LATE 1800s – **Vietnam is a French colony- Called French Indochina**

1930s – **communist revolts led by Ho Chi Minh (Which means "He Who Enlightens") – Ho Chi Minh flees to China and USSR**

1940s – **Japanese take over- Ho Chi Minh forms Vietminh party in order to liberate Vietnam – Begins Guerrilla war- declare independence in 1945**

1954 – **Vietminh successfully defeat French in north Vietnam and establish communist government in north**

1954 – **Vietnam is split temporarily by the Geneva Accords, with free elections to be held in 1956 to unite the nation**

LATE 1950s – **Civil war in Vietnam between Communist North and American-supported democratic South**

Sent economic and military aid to France to help them keep their colonies in Indochina || **EISENHOWER** Believed in Domino Effect, believed that if one country falls to communism, all others will. Sent advisors to set up free puppet state in South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem was leader, NOT A GOOD GUY, corrupt. || **KENNEDY** US Gov then supports overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem. Doesn't want to be soft on communism. Continued to send advisors to Vietnam. || **JOHNSON** Commits the US more fully to Vietnam. Sent only a few more advisors originally. ||
 * PRESIDENTIAL INVOLVEMENT **
 * [[image:turningpoints/hst.gif align="left" caption="hst.gif"]] || [[image:turningpoints/dde.gif align="left" caption="dde.gif"]] || [[image:turningpoints/lfk.gif align="left" caption="lfk.gif"]] || [[image:turningpoints/lbj.gif align="left" caption="lbj.gif"]] ||
 * **TRUMAN**

- US ship was fired on - Johnson asked Congress to grant permission to "take all necessary measures" to stop all future aggression -533/535 members of Congress give permission - Johnson "seeks no wider war" [|Johnson Report on the Tonkin Resolution] ||  ||  ||
 * =** The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution **=
 * Sec. of Defense Robert McNamera ||  ||

US bombs the living tar out of Vietnam ||
 * [[image:http://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/0bbab3dff8455159bcacb94c240ceb82_1M.png caption="external image 0bbab3dff8455159bcacb94c240ceb82_1M.png"]] || =** Operation Rolling Thunder **=

= = - 1965-3,500 Marines join 20,000+ military advisors in Vietnam -By 1968, 1/2 million American soldiers were in Vietnam || ||
 * = American ground troops enter Vietnam =

My questions about the Vietnam War: When did big protests start in the US?