last updated 28 Aug 2025
Key Periods and Events
- 1954-1955: End of French Rule & Division of Vietnam
- May 1954: Viet Minh forces decisively defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, ending French colonial rule in Indochina.
- July 1954: The Geneva Accords temporarily split Vietnam at the 17th parallel, establishing North Vietnam and South Vietnam, with elections to reunify the country scheduled for 1956.
- 1960s: U.S. Escalation
- 1964: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident leads Congress to authorize President Johnson's increased military involvement.
- March 1965: The first U.S. Marines land in Da Nang.
- 1965-1968: U.S. troop numbers grow significantly, with the first large-scale battles like the Battle of Ia Drang occurring.
- Jan. 1968: The Tet Offensive, a surprise attack by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, turns American public opinion against the war.
- 1970s: Vietnamization & End of the War
- 1969: President Nixon begins Vietnamization, a policy of withdrawing U.S. troops while increasing South Vietnamese military responsibility.
- Jan.1973: The Paris Peace Accords are signed, leading to a cease-fire and the withdrawal of the last U.S. combat troops by March 1973.
- 1974: The Watergate scandal diminishes President Nixon's influence, and Congress cuts funding for the South Vietnamese.
- April 1975: North Vietnamese forces capture the capital city of Saigon, leading to the surrender of South Vietnam and the reunification of the country under communist control.
