Timeline of the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War). After World War II, France assumed that it would retake control of its colonial holdings in Southeast Asia - Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The Southeast Asian people had different ideas, however. After France's defeat by the Vietnamese in the First Indochina War, the U.S. became embroiled in a second war, which Americans call the Vietnam War.

Background, 1930-1945: French Colonial Rule and World War II

Establishment of Indochinese Communist Party, Emperor Bao Dai Installed, Japanese Occupy Indochina, Ho Chi Minh and Americans Fight Japanese, Famine in Hanoi, Foundation of Viet Minh, Japanese Surrender, France Reclaims Southeast AsiaMore »

1945-1946: Post-War Chaos in Vietnam

U.S. OSS Enters Vietnam, Japan's Formal Surrender, Ho Chi Minh Declares Independence, British and Chinese Troops Enter Vietnam, French POWs Rampage, First American Killed, French Troops Land in Saigon, Chiang Kai-shek Withdraws, French Control South VietnamMore »

1946-1950: First Indochina War, France vs. Vietnam

French occupy Hanoi, Viet Minh Attack French, Operation Lea, Communists Win Chinese Civil War, USSR and PRC Recognize Communist Vietnam, U.S. and U.K. Recognize Bao Dai's Government, McCarthy Era in U.S., First U.S. Military Advisors to SaigonMore »

1951-1958: French Defeat, America Gets Involved

France Establishes "De Lattre Line," French Defeat at Dien Bien Phu, France Withdraws from Vietnam, Geneva Conference, Bao Dai Ousted, North and South Vietnam Clash, Viet Minh Terror in South VietnamMore »

1959-1962: Vietnam War (Second Indochina War) Begins

Ho Chi Minh Declares War, First U.S. Combat Deaths, Attempted Coup and Diem Cracks Down, Viet Cong Founded, U.S. Military Advisor Build-up, Viet Cong Advances, First U.S. Bombing Runs Over Vietnam, Secretary of Defense: "We are winning."More »

1963-1964: Assassinations and Viet Cong Victories

Battle of Ap Bac, Buddhist Monk Self-Immolates, Assassination of President Diem, Assassination of President Kennedy, More U.S. Military Advisors, Secret Bombing of Ho Chi Minh Trail, South Vietnam Overrun, General Westmoreland Appointed to Command U.S. ForcesMore »

1964-1965: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Escalation

Gulf of Tonkin Incident, Second "Gulf of Tonkin Incident," Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Operation Flaming Dart, First U.S. Combat Troops to Vietnam, Operation Rolling Thunder, President Johnson Authorizes Napalm, U.S. Offensive Operations Authorized, North Vietnam Rejects Aid for Peace DealMore »

1965-1966: Anti-War Backlash in U.S. and Abroad

First Large Anti-War Protest, Coups in South Vietnam, U.S. Draft Call-ups Double, Marines Attack on Da Nang Shown on U.S. TV, Protests Spread to 40 Cities, Battle of Ia Drang Valley, U.S. Destroys Food Crops, First B-52 Bombing, Downed U.S. Pilots Paraded Through StreetsMore »

1967-1968: Protests, Tet Offensive, and My Lai

Operation Cedar Falls, Operation Junction City, Huge Anti-War Protests, Westmoreland Requests 200,000 Reinforcements, Nguyen Van Thieu Elected in South Vietnam, Battle of Khe Sanh, Tet Offensive, My Lai Massacre, General Abrams Takes CommandMore »

1968-1969: "Vietnamization"

Flow of U.S. Troops to Vietnam Slows, Battle of Dai Do, Paris Peace Talks Begin, Chicago Democratic National Convention Riots, Operation Menu - Secret Bombing of Cambodia, Battle for Hamburger Hill, "Vietnamization," Death of Ho Chi MinhMore »

1969-1970: Draw Down and Invasions

President Nixon Orders Withdrawals, 250,000 Protestors March on Washington, Draft Lottery Re-instated, My Lai Courts-Martial, Invasion of Cambodia, U.S. Universities Closed by Riots, U.S. Senate Repeals Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Invasion of LaosMore »

1971-1975: U.S. Withdrawal and the Fall of Saigon

Mass Arrests of Demonstrators in D.C., U.S. Troop Level Reductions, New Round of Paris Talks, Paris Peace Accords Signed, U.S. Troops Leave Vietnam, POWs Released, Clemency for Draft-dodgers and Deserters, Fall of Saigon, South Vietnam SurrendersMore »