DIEN BIEN PHU, MAY 7, 1954
GENEVA AGREEMENTS 1954
HO CHI MINH DECLARES PEOPLE'S WAR TO UNITE VIETNAM
GULF OF TONKIN -
INCIDENT AND RESOLUTION
TET OFFENSIVE BEGINS, JAN 1968
PEACE TALKS AND INVASION OF CAMBODIA
THE PARIS ACCORDS, 1973
THE FALL OF SAIGON, 1975
After a hundred years of colonialism, on May 7, 1954, the French-held Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam fell to Ho Chi Minh's communist army after a long four month siege. After the fall of Dien Bien Phu, the French pulled out of the region.
After the French were defeated, the Peace Agreement in Geneva was signed, which created a divide in Vietnam at the 17th Parallel and resulted in a North Vietnam and a South Vietnam. Elections were supposed to be held within two years to choose a president and reunite the country.
In March 1959, Ho Chi Minh declared his intent that all of Vietnam should be united under communism and pledged an all out war in order to achieve his goals.
In the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the U.S. said that North Vietnamese patrol boats fired on two U.S. Navy destroyers. It was later found to be more complicated as the U.S. destroyers had been on a mission against North Vietnam at the time. Because of this, LBJ imploredCongress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized military action in the region.
The Tet Offensive were surprise attacks by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese from Jan 31 – Sep 23, 1968. It began just before dawn on Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It was one of the largest military campaigns of the war. The attacks took place across all of South Vietnam. At a time when Americans was under the impression that South Vietnam and the U.S. were overwhelmingly winning, it was a blow to morale.
Secret peace talks in Paris between Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho for the Hanoi government. However, as the talks stalled, Nixon ordered an invasion of Cambodia as a surprise attack to destroy Viet Cong and North Vietnamese bases or "sanctuaries" in Cambodia.
The Paris Peace Accords were an agreement between the U.S. and North Vietnam to end the War negotiated by Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. Both men were awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize but Le Duc Tho refused it. The Accords were signed on January 27, 1973 by the governments of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, the U.S., and the Viet Cong. The Agreement would remove all remaining U.S. Forces, in exchange for the return of POWs. Direct U.S. military intervention was ended, and fighting between the three remaining powers temporarily stopped.
After the Paris Peace Accords and the withdrawal of American troops, the North Vietnamese began a campaign to take over South Vietnam. When the U.S. did nothing to retaliate (Nixon had resigned due to Watergate), they continued to lay siege until they took the capitol of Saigon swiftly on April 30, 1975. The South Vietnamese forces could not hold them back. While the U.S. evacuated thousands, more than 120,000 people fled Vietnam.
MAJOR EVENTS IN THE VIETNAM WAR
North Vietnam
17th Parallel
“Our resistance will be long and painful, but whatever the sacrifices, however long the struggle, we shall fight to the end, until Vietnam is fully independent and reunified.”
Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
“...take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression . . .”
Lyndon Johnson
South Vietnam
CAMBODIA
Kissinger:
Remove your troops from South Vietnam!
Le Duc Tho:
What troops?
And, no.
"This will be the final message from Saigon Station. It has been a long fight and we have lost ... Those who fail to learn from history are forced to repeat it... Saigon signing off."
Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam
--Withdrawal of all U.S. and allied forces in 60 days.
--Return of POWs at the same time.
--Cease-fire in South Vietnam
--Free elections in South Vietnam
--Reunification of Vietnam through peaceful means