#Leadership in vietnam timelime series

#Leadership in vietnam timelime series

A series of generals then took over in a chaotic succession of coups. Rival generals assassinated Diem during a coup in November 1963. The South Vietnamese leadership was corrupt and divided. Both refused to commit the US military directly in Vietnam.Įven with US support, the regime in the South was unable to maintain control and the Vietcong dominated much of the countryside. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy increased US funding, arms supplies and military advisors for the South Vietnamese. South East Asia was a strategically important part of the world. US foreign policy – still fearful of the domino theory – aimed to contain communism within its existing borders. The USA became increasingly drawn into the tensions in Vietnam through this period. They aimed to reunite the country under the communist government in the north.

Soon after the division of Vietnam, the Vietcong – a communist insurgency – began fighting against Diem’s regime in the South. Map of North and South Vietnam Insurgency in South Vietnam, 1954-63 This set the scene for further conflict and the USA was watching closely. The South was capitalist and governed by President Diem (from 1955). The North was communist under Ho Chi Minh. The peace deal split Vietnam into two countries, North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

The French agreed to withdraw from Vietnam and handover government to the Vietnamese. The Geneva Conference in 1954 ended the war between the French and the Viet Minh. The French were eventually decisively defeated at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. They saw the French as the best chance of stopping the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. The Americans became increasingly involved in funding and equipping the French. The aftermath of the Second World War kicked off an 8 year conflict between the communist Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, and French colonial forces. The seeds of further conflict in Vietnam – that would eventually drag in the Americans – were sown. They set about reestablishing French control of Indochina. They declared independence for Vietnam in 1945, but the allies wouldn’t allow it. Led by Ho Chi Minh, this communist group aimed to get rid of the Japanese and establish an independent, communist Vietnam. Then, after the Japanese attacked the Americans and Europeans in Southeast Asia in 1941, Japanese forces effectively took control of Indochina for the rest of the war.Ī Vietnamese resistance force – the Viet Minh – began to grow in strength towards the end of the war. When France fell to the Nazis in 1940, the Vichy French government took control of French Indochina. The Second World War had a huge impact on the situation in Vietnam. French colonial officials held political control over the territory. It formed part of French Indochina – a federation of French-controlled territories including modern Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In the late nineteenth century Vietnam was colonised by the French. Use the headings as the basis for reading further into the details you need for the exams. You will find explanations of the most important events collected under headings covering the main turning points and periods of the war. You should use this Vietnam War timeline as your starting point for revising the conflict. If you can learn this extra context then you’ll be well ahead of most A level History students.

It then provides all of the details on the war itself. Our timeline, therefore, starts a little earlier than you may have expected. That means going back further and looking particularly at the impact of the Second World War and First Indochina War. We think you need to properly understand the context of the conflict in Vietnam. Some will go a little further back to the US support provided by presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy. Most resources on the Vietnam war start with the first US combat troops arriving in Vietnam in 1964. Use this timeline to get ahead of the game with your knowledge of the Vietnam War for A level History. That’s exactly what we’ve put together here. One of the best ways to start pulling all of this together is with a detailed Vietnam War timeline. There are a lot of dates to learn, people to know about and context to be aware of. In any part of the course it can be quite a confusing conflict to study. You may be doing your A level history coursework on Vietnam, or it may be part of your studies on the Cold War or US foreign policy. If you are an A level History student studying the Vietnam War, then you’ve come to the right place.