Humanities › History & Culture Timeline of the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War) Share Flipboard Email Print History & Culture Asian History Asian Wars and Battles Basics Figures & Events Southeast Asia East Asia South Asia Middle East Central Asia American History African American History African History Ancient History and Culture European History Genealogy Inventions Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By Kallie Szczepanski Kallie Szczepanski History Expert Ph.D., History, Boston University J.D., University of Washington School of Law B.A., History, Western Washington University Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and South Korea. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on March 01, 2019 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 Library of Congress Photo and Prints Collection 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 Asia 1945-1946: Post-War Chaos in Vietnam U.S. Navy Archives 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 Vietnam 1946-1950: First Indochina War, France vs. Vietnam Department of Defense French occupy Hanoi, Viet Minh Attack French, Operation Lea, Communists Win Chinese Civil War, USSR, and PRC Recognize Communist Vietnam, the U.S., and U.K. Recognize Bao Dai's Government, McCarthy Era in the U.S., First U.S. Military Advisors to Saigon 1951-1958: French Defeat, America Gets Involved U.S. Department of Defense / National Archives 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 Vietnam 1959-1962: Vietnam War (Second Indochina War) Begins National Archives / Photo by Lawrence J. Sullivan 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." 1963-1964: Assassinations and Viet Cong Victories U.S. Army Center of Military History 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. Forces 1964-1965: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Escalation Department of Defense / National Archives 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 Deal 1965-1966: Anti-War Backlash in U.S. and Abroad White House Collection / National Archives 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 Streets 1967-1968: Protests, Tet Offensive, and My Lai Department of Defense 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 Command 1968-1969: "Vietnamization" Photo by Yoichi Okamato / National Archives The 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 Minh 1969-1970: Draw Down and Invasions Library of Congress / Photo by Warren K. Leffler 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 Laos 1971-1975: U.S. Withdrawal and the Fall of Saigon Jean-Claude Francolon / Getty Images 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 Surrenders Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Szczepanski, Kallie. "Timeline of the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War)." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/timeline-of-the-vietnam-war-195841. Szczepanski, Kallie. (2021, February 16). Timeline of the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/timeline-of-the-vietnam-war-195841 Szczepanski, Kallie. 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