History of Vietnam to assist in understanding of ‘The Quiet American’
In class we viewed:
to assist in our understanding of conflict in Vietnam. Thanks to Steph Macdonald for the notes below.
Vietnam timeline:
| Year | Important events |
| 1885 | Vietnam was part of French Indochina, Colonialism and Imperialism. They wanted to fight for independence. |
| 1941 | Viet Minh (Communist) and Ho Chi Minh. |
| 1945 | “Independence” |
| 1946-1954 | First Indochina war. US engage covertly in the Indochina War. They became ‘advisors’ and provided economic and weapons assistance. |
| 1954 | Geneva conference of 1954 temporarily partitioned South and North Vietnam, so they were able to ‘cool off’ and recover. |
| 1955-1963 | Ngo Dinh Diem president of South Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem was anti-communism. United States start supporting the anti-communists during this period. This is the time the Viet Cong was present. Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated and Thieu and Ký take over government. |
| 1964 | Gulf of Tonkin incident. In 1964 the USS Maddox claimed to have been attacked by North Vietnamese boats. These reported incidents resulted in passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave America the ability to engage in war in Vietnam. Claimed that the USS Maddox was fired on. This gave USA and excuse to enter conflict that they really shouldn’t be involved in – To help their own interests. |
| 1965 | Nguyen Cao Ký and Nguyen Van Thieu in control. |
| 1967 | Thieu takes control of South Vietnam. |
| 1968 | Tet offensive and My Lai massacre. The Tet offensive was a massive coordinated attack on various areas in South Vietnam, it aimed to ‘turn the tides’ of the Vietnam and made the American public suspicious. The My Lai Massacre was the unjustified massacre of many Vietnamese civilians. Americans domestically start to see the horrors of war and question US involvement. Whether the US was ‘winning’ as they had been told. |
| 1971 | Pentagon papers were leaked to the New York Times. They said that the military was lying to the American congress about their activity in wars in both Vietnam and Laos & Cambodia. |
| 1973 | Paris Peace Accords. Under Nixon control the Paris Peace Accords and officially there was peace between the north, the South and the Americans. US withdrawing and North Vietnam winning the War. |
| 1975 | Fall of Saigon. When the Americans left Vietnam the North overtook the South, resulting in the fall of Saigon. Incredible loss of life. The Americans perception the communism would spread if they did not stop it was proved wrong. |
1-3 million Vietnamese people were killed.
58,000 American Soldiers were killed.