Vietnam Period 1847 - 1961
UNDER FRENCH RULE
1847
French Navy attack Danang in response to persecution of Catholic missionaries
1858
September 2 - French and Spanish ships attack Danang after the slaughter of missionaries
1859
17 February - French forces capture Saigon
1861
Military resistance begins against the French. French gain control of Gia Dinh
1862
Treaty signed by the French and Tu Duc which gives France possession of the eastern provinces of Cochinchina
1863
April - Treaty between the French and Tu Duc is ratified.
French Admiral La Grandiere imposes protectorate on Cambodia.
1867
Cochinchina becomes a French colony.
1874
Franco-Vietnamese treaty confirms French sovereignty over Cochinchina.
1883
August - French attack Hue and a strong ground force moves on Hanoi. The French decree a "Treaty of Protectorate" on the Imperial Court.
1883
Kien Phuoc is succeeded by Ham Nghi who rules for one year and then takes refuge in the mountains.
August 25 - Annam and Tonkin come under French rule.
1885-1889
French pick Emperor Dong Klanh to rule. Ham Nghi leads resistance against the French and then is captured and exiled to Algeria.
1887
The independent Vietnamese state ceases to exist with the establishment of the Indochinese Union.
French impose colonial rule and the Vietnamese maintain a strong desire for independence.
1889
Emperor Dong Klanh dies and is replaced by 10-year-old Thank Thai.
1890
May 19. Birth of Ho Chi Minh. In the Midst of Lies
Some Collective Facts About Ho Chi Minh
Unmasking Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh's True Colors
1893
Laos is removed from Thai control and becomes a French Protectorate, joining Vietnam and Cambodia in the Indochinese Union.
1907
Thank Thai is deported to the Indian island of Reunion for plotting against the French. His succeeded by his son Emperor Duy Tan who is accused of treason. Duy Tan is also exiled to Reunion. The next Emperor Khai Dinh reigns until 1925.
1911
October. Ho Chi Minh departs for Europe.
1920
Ho Chi Minh assists in founding the French Communist Party.
1923
Ho Chi Minh visits Moscow for the first time.
1925
Emperor Bao Dai (son of Khai Dinh) reigns until 1945. The Marxist group, Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League founded in canton by Ho Chi Minh.
1926
Ho Chi Minh forms the Thanh Nien Cong San Doan(Communist Youth League).
1927
Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang is founded secretly by the Nationalist leaders.
1930
February - Yen Bai uprising against the French.
June 17 - Nationalist leader Nguyen Thai Hoc sentenced to death and guillotined along with 12 of his followers. Vietnam Revolutionary League is succeeded by the Vietnamese Communist Party. Communist uprisings are savagely repressed by the French.
1937
Japan invades Southern China.Chiang Kai-shek enters into an uneasy alliance with the Communists.
WORLD WAR II AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION
1939
September. World War Two begins.
1940
Franco-Japanese treaty. In a pact with the Japanese, the Vichy French appoint the Indochinese Government of Admiral Jean Decoux. Japanese occupy Vietnam.
1941
Ho Chi Minh returns to Vietnam and forms the League for the Independence of Vietnam which becomes known as the Viet Minh. Japan occupies Vietnam. The Viet Minh resist Japanese occupation with the help of the United States and China.
1942
The Chinese Nationalists set up the Vietnam Revolutionary League(Dong Minh Hoi) as an anti-communist movement. Ho Chi Minh imprisoned in China by the Nationalists. Ho convinces the Nationalists that he is a Nationalist first and a communist second, his efforts aimed at China's enemies, the Japanese. Ho is set free and given command of the Dong Minh Hoi. Ho returns to Vietnam and rejoins the Viet Minh under Vo Nguyen Giap. French repression continues.
1944
The Viet Minh is supported by the United States Office of Strategic Services(OSS and forerunner to the CIA) with arms and funds.
1945
March 9 - Japanese overthrow the Vichy French Decoux Government. An "independent" Vietnam, with Emperor Bao Dai as nominal ruler, is proclaimed by Japanese occupation authorities.
April - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies.
April 30 - Major Archimedes Patti (OSS Officer in Indochina 1945. Ordered to setup intelligence network in Indo-China), US Office of Strategic Services(OSS), meets with Ho Chi Minh. Ho who shows his support for America and later asks Patti to take this message back to the American people., ".. . that the Vietnamese loved the Americans; ... tell the Americans that the Vietnamese would never fight the Americans". American arms and instructors support is increased to Ho and Giap.
August13 - Japan Surrenders.
September 2 - The Communist dominated Viet Minh Independence League with the support of United States officials seizes power: Ho Chi Minh establishes the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (GRDV) in Hanoi. General Vo Nguyen Giap (Co-founder Viet Minh. Commander in Chief , Viet Minh forces from 1946) recalls. "Red flags grew in numbers and splendor, fluttering in the wind and splashing the houses and streets like a festival for the oppressed". Ho Chi Minh writes several letters to US President Harry Truman requesting recognition, citing the Atlantic Charter and then the United Nations Charter on self-determination. He received no response. Emperor Bao Dai abdicates.
Potsdam Conference - Chinese Nationalists accept surrender of Japanese Occupation Forces north of the 16th parallel.
The British are to accept surrender south of the line under British Major General Douglas Gracey's 20th Indian Division, some 26,000 men in all.
British General Gracey arrives in Saigon(South Vietnam) which is in turmoil and releases 1400 French paratroopers who go on a rampage of looting and bashings.The defeated Japanese forces are re-armed to assist and restore order.The Viet Minh respond by calling a national strike and organize a guerrilla campaign against the French.
September 23 - French troops return to Vietnam and clash with Communist and Nationalist forces and seize power in the south, with British help.
September 24. General Jacque Philippe Leclerc arrives in Siagon and Declares, "We have come to claim our inheritance". The first Indo-China War of 1946 - 1954, had begun.
October. A purely bilateral British/French agreement recognizes French administration of the southern zone.
In the North 180,000 Chinese troops go on a "rampage". Ho's Viet Minh are hopelessly ill-equipped to deal with it. Ho Chi Minh accepts an Allied compromise for temporary return of 15,000 French troops to rid the North of anti-Communists. The Chinese troops of Chiang flee to Taiwan, looting as they depart.
Ho Chi Minh - "We want America's moral support. We ask for nothing else" "Why doesn't the United States gives us moral support". An OSS reports an extraordinary statement attributed to Ho Chi Minh. The OSS quoted Ho as saying," although he formerly favored Communist ideals, he now realized that such ideals were impracticable for his country, and that his policy now was one of republican nationalism". It would be some 10,000 days later before the American public would learn of this.
November - Ho attempts a compromise with the French by dissolving the Indochinese Communist Party.
December - France provoke war with the DRV and re-install Bao Dai over a central government
1946
March 6 - France recognizes the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free state within the Indochinese Federation and French Union. French - Vietnam Agreement signed.
June 1 - French High Commissioner for Indochina, Admiral d'Argenlieu, proclaims Cochinchina China an autonomous republic, in fact, a French puppet state.
July 6. Viet Minh and French meet in Paris for negotiations. Talks break down.
August 27. French President De Gaulle declares, "France is a great power. Without the overseas territories which she would be in danger of no longer being one". French policy was now clear.
October 15 - French forces attempt to reassert their authority in Haiphong and to prevent military supplies from reaching the Viet Minh.
November 20. Fighting breaks out between French and Viet Minh at Haiphong.
November 23. French bombard Hiaphong and occupy it, killing 6,000 Vietnamese civilians. Ho appeals to the US for the last time .."to support independence".
December 19 - The Viet Minh under Giap initiate the eight-year Indochina War with an attack on French troops at Haiphong. The attack fails under superior French firepower but takes the French 7 days to clear Haiphong of the Communist forces.
December 20. The Voice of Vietnam radio proclaims Ho's call for the "National Resistance War".
Ho leads the Viet Minh to the mountains at Tan Trao to begin "the struggle".
1947
January. General Giap's Viet Minh forces join Ho at Tan Trao. From the northern border jungles of Lang Son and westward to Truong Son(later to be known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail) the Viet Minh charter bases and hideouts. 15,000 French troops hunt Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh leaders with no success . French begin punitive raids on villages supporting the Viet Minh. General Giap adopts a policy of avoiding all-out confrontation and conforms with Mao Tse-tung's key principal on warfare, "always maintain the initiative".
February 4. French opinion poll shows 36% favored force, 42% favored negotiations, 8% thought France should leave Indo-China altogether. 14% had no opinion.
1948
April - French induce former leader Emperor Bao Dai (born 1911, the last "Emperor of Vietnam") to come to Indochina to form and head a Vietnamese government.
1949
March 8 - France recognizes an "independent" state of Vietnam. Bao Dai becomes its leader in June.
July 19 - Laos is recognized as an independent state with ties to France.
November 8 - Cambodia is recognized as an independent state with ties to France.
1950
January - The newly-established People's Republic of China, followed by the Soviet Union, recognizes the Democratic Republic of Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh. With Communist Chinese supplies now assured, General Giap declares that the guerrilla phase is now over: the counter-offensive had begun.
February - Britain, United States and Australia recognize Bao Dai's Government in South Vietnam. France's request for US military aid is largely unheard.
June. Communist North Korean army crosses the 38th Parallel. The US announces a program of military aid for Indo-China. US military involvement in Indo-China had begun. America becomes concerned about the Sino/Soviet alliance.
Sir Percy Spender, Australian Minister for External Affairs
"Should the forces of communism prevail, and Vietnam come under the heel of Communist China, Malaya is in danger of being outflanked and it, together with Thailand and Indonesia, will become the next target for further Communist activities"
May 8 - US announces military and economic aid to the pro- French regimes of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. US aid was to jump from an initial $10 million to exceeding $1,000 million by 1954, 78% of the French war bill, even though all concerned conceded that the war could not be won.
Senator William Fullbright of the US Finance Committee stated, "....Vietnam was a side issue...we did it only to please the French.
Giap prematurely switches to a general offensive and sustains heavy losses, a set-back lasting two years.
September - October - General Giap launches his first major counter offensive against the French and overwhelms French forts in the far north. French losses in this period were 6,000 troops killed or captured. Equipment losses included more than 900 machine guns, 125 mortars, 13 heavy guns, 1,200 automatic rifles, 8,000 rifles and 450 trucks.
December - . French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1889-1952, French Commander in Chief, Indochina 1950-51) is appointed High commissioner and Commander in Chief of Indochina. The French forces adopt an more offensive role with more use of air support.
22 - Napalm is used for the first time in Vietnam against Viet Minh forces at Tien Yen.
1951
January 14-15 Two Viet Minh divisions attack a French force of 8,000 troops at Vinh Yen, 56 klms north west of Hanoi. Air support plays a major role. The Viet Minh under Giap retreat suffering heavy losses(Est 6,000 to 9,000 killed, 7,000 to 8,000 wounded with 600 captured).
March - Giap confronts French forces at Mao Khe and is defeated mainly because of French artillery fire.
June - Giap confronts French forces at the Day River and is defeated again. French forces cut his supply line and Giap over extends his force and leaves himself without reserves. Giap's leadership is questioned by the Viet Minh leadership. A scapegoat in the form of Nguyen Binh is found and Giap and Ho continue to lead the Viet Minh. Giap restructures his command and tightens control over various functions.
October - Giap orders his 312th Division against the French position at Nghia Lo. French paratroopers reinforce the fort and Giap's forces retreat and scatter.
November
US Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963, US President from 1960-1963) visits Vietnam and declares, "in Indo-China we have allied ourselves to the desperate effort of the French regime to hang on to the remnants of an empire".
Dang Lao Dong Viet Nam is founded, succeeding the Indochinese Communist Party.
November 14 - French troops occupy Hoa Binh, a Viet Minh staging area, 80 klms west of Hanoi. The French over over extend their forces by setting up additional posts and Giap takes advantage and inflicts heavy casualties. Giap then withdraws and allows the French to retake their positions.
Australian/American Alliance
1952
January - General de Lattre de Tassigny dies of cancer and is succeeded by General Raoul Salan. Salan orders the withdrawal of French forces from posts along the Black River between Hoa Binh and Viet Tri and finally Viet Binh. Giap's forces continually ambush French forces during the retreat and destroy many elements of the French rearguard.
During the summer both sides settle down to re-group. The Viet Minh bring their divisions up to full strength and concentrate on training with new weapons supplied by China. The French prepare for an all-out offensive and receive some American supplies, small arms, tanks and aircraft.
October - Giap's take the offensive and orders his troops to the delta area between the Black and Red Rivers, withdraws, then attacks Nghia Lo.
17- Giap's forces attack Nghia Lo several times and overrun the French position, followed by nearby posts. The Viet Minh then advance westward for a month and are forced to halt after over-extending their supply line.
29 - The French Operation "Lorraine" in the area around Nghia Lo aimed at drawing the Viet Minh into a full scale battle begins. It involves nearly 30,000 troops. With limited success the operation is then canceled.
1953
April - Communist forces mass for an invasion of Laos. Giap deploys his divisions with little encounter. Giap realizing that he cannot sustain his primitive supply line withdraws but the Viet Minh now have freedom of movement through a large part of northern Laos and could dominate the territory west of the Black River. Giap keeps the French forces tied down.
US Vice President Nixon (born 1913. US Vice President, 1953-61. US President 1968-1974.) arrives in Hanoi and tells the French, "It is impossible to lay down arms until victory is won".
May. French General Henri Navarre (born 1898. Commander in Chief, Forces Indochina 1953-54) appointed as Commander in Chief and is sent by Premier Rene Mayer with orders to return in a month and report. He reports ".... that there was no possibility of winning the war in Indo-China". Navarre returns to Vietnam with only ten battalions, far less than he had hoped for. Support for the war in France has waned and the French Communist Party foster anti-war sentiment. Navarre conducts "search and destroy" missions with some success.
July. The Korean Armistice is signed.
November 20. 800 French paratroopers parachute into Dien Bien Phu. and begin preparations for a fortified camp. They build two airstrips to link the base with Hanoi.
1954
Beginning of 1954 - American aid to France's military campaign now totals $US1.1 Billion. Australia gives small amounts of military and economic aid. France has lost 74,000 troops with another 190,000 bogged down.
January - Operation "Atlante" begins. It is designed to clear the coastal areas of Viet Minh. The operation ends in failure in March.
March . Navarre has a dozen battalions dug in around Dien Bien Phu including two groups of 75mm guns, 28 X105mm, four 155 guns, including mortars, and 10 light tanks. Six Grunman fighters armed with napalm are on alert on the airfield. Three main bastions form the defense of the larger airstrip, while the main stronghold included the village itself. Four smaller outposts formed the outer defense. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was about to begin. The French hope that Giap will hurl his army to destruction.
8 April - R.G Casey"The United States of America is on our side. It is on the side of democracy, decency and right, and the forces of darkness opposed to it are very apparent and very powerful. The world may have a showdown at any time between our form of life and the forces of darkness"
Sir Paul Hasluck - [The conflict in Indo-China is] "part of a world wide struggle... The French are defending liberty"
April . Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies states;"If communist forces again come on the march and a great war ensues, the farther north the lines of defense are drawn, the better for those communities of Viet Nam, and Laos, and Cambodia, and Thailand, and Burma, and Malaya, and the Philippines, and Indonesia and all the rest of us who wish to retain control of our own future and govern ourselves in our own way"
May 7 - The remnants of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrender, depriving France of any bargaining power at Geneva.
May 8. Geneva conference on Indochina opens.
July 7 - Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-1963),(US backed President from 1954 till his murder in 1963), newly chosen Premier of South Vietnam, completes the organization of his cabinet.
July 20-21 - The Geneva Agreements are signed, partitioning Vietnam along the 17th Parallel and setting up an International Control Commission to supervise compliance with the Agreements
American Response to The Geneva Declarations
August - Australian Prime Minister - Robert. G Menzies, in Parliament"It is therefore foolish, superficial, and dangerous to speak of the conflict in the world as a contest between two economic systems, capitalism and communism. Nor can the cynics dispose of it as an old-fashioned struggle for military or physical power, with territory and resources as the prizes of victory. It is desperately important that the world should see this as a moral contest, a battle for the spirit of man. There can be no easy or enduring compromise between peoples who affirm the existence of a divine authority and the compulsion of a spiritual law and those others who see nothing beyond an atheistic materialism"
September 8 - An agreement is signed at Manila establishing a South East Asia Treaty Organization(SEATO), aimed at checking Communist expansion.
September 1954. The Australian Minister for Defence,Sir Philip Mc Bride, outlined the Australian government's fears upon which Australian foreign policy was predicated for the following twenty years."It is a matter of vital importance to maintain the gap between Australia and the present high-water mark of the southward flow of communism. Should this gap narrow, the nature and scale of attack on Australia would become intensified as distance shortened. Finally, should the tide of communism lap on our shores, we would face an intolerable defense burden and a scale of attack which would be beyond our capacity to repel alone. There is, therefore, every reason strategically and economically why Australia should co-operate to keep aggressive Communism within its present boundaries, and to stem its onward flow"
See The Domino Theory
October 5 - The last French troops leave Hanoi.
October 11 - The Viet Minh formally assume control over North Vietnam.
October 23 -President Dwight D. Eisenhower advises Diem that the US will provide assistance directly to South Vietnam, instead of channeling it through French authorities.
US Entry into South Vietnam
1955
January 1. Direct US aid to South Vietnam begins
February 12. US advisers begin training South Vietnamese troops.
March 29 - Diem launches his successful campaign against the Binh Xuyen and the religious sects. US Ambassador Collins advises Washington to consider a change of leadership. Bao Dai, from Paris accuses President Diem of "selling the blood of Vietnamese". Diem is advised by the CIA to conduct a plebiscite and let the people decide.
Diem is warned by the Lansdale(CIA) "not to rig the elections", "... I don't want to suddenly read that you have won by 99.99%"
June. Hanoi asks for formal talks to prepare for the international supervised elections scheduled for
October. Diem holds the plebiscite and wins by 98%. CIA knows the plebiscite was rigged. President Diem places family members in key positions.
Much later, Diem's last military Chief of Staff, general Tran Van Don was to say of Diem's Government,"They resorted to arbitrary arrests, confinement in concentration camps for undetermined periods of time without judicial guarantees or restraints, and assassinations of people suspected of Communist leanings. Their use of Gestapo-like police raids and torture were known and decried everywhere. had they confined themselves to known Communists or proven Communist sympathizers, one could understand their methods. The repression, however, spread to people who simply opposed their regime, such as head or spokesmen of other political parties, and against individuals who were resisting extortion by some of the government officials"
.
April - Australian Prime Minister - R.G Menzies, Parliament"...there is no country in the world more completely British than Australia, nor...more devoted to the throne and person of Her Majesty the Queen. We are a proud member of a Crown Commonwealth, and will ever continue to be so. But we would be strangely blind if we did not see that...the rise of the United States to supremacy in industrial power, her vast population, her intellectual and moral influence are all such that she has become...vital to the existence of the free world... [her] friendship and cooperation are vital to our safety"
May 10 - South Vietnam formally requests US instructors for Armed Forces.
May 16 - The United States agrees to furnish military aid to Cambodia, which becomes an independent state on 25 September.
July 20 - South Vietnam refuses to take part in the all-Vietnam elections called for by the Geneva Agreements, charging that free elections are impossible in the Communist North.
October 23 - A national referendum deposes Bao Dai in favor of Diem, who proclaims the Republic of Vietnam
1956
February 18- While visiting Peking, Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk renounces SEATO protection for his nation.
March 31. Prince Souvanna Phouma becomes Prime Minister in Laos.
April 28 - An American Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) takes over the training of South Vietnamese forces. The French Military High Command disbands and French troops leave South Vietnam.
August 5 - Souvanna Phouma and the Communist Prince Souphanouvong agree to a coalition government in Laos.
1957
January 3 - The International Control Commission declares that neither North Vietnam nor South Vietnam has carried out the Geneva Agreements.
March. Australia announces a new defense policy providing for closer co-operation with America in South East Asia. Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies states, " Though this is a wholeheartedly British nation this is not a hearsay. It merely recognizes the facts of war".
May 29- Communist Pathet Lao attempt to seize power in Laos.
June.The last French training missions leave South Vietnam.
September - Diem is successful in South Vietnamese general election.
1958
January - Communist guerrillas attack a plantation north of Saigon.
March7. President Diem receives a letter from North Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Van Dong (born 1906. Co-founder of Viet Minh. Premier of North Vietnam 1955-76), proposing a discussion on troop reductions and trade relations as a renewed step towards reunification.
April 26. President Diem rejects any discussion until North Vietnam has established "democratic liberties" similar to those in the South.
President Sukarno of Indonesia survives a CIA backed rebellion. This disturbs the Australian Government who now believe they are becoming increasingly isolated.
1959
April - A branch of the Lao Dong (Worker's Party of Vietnam), of which Ho Chi Minh became Secretary-General in 1956, is formed in the South, and Communist underground activity increases.
May - The US Commander in Chief, Pacific, begins sending the military advisers requested by the South Vietnamese government.
May 6 - President Diem SVN passes oppressive laws on his countrymen.
June-July - Communist Pathet Lao forces attempt to gain control over northern Laos, receiving some Vietnamese Communist assistance.
July 8 - Communist South Vietnamese wound American advisers during an attack on Bien Hoa.
December 31 - General Phoumir Nosavan seizes control in Laos.
1960
May 5 - MAAG strength is increased from 327 to 6850 members.
August 9 - Captain Kong Le occupies Vientiane and urges restoration of a neutral Laos under Prince Souvanna Phouma (born 1901. Prime Minister of Laos 1962-75.).
August - Malayan Emergency ends.
November 11-12 - A military coup against Diem fails.
December 16 - The forces of Phoumi Nosavan capture Vientiane.
December 20 - The Communist National Liberation Front (NLF) of South Vietnam is formed.
1961
January 4 - Prince Boun Oum organizes a pro-Western government in Laos; North Vietnam and the USSR send aid to the Communist insurgents
January 20. John Fitzgerald Kennedy takes the office of President of the United States of America.
April 9. President Diem is re-elected as President of South Vietnam.
US Ambassador Frederick Nolting reveals that Diem, "did not want combat troops in Vietnam".
April 10 -First defoliation test mission is flown in Vietnam
May 5. President Kennedy at a press conference declares that if necessary the use of US forces would be considered "to help South Vietnam resist communist pressures".
May 11-13 -Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973), US President after Kennedy's assassination 1963. Retired from office 1969. Visits South Vietnam for talks with Diem.
May 16. A 14 nation conference in Geneva affirms Laos neutrality.
July. Australia is "distressed" by Britain's announcement that they will seek to join the EEC.
September 1-4 - Viet Cong forces carry out a series of attacks in Kontum Province, South Vietnam.
September 18 - A Viet Cong battalion seizes the provincial capital of Phuoc Vinh, some 55 miles (89km) from Saigon.
October 8 - The Lao factions agree to form a neutral coalition headed by Souvanna Phouma, but fail to agree on the apportionment of cabinet posts.
October 11 - President John F. Kennedy announces that his principal military adviser,General Maxwell D. Taylor, born 1901, US Ambassador to Vietnam 1964-65, will go to South Vietnam to investigate the situation.
October 11 - McNamara's report to President Kennedy
November 16 - As a result of the Taylor mission, President Kennedy decides to increase military aid to South Vietnam, without committing US combat troops
December . Indonesia proclaims that they would reclaim Dutch New Guinea by the end of 1962.
December 14 - US President Kennedy's Letter to President Ngo Dinh Diem
December 31. US military personnel total 3,200.
