Vietnam+-+Path

=VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR =

Vietnam was a part of the French Indochina colony from the late 1800s until the Second World War. The Vietnamese wanted Vietnam to become an independent country. __Ho Chi Minch__ created the Indochinese __Communist Party__ in 1930, which fought for Vietnam's freedom and carried out protests against the French government. The French government arrested and executed some __communist leaders__. __Ho Chi Minh__ escaped to China. Japan took over Indochina during World War II. In 1941 __Ho Chi Minh__ secretly returned to Vietnam. Under his leadership the Viet Minh was organized. The United States supported __Ho Chi Minh__ and Viet Minh in the war against Japan. After the end of World War II in Asia, __Ho Chi Minh__ declared Vietnam’s independence.

However, the French government did not want to lose its colony. The war between __France__ and the Viet Minh began in 1946. __France__ asked the United States for help in this war and the US government agreed. The United States did not want __communism__ to spread in Asia. In addition, president __Truman__ needed French support against the Soviet Union in Europe. President __Truman__ gave 10 million dollars in military aid to the French government. The United States entered the conflict in Vietnam in 1950. The French army lost the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Subsequently, France and the Viet Minh met for peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland in May 1954. Both countries reached an agreement called the Geneva Accords. Based on this agreement Vietnam was divided into two parts, North and South. The border between North and South was along the 17th parallel. The French and their allies were supposed to leave Vietnam. The North and South would hold elections in 1956 in order to choose a single government for Vietnam.

__Ho Chi Minh__ and his __communist__ government ruled North Vietnam. __Ngo Dinh Diem__ who was an anti-Communist became president of the South Vietnam. __Ngo Dinh Diem__ was afraid of popularity of __Ho Chi Minh__ and rejected Geneva Accords by refusing to schedule national election in 1956. The United States supported Diem. President Eisenhower sent __military advisers__ to South Vietnam to help Diem. South Vietnamese Communist fought against Diem and wanted to reunite the country under Communist government. North Vietnam strongly supported South Vietnamese Communist called the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong was becoming stronger. However, for the United States the Viet Cong was representing communists. In 1963 president __Kennedy__ sent more __military advisers__ to South Vietnam. Diem government was very unpopular. A military coup overthrew Diem and he was killed on November 1, 1963. President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The next president L. __Johnson__ continued the same politics in Vietnam as earlier presidents. He did not want Vietnam to become a communistic country.

After the death of president Diem the chaos in South Vietnam was increasing. North Vietnam continued to support the Viet Cong. Although there were thousands of US soldiers in Vietnam, they were advisors. The United States Congress did not declared war. President __Johnson__ announced that the US ship Maddox that had been patrolling in the __Gulf of Tonkin__ was attacked by North Vietnamese on August 2, 1964. The second attack was reported two days later. President __Johnson__ asked the Congress to give him the power to use military force in Vietnam to defend the United States troops in Vietnam as well as South Vietnam. The Congress passed the __Gulf of Tonkin__ Resolution, which approved the United States participation in Vietnam War. President Johnson approved __Operation Rolling Thunder__ in February 1965. The bombing of North Vietnam by the United States military forces began in March 1965. At the same time, the first ground troops were sent to Vietnam.