Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Communist Revolutionaries
- Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Communist Revolutionaries
The 19th Century
| 1858 — The French Conquest of Vietnam begins at the behest of Napoleon III |
| 1862 — France completes the conquest of the southern portion of Vietnam, creating the colony of French Cochinchina |
| 1884 — France completes its conquest of Vietnam |
| 1887 — Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are used by France to form the Indochinese Union |
| 1897 — Paul Doumer is appointed Governor-General of French Indochina and severely limits the power of the Vietnamese in the government of their country |
The 20th Century
| 1907 — The Free School of Tonkin is founded around the ideas of Vietnamese nationalism espoused by Phan Boi Chau |
| 1910 — Phan Boi Chau travels to China and establishes a government-in-exile to gain support for Vietnamese independence |
| 1925 — Phan Boi Chau is arrested by the French, convicted of treason, and placed under house arrest until his death |
| 1930 — Ho Chi Minh forms the Indochinese Communist Party |
| 1945 — The League for the Independence of Vietnam, later the Viet Minh, seize control of Hanoi and declare independence. Emperor Bao Dai abdicates the throne and swears fealty to the newly formed Democratic Republic of Vietnam. |
| 1946 — France attempts to reclaim Vietnam and the First Indochina War ensues |
| 1954 — The Geneva Peace Conference sees Vietnam split into the Communist North and Anti-Communist South |
| 1955 — Bao Dai is ousted as king of Vietnam, and Ngo Dinh Diem is made president of South Vietnam |
| 1963 — Diem is deposed in a military coup |
| 1965 — Nguyen Van Thieu is elected president of South Vietnam |
| 1965 — Lyndon B. Johnson orders the bombing of North Vietnam and begins sending troops into South Vietnam |
| 1968 — The Tet Offensive begins, and the Southern and American troops begin losing ground. |
| 1968 — Peace talks begin in Paris |
| 1973 — The Paris Peace Accords are signed and the United States withdraws its troops from Vietnam |
| 1975 — Saigon falls to the Viet Cong and Vietnam is unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam |
William Eichler ’19