path+to+war

Since the late 1800s Vietnam was controlled by the French as a part of French Indochina. However most Vietnamese did not accept this rule and a group of nationalists began to revolt. In 1930, leader Ho Chi Minh created the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) which supported communist rule of Vietnam. They organized protests against French rule but it threatened their lives. In 1940, Japan took over Vietnam and the ICP transformed into the organization Viet Minh. The Viet Minh trained soldiers to fight for Vietnamese independence. Since they opposed Japan the US aided the Viet Minh. After the end of the war Vietnam celebrated their independence but was soon involved in a war with France who wanted to regain control. This time the United States aided the French to help fight against communism as they were trying to contain the spread of communism in the beginning of the Cold War. When China fell to Communism in 1949 the US entered the conflict when they gave $10 million in military aid to France. In 1954 the Viet Minh beat out the French and a peace agreement called the Geneva Accords was created that divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel. The split was temporary and an election in 1956 for a single government was planned. In the North, Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh communists ruled. In the South, Ngo Dinh Diem was an anti-communist prime minister. As people fled the communist North the US provided ships for transportation. Since, Diem had little popularity he refused to hold the 1956 election and President Eisenhower sent US advisors to help “build” the nation of South Vietnam. However, Diem did not create a democracy but rather a very corrupt government that influenced some unhappy South Vietnamese Communists to form the National Liberation Front. Diem gave them the name the Viet Cong in anger. The North supported a communist overthrow and gave supplies to the Viet Cong through the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The US became more and more involved and South Vietnamese became more opposed to Diem. Diem also refused to reform his government which prompted the US to support a military overthrow of Diem. When Diem was assassinated chaos spread through South Vietnam. Many bad leaders took control and North Vietnam started to control more and more of the South’s countryside. President Johnson was advised not to let Vietnam fall to communism and planned to bomb the North. When the US destroyer Maddox was fired at by North Vietnamese boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, Congress was willing to support the use of military force in Vietnam. Johnson became to bomb North Vietnam and sent troops overseas starting the real combat.