North Vietnam Timeline of Events

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North Vietnam

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout the country...

Timeline of Events

1945

9.2.1945

Vietnam declares its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

1946

3.2.1946

Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.

1954

7.21.1954

First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

10.11.1954

First Indochina War: The Viet Minh take control of North Vietnam.

1955

5.18.1955

Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.

1964

7.19.1964

Vietnam War: at a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

8.7.1964

Vietnam War: the U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving US President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.

10.28.1964

Vietnam War: U.S. officials deny any involvement in bombing North Vietnam.

11.28.1964

Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.

12.1.1964

Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.

1965

3.2.1965

The US and South Vietnamese Air Force begins Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

10.23.1965

Vietnam War: The 1st Cavalry Division (United States) (Airmobile), in conjunction with South Vietnamese forces, launches a new operation seeking to destroy North Vietnamese forces in Pleiku in the II Corps Tactical Zone (the Central Highlands).

11.14.1965

Vietnam War: The Battle of the Ia Drang begins – the first major engagement between regular American and North Vietnamese forces.

1967

7.29.1967

Vietnam War: off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.

8.7.1967

Vietnam War: the People's Republic of China agrees to give North Vietnam an undisclosed amount of aid in the form of a grant.

9.4.1967

Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins: U.S. Marines engage the North Vietnamese in battle in the Que Son Valley.

10.12.1967

Vietnam War: US Secretary of State Dean Rusk states during a news conference that proposals by the U.S. Congress for peace initiatives are futile because of North Vietnam's opposition

1968

10.31.1968

Vietnam War October surprise: Citing progress with the Paris peace talks, US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.

1972

3.30.1972

Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

4.2.1972

Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins – North Vietnamese soldiers of the 304th Division take the northern half of Quang Tri Province.

4.10.1972

Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.

4.25.1972

Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.

10.22.1972

Vietnam War: In Saigon, Henry Kissinger and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu meet to discuss a proposed cease-fire that had been worked out between Americans and North Vietnamese in Paris.

10.23.1972

Operation Linebacker, a US bombing campaign against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ends after five months.

12.16.1972

Vietnam War: Henry Kissinger announces that North Vietnam has left private peace negotiations, in Paris.

12.18.1972

Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.

12.30.1972

Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

1973

1.15.1973

Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

1975

3.10.1975

Vietnam War: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam, on their way to capturing Saigon.

4.2.1975

Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.

4.21.1975

Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

4.29.1975

Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind: The U.S. begins to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover. U.S. involvement in the war comes to an end.

1976

7.2.1976

Fall of the Republic of Vietnam; Communist North Vietnam declares their union to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.