Determine what are the most important issues/events of the period from 1945 to 1961 pertaining to the conflict in Southeast Asia/Vietnam War.

During the
period of turmoil from 1945 to 1961
in Vietnam, many key events transpired that ultimately led
to the involvement
of the United States and a full scale war in the region. We will summarize

these below, and then you can select what you feel are the most important of these for
the
purpose of answering the question.

In early 1945,
World War II was still
going on, and the Japanese military occupied
Indochina. The Japanese overthrew the French
authorities and granted
independence to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. However, in August, the
Allies
defeated Japan, and France began to move back in to reassert control. In September,
Ho
Chi Ming, the leader of the Indochinese Communist Party, imitating the
American Declaration of
Independence, proclaimed that North Vietnam was an
independent country.

France rejected Vietnam's claim to
independence, offering only limited self-rule. As a
result, in 1946, the Viet
Ming began to wage guerilla warfare against the French.

In
1947, US President Harry Truman announced the Truman Doctrine. According to
this
policy, the United States would come to the aid of any
communist-threatened country. This
doctrine would become important in the
years ahead as the United States became more involved in
Vietnam.

In 1950, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was formally recognized

by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. These countries began to send
military
and economic assistance to the communist North Vietnamese. In
response, the United States sent
more aid to the French.

In 1954, the French were decisively defeated at the
Battle of Dien
Bien Phu. This weeks-long battle resulted in the capture of 8,000 French

prisoners by the Viet Ming. Over half the prisoners died as they were marched to prison
camps.
This marked the end of French control in Vietnam and the French soon
withdrew their forces. At
the Geneva Conference in July, the country was
divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam at
the 17th parallel. US
President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed his domino theory, which posited

that the fall of Indochina to communism would cause other countries in the region to
fall as
well. United States policy would be guided by this during the war to
come.

In
1959, the Ho Chi Ming Trail was built through
Laos and Cambodia as a supply route for North
Vietnamese soldiers. In the
same year, the first US soldiers were killed during a North
Vietnamese raid
in Saigon.

In 1961, using the domino theory as a
guideline,
US President John F. Kennedy increased United States involvement
in the region by sending 400
Green Berets and some helicopters.

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