- 1945
- March: The Japanese occupying forces claim sovereignty over Vietnam, ending French authority.
- August 14th: Japan formally surrenders to the Allies. Japanese forces in Vietnam remain in control temporarily.
- September 2nd: Ho Chi Minh proclaims a declaration of Vietnamese independence, to a crowd of 400,000 in Hanoi.
- September 22nd: 1,400 French soldiers enter Saigon and attack Viet Minh members and civilians.
- October: 35,000 French soldiers arrive in southern Vietnam to assist with the restoration of French colonial rule.
- October: Under pressure from occupying Chinese officials, Ho Chi Minh dissolves the Indochina Communist Party.
- February: China and France reach an agreement
- May: Ho Chi Minh travels to France in an attempt to negotiate full independence for Vietnam and fails
- June: French governor d’Argenlieu proclaims Cochin-china (southern Vietnam) an autonomous republic.
- November 20th: Fighting breaks out being the Viet Minh and French forces at Haiphong.
- December 19th: 30,000 Viet Minh soldiers attack French positions at Haiphong, sparking the First Indochina War.
- October 7th: CEFEO (Corps Expéditionnaire Français d'Extrême-Orient) launch Operation Lea against Viet Minh positions; 9,000 Viet Minh killed but most escape.
- March 8th: The French recognize an ‘independent’ State of Vietnam, with emperor Bao Dai as head of government.
- January: China begins supplying Viet Minh with military advisors, artillery, weapons and equipment.
- February: Viet Minh begins an offensive against French positions in northern Vietnam, close to the Chinese border.
- July 26th: US provides $15 million to French forces in Vietnam. This aid increases rapidly as the war progresses.
- September: Giap launches a counter-offensive in the far north; 6,000 French troops are killed or captured.
- January: 20,000 Viet Minh troops launch a series of offensives against French positions in northern Vietnam.
- April: Viet Minh forces invade Laos
- May: General Navarre appointed commander of French forces and declares there is “no possibility of winning the war”.
- March 13th: 50,000 Viet Minh soldiers begin their attack on Dien Bien Phu, destroying the airstrip with artillery.
- May 7th: The siege ends with the surrender of 10,000 French soldiers. 8,000 Viet Minh and 1,500 French have died.
- May 8th: Geneva Conference(Geneva conferences purpose was to attempt to find a way to settle outstanding issues in the Korean peninsula and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina) begins; attendees include the US, Britain, France, Viet Minh and Bao Dai’s government.
- July 20th: The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam at the 17th parallel. US and South Vietnam both refuse to sign.
- October: The French depart Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh returns from eight years of exile to take control of North Vietnam.
- October-November: Mass migration of Vietnamese between north and south. Almost one million flee the North.