What events led to the Vietnam War?

The Vietnam War was rooted in the aftermath of the First Indochina War, where the Viet Minh sought total independence from French colonial rule. Following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the Geneva Accords temporarily partitioned Vietnam at the 17th parallel.1234

The conflict escalated due to several key factors:

• Political Division: The United States refused to sign the Geneva Accords and supported the creation of an anticommunist state in South Vietnam under Ngo Dinh Diem. When South Vietnam refused to hold the nationwide reunification elections stipulated by the accords, the Viet Minh-led insurgency (the Viet Cong) began an effort to seize power.34
• Cold War Ideology: Driven by the "domino theory," the U.S. feared that a communist victory in Vietnam would lead to the fall of other Southeast Asian nations.56
• Military Escalation: Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution provided the legal authorization for the U.S. to significantly expand its military involvement, leading to the deployment of combat troops in 1965.756