Starting the Vietnam War

Let us agree from the very beginning that an exact starting point of the Vietnam war cannot be set. The United States entered that war gradually, following certain steps which spread over a 15-year timeline, from 1950 to 1965. And even before that, one needs to take into account the interest France held prior in the region. In the second half of the 19th century, the French began to take control of Vietnam. At first their intervention was meant to be a mere protectorate, but it gradually tu...