1975 represents a critical juncture in the history of the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese diaspora. The year marks the end of two decades of civil war and the beginning of Communist rule throughout Vietnam.

1975 also signifies the beginning of the ongoing exodus of Vietnamese people from their homeland and the formation of new Vietnamese communities in other parts of the world, with the largest exodus to the United States.

Hence, this curriculum guide contains two timelines.

Vietnam Before 1975
This is a chronology of important events in Vietnam prior to 1975. This timeline gives an overview of the Vietnamese struggle with nation building in the context of foreign occupation and military conflict.
(file size > 96k > approx download time 13 secs @ 56k)

Vietnam and Vietnamese Americans After 1975
This timeline deals with events after 1975 and contains essentially two adjacent chronologies: the development of Vietnam and the experience of Vietnamese in the United States.
(file size > 132k > approx download time 18 secs @ 56k)


Editors Note • There were migrations of Vietnamese to the United States prior to 1975, but they comprised a small population primarily of academic intellectuals, government officials, and their families. This curriculum guide focuses rather on Vietnamese Americans after 1975, because these earlier immigrants, as a whole, were more disparate and transient, and felt less inclined to immerse themselves in the process of community building.


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