The Vietnam of 1954 was a country that had nationalism running through its veins after being under French rule for decades and a short time under Japanese rule. All the Vietnamese wanted was to be their own country. The North began to push back the French and did everything they could to regain their homeland. The French were beginning to sense this due to the numerous attacks launched by the Vietnamese against them. Several nations met to determine how the French could withdraw peacefully. From the meetings came the Geneva Accords and a ceasefire was initiated. The French left and theirs was a temporary division along the 17th parallel. Democratic elections would take place in 1956 which would reunite the country under a single government. Inevitably, however, since Ho Chi Minh wanted to be a democratic and communist country, this did not appear to be in the best interests of the United States. South Vietnam held elections only in South Vietnam rather than across the entire country. After distinguishing most of his rivals, Ngo Dinh Diem was elected leader of the South. Diem's ​​leadership proved so horrible that he was killed in 1963 during a U.S.-backed coup. He alienated many South Vietnamese during his tenure. Communist sympathizers in South Vietnam founded the National Liberation Front (NLF), also known as the Viet Cong, in 1960 to use guerrilla warfare against the South Vietnamese. North Vietnam would also do whatever it took to be a United Vietnam. North Vietnam fired directly at two U.S. ships in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin, and the U.S. Congress responded with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This resolution gave the President the authority to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam....... middle of document ......>."NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (NLF) ANTI-AMERICAN VIETNAM WAR FLYERS ). Anti-American National Liberation Front leaflets used during the Vietnam War. nd Web. 16 April 2014. "Propaganda Leaflets: From North Vietnam to the United States" Propaganda Leaflets: From North Vietnam to the USNp, nd Web. 16 April 2014. “World History Connected | Vol. 5 no. 1 | Marc Jason Gilbert: From Tonkin to Tikrit: Placing Communist Propaganda During the American Vietnam War in Modern World History." Connected World History | vol. 5 No. 1 | Marc Jason Gilbert: From Tonkin to Tikrit: Placing Propaganda communist during the American war in Vietnam in modern world history. Np, nd Web. 16 April. 2014. .