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Vietnam
Evidence of human habitation in caves in north-eastern Vietnam’s Ba Be
National Park were announced in 2020, having been dated to about 18,000 BC.
Most of the finds were found in Tham Kit Cave, which included stone tools,
traces of an oven, and animal teeth and bones. Importantly, the cave is near
a lake, so early humans there would have had access to water.
Around 2000 BC,
Chinese
rice and millet farmers spread southwards into a region which stretched
between Vietnam and Burma.
There, they interbred with local hunter-gatherers in two main pulses, this
being the first with the second taking place around the end of the first
century BC. In 2017 a team led by Harvard Medical School geneticist, Mark
Lipson, concluded that these population movements brought agriculture to
the region and triggered the spread of Austroasiatic languages that are
still spoken in parts of south and south-east Asia. Over the preceding
twenty years, archaeology had already accumulated increasing amounts of
evidence to support the emergence of rice farming in south-east Asia
between 2,500-2,000 BC, accompanied by tools and pottery which revealed
links to southern China (see the entry for 2500 BC in the timeline,
below).
Modern Vietnam
emerged from two states,
Annam (otherwise known as
Nam Viet or Dai Viet) in
the north, and Champa
in the south. It was a variation of the name 'Nam Viet' that was
eventually selected as the fully unified country's name in the 1940s,
during Japanese
occupation. Prior to that, the ancient northern kingdom eventually
became free of Chinese
rule and later conquered its long-term rival, Champa. Even this
expanded kingdom still did not fully resemble the modern country -
it would be the best part of four hundred years before that would
happen. Today Vietnam occupies an 'S' shape at the eastern end of
South-East Asia. The South China Sea presents it with a long
coastline, while its territory stretches from the Red River in the
north to the Mekong Delta in the south.
The Mekong Delta region was originally
Cambodian, while
the region has a long history of other groups occupying parts of
modern Vietnam. In the highlands of western Vietnam were dozens of
non-Vietnamese ethnic groups such as the Rhadé, the Jorai, and the
Tai, and in the southern coastal towns, such as Hoi An, near Danang,
there were vibrant communities of Japanese and Chinese traders.
(Additional information from Vietnam: A New History,
Christopher Goscha, and from External Links:
Bradshaw Foundation, and
Ancient Chinese farmers sowed literal seeds of change in south-east Asia
(Science News).
Traces of early humans found in Ba Be National Park (Vietnam Plus).) |
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2500 - 1000 BC |
A vast
trading network operates in Vietnam during this period. A number of
settlements along the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam around Rach Nui
are part of a significant network which manufactures and circulates large
volumes of items over hundreds of kilometres of territory. A 2017 study proves
the existence of this previously unknown major trade network which also
includes specialist tool-makers and technological knowledge. The Rach Nui
region has no stone resources, so its people must import the stone and work
it to produce their tools. A quarry located over eighty kilometres away in
the upper reaches of the Dong Nai river valley provides a perfect supplier
for this resource.
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A new study, led by researcher Dr Catherine J Frieman of the
ANU School of Archaeology and Anthropology, revealed in 2017
findings showing a number of settlements along the Mekong Delta
region of southern Vietnam which were part of a significant
trading network
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Thuc Rulers of Annam
257 - 207 BC
Annam is Chinese for 'The Pacified South'. This was a Viet state in the Red
River Delta. It and its successors were strongly influenced by
China, and spent a long period
as part of China. The Thuc Dynasty lasted for almost exactly the same period
as the Chinese Qin.
The name Annam was largely used to describe Vietnam as a whole until the end
of the French colonial period. |
257 - 207 BC |
An Duong |
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221 - 214 BC |
Over
the course of five military campaigns, Emperor Qin Shihuang largely manages
to subdue the Yue tribes and kingdoms of the coastal south. During the chaos
of the 'Warring States' period
they have gained control of much of Sichuan, but the steamy jungles of the south
and Yue skills at guerrilla warfare make their conquest a tough and brutal process.
Over 100,000 Qin
men are lost in the first attempt, but the building of a supply canal for the
second campaign ensures steady progress thereafter. The Qin army even reaches
as far south as Hanoi during one expedition. |
207 BC |
Annam
is replaced by the Chieu dynasty of
Nam Viet. |
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Chieu Rulers of Nam Viet / Nan Yue
207 - 111 BC
(Additional information from A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to
the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD), Rafe de Crespigny (Handbook of
Oriental Studies. Section 4 China, Vol 19, Brill, 2006), and from External Link:
Ancient Chinese farmers sowed literal seeds of change in south-east Asia
(Science News).) |
207 - 137 BC |
Vu Vuong
/ Zhao Tuo |
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137 - 125 BC |
Van Vuong
/ Zhao Mo |
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125 - 113 BC |
Minh Vuong
/ Zhao Yinqi |
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113 - 111 BC |
Ap Vuong
/ Zhao Xing |
Murdered by his prime
minister. |
112/111 BC |
Emperor
Wu Di of Han
sends missions to Nam Viet to summon Ap Vuong to the Han court. Ap Vuong
elects to submit but is opposed by his prime minister and the state's military
chief, Lü Jia. The Han send two thousand troops to arrest Lü Jia but he
pre-empts their arrival, launching a coup which results in the murder of Ap
Vuong and his supporters. Ap Vuong's son is proclaimed king and immediately
declares war on the Han.ey encounter the
Sakas.
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The Han conquest of Qin China had to wait until the great Qin
emperor himself was dead and it still took a year of fighting
to destroy the Qin armies. Once the victors had completed their
own civil war, the Han set about expanding southwards, invading
the Nam Viet kingdom in 111 BC (click or tap on map to view full sized)
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111 BC |
Duong Vuong
/ Zhao Jiande |
Son. Defeated,
captured, and executed by the
Han. |
111 BC - AD 544 |
In
response to the loss of many of his two thousand troops, Emperor Wu Di of
Han sends a
much larger force, around 100,000 men, which sweeps into the capital, Panyu.
Duong Vuong and Lü Jia flee by boat, but are captured and executed. Temples
dedicated to Lü Jia suggest that his wives and troops subsequently scatter
across the delta of the Red River in northern Vietnam, possibly fighting on
until 98 BC, but the kingdom has already fallen and remains a Chinese subject
until Nam Viet re-emerges as an independent entity under the
Li dynasty of the sixth
century AD.
It is during this period, roughly around the end of the first century BC,
that a second pulse of migration takes place between southern China and a
swathe of territory which stretches between
Burma and Vietnam. Farmers
here inherit a genetic makeup that differs in some ways from that of the
earlier Man Bac migrants who had left southern
China around
2000 BC, but still closely resembles the DNA of present-day inhabitants
of southern China.
In the first century AD (40-43) the Trưng Sisters of northern Vietnam
rebel against Later
Han domination there. Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị
set up a state of their own which they govern for three years. General Ma
Yuan, a descendant of the
Late Zhao
dynasty of Chinese kings, is sent against them. He defeats them in battle in
AD 43 and both sisters die, either during the battle or shortly afterwards.
They are now regarded as Vietnamese national heroines. |
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Kings of Champa
192 BC - AD 1471
Strongly influenced by India
even down to the names of its kings. Its name may have originated from the
capital of the Indian Iron Age kingdom of
Anga. Its eventual conquest meant
its culture was submerged by a Chinese-influenced one. The capital was at Indrapura. |
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AD 1300s |
Po
Binasor |
Twice defeated the Nam Viet and sacked Hanoi. |
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Kings of Nam Viet
AD 544 - 1533
Nam Viet formed much of what became familiar as Vietnam. Occupied by China since
its previous Chieu rulers were
conquered in 111 BC, It re-emerged as an independent kingdom,
at first briefly, later more permanently, until it broke up by 1533. |
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Early Li / Ly Dynasty |
544 - 548 |
Bon |
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548 - 571 |
Kuan Phuc |
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549 - 555 |
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Thien Bao |
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571 - 603 |
Phat Tu |
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603 - 939 |
Conquered
by the Sui Chinese,
the Nam Viet kingdom eventually re-emerges under the Ngo Dynasty. |
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Ngo Dynasty
The Ngo were unable to subdue a dozen local military chiefs and never secured recognition
from China. |
939 - 945 |
Kuyen |
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945 - 951 |
Duong Tam Kha |
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951 - 954 |
Suong Ngap |
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951 - 965 |
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Suong Van |
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965 - 968 |
The
kingdom is controlled by the
Northern
Sung Dynasty of China. |
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Dinh Dynasty
Short-lived, but the dynasty defeated the warlords and pacified the Chinese with tribute. |
968 - 979 |
Dinh Tien |
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979 - 981 |
Dinh De Toan |
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Early Le Dynasty
The Early Le began by defeating a
Chinese invasion in 981. The following year
they attacked Champa, killed
its king, sacked the Cham capital (Indrapura), and came home with an enormous
amount of booty. Le Hoan's successor, however, was dethroned by the first monarch of
the Later Ly dynasty. |
981 - 1005 |
Le Hoan |
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1005 - 1009 |
Trung Tong |
Dethroned. |
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Later Li / Ly Dynasty
The Ly replaced warlords with a Chinese-style civil service
bureaucracy at Hanoi, and thus granted their country with a far greater degree
of stability. The Le called their country Dai Viet, but the Chinese name of Annam
('The Pacified South') was used everywhere else.
The country prospered, and the government encouraged cultural progress by
vigorously promoting literature, art, and Mahayana Buddhism. |
1010 - 1028 |
Thai To |
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1028 - 1054 |
Thai Tong |
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1054 - 1069 |
Thanh Tong |
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1069 - 1072 |
Thanh Tong |
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Later Le Dynasty |
1072 - 1127 |
Nan Ton |
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1127 - 1138 |
Than Tong |
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1138 - 1175 |
Anh Tong |
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1175 - 1210 |
Kao Tong |
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1210 - 1224 |
Hue Tong |
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1224 - 1225 |
Tieu Hoang |
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Early Tran Dynasty |
1225 - 1258 |
Thai Tong |
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1258 - 1277 |
Thanh Tong |
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1278 - 1293 |
Nan Tong |
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1288 |
The
Nam Viet defeat the invading Mongols. |
1293 - 1314 |
Anh Tong |
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1314 - 1329 |
Minh Tong |
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1329 - 1341 |
Hien Tong |
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1341 - 1369 |
Du Tong |
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1370 - 1372 |
Nghe Tong |
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1372 - 1377 |
Due Tong |
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1377 - 1388 |
De Hien |
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1388 - 1398 |
Tran Thuan Tong |
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1398 - 1400 |
Tran Thieu De |
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Ho Dynasty |
1400 |
Ho Qui Ly / Kui Li |
Usurper. |
1400 - 1407 |
Han Thuong |
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1407 - 1428 |
The
country is occupied by the
Ming Chinese. |
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Later Tran Dynasty |
1407 - 1409 |
Hau Tran Jian Dinh De |
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1409 - 1413 |
Hau Tran |
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1413 - 1428 |
[Vacant] |
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Later Le Dynsty (Restored) |
1428 - 1433 |
Thai To |
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1433 - 1442 |
Thai Tong |
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1442 - 1459 |
Nan Tong |
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1460 - 1497 |
Thanh Tong |
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1497 - 1504 |
Hien Tong |
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1504 - 1509 |
Vi Muc De |
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1509 - 1516 |
Tuong Duc De |
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1516 - 1522 |
Tieu Tong |
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1522 - 1527 |
Kung Hoang |
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Mac Dynasty |
1527 - 1529 |
Dang Dung |
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1529 - 1533 |
Dang Doanh |
d.1540 |
1533 |
The
kingdom of Nam Viet breaks up. The most prominent survivor is the kingdom
of Dai Viet. |
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Kings of Dai Viet (Nguyen Dynasty)
AD 1533 - 1954
Dai Viet was the kingdom which eventually conquered
other, more minor, kingdoms to form the basis of modern
Vietnam. The
Vietnamese warlords of the Nguyen family finally displaced the Chams
and Khmers and, in the eighteenth century, completed their 'southern
advance' in the region to the south of Saigon. The expanding Vietnamese
empire had long been divided between the Nguyen in the south and the
Trinh lords in the north, but Nguyen Emperor Gia Long unified Vietnam
in 1802. Sadly it was less than sixty years before the
French gradually
subdued the country in the second half of the nineteenth century and
once again divided it - this time into the protectorates of Tonkin in
the north, Annam in the centre, and the colony of Cochinchina in the
south.
(Additional information from Vietnam: A New History, Christopher
Goscha.) |
1533 - 1545 |
Kim |
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1545 - 1558 |
The
country is split by civil war. |
1558 - 1613 |
Hoang |
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1613 - 1635 |
Phuc Nguyen |
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1635 - 1648 |
Phuc Lan |
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1648 - 1687 |
Phuc Tan |
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1687 - 1691 |
Phuc Tran |
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1691 - 1725 |
Phuc Chu I |
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1725 - 1738 |
Phuc Chu II |
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1738 - 1765 |
Phuc Khoat |
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1765 - 1778 |
Phuc Thuan |
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1778 - 1802 |
Anh |
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1802 - 1820 |
Gia Long |
Emperor. |
1802 |
It is
under Emperor Gai Long that the kingdom of Dai
Viet absorbs the other Vietnamese kingdoms to create a single kingdom. |
1820 - 1841 |
Minh Mang |
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1831 - 1834 |
The
Siamese-Vietnamese War has the alternate title of the Siamese-Cambodian
War. Following Ang Chan's recapture of the
Cambodian throne
in 1812, the
Siamese
have been moving into northern Cambodia and then advancing towards the south
in support of their own claimant. The Cambodians are routed at the Battle of
Kompong Chang in 1832, and Ang Chan is forced to flee to Viet Nam. Siam is
soon distracted by a revolt by the Cambodians at the same time as the
Vietnamese-controlled Laos revolt. A Vietnamese army of 15,000 advances
towards the Siamese in 1833, forcing the latter to withdraw. Ang Chan is
restored, albeit as a Vietnamese puppet. |
1841 - 1848 |
Thieu Tri |
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1841 - 1845 |
The 'Siamese-Vietnamese War in Cambodia', as it is known, has seen
increasing Vietnamese influence in
Cambodia during
the reign of Queen Ang Mey. The Cambodians rebel in 1841, overthrowing the
pro-Vietnamese elements and appealing to
Siam.
Their chosen candidate is Prince Ang Duong, and he is duly installed by force
in 1842. Viet Nam and Siam now face strike and counter-strike by their
respective armies while the Cambodians rebel against the same Siamese
heavy-handedness that started the war in the first place. On 13 September
1845, the Vietnamese take Phnom Penh and Siam is forced to withdraw. During
the subsequent peace negotiations, Cambodia is placed under joint
Siamese-Vietnamese protection. |
1848 - 1883 |
Tu Duc |
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1863 |
King Norodom requests that
France
establishes a protectorate over
Cambodia, ending
joint Siamese-Vietnamese protection. Siam voluntarily relinquishes its role
and recognises the French protectorate of Cambodia. Viet Nam has its own
problems, with creeping French colonial activities taking place within its
borders. |
1883 - 1940 |
Dai
Viet comes under a
French
protectorate. |
1883 |
Duc Duc |
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1883 |
Hiep Hoa |
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1883 - 1884 |
Kien Phuc |
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1884 - 1885 |
Ham Nghi |
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1885 - 1889 |
Dong Khanh |
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1885 - 1907 |
Thanh Thai |
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1907 - 1916 |
Duy Tan |
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1916 - 1925 |
Khai Dinh |
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1926 - 1945 |
Bao Dai |
Japanese
puppet (1940-45). Abdicated. |
1940 - 1945 |
The
country is occupied
by Japan.
During this period it is renamed by the emperor from Annam to Vietnam. Bao
Dai's abdication has been seen by the author Stanley Karnow, as a
relinquishing of the 'mandate of heaven', with Ho Chi Minh succeeding to it
as the only apparent leading figure in the country to be pursuing the dream
of a free Vietnam. |
1945 - 1954 |
The French
Protectorate is re-established. Almost immediately, in 1946, communist forces provided
with arms and supplies by
China attempt to take control of the country. The First Indochina War
becomes a key battleground in the Cold War. France is provided with supplies
and arms by the
USA,
which is highly concerned about the 'domino effect' of country after country
falling to communism, but it is French soldiers who fight on the ground in a
war that is largely overshadowed by the USA's subsequent involvement in the
region. |
1949 - 1955 |
Bao Dai |
Restored by France. Head of state of South
Vietnam. |
1954 - 1955 |
On 7 May 1954 the Viet Minh defeat the
French
at Dien Bien Phu, effectively ending French involvement in Indochina. The
democratic republic of
Vietnam is declared in the north of the country, and this does nothing
to end the fighting. |
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Modern Vietnam
AD 1954 - Present Day
The socialist republic of Vietnam is located along
a relatively narrow band of land at the eastern end of the south-east
Asian region. Reaching down from the Red River, at the northern and
southern ends this 'band' widens out around the cities of Hanoi and
Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) respectively. The country is
bordered by
China to the north, across the South China Sea to the east by the
Philippines and to the south and south-east by Malaysia, and to the
west by Cambodia
and Laos.
Vietnam primarily emerged into history in the form
of two kingdoms, Annam
(otherwise known as Nam Viet
or Dai Viet) in the north, and
Champa in the south. The
northern kingdom encompassed parts of southern China along the South
China Sea coastline, and eventually it managed to free itself of
Chinese dominance. Later it conquered Champa to form a single state
that was vaguely similar to the modern one in terms of territory (in
the north and centre of modern Vietnam). The Mekong Delta region in
the far south of the country was not originally Vietnamese but Cambodian.
That united Nam Viet eventually fell under the domination of
French
colonialism in the nineteenth century and into the first half of the
twentieth century.
Following the end of the Second World War,
Japanese
occupation was replaced by an attempt to re-establish the French
Protectorate in 1945. After fighting the Japanese for five years,
this was certainly not part of the plans of the country's communist
forces. They were encouraged by newly-communist China to attempt to
take control of the country. They did so in the north, with a capital
at Hanoi, The First Indochina War was the result of this opposition,
with outside forces becoming involved because this battleground was
seen as being a key piece of the Cold War struggle between democracy
and communism. With France having withdrawn from Indochina, the
USA
had to involve itself directly, no longer simply supplying arms. In
the end, such was the determination and ingenuity of the communist
forces, even the USA couldn't change the outcome. In 1975-1976 the
country was fully united under a communist government and modern
Vietnam was now its own master after almost a century of outside
involvement.
Forty years after the destructive and long-lasting conflict, the
Vietnam of 2016 is resolutely a nation rather than a war in the
eyes of the world. The one-party communist state today is
self-confident and is developing rapidly, its progress all-evident
in the country's booming metropolises. Vietnam's allure is easy
to appreciate as ancient, labyrinthine trading quarters of
still-thriving craft industries lie alongside grand colonial
mansions from the French era, all of which is overseen by
twenty-first century glass-and-steel high rise towers. The
country's monarchy, which removed itself from commanding the
country as a whole in 1945, was also deposed in the south by
President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1955. Since then the emperor and his
descendants have maintained their use of the appropriate titles
while living in exile (usually in France and Monaco). They have
not overtly pursued a policy of having the monarchy restored.
All such hereditary claimants to the throne are shown below with
a shaded background.
(Additional information from The State of The World's Refugees
2000 - Chapter 4: Flight from Indochina, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, and from External Links:
Lonely
Planet, and
BBC Country Profiles.) |
1954 - 1955 |
Bao Dai |
Former emperor
of Dai Vet. Usurped by President
Diem. |
1954 - 1965 |
Ho
Chi Minh |
'President' of
North Vietnam. Died 1969. |
1954 - 1960 |
On 7
May 1954 the Viet Minh defeat the
French
at Dien Bien Phu, effectively ending French involvement in Indochina. The
democratic republic of Vietnam in the north of the country is recognised
internationally by the Geneva Accords, now making Hanoi its capital. In the
three hundred-day period of open borders, more than a million Vietnamese
move south along with anti-communist forces, while a much smaller number
move north. Perhaps two million more people are prevented from migrating
south by the Viet Minh. The communist leader is Ho Chi Minh, the sixty-four
year-old leader of the Viet Minh independence movement (from 1941), and now
the 'president' of the north. The leader in the south, once he has 'won' a
fraudulent campaign to create a republic and remove the king from office, is
President Ngo Dinh Diem.
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The Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh (Vietnam Independence League)
became far better known as the Viet Minh, a communist
organisation that was founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1941 to conduct
resistance operations against the French colonists and then the
occupying Japanese
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In 1956 President Diem begins campaign against political dissidents, but
all this does is trigger a communist insurgency in the south in 1957.
Within two years weapons and men from the north are infiltrating the south,
and in 1960 the
USA
increases its aid to President Diem, eager to halt the 'domino effect' of
states falling under communist leaderships. Although it remains undeclared,
this is the start of the Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War. |
1955 - 1977 |
Bao Dai |
Deposed in 1955. King of Vietnam in exile. |
1963 |
The communist guerrillas operating in South Vietnam are known as the Viet
Cong. Now they defeat units of the ARVN, the South Vietnamese Army.
President Diem is overthrown and then killed in a
US-backed
military coup. |
1964 |
The
US
congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on 7 August 1964, increasing
American military involvement in Vietnam and officially bringing it into the
war. Otherwise known as the South-East Asia Resolution, it is a response to
the eponymous fire-fight on 2 August 1964 between US naval forces which have
been engaged in clandestine attacks on North Vietnamese installations and
three Vietnamese gunboats which fail utterly to scare them off. The
political spin of the incident is enough to win almost universal backing
for increased US action in what is now a war in all but name. |
1965 - 1986 |
Le Duan |
General Secretary of the Central Committee (North
Vietnam). |
1968 |
After building up the number of its military forces in South Vietnam over
the previous three years, the
US
now has half a million men in the country. The north launches the Tet
Offensive - a combined assault by Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army on
US positions. Morale in the US forces drops as the number of US casualties
mounts by the day. During the campaign, and during an apparent moment of
madness, more than five hundred civilians die in the US massacre at My Lai.
Thousands more are killed by communist forces during their occupation of
the city of Hue.
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The Vietnam War between the north and south, with US
support for the latter, devastated the country and
created pictures like these that helped to shape
anti-war opinion around the world
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1969 - 1973 |
Ho Chi Minh dies in 1969, removing the north's powerful figurehead (although
he had officially retired in 1965), and President Nixon begins to reduce
US
ground troops in Vietnam as domestic public opposition to the war grows. The
following year, Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le
Duc Tho of the Hanoi government start talks in Paris but in the same year
Cambodia finds
itself being dragged into the widening conflict when Prime Minister Lon
Nol mounts a successful coup against King Sihanouk. The king organises
a guerrilla movement from exile, and with US forces in Vietnam also becoming
involved, Cambodia quickly becomes mired in a civil war against the Khmer
Rouge guerrilla forces. |
1975 - 1976 |
With
US
troops having been pulled out in March 1975 under the terms of the 1973
ceasefire agreement in Paris, the cities of the south fall one by one to the
communist forces. The South Vietnamese government surrenders unconditionally
to North Vietnam on 30 April 1975, ending the Vietnam War. A communist
republic is declared and the country is reunited in 1976 under a single
leadership which consists of a largely ceremonial presidency, a ruling
secretary-general of the Communist Party, the real power, and a prime
minister. The 'Socialist Republic of Vietnam' is born. The event causes
hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, mostly from the south, to flee the
country, including many 'boat people'. Contrary to international fears,
though, there are no mass executions of South Vietnamese. |
1977 - 2007 |
Bao Long |
Born in 1936. Son of Bao Dai. King of Vietnam in exile. |
1978 |
Following several border incursions and attacks on Vietnamese villages by
the Khmer Rouge rulers of
Cambodia,
Vietnamese troops invade and conquer of much of the country. The Khmer
Rouge are pushed back from the heartland of the country and have to resume
a guerrilla warfare approach to maintaining what positions they do retain.
The pro-Vietnamese Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party wins the
Cambodian elections in 1981, forming the Third Republic, but its rule is
not internationally recognised and later faces mounting guerrilla resistance.
Vietnamese dominance in Cambodia lasts until 1991, although the last
Vietnamese troops are withdrawn in 1989. |
1986 |
Truong Chinh |
General Secretary of the Central Committee. Died 1987. |
1986 |
Reformist elements within the central committee win a victory at the Sixth
National Congress. The old guard of hard line leaders is replaced by the
reformers themselves. A series of free market reforms eases the burden of
the communist planned economy, altering it to a more open socialist market
economy. |
1986 - 1991 |
Nguyen Van Linh |
General Secretary of the Central Committee. |
1991 - 1997 |
Do Muoi |
General Secretary of the Central Committee. |
1992 |
The country adopts a new constitution which permits certain economic
freedoms. The Communist Party remains the leading force in Vietnamese
society, but is managing things in a far more moderate manner.
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Modern Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon) is now the most
highly-populated city in Vietnam, with a mixture of modern
office skyscrapers, Oriental pagodas, and street food stalls
that is the product of a reconciliation between American and
Chinese influence
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1994 - 1995 |
The
US
lifts its thirty-year trade embargo in 1994 and the following year restores
full diplomatic relations. Vietnam becomes full member of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). |
1997 - 2001 |
Le Kha Phieu |
General Secretary of the Central Committee. |
1997 - 1999 |
Le Kha Phieu becomes party leader, with Tran Duc Luong being chosen as
president and Phan Van Khai prime minister. The following year, a senior
party member, Pham The Duyet, faces charges of corruption, and economic
growth slumps in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. In 1999 a former
high-ranking party member, Tran Do, is expelled after calling for more
democracy and freedom of expression. |
2001 - 2011 |
Nong Duc Manh |
General Secretary of the Central Committee. |
2002 |
Russia
hands back the Cam Ranh Bay naval base, once the largest Soviet base outside
of the Warsaw Pact territories. President Tran Duc Luong is reappointed for
second term of office by the National Assembly, which also reappoints Prime
Minister Phan Van Khai for a second five-year term. The state apparatus
continues to silence criticism of its management, and online censorship
steadily builds as the internet becomes an increasingly powerful tool for
dissent. However, the country does begin to open up to tourism, becoming a
'Mecca' for backpacker travellers. |
2007 - Present |
Bao Thang |
Born 1943. Brother of Bao Long. King of Vietnam in
exile. |
2011 - Present |
Nguyen Phu Trong |
General Secretary of the Central Committee. |
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