Vietnamese History

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World History > Vietnamese History

Prehistory

• c. 20000 BC - Son Vi culture.
• c. 12000 BC - Hoa Binh culture.
• c. 10000 BC - Bac Son culture.
• c. 8000 BC - Quynh Van culture.
• c. 6000 BC - Da But culture.
• c. 5000 BC - Phung Nguyen culture.
• c. 4000 BC - Dong Dau culture.

Early States

• c. 2800 BC - According to legend, Sea Prince Lac Long Quan marries Mountain Princess Auco atop Mount Tan Vien. They have 100 sons, the bravest of which becomes the first of the twenty Hung Vuong rulers.
• c. 2500 BC - Go Mun culture.
• c. 2000 BC - Kingdom of Van Lang rules from capital at Vinh Phu.
• c. 250 BC - An Duong unites the peoples of the highlands and the plains under the kingdom of Au Lac.

Chinese Dominance (207 BC - 939 AD)

• 207 BC - The Chinese portion of northern Vietnam is spun off from the empire following the death of Qin Dynasty emperor Shih Huang Ti. Trieu Da is in control of this new state, Nam Viet.
• 166 BC - Merchants from the Roman Empire reach Nam.
• 111 BC - China's Han Dynasty re-conquers Nam.
• 39 AD - Revolt of the Trung Sisters: Trung Trac becomes ruler of an independent state.
• 43 - The Trungs are defeated by the Hans.
• c. 100 - Kingdom of Champa is founded to the south of Giao Chi.
• 542 - Ly Bi leads a revolt and establishes a new kingdom, Van Xuan.
• 603 - Duong Dynasty attains a limited amount of local control over newly-named Annam, now a puppet of the Chinese Tang Dynasty.
• 939 - Ngo Quyen's army pushes the Chinese out of Annam.

Ly Dynasty (979 - 1225)

• 968 - Annam is renamed Dai Co Viet.
• 982 - Cham capital of Indrapura is sacked by Vietnamese.
• 1010 - Ly dynasty takes over.
• 1054 - Dai Co Viet becomes Dai Viet.
• 1079 - Champa cedes three provinces to the Lys.

Tran Dynasty (1225 - 1400)

• 1225 - Tran family takes over after a long history of marriage to the Ly family.
• 1257 to 1287 - Several Mongol invasions are repelled.
• 1306 - Dai Viet allies with rival Champa through a royal wedding: Champa cedes the modern provinces of Quang Tri and Thua Thien.
• 1307 - Viet-Champa alliance falls apart.
• 1371 - Cham king Che Bong Nga raids the capital of Thang Long.
• 1400 - Ho Quy Ly takes over and institutes many unpopular reforms.

Ming Occupation (1407 - 1428)

• 1407 - The Ming dynasty conquers Dai Viet.
• 1414 - First guns arrive in Dai Viet.

Le Dynasty (1428 - 1789)

• 1428 - Le Loi's army defeats China, ending Dai Viet's integration into the Ming Empire.
• 1470 - Le Thanh Ton defeats Champa.
• 1516 - First Europeans (Portuguese) arrive in Dai Viet.
• 1527 - Mac Dynasty takes over a substantial part of the Red delta.
• 1558 - Annam splits into two courts at Hue and Hanoi.
• 1651 - First Vietnamese dictionary in Quoc Ngu is published.

The Tay Sons and the Nguyens (1771 - 1887)

• 1771 - Peasant revolt led by the Tay Son brothers.
• 1778 - Tay Son family almost completely crushes rival Nguyen family.
• 1782 - First U.S. envoy, John White, arrives.
• 1787 - French missionary Pigneau de Behaine pressures French government to support Nguyens.
• 1789 - Nguyen Hue takes over Dai Viet.
• 1802 - Nguyen Anh defeats the Tay Sons in the wake of his brother's death, and crowns himself Emperor Gia Long of a unified Vietnam.
• 1820 - Vietnam becomes Dai Nam.
• 1831 - Thang Long becomes Hanoi.
• 1834 - Imperial city of Hue is completed. The government begins expelling and executing Catholic missionaries.
• 1847 - French bombardment of Da Nang.
• 1858 - Napoleon III approves the conquest of Vietnam.
• 1859 - France establishes a colony in Cochin China.
• 1884 - Tonkin and Annam provinces are ceded to France as protectorates.

French Indochina (1887 - 1940)

• 1887 - French Indochina unified. The Nguyens retain symbolic power, but all decrees come from Paris.

World War II and the Aftermath (1940 - 1954)

• 1940 - The Japanese Empire takes over, and the Viet Minh are formed to resist the occupation.
• 1945 - Japan surrenders. VM leader Ho Chi Minh declares a republic in Hanoi on September 2 and ousts puppet king Bao Dai in The August Revolution, but the French hold Ho in check.
• 1946 - Franco Viet-Minh War breaks out.
• 1949 - France re-crowns Bao as king of Vietnam.
• 1950 - France gives Vietnam independence within the French Union.

The Vietnam War (1954 - 1975)

• 1954 - Dien Bien Phu falls. France agrees to negotiate Vietnamese independence: the country is divided at the 17th parallel.
• 1955 - South Vietnamese premier Ngo Dinh Diem ousts King Bao, establishing the Republic of Vietnam.
• 1956 - France withdraws from South Vietnam.
• 1963 - Ngo is overthrown. Thich Quang Duc sets himself on fire. Chieu Hoi begins.
• 1964 - U.S. Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in response to a North Vietnamese attack on an American ship.
• 1965 - First U.S. ground troops are sent to Vietnam. Operation Arc Light air strikes begin.
• 1966 - Operation Rolling Thunder air strikes begin.
• 1967 - Nguyen Van Thieu becomes president of South.
• 1968 - Tet Offensive. Rolling Thunder ends.
• 1969 - U.S. troop involvement exceeds 500,000. "Vietnamization" withdrawal begins.
• 1970 - U.S. and South Vietnam invade Cambodia.
• 1972 - Christmas Bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• 1973 - Cease fire. Peace accord signed in Paris. U.S. troops leave, and U.S. bombing ceases.
• 1975 - Fall of Saigon, which is renamed Ho Chi Minh City. South Vietnam collapses.

Communist Vietnam (1975 - )

• 1976 - Official reunification of Vietnam.
• 1978 - Invasion and occupation of Cambodia.
• 1979 - China stages an abortive invasion of Vietnam. USSR takes control of the naval base at Cam Ranh Bay.
• 1989 - Withdrawal from Cambodia.
• 1992 - New constitution ratified. Government signs a cooperative agreement with ASEAN.
• 1994 - U.S. President Bill Clinton visits Vietnam and ends a 19-year U.S. trade embargo.
• 1996 - National civil code goes into effect.
• 2001 - Reformer Nong Duc Manh becomes Secretary-General.