A

A SHORT
SHORT HISTORY
HISTORY OF
OF
VIETNAM
VIETNAM
- Early Kingdoms
- Period of Chinese domination
- Medieval Feudal Dynasties
- French Colonization
- Indochina War ( 1945-1954)
- Vietnam War(1954-1975)
- Vietnam Today
 Chart of History of Vietnam

Period of Medieval Indo

French
Chinese feudal
Early colonization China Vietnam
dynasty
Kingdoms domination war war

179BC 938AD 1858 1945 1954 1975 Today

 EARLY KINGDOMS
to 179 BC
• According to the Vietnamese myths , the first
Vietnames people were descended from a couple
of Lac Long Quan( Dragon) and Au co( Angel) .
• The cuple decided to part ways : 50 kids went
with their mame to the mountains ; other 50 –
with their dad went to the sea , creating their
country ( Vietnam nowadays )
• Their eldest son became the first of earliest
king , collectively, known as the Hung
kings( Hung kings Era or Hong bang Dynesty) .
It began around 3000 BC .
Saying “Goodbye”
• Through the archeological excavations , the first
vienamese kingdom was Vanlang emerged around to
VII .BC , with a population consisting of 15 tribs .
• State organization of the first Vietnamese kingdom
Van lang was such as
King Hung

Lac hau(Court consisted of Assistants )

Lac Lac Lac

Tuong Tuong Tuong
King Hung’s temple
• Country composed of 15 Bo (Region ) , each was
ruled by Lac Tuong(Lac Lord) .
• A Bo(region) comprised agricultural hamlets and
villages based on matriarchal clan relationships
and headed by Bochinhs( leader of region).
• The economy was based on water-rice
cultivation , and in addition were handicrafts ,
hunting , gathering , fishinng . Lac Lord
controlled the communal settlement around each
irrigated area , organized construction and
maintenance of the dykes .
• The famous relics in Van lang time are bronze
drums belonging Dong son culture .
Song Da bronze drum
 THE SECOND KINGDOM-AU LAC
• By the third century BC , the last Hung King
was overthrown by Thuc Phan( An Duong
Vuong ) , the ruler of small neighboring
kingdom Thuc , another Viet group
• Thuc Phan deafeted Van lang and then united
it with Thuc land to form Au Lac- a new
kingdom. He built his capital at Co loa, thirty-
five km north of present-day Ha noi .
• Co Loa was built with many concentric layers
of walls around the city for defensive purpose
. King An Duong vuong only had the “Magic
crossbow “, that could one time deliver
thousands of arrows .
• In 179 BC , a chinese warlord named Trieu
Da(Zhao Tuo) defeated king An Duong vuong
by having his son Trong Thuy(Zhong Shi) act
as a spy after marrying An Duong vuong’s
daughter, My chau .

• Trieu Da annexed the kingdom Au Lac ,

beginning a period of chinese domination upon
Vietnam ( 179 BC – 938 AD )
A map of Co Loa
A part of Co Loa’s remain nowadays
King An Duong
Vuong’s temple
Vietnam in III BC
 PERIOD OF CHINESE
DOMINATION

• TRUNG SISTERS ( 40-43 AD)

• LADY TRIEU UPRISING (248)
• LY BI & TRIEU VIET VUONG DYNASTY(544-
602 )
• MAI HAC DE (722)
• PHUNG HUNG(791-798)
Autonomy
- KHUC THUA DU (906-930)
- DUONG DINH NGHE(931-937)
- Battle in Bach dang River 938 against the South
Han .
Stakes in Bach
dang river
• SOME FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
VIETNAM HISTORY IN THE PERIOD OF CHINESE
DOMINATION .

• Two historical tendencies : sinicization and

desinicization
• The chinese dynasties carried out assimilation
policies upon Vietnamese people , destroyed
vietnamese culture
• Vietnamese people led an enduring struggle
against chinese assimilation policies . The
vietnamese villages became fortresses
preserving vietnamese culture , especially ,
vietnamese language.
• Vietnamese culture was challengeable
successfully during the period of Chinese
domination lasting 10 centuries , because , it
has got its own traditional character .
• Chinese domination was both interrupted and
uninterrupted , creating chances for
Vietnamese people to get a temporary
national independence .
• Chinese domination only destroyed the
Laclords construction , didn’t reached to
Vietnamese villages , where Vietnamese
culture has been serving through generation
to generation .
Viet Dragons
Chinese Dragon
Folclore picture
 MEDIEVAL FEUDAL DYNASTIES
• In 938 , Southern Han Dynasty sent troops to
conquer autonomous Giao chau( name of Vietnam
now) . Ngo Quyen , the virtuous Lord defeated the
Southern Han fleet at the Battle of Bach Dang
River . He then proclaimed himself King Ngo ,
began the age of independence for Vietnam .
• After King Ngo’s death , the country got in a civil
war with twelve Warlords , lasting from 945 to
967. One of them was Dinh Tien Hoang, who
defeated other Warlords , then founded Dinh
Dynasty( 968-980) . He called himself Emperor
and his country Dai Co Viet ( Great Viet Land )
• After Prior Le Dynasty founded by Le
Hoan, who defeated a Song Dynasty
aggressive troop in 981 at Chi Lang Pass,
Vietnam became a new era with Ly and
Tran Dynasties.
• Ly Dynasty (1009-1225) change the
country’s name to Dai Viet (Great Viet),
built the new capital named Thang Long
(Ascending Dragon), in present-day Hanoi,
founded the first University Quoc Tu Giam
(1071).
• The Ly Dynasty firstly set up stronger
feudalism in Vietnam, holding regular
examinations to select elites for the
government machine, organizing a new
system of taxation. The Ly dynasty also
promoted Buddhism, yet maintained a
pluralistic attitude toward three main
philosophical system of the time:
Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.
• The Ly Dynasty had two major wars with
Song China (1075) and a few conquests
against neighboring Champa in the South.
• Tran Dynasty (1225-1400) replaced Ly
Dynasty to ruled Dai Viet for more than
two centuries. Almost Tran Kings ruled the
country in similar manner to the Ly Kings.
Under Ly Dynasty, Vietnam had a formal
30-volume history written by Le Van Huu,
and created Nom script – a system of
writing for Vietnamese language.
Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature)
Ly Dragon
Chinese dragon
• Tran Dynasty three times won Mongol
aggression (in 1257, 1284, 1288). The
DaiViet’s strategy was to advoid the
Mongol’s strength in open field battles
(the Tran Court abadoned the capital and
cities), and then organized attacking the
enemies at their weak points. Some famous
battles were Chuong Duong, Ham Tu, Van
Kiep,Bach Dang river. The military
architect behind DaiViet victories was
commander Tran Quoc Tuan (known as
Tran Hung Dao).
• Le Dynasty (1428 – 1527, formally existed
untill 1778). Tran Dynasty was in turn
overthrown by Ho Quy Ly in 1400. He
changed the country’s name to Dai Ngu. In
1407, under the pretext of helping to
restore Tran Dynasty, Chinese Ming troops
invaded Dai Ngu, ended Ho Dynasty, lasting
for only 7 years.

• In 1428, Le Loi, a wealthy farmer

successfully led the Lam Son revolution
against Ming invasion, then founded the Le
Dynasty. He renamed the contry back to
DaiViet.
• The Le Dynasty carried out land reforms,
leaned toward Confucianism, composed the
Hong Duc Code, a comprehensive set of
laws.
• The Le Dynasty was overthrown by Mac
Dang Dung in 1527. This event opened a
chaos time in Vietnamese history, a period
of division (1528-1802), that was lasting
two phases.
• In the first phase, there were three
feudal military groups taking apart in
the civil war ended in 1592, between
the Le court and the Trinh lords
against the Mac group .
• Nguyen lords (in the South) were
against Trinh lords (in the North)
1627-1672
• The second phase began with Tay Son
revolution led by Nguyen Hue – Quang
Trung in 1771. He successfully defeated
Trinh Lords in the North and Nguyen
Lords in the South, founded the Tay Son
Dynasty 1778-1802.
• Soon after overthrowing the Tay Son
Dynasty in 1802 Nguyen Anh ascended the
throne and called himself Emperor Gia
Long.The Nguyen Dynasty lasted until
1945.
• The period of division with many tragedies
and dramatic historical development
inspired many poets and gave rise to some
Vietnamese masterpieces verse such as
the epic poem “The tale of Kieu” by
Nguyen Du “Song of a soldier’s wife” by
Dang Tran Con, Doan Thi Diem or the poem
written by Ho Xuan Huong
Elder village notable
 French colonization
• After failing to have Nguyen Dynasty open
the doors for free trade, in 1858 French’s
gunship attacked the post of Da Nang,
beginning the French invasion into Vietnam.
• From 1859-1867 French troops expanded
their control over all 6 provinces on the
Mekong Delta and formed a French colony
known as Cochin china.
• In October 1887, French Indochina was
formed from Annam (central Vietnam),
Tonkin (Northern Vietnam), Cochinchina
(Southern Vietnam) and then added
Cambodia, Laos
• Politically, Cochinchina had the status of a
French colony. Annam was a protectorate
where the Nguyen Dynasty still ruled, and
Tonkin had a French Governor yet local
governments were run by Vietnamese
officials.
Schema of
French
Expansion
in Indochina
• After pacification of Vietnam,
French colonialism carried out a set
of colonial exploitation policies. They
invested capital in building railways,
factories, mines…that changed the
Vietnamese economy and Vietnamese
society into the orbit of capitalism.
• During the French colonization
happened many Vietnamese uprisings
against French colonists. There were
5 main socio-political movements.
• The first, Can Vuong movement was led by
former court officers and confucianists,
trying to rally the people to resist the
French. It went to the end in the last XIX
century
• The second, Dong Du movement (Go East)
was led by Phan Boi Chau. He sent many
Vietnamese students to Japan to learn
modern skill, organized a few Vietnamese
society in Japan. Due to French pressure,
Japan later deported Phan Boi Chau to
China.
Phan Chau Trinh Phan Boi Chau
• The forth, The Vietnam Quoc Dan Dang
(Vietnam National Party) consisted of a sort
of patriots (students, bourgeois, soldiers…).
It was modeled after the Guo Ming Tang in
China.
• The firth, Marxism movement. Before the
starting Marxism movement, the Vietnamese
revolution were lack of outline and leadership.
Marxism in beginning was introduced into
Vietnam with the emergence of three
separate communist groups (Indochinese
communists, Annamese communists and Indo
chinese communist Union). In 1930 Nguyen Ai
Quoc co-ordinated unification of 3 groups into
the Vietnamese Communist Party.
• In 1941, Ho Chi Minh (formally known as
Nguyen Ai Quoc) arrived in Northern Vietnam
to form Vietnam Front fighting for Vietnam’s
independence.
• In August 1945, the Japanese surrendered to
the Allies creating a power vaccum in
Vietnam. The Viet Minh launched “the August
Revolution” to seize power, ending the Nguyen
Dynasty and Japanese domination. On
September 2, 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared
Vietnam independent founding the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam. (DRV).
 IndoChina war 1945-1954
• According to Alta conference among three
Powers, the USA, Soviet union and British
Kingdom, Chiang Kaishek’s army and the
British forces would disarm the Japanese in
Vietnam.
• Yet, August Revolution already occurred
before the Allies forces entered Vietnam. So
Ho Chi Minh government had to face the
dangerous situation: 20.000 British troops in
the South , and about the same quantity of
Chang Kaishek’s troops in the North , and in
addition was French colonists; all of them
planned squeezing the Revolution to death.
• Ho Chi Minh had to negotiate with Chang
Kaishek’s army, deported them back to China;
then he signed a temporary agreement with
the French, in March 1946 to get time for
preparing the war against the French.
• 1946-1950: Viet Minh troops were resisting
against the French without any international
helps, just in the end of 1950, Viet Minh
successfully opened the border with China and
began to receive some assistance from Mao
Zedong government.
Battle in Hanoi 1946
• Dien Bien Phu battle in 1954 led to the
collapse of French colonism in Vietnam.
• During the period of Indo china war, two
governments were established in Vietnam: Ho
Chi Minh’s government (1945) and Bao Dai’s
government (1949)
• In 1950, Bao Dai’s government gained
recognition from the United Kingdom and the
US
• In 1954, the Geneva conference was held for
peace and recognition of Vietnam
independence. But the powers purposely
ignored the Vietnamese willing, taking 17th
parallel to split the country into 2 states.
Occupying French commander’s tunel at Dien Bien Phu
Former Emperor
Bao Dai
 Vietnam War
(The Resistance against the American’s
invasion)
• According to Geneva Accord, Vietnam has
temporarily to partition into two states at the
17th parallel. But supported from the US
government, Ngo Dinh Diem, a former mandarin of
Nguyen Dynasty was selected as Premier of Bao
Dai’s state of Vietnam in 1954.
• Using the referendum in 1955, Diem deposed Bao
Dai and declared him as President of the Republic
of Vietnam (RVN). Since then the USA began to
provide military and economic aids to the RVN,
training RVN personnels, sending US advisors to
assist Diem’s government. They destroyed the
Geneva Accords, stopping the process of
unification of Vietnam.
Ngo Dinh Diem
 Periods of War

Eisenhower Kennedy Johson Nixon Ford

1954 1960 1965 1968 1973 1975

• 1954-1960, The US helped Diem Government
to build an army , developed South Vietnam’s
economy.
• 1961-1964, The strategy “Special War”
supplied Dollars, military advisor to RVN.
• 1965-1968, the strategy “Local War”. 500,000
troops directly taking apart in war; Tet
offensive.
• 1969-1973, the strategy “Vietnamization War”.
-Jan-1973, Paris peace Agreement, the US
troops had to withdraw from Vietnam, civil war
rebegan.
-May/30th/1975 victory.
Occupying the Palace” Independence”April 30th 1975
 Vietnam Today
• After the resistence against the American’s
invasion, Vietnam freely implemented
reunification of country.
• In 1976, Vietnam was renamed Socialist
Republic of Vietnam (SRVN)
• SRVN was of a centralized command economy.
For a decade, Vietnam’s economy was plagued
with inefficiency and corruption in state
programs, poor quality and underproduction
and restriction on economic activites and
trade. It also suffered from the trade
embargo from the US and most of European
countries.
• In 1986, Vietnam began economic reform
with market economy mechanism. Private
ownership was encouraged in industries,
commerce and agriculture.
Since then, Vietnam achieved around 7-8%
annual GDP growth from 1990 to 2007.
• In 1995, Vietnam officially became a
number of ASEAN and it was accepted
into WTO in November 7th ,2006.
THANK YOU !