According to Vietnamese legends, the history of Vietnam began around 1000 BC. n. and. According to these legends, people from various tribes were born from the marriage between Lạc Long Quân (dragon king) and Âu Cơ (godmother goddess). However, the only reliable sources indicate that the history of the country began around 700 BC. n. and. Historians consider that the Dong Son civilization is common to many peoples of Southeast Asia.
Predynastic
The Qin dynasty ― also called Triệu Đà― established a state called Nam Việt, which was located in southern China and the Red River delta. In the year 258 a. n. and., Thuc Phan formed the kingdom called Áu Lac (formed by the union of Áu Viet and Lac Viet – Van Lang), in the north of Vietnam. Thuc Phan proclaimed himself king by the name of An Vuong Duong.
After a long war against the Chinese Qin dynasty, An Vuong Duong was defeated by General Qin, Trieu Da in 208 BC. n. and. Trieu Da was proclaimed king when the Qin dynasty fell to the Han dynasty. He named his kingdom Nanyue, combining Au Lac with territories in southern China. Vietnam gained its independence in the early 10th century, and its full autonomy a century later.
The historical significance of the origin of Nam Việt is today a matter of controversy because for some scholars this territory was under Chinese rule, while for others it already constitutes a period of independence. From 111 a. n. and. Until the 10th century, Vietnam was under the command of different Chinese dynasties. Sporadic independence did not achieve great achievements before the power of China.
Dynastic
In 938 a Vietnamese lord named Ngô Quyền managed to defeat the Chinese forces in the Battle of the Bach Dang River and achieved independence after 10 centuries under Chinese control. Named Đại Việt, the nation reached its golden age during the Lý Dynasty and the Trần Dynasty.
During the latter’s reign, Đại Việt was able to defend itself from three Mongol invasion attempts in 1257 ; 1284 – 1285 ; 1287 – 1288. After the brief Hồ Dynasty, the independence of Đại Việt was briefly interrupted by the Ming Dynasty of China, but was restored by Lê Lợi, the founder of the Lê Dynasty.
Time in which feudalism reached its maximum splendor (15th century), especially during the reign of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông. Between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese expanded to the south in a process they called nam tiến (southern expansion and that led them to conquer the Kingdom of Champa (which permanently disappeared as a state) and part of the Khmer Empire (Kampuchea Krom).
Towards the end of the Lê Dynasty, Vietnam suffered civil conflicts, first with the support that the Chinese gave to the Mac Dynasty and which challenged the power of the Lê Dynasty and later the Mac Dynasty was defeated and the previous one restored but lost great power. Then power was divided between the Trịnh Lords in the north and the Nguyễn Lords in the south, leading the country to a new conflict: the Trịnh-Nguyễn Civil War that lasted for more than a century.
According to Youremailverifier, the war ended when the Tây Sơn brothers defeated both and established a new dynasty. However, their rule did not last and they were defeated by the remnants of the Nguyễn Lords with the help of the French who established the Nguyễn Dynasty.
The period of rule of the native dynasties ended in the middle of the 19th century, when the country was colonized by the French Empire. The French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A modern Western education system was imposed, Christianity, the cultivation of tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee was developed.
The French ignored the constant calls for independence and civil rights, leading to the early rise of nationalist political movements among which emerged leaders such as Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Emperor Ham Nghi, and Ho Chi Minh. During the Second World War (1939-1945), Japan occupied Vietnam; but it respected French authority for being the Vichy government collaborating with its ally, Nazi Germany. Vietnam’s natural resources were exploited by Japan for its military campaigns in Burma, Malaysia and India. Towards the end of the war, the Japanese tried to overthrow French power on suspicion of support for a possible Allied invasion.
At the end of the war, France tried to reestablish its control; but it failed before a powerful nationalist movement in the insurgency under Ho Chi Minh, which was ready to challenge the French under the banners of independence and communism. After the defeat of Japan, the nationalist forces of Indochina proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and faced France in what was called the First Indochina War (1945-1954), which the French eventually lost to the Vietnamese people. The greatest defeat of the French occurred in the famous Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which preceded a rapid withdrawal from their colonies. However, the countries that had fought in this first Vietnam War divided the country at the 17th parallel, between what was called North Vietnam and South Vietnam according to the Geneva Agreement (1954).
Vietnam War
The imperialist United States were on the side of the French imperialists in the struggles against the independence of Viet Nam.
The United States intervened in the South. Tensions quickly sparked the war against Vietnam, which ended with a crushing defeat of US troops in March 1973 and the taking of Saigon in April 1975. In 1976, Vietnam was unified and took the name of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The intention to reunify the country through elections did not give good results due to the refusal of the United States, which, fearful of an electoral victory by the communists, began to send troops to South Vietnam. The US -led Gulf of Tonkin Incident was the trigger for the war: US forces attacked military installations in North Vietnam and sent more than 500,000 troops south.
The US military was quickly greeted by a guerrilla war led by the Viet Cong, the popular guerrilla of South Vietnam. North Vietnamese forces attempted to take the south in 1968 during the Tet Offensive and this caused neighboring Cambodiaand Laos to soon become involved in the conflict. With the increase in casualties in the US ranks, that country began the process of transferring the combat role to the military forces of South Vietnam in what they called “Vietnamization” but these efforts brought bad results.
The Peace Agreement of Paris of the 27 of January of 1973 formally recognized the sovereignty of both parties (Vietnam from the North and Vietnam of the South) and the agreement US troops should be withdrawn for March 29, 1973. Some limited confrontations continued, But the next big moment would be in April 1975 when North Vietnam defeated the puppet regime of the South and then proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976.
In 1978, Vietnam ended the Pol Pot regime in Kampuchea (Cambodia) that had unleashed the genocide of more than three million people. It maintained about 100,000 soldiers throughout the 1980s. Negotiations to reestablish diplomatic relations with the United States began in the late 1990s.
The aggression of the United States destroyed the country, but today it is one of the most prosperous nations in Southeast Asia, thanks to the intelligence and industriousness of its people, led by the Communist Party of Viet Nam.
Renewal (DOI MOI)
In 1986 the Communist Party of Vietnam implemented the economic changes known as Đổi Mới (Renewal) to accelerate the recovery of the country from the terrible ravages of the imperialist war. Private property in the countryside and businesses was encouraged and foreign investment was encouraged under the leadership of the Communist Party.
Vietnam’s economy then achieved rapid growth in industrial and agricultural production, construction, exports, and foreign investment. Today it is considered the fastest growing economy in the world.
Foreign policy
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam applies the independent foreign policy, sovereign, of friendship, of diversification and multilateralization of international relations, of international integration with the guideline that Vietnam is willing to be a friend and reliable partner of all the countries of the world community. in the common effort for peace, independence and development.
