Foundation Legend

The famous Vietnamese legend tells that the Vietnamese people of various tribes were born outside of the womb by the marriage of Lạc Long Quân (Dragon Chief) and Âu Cơ. However, most Vietnamese historians [consider] the Dong Son civilization that covered much of Southeast Asia to be the beginning of Vietnam's history. In 208 BC, a Qin general named Triệu Đà (Zhao Tuo) established a country called Nam Việt which encompassed Southern China and the Red River Delta. The historical significance of the original Nam Việt remains controversial because some historians consider it a Chinese occupation while some believe it was an independent era.

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What is known for sure is that for most of the period from 111 BC to the early 10th century, it was under the rule of successive Chinese Dynasties. Sporadic independence movements were attempted, but were quickly extinguished by Chinese forces. In 939, the Vietnamese defeated Chinese forces at the Bạch Đằng River and gained independence. They gained complete autonomy a century later. During the rule of the Trần Dynasty, it defeated three Mongol attempts of invasion by the Yuan Dynasty. Feudalism in Vietnam reached its zenith in the Lê Dynasty of the 15th century, especially during the reign of Emperor Le Thanh Tong. Between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese expanded southward in a process known as nam tiến (southward expansion). They eventually conquered the kingdom of Champa and much of the Khmer empire. The independent period ended in the mid-19th century, when the country was colonized by France.

The French maintained dominant control of their colony until World War II, when Japanese forces invaded and occupied Vietnam, using the country as a base to launch attacks against Southeast Asia and India. After the war France attempted to reestablish its colony, however a communist insurgency that had arisen during Japanese occupation forced the French into the First Indochina War that lasted until 1954. The French suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and shortly afterwards withdrew from the country. The world community divided the country at the 17th parallel into North Vietnam and South Vietnam during the Geneva Accords. This division was meant to be temporary, pending democratic elections and reunification.

This did not turn out to be the case. North and South Vietnam both formed geopolitical alliances, the North aligning itself with Communist China and the Soviet Union and the South with the United States. The Northern government sought implementation of the Geneva Accords, including reunification following an election that would likely lead to a victory for the Communists, while the government of the South sought to make the division of the country permanent, and was supported in this by the United States, which saw the "nation of South Vietnam" as a bulwark against the spread of "international communism" in the region.

The Bản Giốc Falls in Cao Bằng, North Vietnam)

Beginning with supplying military observers during the years 1962 and 1963 it was not until 1964 with the Gulf Of Tonkin incident that America ceased its advisory role to the South Vietnamese government and upon direct order of President Lyndon B Johnson moved to targeting military installations such as naval dockyards and military airfields. Following the Tet offensive in 1965, the United States eventually committed some three million troops in an attempt to defeat the ongoing communist insurgency in the South. However with military support from the communist North, as well as material, intelligence and logistical support from China and the Soviet Union, the southern communists entrenched the U.S. in a costly war. Graphic televised reporting by the US news media played no small role in influencing the American public to hold demonstrations demanding US withdrawal from the war. Beginning in 1970 US combat roles were turned over to the South Vietnamese military under a program known as Vietnamization. However, corruption, nepotism, incompetence and a long standing dependence on the US military left the South Vietnamese military ill prepared to continue the war. All American combat troops were withdrawn by March 29, 1973. Advisors and support troops remained until April 1975. The Paris Peace Accords on January 27, 1973 formally recognized the sovereignty of both sides, however the war continued until the North overpowered the South on April 30, 1975 and reunified the country under the communist rule as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

After the reunification, political and economic conditions remained difficult. Millions of South Vietnamese fled the communist government and became boat people over the next two decades. In late 1978 the Vietnamese army removed the democidal Khmer Rouge from power in Cambodia. Only one month later, however, partially in retaliation, China launched a short-lived incursion into Vietnam, which became known as the Sino-Vietnamese War. Both sides claimed to have been victorious in the brief conflict.

In 1986, the Communist Party of Vietnam implemented economic reforms known as Đổi Mới (renovation). During much of the 1990s, economic growth was rapid, and Vietnam reintegrated into the international community. It re-established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995, one year after the United States' trade embargo on Vietnam was repealed.