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History
Country's official name
At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the Viet tribe groups had settled down in the North and in the north of Central Vietnam. There were about 15 groups of Lac Viet tribesmen living mainly in the northern highland and delta and a dozen Au Viet groups of tribesmen living in Viet Bac, the northern region of old Vietnam.
Prehistoric Era of Vietnam include: Pre-Paleolithic Age, Neolithic Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
During the Dong Son period, only one state had formed. The unified culture prevailing in this region stretched from the Sino-Vietnamese border to the northern banks of the Gianh River. The nation of the ancient Viet people existed as the Van Lang Nation, which was ruled by the Kings Hung.
A few centuries later, An Duong Vuong founded the Au Lac Nation in the third century BC. Records of this nation can be found in the annals written by the Chinese historian, Xi Ma Tin. Remains of the Co Loa Citadel, which was built during the An Duong Vuong period, can still be seen today.
Champa Nation
The Pre-Sa Huynh culture evolved in South Central Vietnam during the Iron Age. The people of this group lived between Thua Thien and the Dong Nai River Delta. At that time, people were buried in tombs which contained many tools made of iron and jewelry made of agate and jasper.. The Sa Huynh culture was founded by the ancestors of the Cham who founded the Champa Kingdom.
In the 3rd century BC, the Han people who lived in the Yellow River basin unified China, merging the various ethnic groups who lived in southern China to the south of the Yangtze River into a centralized empire. This feudal empire soon spread southwards.
The grim resistance by the population against Chinese imperialist domination, which persisted century after century, time and again, broke out in the form of armed insurrection.
Ngo King (939 - 944)
Later Ngo King (950 - 965)
Dinh Tien Hoang (968 - 979)
Dynastic title: Thai Binh (970-979)
Le Dai Hanh (980-1005)
Dynastic title: Thien Phuc (980-988); Hung Thong (989-993); Ung Thien (994-1005)
Le Trung Tong (1005)
Le Long Dinh (1005-1009)
Kings of Ly Dynasty:
- Ly Thai To (1010-1028)
- Ly Thai Tong (1028-1054)
- Ly Thanh Tong (1054-1072)
- Ly Nhan Tong 1072-1127)
- Ly Than Tong (1128-1138)
- Ly Anh Tong (1138-1175)
- Ly Cao Tong (1176-1210)
- Ly Hue Tong (1211-10/1224)
- Ly Chieu Hoang (1225)
Kings of Tran Dynasty:
- Tran Thai Tong (1225-1258)
- Tran Thanh Tong (1258-1272)
- Tran Nhan Tong (1279-1293)
- Tran Anh Tong (1293-1314)
- Tran Anh Tong (1314-1329)
- Tran Hien Tong (1329-1341)
- Tran Du Tong (1314-1369)
- Tran Nghe Tong (1370-1372)
- Tran Due Tong (1372-1377)
- Tran Phe De (1377-1388)
- Tran Thuan Tong (1388-1398)
- Tran Thieu De (1398-1400)
The Ho lasted for 7 years, from 1400 to 1407, with two kings:
- Ho Quy Ly (1400)
- Ho Han Thuong (1401 - 1407)
The oppressive occupation soon triggered fierce resistance. As early as the end of 1407, many uprisings began to occur. A descendant of the Tran Dynasty proclaimed himself king in 1407, taking the name Gian Dinh and setting up his headquarters in Nghe An Province.
As early as JuIy 1407, the Ming emperor had incorporated Dai Viet into the Chinese empire under the title of Giao Chi Province, set up a central administration, and divided the country into phu and chau, trying to reach down to village level by 1419.
Towards the end of the 14th century, a great crisis shook the country. The Ming court, then reigning in China, took advantage of this to invade Dai Viet and to impose a form of direct rule which was to last for twenty years (1407-1427). However, the invaders encountered stiff resistance from the beginning, and national independence was eventually wrested back in 1427 by Le Loi, the founder of the Le Dynasty.
Kings of Tay Son Dynasty (1778-1802):
- Thai Duc (1778-1793)
- Quang Trung (Nguyen Hue) (1789-1792)
- Canh Thinh (1793 - 1802)
Kings of Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945):
- Gia Long (1802-1819)
- Minh Menh (1820-1840)
- Thieu Tri (1841-1847)
- Tu Duc (1848-1883)
- Duc Duc (1883, 3 days)
- Hiep Hoa (1883, 4 months).
- Kien Phuc (1883-1884)
- Ham Nghi (1884-1885)
- Dong Khanh (1886-1888)
- Thanh Thai (1889-1907)
- Duy Tan (1907-1916)
- Khai Dinh (1916-1925)
- Bao Dai (1926-1945)
On August 31, 1858, a French naval squadron attacked Danang, launching several episodes of a war of colonial conquest waged by French imperialism between 1858 and 1884 and resulting in the total annexation of the country.
In the summer of 1945, popular discontent reached a climax and revolutionary action involving both political and armed struggle proliferated throughout the country, from north to south, in villages and cities, and among the ethnic minorities in the mountainous regions.
The war of resistance against French colonialist aggression which broke out on September 25 1945 in Nam Bo, and spread throughout the country after December 19 1946, marked a decisive stage in an almost century-long struggle to regain the nation's independence and democratize the country. While armed struggle came ahead of all other concerns, economic reconstruction, educational advancement, and the establishing of new administrative structures remained as the major tasks. While national liberation was the prime objective, the democratic objectives were no less important, all the more so since the struggle was led by a party of the working class and the fact that the worker-peasant alliance constituted the very foundations of the united national front.
- 1954-1965: the establishment of the initial foundations of socialism in the north, and the southern Vietnamese people's struggle against repression and the neo-colonialist war;
- 1965-1973: the all-out struggle by north and south against direct US aggression, which ended with the signing of the Paris Agreements of January 1973;
- 1973-1975: the collapse of the neo-colonialist regime in the south.
The General Assault of Ho Chi Minh's Campaign overthrew the Saigon Government on the evening of April 30, 1975.
On May 1, 1975, the workers and citizens of Vietnam, from North to South, were able to celebrate May Day in a completely liberated country for the first time ever.
Vietnam has been unified since that time. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with Hanoi as the capital, was born.
The entire nation overcame the grave consequences of 30 years of war and started rebuilding the country. Now, Vietnam is entering a new stage of economical development and is striving to raise the annual income per capita, solidify the economy.
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