Vietnam pt. 4

The Vietnam War was a military conflict in present day Vietnam occurring from 1959 to April 30, 1975. The conflict was a successful effort by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV or North Vietnam) and the indigenous National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, to unify Vietnam as a communist state, defeating the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam (RVN). To a degree, the Vietnam War was a "proxy war" between the U.S. and its Western allies on the side of the RVN, with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China supporting the DRV on the other. As a result of this it is often considered part of the Cold War.
The chief cause of the war was the failure of Vietnamese nationalists, in the form of the Viet Minh, to gain control of southern Vietnam both during and after their struggle for independence from France in the First Indochina War of 1946–54.
The U.S., in particular, deployed large numbers of military personnel to South Vietnam between 1954 and 1973. U.S. military advisors first became involved in Vietnam as early as 1950, when they began to assist French colonial forces. In 1956, these advisors assumed full responsibility for training the Army of the Republic of Vietnam or ARVN. Large numbers of American combat troops began to arrive in 1965.

Vietnam part 3

Vietnam's independence ended in the mid-19th century, when the country was colonized by the French Empire. The French administration enacted significant political and cultural changes to Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education was developed, and Christianity was introduced in Vietnamese society. Developing a plantation economy to promote the exports of tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee, the French largely ignored increasing calls for self-government and civil rights. A nationalist political movement soon emerged, with leaders such as Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chau Trinh, Emperor Ham Nghi and Ho Chi Minh calling for independence. However, the French maintained dominant control of their colonies until World War II, when the Japanese war in the Pacific triggered the invasion of Indochina. The natural resources of Vietnam were exploited for the purposes of Japan's military campaigns into Burma, the Malay Peninsula and India. In the final years of the war, a forceful nationalist insurgency emerged under Ho Chi Minh, committed to independence and communism. Following the defeat of Japan, nationalist forces fought French colonial forces in the First Indochina War that lasted from 1945 to 1954. The French suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and shortly afterwards withdrew from the country. The countries that fought the Vietnam War divided the country at the 17th parallel into North Vietnam and South Vietnam during the Geneva Accords.

Vietnam part 2

In 939 AD, the Vietnamese finally threw off Chinese domination. By winning the Battle of Bach Dang River (938), Ngo Quyen (Ngô Quyền) effectively ended Chinese influence in Vietnam.Upon Ngo Quyen's untimely death resulted in the country's first succession crisis. Regent and Ngo Quyen's brother-in-law Duong Tam Kha (Dương Tam Kha) usurped the throne from heir-apparent Ngo Xuong Ngap (Ngô Xương Ngập), who fled into hiding. The country gradually descended into its first major civil war, The upheavals of Twelve warlords, which only ended 2 decades later when the fraction led by Dinh Bo Linh (Đinh Bộ Lĩnh) was able to defeat the others. Dinh founded Dinh Dynasty, proclaimed himself Emperor of Dai Co Viet (Đại Cồ Việt), with his capital located in Hoa Lu (Hoa Lư, modern day Ninh Bình).After Dinh Bo Linh and his eldest son, Dinh Lien, were assassinated by an eunuch, his lone surviving son -- the 6-year-old Dinh Toan assumed the throne. Taking advantage of the situation, Chinese Song troops prepared to invade. Under the shadow of this threat, the court's Supreme Commander of all Armed Forces, acting Regent, who was also lover of Empress Duong, Dinh Toan's mother, Le Hoan staged a coup d'etat and took the throne, founding Former Le Dynasty. Le Hoan proceeded to defeat Song invaders, killing Song commander Hou Renbao, ending the threat. Song-Viet relation normalized soon afterwards.
For the third successive time, succession proved a problem that prematurely ended another dynasty. Le Hoan's death resulted in infighting for the throne amongst his sons. The eventual winner, Le Long Dinh (Lê Long Đĩnh), then died soon thereafter. The General of the Imperial Guards, Ly Cong Uan (Lý Công Uẩn) took advantage of the situation to seize the throne, and founded the Lý Dynasty. This marks the beginning of a golden era in Vietnamese history.When the Lê emperor Lê Long Đĩnh died in his twenties, a court general named Lý Công Uẩn took the chance to take over the throne and founded the Lý dynasty. This event is regarded as the beginning of a golden era in Vietnamese history, with great dynasties following one another. Lý Công Uẩn (commonly called Lý Thái Tổ - Lý the Founding Emperor) changed the country's name to Đại Việt, established the capital in present-day Hanoi and called it Thăng Long (Ascending Dragon) under the pretext of seeing a dragon when he was touring the area. As with other dynasties in Vietnamese history, the Lý had many wars with the Chinese, most notably when Lý troops under command of the eunuch-turned-general Lý Thường Kiệt fought against the invasion of the Sung empire,he eventually attacked some southern Chinese citadels to destroy the supplement of the Sung troops,then later defeated this army at the battle by Như Nguyệt river (commonly Cầu river), now in Bắc Ninh province (about 40km from the current capital, Hanoi).During the late Lý era, a court official named Trần Thủ Độ became powerful. He forced the emperor Lý Huệ Tông to become a Buddhist monk and set Lý Chiêu Hoàng, Huệ Tông's young daughter, to become the empress. Trần Thủ Độ then arranged the marriage of Chiêu Hoàng to his nephew Trần Cảnh and the transfer of the throne between the two. Thus ended the Lý dynasty and started the Trần dynasty.During the Trần dynasty, Đại Việt was under attacks three times by the Mongols, who had occupied China and were ruling as the Yuan dynasty (see First Yuan Mongol Invasion (1284-85) and Second Yuan Mongol Invasion (1287-88)). It was during this period that Vietnamese nationalism began to form, as the Trần used the so-called "Đông A spirit" to mobilize people to fight against Mongol invaders. According to Vietnamese pronunciation of Chinese characters, the word "Trần" consists of the two words "Đông" and "A". Using this propaganda combined with guerilla warfare tactics, Trần troops stopped all three Yuan invasions. The Yuan-Trần war reached its climax when Yuan navy was decimated at the battle of Bạch Đằng river. Trần troops, with the noble lord Trần Hưng Đạo as commander-in-chief, used the exact same tactics as Ngô Quyền had used centuries before, at the exact same site, to defeat northern invaders. Trần Hưng Đạo, whose real name was Trần Quốc Tuấn, is regarded as the national hero and a major figure in Vietnamese history's line up of great military strategists.It was also during this period that the Trần kings waged many wars against the southern kingdom of Chiêm Thành (Champa), continuing the Viets' long history of southern expansion (known as Nam Tiến) that had begun shortly after gaining independence from China. However, they encountered strong resistance from the Chams, and Champa troops led by their king Chế Bồng Nga (Binasuor) even sacked Đại Việt's capital Thăng Long in 1372 and again in 1377.The Trần dynasty was in turn overthrown by one of its own court officials, Hồ Quý Ly. Hồ Quý Ly also forced the last Trần emperor to resign to a pagoda and assumed the throne in 1400. He changed the country name to Đại Ngu and moved the capital to Tây Đô (Western Capital, now Thanh Hóa). Thăng Long was renamed Đông Đô (Eastern Capital). Although widely blamed as the person who disrupted the Trần dynasty and let the country fall under the rule of the Chinese Ming dynasty, Hồ Quý Ly's reign actually saw a lot of progressive, ambitious reforms, including free education, the adoption of Nôm characters for writing official documents, and land reform. He ceded the throne to his son, Hồ Hán Thương, in 1401 and assumed the title Thái Thượng Hoàng (The Highest Father Emperor).In 1407, Ming troops sacked Tây Đô and captured Hồ Quý Ly and Hồ Hán Thương. The Hồ dynasty came to an end after mere 7 years.Lê Lợi waged a guerilla war against the Ming for over a decade from the forest of Lam Sơn (Thanh Hóa province). After many defeats, he finally gathered momentum and was able to launch a siege at Đông Quan (now Hanoi), the site of the Ming administration. The Ming emperor sent a reinforcement force to rescue, but Lê Lợi staged an ambush and killed the general, Liu Shan. Ming's troops at Đông Quan surrendered. In 1428, Lê Lợi ascended to the throne and the Hậu Lê dynasty (Posterior Lê) began. In 1471, Lê troops led by the great emperor Lê Thánh Tông invaded Champa, captured its capital Vijaya and killed or enslaved the city's residents. This event effectively ended the long conflict between the Vietnamese and Cham kingdoms. It initiated the dispersal of the Cham people across southeast Asia.With the kingdom of Champa mostly destroyed and the Cham people exiled or suppressed, Vietnamese colonization of what is now central Vietnam proceeded without substantial resistance. However, despite becoming greatly outnumbered by Kinh settlers and the integration of formerly Cham territory into the Vietnamese nation, populations of Cham nevertheless remained in Vietnam and now comprise one of the minority peoples of modern Vietnam. (The modern city of Huế, founded in 1600 lies close to where the Champa capital of Indrapura once stood).The Lê dynasty was overthrown by a general named Mac Dang Dung (Viet: Mạc Đăng Dung) in 1527. He killed the Lê emperor and set himself as king, starting the Mạc dynasty. After ruling for two years, Mạc Đăng Dung adopted Hồ Quý Ly's practice and ceded the throne to his son, Mạc Đăng Doanh, and himself become Thái Thượng Hoàng. Nguyen Kim (Viet: Nguyễn Kim), a former official in the Lê court, set up a Lê prince as the emperor Lê Trang Tông and rebelled against the Mạc. A civil war ensued.Nguyễn Kim's side was winning the war, and he controlled the southern part Vietnam, leaving only the area around the capital Đông Kinh (Hanoi) and to the north under Mạc control. When Nguyễn Kim was assassinated in 1545, military power fell into the hand of his son-in-law, Trinh Khiem (Viet: Trịnh Kiểm). The civil war between Lê and Mạc dynasties largely ended in 1592, when the army of Trịnh Tùng conquered Hanoi and executed the Mạc emperor Mạc Mậu Hợp. Survivors of the Mạc royal family fled to the mountains in the province of Cao Bằng and continued to rule there until 1667 when Trịnh Tạc conquered this last bit of Mạc territory.

Vietnam pt.1

The archaeological excavations carried out recently have proved the presence of human beings in the territory of Vietnam since the Paleolithic Age or the Old Stone Age (300,000 - 500,000 years). In the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age), Hoa Binh - Bac Son cultures (about 10,000 BC) had witnessed the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, including even the technique of paddy rice cultivation.
The Vietnamese as an ethnic group had been formed and developed early in the Red river and Ma river delta situated in northern part of the present-day Vietnam. Generations to generations, people moved from highland and mountainous areas to the plains, developed new lands for cultivation. They constructed a system of irrigation dams and dykes to tame the mighty Red River, the river that brought about several devastating floods every year. It is the process of continuous labor to control water - to fight against flood, storm and drought, to build up irrigation dams and canals for agricultural cultivation that formed the paddy rice civilization and the commune culture.
In the Bronze Age, a unique and distinct civilization had been formed that reached a high level in technical skill as well as art - the brilliant Dong Son culture. The recent ethnological, historical and archaeological studies and researches have asserted the existence of the Hung Kings' period in Van Lang Kingdom (later Au Lac Kingdom) about 1000 years BC. In 200 BC, Au Lac Kingdom was invaded and annexed into the giant empire of the Han feudalism in the north. Nevertheless, the ten-century domination of Chinese feudalism could not assimilate Vietnamese culture and break the Viet people's brave resistance.
In the 10th century AD, the Vietnamese had won their freedom and built up an independent state named Dai Viet. The country was under the ruling of many national feudal dynasties, among which the most important ones are the Ly Dynasty (11th and 12th century), the Tran Dynasty (13th and 14th century), the Le Dynasty (15th, 16th and 17th century) with their centralized administration, strong army forces and a highly developed economy and culture. During this period, Vietnam as a nation had to ceaselessly fought against the vicious conquering conspiracies of Chinese and Mongolian feudal empires. Vietnam's long and tough struggles of resistance against the invasions of the Song (11th century), the Yuan or the Mongols (13th century), the Ming (15th century) had acquired glorious victories. Vietnam became stronger, all its ethnic groups became more united and the country moved into a new prosperous period after each struggle.