Vietnam: A timeline

Major events and eras in the history of what is now Vietnam from the first millennium BCE to the present.

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First millennium BCE

Viet people in north form agricultural and bronze-working kingdoms at Dongson in Red River Valley.

208 BCE

Trieu Da, a Chinese general conquers Viet king Au Lac. He builds a capital and makes himself emperor of the southern land, “Nam Viet,” which includes part of present northern Vietnam and China.

111 BCE

Han Chinese emperor Wu conquers Viet people, beginning nearly 1,000 years of Chinese rule in the north. What is now southern Vietnam was occupied by Hindu Cham kingdoms, related linguistically to Malays.

40 CE

Two Trung sisters lead rebellion against Chinese. After regaining rule, China calls the area “Annam,” the pacified south. Capital moved near to present capital Hanoi.

939 CE

Chinese overthrown and Viet kingdom re-established; now called Dai Viet (Great Viet) under Emperor Dinh Bo Linh.

1000s–1600s

Confucian and Mahayana Buddhist Viets begin long period of expansion south into Hindu Cham territories.

1200s

Mongols invade but are repelled by Dai Viet and Champa.

1428–1789

Le Dynasty in power.

1471

Dai Viet conquers Champa, annexes most of its territory.

1500s

Intermittent civil wars.

1600

Dai Viet reaches Mekong Delta.

1613

Civil war between northern and southern Dai Viet.

1627

Alexandre de Rhodes, a French missionary, adapts Roman alphabet to transcribe Vietnamese language.

1600s

Last of Champa territory conquered by Nguyen clan of Dai Viet.

1802

Nguyen Dynasty established by Emperor Gia Long, capital moved to Hué. Country now known as Vietnam.

1800s

Viets take over Mekong Delta from Khmers.

1850

Viet rulers persecute Catholics and priests, inciting French military intervention.

1859

France captures Saigon, extends control to Laos and Cambodia, forming French Indochina.

1880

France divides up Vietnam into three regions: Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China. French use water management to open new agricultural land in Mekong Delta.

1919

Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh) emerges in Paris at end of World War I and tries to petition President Woodrow Wilson for self-determination of Vietnam.

1920s

Widespread adoption of Roman alphabet transcription of Vietnamese to replace Chinese characters.

1925

New religion of Cao Dai founded in southern region.

1927–30

Two communist parties founded in north to resist French rule, but heavily repressed.

1940

World War II begins. Japan invades Vietnam.

1941–1944

Viet Minh pro-Independence league organized by Ho Chi Minh (returning from exile) and Vo Nguyen Giap.

1945

Japanese surrender. Ho Chi Minh declares independence and unification of French colonial provinces as Vietnam.

1946

Nationalist Chinese, French, and Viet Minh compete for control over Viet territory. Negotiations fail and French forces bombard the Viet Minh at Hanoi’s harbor.

1946–1954

French-Viet Minh war (also known as First Vietnam War). China and the USSR support Ho Chi Minh; United States supports France as a way to contain the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.

1954

French defeat at Dien Bien Phu leads to Geneva negotiations. Geneva Agreements divide Vietnam at 17th parallel, with national elections to be held in two years.

1955–56

Ngo Dinh Diem returns from exile in America and deposes former emperor Bao Dai after a rigged referendum; declares himself President of (South) Vietnam. Diem refuses to hold national elections. Gains support from United States, which begins sending military advisors.

1960

National Liberation Front, or Viet Cong, formed as an anti-Diem and anti-United States force in the South.

1963

United States supports military coup against the unpopular President Diem; His death results in a succession of leadership changes in the South.

1964

North Vietnamese patrol boat attacks a United States destroyer in Gulf of Tonkin. United States President Lyndon Johnson given war powers.

1965

United States combat troops arrive in Vietnam, beginning (Second) Vietnam War. General Nguyen Van Thieu assumes control of the South.

1968

Tet Offensive launched by Ho Chi Minh and Viet Cong in South. Counter-offensive by United States results in massacre at My Lai.

1969

Richard Nixon assumes presidency in United States and begins “Vietnamization” policy (removing United States ground troops in exchange for increased funding of South Vietnamese) and secret bombing of Viet Cong inside Cambodian borders. Ho Chi Minh dies.

1973

Paris Peace Agreements negotiated by Nixon and Kissinger. United States withdraws troops rapidly following Agreement, but war continues unabated in the South.

1974

Nixon resigns after Watergate scandal; President Gerald Ford reluctant to sustain aid to South Vietnamese forces.

1975

Communists take Saigon. Last remaining United States citizens evacuated. Vietnam unified under Communist rule. Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

1978

Vietnam invades Cambodia and usurps rule from Khmer Rouge. Tensions with China, which supported Khmer Rouge, increase.

1986

Vietnam commits to “doi moi” (renovation), a program of social and market reforms.

1995

Diplomatic relations normalized between United States and Vietnam.