Vietnam

Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a nation in Southeast Asia. It borders the People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest and Cambodia to the southwest. more...

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To the country's east lies the South China Sea. With a population of approximately 84 million, Vietnam is one of the most densely populated nations in Southeast Asia.

History

A famous Vietnamese legend tells that the Vietnamese people of various tribes were born outside the womb following the marriage of Lạc Long Quân (Dragon Chief) and Âu Cơ (the Fairy). 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 BCE a Qin general named Triệu Đà established a state 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 others believe it was an independent era. For most of the period from 111 BCE to the early 10th century CE, Vietnam was under the rule of successive Chinese dynasties. During this period, Buddhism became a dominant influence in the religious and cultural life of the people. Sporadic independence movements were attempted, but were quickly suppressed by Chinese forces. In 939 CE the Vietnamese defeated Chinese forces at the Bạch Đằng River and gained independence after 10 centuries under Chinese control. They gained complete autonomy a century later. During the rule of the Trần Dynasty, Dai Viet defeated three Mongol attempts of invasion by the Yuan Dynasty. Three times with massive troops as well as careful preparation for their attacks but three times in the row the Mongols were totally swept out of Dai Viet. Incidentally, the final battle in which Vietnamese general Tran Hung Dao defeated most of Mongolian forces was held again at Bạch Đằng River like his ancestors nearly 300 years ago. 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

Vietnam's independence ended in the mid-19th century CE, 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, and its young leader Ho Chi Minh led its call for independence to the League of Nations. Yet the French maintained dominant control of their colonies until World War II, when the Japanese invasion of Indochina triggered by the war in the Pacific. 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 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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org