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Start of the Cochinchina Campaign
Beginning of French Conquest of Cochinchina. Emperor Napoléon III approves a naval expedition to Vietnam under Admiral Rigault de Genouilly, under the pretext of providing security to French Catholic missionaries, with operations eventually escalating till by 1861, it had turned into a full blown invasion. -
Signing of the Treaty of Saigon
Cessation of Franco-Vietnamese hostilities, and the signing of the Treaty of Saigon between representatives of the French Empire and the Nguyễn Dynasty of Vietnam. In accordance on the terms of this treaty, Nguyễn Emperor Tự Đức agreed to cede Saigon, the island of Poulo Condor and three southern provinces to France (which would form French Indochina), and open the Red River and the ports of Hanoi, Haiphong and Qui Nhơn to French trade. -
Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan, Defeat of the Second French Empire, and the Capture of French Emperor Napoléon III
Capture and defeat of Emperor Napoléon III at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War, which would later lead to the disbanding of the Bonaparte monarchy, the dissolution of the Second French Empire, and the re-establishment of the French Republic (known in history as the French Third Republic). This would forever change Franco-Vietnamese relations, as Napoléon III's demise would mark the beginning of an age of republicanism that would stretch to the modern day. -
Start of the Tonkin Campaign
Beginning of the Tonkin Campaign, where French forces fought against allied Sino-Vietnamese forces for control of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) with the aim of establishing a French protectorate there. The conflict would end in April 1886 with a French victory. -
Signing of the Treaty of Huế
Signing of the Treaty of Huế between the French Third Republic and the Nguyễn Dynasty. The treaty mostly restated the 1883 Treaty of Huế, requiring Vietnam to recognise France as its protectorate overlord, but with the softening and sometimes removal of harsher demands originally included. The treaty, which formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the next seven decades. -
Outbreak of the Sino-French War
Beginning of the Sino-French War, a conflict fought between the Chinese Qing Dyansty under Emperor Guangxu and the French Third Republic to decide whether France should replace China's 1,800 year old role as protectorate overlord of Vietnam. France would achieve victory in 1885. -
Signing of the Treaty of Tientsin
The treaty confirming the French victory in the Sino-French War, which was fought between France and China over the position of protectorate overlord of Vietnam. In summary, the treaty restated in greater detail the main provisions of the Tientsin Accord (an earlier attempt to resolve the Sino-French War), forcing China to recognise the French protectorate over Vietnam, formalising the French victory in the Sino-French War, and the beginning of French domination over all of Vietnam. -
World War I: Entry of the Republic of France into World War I
France enters World War I on the side of the Allied powers. France's entry into the war would see France squeezing the sponge dry and scraping every last resource from all corners of its empire to defeat the Germans in the field. Indochina (mainly Vietnam) was required to provide France with 70,000 soldiers, 70,000 support staff (all forcibly drafted from the villages to serve on the front),184 million piastres in the form of loans and 336,000 tons of food. These burderns would become harder to -
World War I: Duy Tân Incident
Lacking a unified national leadership, the Vietnamese nationalist movements had failed to take advantage of the difficulties France was facing as a result of the war and stage any upsprings. Sixteen-year-old Emperor Duy Tân would attempt to escape from the palace and take part in a revolt against French rule. The French would be informed, and would have the leaders arrested and executed. The French would have Duy Tân removed from the throne and exiled to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. -
World War II: Invasion of Vietnam by the Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan invades Vietnam with the aim of utilising the country's land and resources to support its military operations against the Allied powers in Southeast Asia. -
World War II: Founding of the Empire of Vietnam
Japan overthrows French authorities in Vietnam and establishes the Empire of Vietnam, a Japanese puppet state with Nguyễn Emperor Bảo Đại as nominal ruler. -
August Revolution
Japan surrenders to the Allied powers, triggering the August Revolution lead by the Việt Minh (a communist national independence movement, precursor of the Viet Cong). Emperor of Vietnam Bảo Đại abdicated on 25 August bringing the 143 year old Nguyễn Dynasty to an end. -
Founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN)
Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Việt Minh, proclaims the founding of the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN) in Ba Đình Square . Bảo Đại would be named 'Supreme Counsellor' to the new republic, but disagreeing with its policies, would shortly afterwards retreat into self-imposed exile in Hong Kong. -
The First Indochina War
The first Indochina War was between the French Forces and the Vietnam people. After Japan's defeat in 1945, the Vietnamese resisitance hoped to gain independence from the returning French who were being chased away during WWII. After the war, the Vietnamese Communist got the victory, and divided Vietnam into the Communist North and non-Communist South. -
The Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam. It produced a set of treaties known as the Geneva Accords, signed on behalf of France by Pierre Mendès-France and of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam by Pham Van Dong. -
The Diem Regime
Diem’s regime proved corrupt, oppressive, and extremely unpopular. Nonetheless, the United States continued to prop it up, fearful of the increasing Communist resistance activity it noted in South Vietnam. This resistance against Diem’s regime was organized by the Ho Chi Minh–back ed National Liberation Front, which became more commonly known as the Viet Cong.2 -
Viet Cong Rebellion
The North Vietnamese Communist Party approved a "people's war" on the South at a session in January 1959 and this decision was confirmed by the Politburo in March. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation. -
The American-Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was the prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the United States attempting to prevent the spread of communism. Engaged in a war that many viewed as having no way to win, U.S. leaders lost the American public's support for the war. -
Tet Offensive
The North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong launched a massive campaign called the Tet Offensive, attacking nearly thirty U.S. targets and dozens of other cities in South Vietnam at once. Although the United States pushed back the offensive and won a tactical victory, American media coverage characterized the conflict as a defeat, and U.S. public support for the war plummeted. -
The Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period leading to the formal reunification of Vietnam into a communist state.
