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The French Invasion
In August 1858, french troops lead by Charles Rigault de Genouilly attacked Danang, as part of the Cochinchina campaign. The French overpowered the Vietnamese and occupied the city quickly. -
Capture of Saigon
February 18th, 1859. De Genouilly successfully captured Saigon. Saigon had a very pivotal role as the main food-producing area of Vietnam and the gateway to Cochin-China. -
Treaty of Saigon
Signed June 5th, 1862, the Treaty of Saigon had the Vietnamese give up Saigon, the island of Poulo Condor, and three southern provinces which were to become Cochinchina. -
Formation of the French Indochina
In October 17th, 1887, French combined Cochin-China along with their other territories they have conquered throughout the years to form French Indochina. French Indochina included most of Southern Vietnam, Annam and Tonkin. These territories were being used and colonized by the French. -
French Entry in World War 1
On August 3, 1914, France joined the Allied powers that included United Kingdom and the Russian Empire, which became the Triple Entente that linked the three countries together. The Allied Powers fought against the Central Powers that included Germany and Austria-Hungary. France extracted every last piece of resource to defeat Germany. This meant that France's colonies had to support France with manpower. Indochina had to provide France with soldiers, staff, piastries and supply/food. -
The Japanese Invasion
In September 22nd, 1940, French began to loose power and control over Vietnam as the Second World War started. When France has fallen to Germany, Japanese began occupying Vietnamese land. Japan claimed to protect the country; however, they gained power on the same token. -
Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minh
There was a chance to build new nationalist forces, because Japan's invasion was a new beginning for Vietnam. This is the very reason a guy called Ho Chi Minh comes up with a belligerent nationalist organization that base their ideas on communism. This new ideology was very appealing to the Vietnamese society. Then, Ho Chi Minh, using the fact that French authorities were absent, founded Viet Minh. Viet Minh was created to liberate the citizens from France's brutal manipulation with force. -
August Revolution
Nationalist forces in Vietnam rebelled when Japan's attention was focused on the Second World War. The rebellion suceeded and fought back Hanoi. The Japanese were also militarily defeated and in late August, the Emperor was thrown down as the Vietnamese citizens fought back for their rights and their nation. In September 2nd, 1945, Japanese surrendered to Ho and his Viet Minh team. On this day, the Japanese signed a formal surrender and ended the Second World War. -
The Vietnamese Declares Independency
On September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Viet Minh, announces the founding of the independent Vietnam. He read the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam as he drived the Japanese and French out of their country. Ho Chi minh names his North Communist Vietnam into Deomocratic Republic of Vietnam, because he truly wanted his country to be independent and free. -
The First Indochina War
The first Indochina War was between France that was being chased away during World War 2, and Vietnam trying to liberate themselves from dominant countries. After Japan was defeated in 1945 in the August Revolution, Vietnamese resistance force also hoped to regain their freedom from France. -
The End of the First Indochina War
This Indochina War was a long fight that lasted 8 years from 1946 to 1954. About 10,000 French forces had capitulated to the Vietnam forces at the end. The casualties in this dirty war were countless. With that, France had completely withdrew from Vietnam, ending the First Indochina War. The Geneva Conference was held next day with hopes of finding a solution for the Southeast Asia. -
Division of North and South Vietnam
When the French capitulated to North Vietnam to the Communists, they signed an armistice. The first Indochina War divided Vietnam into the Communist North ruled by Viet Minh and the Non-Communist South ruled by the State of Vietnam. This division allowed about a million anti-Communists in the north flee to South Vietnam. -
The Beginning of the Vietnam War
After the First Indochina War, there was the Vietnam War. This war was a lengthy struggle between the Communist North Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh and the communist allies against the Anti-Communist South Vietnam supported by the US. As US thought the idea of communism was a threat to their country, the US fought for the State of Vietnam to defeat communism once and for all. -
End of the Vietnam War
Soon after the war started, the US leaders gradually lost American public's support for the war, because many viewed this war to have no chance for the US against the communist forces. Eventually, the Communist North Vietnam won the battle and US had to withdraw their forces from both the South Vietnam and Indochina as thoss territories were now the North Vietnam's. -
Kampuchean-Vietnamese War
In December 1978, Kampuchea (now Camdodia) was attacked by the Vietnamese offensive. China had given support to the Kampuchean, but still could not withstand the force and suffered heavy casualties. This would lead to China being threatened by the expansion of Vietnam.
