Vietnam-Table A - Chronology of Important Events

Date
      Events


2879 B.C.
     Legendary founding of the Van Lang Kingdom by the first Hung
     Vuong
2879-258 B.C.
      Hung Dynasty
257-208 B.C.
     Thuc Dynasty
207-111 B.C.
     Trieu Dynasty
1800-1400 B.C.
     Phung Nguyen culture (Early Bronze Age)
850-300 B.C.
     Dong Son culture (Late Bronze Age)
210 B.C.
     Kingdom of Au Lac established
207 B.C.
     Chinese general Chao Tuo (Trieu Da) founds Nan Yueh (Nam
     Viet)
111 B.C.
     Nan Yueh conquered by Han
A.D. 39
     Trung sisters lead a rebellion against Chinese rule 43 Trung
     sisters' rebellion crushed by Chinese general Ma Yuan, and
     Viet people placed under direct Chinese administration for
     the first time
542-544
     Ly Bi leads uprising against China's Liang Dynasty and
     establishes the independent kingdom of Van Xuan
544-602
     Early Ly Dynasty
938
     Ngo Quyen defeats a Chinese invading force at the first
     battle of the Bach Dang River
939-968
     Ngo Dynasty
939-44
     Ngo Quyen rules independent Nam Viet
968-980
     Dinh Dynasty
970-975
     Dinh Bo Linh gains Chinese recognition of Nam Viet's
     independence by establishing a tributary relationship with
     China's Song Dynasty
980-1009
     Early Le Dynasty
981
     Le Hoan defeats a Chinese invasion
982
     Viet armies invade Champa and destroy its capital, Indrapura
1009-1225
     Ly Dynasty
1075
     Minor officials chosen by examination for the first time
1225-1400
     Tran Dynasty
1257-58
     Mongols attack Dai Viet and are defeated
1284-85
     Second Mongol invasion and defeat. Resistance led by Tran
     Hung Dao
1287
     Third Mongol invasion repelled
1360-90
     Champa wars. Champa ruled by Che Bong Nga
1400-140
     Ho Dynasty
1407-27
     Chinese invasion and occupation
1428
     Le Loi's armies defeat the Chinese
1428-1527
     Le Dynasty
1428
     Le Loi proclaims himself emperor. The country once again
     named Dai Viet.
1471
     Champa capital of Vijaya falls, ending the Champa kingdom.
1483
     Hong Duc legal code promulgated
1527-92
     Mac Dynasty. Mac rulers control Thang Long and the Red River
     Delta.
1558-1772
     Period of opposition between the Trinh and Nguyen clans
1627
     Alexandre de Rhodes, Jesuit missionary, arrives in Hanoi.
1771
     Tay Son Rebellion
1778
     Most of Nguyen clan annihilated by the Tay Son
1787
     French missionary Pigneau de Behaine persuades French court
     to assist in restoration of the Nguyen
1788
     Last Le emperor flees to China. Nguyen Hue proclaims himself
     emperor.
1789
     Chinese invasion in support of the Le defeated.
1802
     The Nguyen defeat last of Tay Son forces. Nguyen Anh accedes
     to throne as Gia Long and establishes his capital at Hue.
1802-1945
     Nguyen Dynasty
1820
     Death of Gia Long. Succeeded by his highly sinicized son,
     Minh Mang.
1847
     French vessels bombard Da Nang.
September 1858
     French forces seize Da Nang.
February 1859
     French forces capture Saigon.
February 1861
     The French defeat the Vietnamese army and gain control of
     Gia Dinh and surrounding provinces.
June 5, 1862
     Treaty of Saigon, which ceded three southern provinces--Bien
     Hoa, Gia Dinh, and Dinh Tuong--to the French.
1863
     Admiral la Grandiere imposes French protectorate on
     Cambodia.
March 1874
     A Franco-Vietnamese treaty confirms French sovereignty over
     Cochinchina and opens the Red River to trade.
August 1883
     Treaty of Protectorate, signed at the Harmond Convention,
     establishes French protectorate over Annam and Tonkin.
June 1884
     Treaty of Hue confirms the Harmond convention agreement.
1885
     Can Vuong movement, calling upon the Vietnamese to drive out
     the French, established.
1887
     Indochinese Union formally established.
May 19, 1890
     Ho Chi Minh's birth
1897-1902
     Paul Doumer is Governor-General.
1904
     Phan Boi Chau founds Viet Nam Duy Tan Hoi (Vietnam
     Reformation Society).
October 1911
     Ho Chi Minh departs Vietnam for Europe.
1912
     Phan Boi Chau founds Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi (Vietnam
     Restoration Society), replacing Duy Tan Hoi.
1919
     Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh) attempts to meet with President
     Woodrow Wilson at the. Versailles Peace Conference to
     present a program for Vietnamese rights and sovereignty, but
     is turned away.
1920
     Ho Chi Minh participates in founding of the French Communist
     Party.
1923
     Ho Chi Minh's first visit to Moscow
June-July 1924
     Ho Chi Minh attends Fifth Comintern Congress.
1925
     Viet Nam Thanh Nien Cach Menh Dong Chi Hoi (Revolutionary
     Youth League) formed in Guangzhou under Ho Chi Minh's
     leadership.
1926
     Ho Chi Minh forms Thanh Nien Cong San Doan (Communist Youth
     League) within the larger Thanh Nien organization.
1927
     Nguyen Thai Hoc founds the Vietnam Quoc Dan Dang (VNQDD,
     Vietnam Nationalist Party).
February 1930
     Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP, Viet Nam Cong San Dang)
     founded in Hong Kong (name changed to Indochinese Communist
     Party, Dong Duong Cong San Dang, in October).
September 1939
     World War II begins.
August 1940
     Franco-Japanese treaty, recognizing Japan's pre-eminence in
     Indochina in return for nominal recognition of French
     sovereignty, signed.
February 1941
     Ho Chi Minh returns to Vietnam.
May 1941
     ICP Eighth Plenum at Pac Bo establishes the Viet Minh
     (Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi, or League for the
     Independence of Vietnam).
1942-43
     Ho Chi Minh imprisoned in China.
1944-45
     Famine in Tonkin and Annam causes between 1.5 and 2 million
     deaths.
August 1945
     Japan surrenders and the Viet Minh commences the August
     Revolution, gaining effective control over much of Vietnam.
     September 1945 Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam's the
     independence in Hanoi.
1946
     Ho Chi Minh visits Paris during negotiations with France;
     hostilities begin following violation of agreements.
1946-54
     First Indochina War 
     (see Glossary--also known as Viet Minh War) 1951 Dang Lao Dong Viet 
     Nam (Vietnamese Workers Party--VWP) is founded, succeeding the 
     Indochinese Communist Party.
May 7, 1954
     French surrender at Dien Bien Phu
May 8, 1954
     Geneva Conference on Indochina opens.
July 21, 1954
     Geneva Agreements adopted, Vietnam provisionally divided at
     the 17th parallel, and Ngo Dinh Diem appointed South
     Vietnam's premier by Emperor Bao Dai.
January 1, 1955
     Direct United States aid to South Vietnam begins.
February 12, 1955
     United States advisers begin training South Vietnamese army
     troops.
October 26, 1955
     Republic of Vietnam established with Diem its first
     president.
December 20, 1960
     The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF)
     formed in the South under the direction of the Political
     Bureau.
December 31, 1961
     United States military personnel in Vietnam total  about
     3,200. February 8, 1962 United States Military Assistant
     Command-Vietnam (MACV) formed under the command of General
     Paul D. Harkins.
November 1-2, 1963
     Ngo Dinh Diem overthrown and assassinated.
August 7, 1964
     United States Congress passes the "Gulf of Tonkin
     Resolution," authorizing the president of the United States
     to use force in Vietnam to repel attacks on American
     installations.
February 7, 1965
     United States begins bombing military targets in North
     Vietnam.
March 9, 1965
     First United States ground combat troops land in Vietnam at
     Da Nang.
December 31, 1965
     United States military personnel in Vietnam total 180,000.
January 30-31, 1968
     "Tet Offensive," employing coordinated attacks on the
     South's major cities by North Vietnamese and National
     Liberation Front troops, fails to achieve its military
     objectives but erodes American support for the war.
January 25, 1969
     Four-party peace talks open in Paris.
May 14, 1969
     United States troop strength in Vietnam peaks at 543,000.
June 10, 1969
     Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG)
     formed.
September 3, 1969
     Ho Chi Minh's death
April 28, 1970
     Joint United States-Army of the Republic of Vietnam force
     attacks Vietnamese communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
March 24, 1971
     Operation Lam Son 719, a South Vietnamese attack on the Ho
     Chi Minh Trail in Laos, ends in defeat.
March 30, 1972
     People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) troops launch the largest
     offensive of the war since 1968.
January 27, 1973
     Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam
     signed in Paris.
March 29, 1973
     Last United States troops in Vietnam depart.
March 9, 1975
     PAVN offensive in the South begins.
April 30, 1975
     Saigon surrenders.
July 2, 1976
     The National Assembly proclaims official unification of
     Vietnam as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
December 14-20, 1976
     Fourth National Party Congress. The Vietnamese Workers Party
     renamed the Vietnam Communist Party.
September 20, 1977
     Vietnam admitted to United Nations.
June 29, 1978
     Vietnam admitted to membership in the Council for Mutual
     Economic Assistance (Comecon).
July 3, 1978
     China announces termination of all economic assistance to
     Vietnam.
November 3, 1978
     Vietnam and the Soviet Union sign a 25-year Treaty of
     Friendship and Cooperation."
December 21, 1978
     PAVN forces initiate invasion of Cambodia.
January 7, 1979
     The Cambodian government of Pol Pot overthrown when Phnom
     Penh, the capital of Cambodia, falls to Vietnamese forces.
February 17, 1979
     China launches invasion of Vietnam.
March 5, 1979
     Chinese forces withdrawn from Vietnam
March 1982
     Fifth National Party Congress
December 1986
     Sixth National Party Congress

Data as of December 1987