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.

Sep 1858

French forces seize Da Nang.

Feb 1859

French forces capture Saigon.

Feb 1861

The French defeat the Vietnamese army and gain control of Gia Dinh and surrounding provinces.

Jun 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.

Mar 1874

A Franco-Vietnamese treaty confirms French sovereignty over Cochinchina and opens the Red River to trade.

Aug 1883

Treaty of Protectorate, signed at the Harmond Convention, establishes French protectorate over Annam and Tonkin.

Jun 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).

Oct 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 arrives in France

Jun-Jul 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).

Feb 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).

Sept 1939

World War II begins.

Aug 1940

Franco-Japanese treaty, recognizing Japan’s pre-eminence in Indochina in return for nominal recognition of French sovereignty, signed.

Feb 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.

Aug 1945

Japan surrenders and the Viet Minh commences the August Revolution, gaining effective control over much of Vietnam.

Sep 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 Indchina war ( 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.

Jul 21, 1954

Geneva Agreements adopted, Vietnam provisionally divided at the 17^th parallel, and Ngo Dinh Diem appointed South Vietnam’s premier by Emperor Bao Dai.

Jan 1, 1955

Direct United States aid to South Vietnam begins.

Feb 12, 1955

United States advisers begin training South Vietnamese army troops.

Oct 26, 1955

Republic of Vietnam established with Diem its first president.

Dec 20, 1960

The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) formed in the South under the direction of the Political Bureau.

Dec 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.

Nov 1-2, 1963

Ngo Dinh Diem overthrown and assassinated.

Aug 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.

Feb 7, 1965

United States begins bombing military targets in North Vietnam.

Mar 9, 1965

First United States ground combat troops land in Vietnam at Da Nang.

Dec 31, 1965

United States military personnel in Vietnam total 180,000.

Jan 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.

Jan 25, 1969

Four-party peace talks open in Paris.

May 14, 1969

United States troop strength in Vietnam peaks at 543,000.

Jun 10, 1969

Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG) formed.

Sep 3, 1969

Ho Chi Minh’s death

Apr 28, 1970

Joint United States-Army of the Republic of Vietnam force attacks Vietnamese communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.

Mar 24, 1971

Operation Lam Son 719, a South Vietnamese attack on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, ends in defeat.

Mar 30, 1972

People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) troops launch the largest offensive of the war since 1968.

Jan 27, 1973

Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam signed in Paris.

Mar 29, 1973

Last United States troops in Vietnam depart.

Mar 9, 1975

PAVN offensive in the South begins.

Apr 30, 1975

Saigon surrenders.

Jul 2, 1976

The National Assembly proclaims official unification of Vietnam as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Dec 14-20, 1976

Fourth National Party Congress. The Vietnamese Workers Party renamed the Vietnam Communist Party.

Sep 20, 1977

Vietnam admitted to United Nations.

Jun 29, 1978

Vietnam admitted to membership in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon).

Jul 3, 1978

China announces termination of all economic assistance to Vietnam.

Nov 3, 1978

Vietnam and the Soviet Union sign a 25-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation."

Dec 21, 1978

PAVN forces initiate invasion of Cambodia.

Jan 7, 1979

The Cambodian government of Pol Pot overthrown when Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, falls to Vietnamese forces.

Feb 17, 1979

China launches invasion of Vietnam.

Mar 5, 1979

Chinese forces withdrawn from Vietnam

Mar 1982

Fifth National Party Congress

Dec 1986

Sixth National Party Congress