The famous Temple of Literature was built in Hanoi in 1070. The National University was created in 1076.
During these dynasties, Vietnamese armies turned back numerous invaders including the Chinese and the Mongols.
Due to internal strife, the Chinese were able to return and dominate Vietnam once more from 1407 to 1427.
One of Vietnam's national heroes, Le-Loi defeated the Chinese after a ten-year struggle. He ascended the throne under the reigning title of Le-Thai-To and gave the country the name of Dai-Viet and set up the capital at Hanoi, then called Dong-Do or Dong-Kinh.
There were also two partitions of Vietnam during these dynasties, similar to the one which exists today.
The first was from 1532 to 1592 when the Le Dynasty, which controlled the southern part of the country below Thanh-Hoa near the 20th parallel, fought the Mac Dynasty which occupied the north. The partition was ended by a victory for Le.
The second partition lasted from 1674 until 1802 when Gia-Long of the Nguyen family became emperor of a unified Vietnam once more.
The Era of the French Administration 1883-1954
Vietnam came in contact with the West, especially France, during the 19th century expansion of the West to Asia. Under the Nguyen Dynasties, hostilities broke out between France and Vietnam during the second half of the 19th century. The Vietnamese were overwhelmed by the French and were forced to yield their southern provinces in 1862 and 1867 as French colonies. This area was known as Cochin-China. The areas known as Annam and Tonkin were placed under the status of a French Protectorate in 1884.
Resistance, both active and passive, continued for a long time, however, and the French had to suppress many revolts. Some of the most important were those led by Emperor Ham-Nghi (1885-88); nationalist leaders Phan Ding Phung (1893-95) and Hoang Hoa Tham (1889-1913); and the Nationalist Party in 1930.
The matter of France and Vietnam has long been a subject of debate. There are those who claim the French contributed a great deal to Vietnam, both with money and talent. Then there are also those who believe that Vietnam was exploited by France only as a provider of raw materials, yet was not given any opportunity for industrial development. The late President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt believed this and was often quoted as saying that France had milked Vietnam dry, long enough.
The French ran the administration of Vietnam, and a Vietnamese historian charged that there was not a single Vietnamese as head of a province, a city, a battalion, or even as police commissioner when World War II broke out. He believed that this particularly made Vietnam an easy prey to communists and their subversion at the end of that war.
In Vietnam today, one can easily see the result of the French venture there. The second language is French and even the streets of the larger cities are built similar to those in France. This often leads to the comment that Saigon is the "Paris of the Orient." Architecture, medicine, administration and other things have continued to run as they did when the French were in power. Many Vietnamese citizens have been trained in France, and the Pasteur Institute stands today as a monument to the study of Asian diseases in Vietnam.
Chapter 5 contains more comprehensive information on the French influence in Vietnam, especially in the fields of civil service and education.
The Post-War II Period
The French continued to administer the country under Japanese military occupation which began in September 1940. For several years thereafter the French in Vietnam behaved with hospitality and cooperation toward the Japanese, thus protecting their investment in the country. At this same time, however, Americans were fighting to help save Free France in Europe and fighting the Japanese in the Pacific.
Toward the end of World War II, the Japanese made an "about face" and forcefully removed the French from the administration of Vietnam. Many French people lost their lives to the Japanese in Vietnam at this time. This left the country in a state of turmoil and without most public services, as these had been run by the French for over sixty years.
Some of the hard-feeling by the French for the United States today may be traced to the fact that the United States did not intercede immediately in the French people's behalf when the Japanese finally took action against them. On the other hand, many Americans did not understand the French cooperation and hospitable attitude toward the Japanese up to this point in Vietnam.
On April 16, 1945, a government was formed by Tran Trong Kim in an effort to restore law and order and to reorganize the country under Vietnamese administration. Even though the government was formed while still under Japanese occupation and during a world war, the new government formally declared that it was independent and "newborn" and that it wanted to be left alone for its reorganization.
According to Vietnamese historians, the Japanese refused to turn over the arms, money, tools, buildings, etc., that they had seized from the French. Without these things, the new government was helpless. Tran Trong Kim resigned about a week before the end of World War II. Emperor Bao-Dai abdicated on August 25, 1945, and a vacuum was created in the government, paving the way for further conflicts. In addition, the desire for national independence was a natural subterfuge for the communists in their attempts to take over the rice bowl of Asia.
The Viet-Minh
"Viet-Minh" is an abbreviation for "Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh" or "League for the Independence of Vietnam." The organization was founded during World War II by Vietnamese refugees in China.
Evidently this was used as a front organization for the communists, for Nguyen Ai Quoc, one of its leaders, changed his name to Ho Chi Minh in order to conceal his communist past, as he knew that the Vietnamese had little interest in communism but wanted national independence.
Supposedly, the Viet-Minh were to act as underground agents against the Japanese during that time, and some Americans from our various secret agencies were even posted with them. In actuality, the Viet-Minh did not make outstanding progress in harming the Japanese.
Many Vietnamese nationalists were induced to join the Viet-Minh as they believed they were going to seek the independence of Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh proclaimed his government in Hanoi on September 2, 1945, without having to fire a single shot. When the French re-entered Vietnam, they found themselves at war with a group that had been armed in part by the Allies. Many of the Vietnamese chose to join their own government, even if it was a communist one, in order to drive the foreign power, France, out of their country for good.
The French installed the Emperor Bao Dai on March 8, 1949, promising independence within the French union. The whole set-up was rife with confusion, and graft was rampant. Instead of drawing the people to the French-run government, the opposite happened and more people joined the side of Ho Chi Minh.
Errors, lost battles, and a strange new kind of war led to the French forces defeat at Dien Bien Phu on May 8, 1954. The Vietnamese people fought to victory in spite of the superior French forces and fire power. They won, but unfortunately many of them were deceived. Those Vietnamese chose what they thought to be the lesser of two evils only to be trapped within communist subversion.
The end of French rule in Vietnam occurred when the Geneva Accords were signed in 1954 bringing colonial wars in the area to an end, and signalling the beginning of an even more dangerous, outright communist war.
The Geneva Accords
Under the terms of the Geneva agreement, the northern part of Vietnam and about half of Central Vietnam came under communist control. The remainder of Central Vietnam and all the South became "free" and the Emperor Bao-Dai was its head of government at the time. Laos and Cambodia also became independent national states under the Geneva Accords.
One particular clause in the Accords provided that people in either zone could move to the other if they so desired. Approximately one million refugees flowed to the southern areas