History of Vietnam

Vietnam, as a unified state, has only existed since the early 1800s. But its story stretches back thousands of years to a legendary kingdom in the Red River Delta. From there, the Viet people expanded south in a long, steady push known as the Nam Tiến (“March to the South”). Alongside this drive for territory, Vietnam’s history is defined by its resistance — against the Chinese, the Mongols, the French, the Americans. One thing’s clear: Vietnam doesn’t back down.

The beginnings (c. 500,000-2000 BC)

The earliest humans showed up in Vietnam about half a million years ago, living off the land as hunter-gatherers. Things really kicked off around 2000 BC, when farmers in the Red River Delta figured out how to grow irrigated rice. To manage it, they built an impressive system of dykes and canals — no small feat — and with that, Vietnam’s first organized society was born.

This early kingdom, Van Lang, was ruled by the semi-mythical Hung kings from their base near modern-day Viet Tri. By the first millennium BC, the Lac Viet people had developed a sophisticated Bronze Age culture. Their standout creation? Ornate bronze drums — found near Dong Son in the 1920s — that still symbolise Vietnam’s ancient identity.

Early Kingdoms (c. 3rd century-111 BC)

In the third century BC, a Chinese warlord overran Van Lang and founded Au Lac, a short-lived kingdom with its capital at Co Loa, near Hanoi. For the first time, lowland and upland peoples were under one ruler. That unity didn’t last. By 207 BC, another Chinese general took over, absorbing Au Lac into the kingdom of Nam Viet, which stretched into southern China.

For a while, local traditions held strong. But in 111 BC, the Han Empire moved in, turning the Red River Delta into a Chinese province and kicking off nearly a thousand years of foreign rule.

Chinese rule (111 BC-938 AD)

China’s long grip on northern Vietnam shaped the country’s language, politics, and religion. Confucianism brought a rigid hierarchy and a powerful mandarin class that lasted for centuries. China also introduced writing, silk-making, and big infrastructure projects, while Mahayana Buddhism drifted in from the north during the second century AD.

But the Vietnamese never gave up. Rebellion after rebellion broke out. The most famous? The Trung sisters' uprising in 40 AD. After one of their husbands was killed by the Chinese, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi led a massive revolt. They ruled from Hue to the Chinese border — for three years — before a huge Chinese army forced them to surrender. Rather than be captured, they drowned themselves in the Hat River. Their legacy lives on today as national heroines.

China cracked down harder, but resistance kept simmering. The Tang dynasty tightened its grip in the 7th and 8th centuries, renaming the region Annam — “Pacified South.” But Vietnam had other plans.

In 938 AD, after the collapse of the Tang dynasty, Vietnamese forces led by Ngo Quyen crushed the Chinese navy at the Bach Dang River. He declared independence and set up his court at Co Loa. For the next thousand years, Vietnam would rule itself.

Dynastic rule (939-1407)

Vietnam’s hard-won independence in 939 AD didn’t bring peace. Five years after declaring himself king, Ngo Quyen died, and the country fell apart. Twelve warlords fought over control until 968, when Dinh Bo Linh finally united the land. He played it smart: moved the capital south to Hoa Lu and sent tribute to the Chinese emperor to keep the peace — something Vietnamese rulers would do (on paper) until the 1800s.

His short-lived Dinh dynasty laid the groundwork for centralized rule, followed by the Early Le, who built roads and strengthened the army. But it was the Ly dynasty (from 1009) that truly stabilized Dai Viet. Ly Thai To shifted the capital back north and founded Thang Long — modern-day Hanoi.

Under his successor Ly Thai Tong (r.1028-54), the army became a disciplined force. In 1076, General Ly Thuong Kiet even launched a bold pre-emptive strike against the Chinese Song dynasty — and held his ground when they struck back.

Mongols, Ming, and the rise of the Tran (1225-1407)

By 1225, the Tran dynasty had taken over. And good thing too — because the Mongols came knocking. Three times (1257, 1284, 1288), Kublai Khan’s forces tried to conquer Dai Viet. Three times they failed. The final blow came on the Bach Dang River, where General Tran Hung Dao lured the Mongol navy into a deadly trap of submerged stakes — just like Ngo Quyen had centuries earlier.

In 1400, Ho Qui Ly seized the throne from the fading Tran dynasty and launched a string of forward-thinking reforms — land redistribution, tax updates, ports opened to foreign trade, and even paper money. Too bad it didn’t last. The Chinese Ming dynasty invaded in 1407, wiping out the Ho after just seven years and trying to erase Vietnamese culture altogether.

Le Loi and the Later Le dynasty (1428-1789)

Resistance brewed fast. In Thanh Hoa, a landlord-turned-rebel leader named Le Loi built a guerrilla army and, after ten years of fighting, crushed the Chinese in 1427. He became Le Thai To, founding the Later Le dynasty.

Early on, the dynasty flourished. But over time, it fell into decline. Powerful clans like the Trinh in the north and the Nguyen in the south began carving out their own territories. By the late 1500s, the Le emperors were little more than figureheads. The Trinh ruled from Hanoi; the Nguyen, from Hue. Vietnam was effectively split in two.

First encounters: Westerners and missionaries (1535-1700s)

Western contact started early. Roman traders may have reached the Cham ports as far back as the 2nd century AD, and Marco Polo passed by in the 1200s. But the real shift came in 1535, when Portuguese merchant Antonio Da Faria docked at Fai Fo (Hoi An) — then one of Southeast Asia’s busiest ports.

Trade brought missionaries. The Catholic message found fertile ground among Vietnam’s lower classes — less so among the Confucian elite, who banned missionary work in the 1630s. Enforcement was patchy, though. By 1700, there were hundreds of thousands of converts. European traders — Portuguese, Dutch, English, French — all jockeyed for position, often playing the Trinh and Nguyen factions off each other. By the time Vietnam unified again in 1674, most had packed up and left. Only the Portuguese held on in Fai Fo.

The Tay Son Rebellion (1771-1802)

By the 1770s, rural unrest erupted into full-scale rebellion. Three brothers from Tay Son village, near Quy Nhon, rallied peasants, traders, and ethnic minorities around promises of land reform, justice, and equality. Within a decade, they’d taken out both the Trinh and Nguyen lords — and left the Le emperor clinging to a title with no power.

When the Le tried to stage a comeback with Chinese help in 1788, Nguyen Hue — now Emperor Quang Trung — smashed them at Dong Da, just outside Hanoi. His reign was short but reform-minded. After his death in 1792, his 10-year-old son couldn’t hold the country together.

One Nguyen lord, Prince Nguyen Anh, escaped the chaos and struck a deal with French bishop Pigneau de Béhaine. France was too broke to honor the official treaty, but Béhaine raised a private force anyway — 4,000 mercenaries, ships, and arms. It worked. In 1802, Nguyen Anh took Hanoi and crowned himself Emperor Gia Long.

Bishop Béhaine didn’t live to see it. He died in 1799 but got a grand funeral, knowing he’d helped set the stage for a new Vietnamese dynasty — with a growing French shadow in the background.

The Nguyen dynasty (1802-1883)

For the first time, Vietnam — from the Chinese border all the way down to Ca Mau — was united under one ruler. That ruler was Nguyen Anh, now Emperor Gia Long, who chose Hue as his capital and built a sprawling citadel modeled on Beijing’s Forbidden City. Symbolically and politically, he leaned hard into Confucianism.

Out went the Tay Son reforms. Land was handed back to loyal mandarins, peasants lost their gains, and the country closed its doors to outside influence. The Nguyen emperors focused on tradition over innovation — bad news when French gunboats started sniffing around.

Still, the dynasty wasn’t idle. Roads, canals, and provincial administration improved. Court music and literature thrived. But Gia Long’s refusal to reward the French for their earlier support — especially with trading rights — sparked growing friction. When his successors started cracking down on missionaries from the 1820s onward, it gave France the excuse it needed to invade.

French conquest and rule (1858-1940)

French colonization started with a bang — literally. In 1858, under the pretext of rescuing persecuted priests, France launched a naval assault on Da Nang. The real prize was the Mekong Delta. By 1862, Emperor Tu Duc had handed over three provinces, missionary access, and trading rights. Five years later, the rest of southern Vietnam became the colony of Cochinchina.

Northern conquest took longer. The French fumbled an early grab for Hanoi in 1873, then tried again in 1882 — with more success. With Tu Duc dead and the Nguyen court in chaos, the French pushed their advantage. In 1883, they forced a protectorate deal on the emperor and took over the north (Tonkin) and center (Annam), later bundling it all into French Indochina with Cambodia (1887) and Laos (1893).

Life under French rule (1887-1940)

The “civilizing mission” was mostly spin. France was after profit. Railways, roads, and irrigation systems were built — but funded through punishing taxes and state monopolies on salt, alcohol, and opium. Peasants lost land and ended up working on plantations or in mines, often under brutal conditions. By the 1930s, the Great Depression made things worse — jobs vanished, prices crashed, and poverty deepened.

Healthcare improved (mass vaccination cut cholera and plague), but education stagnated. A tiny elite studied in French schools or universities in Europe, only to find themselves blocked from meaningful jobs. Frustrated and politicized, this group would later lead the resistance.

The anticolonial struggle and Ho Chi Minh (1890-1945)

Early resistance was about saving the monarchy. Movements like Can Vuong (“Save the King”) rallied around puppet emperors — until the French removed any who stepped out of line.

By the 1920s, radical ideas took root. Phan Boi Chau called for violent revolution. In 1925, a new figure entered the scene: Ho Chi Minh. Born in 1890, Ho had left Vietnam in 1911 and worked odd jobs from New York to London. By 1920 he was in Paris, helping found the French Communist Party. In 1923 he landed in Moscow; a year later, he was in southern China, launching the Revolutionary Youth League — the first Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist group.

Ho had charisma, vision, and staying power. In 1930, he merged Vietnam’s fractured communist factions into the Indochinese Communist Party, aiming for a workers’ revolution. Party cells popped up across the country. The Great Depression, which hit Vietnam hard, only strengthened the cause.

That same year, peasants in Nghe Tinh rose up. Thousands were killed or jailed. But the French couldn’t kill the idea. By the late 1930s, prisons were packed with revolutionaries — especially on Poulo Condore, nicknamed the “University of the Revolution.”

World War II and the rise of the Viet Minh (1940-1945)

When Nazi Germany overran France in 1940, Japan took advantage. With Vichy France’s blessing, they occupied Vietnam — leaving French officials in place but taking control of everything else. Some Vietnamese nationalists saw Japan as liberators. Ho Chi Minh didn’t.

In early 1941, after 30 years in exile, Ho crossed back into Vietnam. He set up camp in Pac Bo cave, in the far north, and founded the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) in May. Over the next few years, they built guerrilla bases in the mountains, trained troops, and waited for their moment.

That moment came in 1945. As Japan’s defeat loomed, Ho made contact with the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) — the forerunner of the CIA. In exchange for military intel and rescued American pilots, the Viet Minh received weapons and support. OSS agents even saved Ho’s life when he fell seriously ill.

In March 1945, Japan ousted the French entirely and installed Bao Dai, Vietnam’s last emperor, as the figurehead of a so-called independent state. A massive famine that summer pushed more people into the arms of the Viet Minh. Then came Hiroshima.

Japan surrendered on August 14. With the French out, the Japanese gone, and the country in chaos, the Viet Minh prepared to seize power.

Independence and division (1945-1954)

When Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, Vietnam’s power vacuum didn’t last long. Four days later, the Viet Minh launched the August Revolution. Within weeks, they had control of most of the country. Bao Dai handed over the Imperial sword, and on September 2, Ho Chi Minh stood in Ba Dinh Square and declared Vietnam independent. His speech quoted Jefferson: “All men are created equal…” It was aimed squarely at the US — but Washington wasn’t listening. The Cold War was brewing, and Ho was a Communist.

The Allies ignored the new republic. Under the Potsdam Agreement, the north was handed to Chinese Nationalist forces; the south, to the British. By the time they arrived, the Viet Minh had already taken most Japanese weapons. But chaos broke out in Saigon. British forces, aiming to restore order, armed recently released French troops — and even used Japanese soldiers to crush resistance. Within weeks, the French were back in control of the south.

In the north, the Chinese occupiers were looting and overstaying their welcome. Ho had few options. In March 1946, he signed a treaty with France: they’d recognize his government in return for replacing Chinese troops. The terms were vague. France dragged its feet on promised elections, increased troop levels, and then bombed Haiphong in November — killing thousands. On December 19, the Viet Minh struck back in Hanoi, then slipped into the mountains to begin a long war.

The French War (1946-1954)

For the first years of the First Indochina War, the Viet Minh played a waiting game — hitting French outposts, melting into the jungle. French forces held the Red River Delta, but never won over the local population. In 1949, they brought back Bao Dai as head of the so-called Associated State of Vietnam. Nobody bought it.

The real turning point came when Communist China won its civil war. Suddenly, the Viet Minh had direct access to weapons, training, and a border sanctuary. The US, now deep in Cold War mode, backed France with billions. In 1951, the Viet Minh tried to seize Hanoi — and lost over 6,000 men. It was a brutal lesson for General Vo Nguyen Giap, but he adapted quickly.

By 1954, both sides were worn out. A major battle loomed at Dien Bien Phu, near the Laos border. France wanted a showdown. Giap gave them one. After 59 days of trench warfare, artillery barrages, and slow, grinding siege, the French surrendered on May 7, 1954. The war had claimed at least 93,000 French and 200,000 Viet Minh lives.

The Geneva Conference (1954)

The day after Dien Bien Phu fell, nine countries met in Geneva. The goal: end the fighting. The result: a messy compromise.

Vietnam was split at the 17th Parallel, pending national elections in 1956. The Viet Minh took the north. French-allied forces held the south. The US and South Vietnam refused to sign the final agreement, fearing it would hand the country to the Communists. But the division went ahead anyway.

A country divided (1954-1956)

The Geneva Accords triggered mass migration. Nearly a million people fled from north to south — many of them Catholics, encouraged by CIA propaganda and US Navy ships. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Viet Minh cadres slipped south, hiding among the refugee flow. Hanoi left some operatives behind, known as “winter cadres”, to prepare for the next phase of struggle.

In the north, Ho Chi Minh’s government marched into Hanoi on October 9. In the south, Ngo Dinh Diem — a staunch Catholic and US-backed hardliner — was appointed prime minister. In 1955, after a laughably rigged referendum (Diem won 98.2% of the vote), he ousted Bao Dai and declared himself president of the Republic of Vietnam.

Diem’s rule quickly turned authoritarian. Determined to wipe out Communist influence, he launched brutal purges. Thousands were executed — Viet Minh, suspected sympathizers, or anyone who dared dissent. Instead of crushing the resistance, he only pushed it underground and widened opposition.

Hanoi's Revolution at home (1954-1959)

North of the 17th Parallel, things weren’t smooth either. With Chinese advisors on hand, the Hanoi government began transforming the north into a socialist state. Land reform aimed to redistribute farmland — but turned into a bloodbath. Tens of thousands were wrongly branded “landlords” and executed or jailed. Intellectuals, artists, and anyone with foreign books risked being labeled “reactionary.” In 1956, the government admitted mistakes — but, as Ho put it, “one cannot wake the dead.”

With the north distracted, southern cadres held their ground under Diem’s crackdown. Assassinations and small attacks increased. By 1959, Hanoi could no longer ignore them. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was revived. Conscription was introduced. At the end of 1960, Hanoi helped launch the National Liberation Front (NLF) — a united front of Communists, Buddhists, nationalists, and anti-Diem forces. Diem dismissed them all as “Viet Cong” — a term that stuck, even though the movement was far broader than just Communists.

The American War (1955-1975)

The US had been bankrolling France’s war in Vietnam since 1950. When the French left, Washington switched to supporting Ngo Dinh Diem’s shaky regime in the South. Officially, it was about stopping Communism from spreading across Southeast Asia — the Domino Theory — but access to trade, resources, and influence played a big part too.

By 1962, 12,000 American “advisers” were on the ground. But Diem’s government was corrupt and deeply unpopular, especially in rural areas where peasants were forced into Strategic Hamlets — walled villages meant to cut off Viet Cong access. The plan backfired badly. It alienated villagers and boosted support for the resistance.

Then came Ap Bac (January 1963), where a small Viet Cong force crushed a much larger ARVN unit. Things got worse in May, when Buddhist monks were attacked during peaceful protests. That summer, Thich Quang Duc famously set himself on fire in downtown Saigon. By November, the US had backed a coup. Diem and his brother were killed the next day.

Escalation and the Gulf of Tonkin (1964)

South Vietnam spiralled into instability. The Viet Cong (VC) were gaining ground. Hanoi stepped up support and sent regular NVA troops down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In Washington, the pressure to act grew.

Then came the Gulf of Tonkin incident. On August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox reported being attacked by North Vietnamese boats. A second attack was later claimed — but likely never happened. Still, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution passed, giving President Johnson a blank check to wage war.

Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968)

After an NVA raid on Pleiku, the US launched Rolling Thunder, a relentless bombing campaign targeting North Vietnam. Over three years, US planes flew 350,000 sorties, dropping more than twice the tonnage of bombs used in all of WWII. It didn’t work. North Vietnam simply repaired roads and bridges and kept the supply lines running.

The first US ground troops landed at Da Nang in March 1965. By the end of the year, there were 200,000 Americans in Vietnam. At the peak, over 540,000 US troops were in-country, joined by Australians, South Koreans, Thais, and others. But this wasn’t a war of tanks and front lines. It was a jungle conflict fought against guerrillas who disappeared into the trees — or the nearest village.

Fighting a shadow war

The US found itself caught in a moral and tactical nightmare. Bombing hardened the North’s resolve. In the South, US troops couldn’t tell friend from enemy. Villagers were caught between both sides. The Viet Cong imposed harsh control in areas they dominated. US and ARVN forces often responded with brutality. It was impossible to stay neutral — and dangerous to be wrong.

In many families, brothers fought on opposite sides. Kids were conscripted by whoever got to them first. Trust vanished. Paranoia thrived.

The Tet Offensive (1968)

On January 31, 1968, during the lunar new year (Tet) holiday, 70,000 Communist troops attacked over 100 towns and cities in the South. Saigon’s US Embassy compound was breached. The city of Hue fell and held for weeks.

Militarily, the offensive failed. But politically, it changed everything. The US public had been told the war was under control. Tet proved otherwise. Confidence collapsed.

By March, Johnson announced he wouldn’t seek re-election. Rolling Thunder was wound down. Peace talks began in Paris. But the fighting raged on.

Nixon, Cambodia, and vietnamization (1969-1973)

Richard Nixon took office in 1969 promising “peace with honor.” His plan? Vietnamization — withdraw US troops while arming and training ARVN forces. US numbers dropped from 540,000 to 280,000 by 1970.

But Nixon widened the war. In 1969, he secretly bombed Communist camps in Cambodia (Operation Menu). In 1970, US and ARVN troops invaded Cambodia outright. At home, protests erupted.

Ho Chi Minh died on September 2, 1969. Peace talks stalled over the future of South Vietnam. Nixon's “Madman Theory” floated the threat of nuclear escalation. Neither side blinked.

In 1972, the North launched the Easter Offensive. Nixon responded with Operation Linebacker, restarting bombing in the North. Behind the scenes, talks resumed.

In January 1973, after Nixon’s infamous Christmas Bombing, the Paris Peace Accords were signed. The US agreed to withdraw all troops. Hanoi and Saigon exchanged POWs. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho shared the Nobel Peace Prize — though only Kissinger accepted it.

The fall of the South (1973-1975)

The US was gone. But the war wasn’t over.

ARVN was large — over a million men — but riddled with corruption. After a strong counteroffensive in 1973, things unraveled fast. By 1974, inflation, unemployment, and mass desertions left South Vietnam teetering.

In early 1975, the North launched the Ho Chi Minh Campaign. It was swift and brutal. Towns fell one by one: Buon Ma Thuot, Hue, Da Nang, Xuan Loc. On April 21, President Thieu fled to Taiwan.

On April 30, 1975, NVA tanks rolled into Saigon. The US evacuated its embassy staff and allies in Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation in history. General “Big” Minh, who had been in office for just two days, surrendered unconditionally.

The American War was over. Vietnam was united. But the cost was staggering:

• Over 58,000 Americans killed.
• Roughly 2 million Vietnamese civilians and soldiers dead.
• A generation uprooted. A country in ruins.

Socialist Vietnam (1976-1986)

In July 1976, Vietnam officially became one country again — the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. But unity didn’t mean harmony. Northern officials flooded into the South, filling every position of power. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, and the promised Council of National Reconciliation — meant to bridge old divisions — was quietly buried.

The problems were huge. The North had no real industry and ran on collective farming. The South, by contrast, had lived off American money and a war-driven service economy. With the US gone and foreign aid cut off, it all collapsed. Inflation soared. Food was scarce. The government’s answer? Re-education camps, where anyone linked to the former South Vietnamese regime — soldiers, teachers, priests, businessmen — was detained without trial. Tens of thousands were held for years.

The fallout drove an exodus. Boat people fled in rickety vessels, risking death at sea rather than stay under the new regime.

War with Cambodia and China (1978-1989)

While Vietnam reeled from postwar chaos, Pol Pot took over Cambodia. His regime began attacking Vietnamese border villages, including the Ba Chuc massacre in 1978, where nearly 2,000 civilians were killed. On Christmas Day, Vietnam invaded Cambodia, overthrew Pol Pot, and installed a new government in Phnom Penh.

The West didn’t cheer. Vietnam was now seen as a regional aggressor. China retaliated by invading northern Vietnam in February 1979. After 16 bloody days, the Chinese pulled back, but it sent a message. Meanwhile, Pol Pot’s forces regrouped in Thailand and kept fighting.

Vietnam stayed in Cambodia for a decade, losing around 50,000 soldiers — many of them Southern conscripts.

Doi Moi: The Renovation Era (1986-1995)

By the mid-1980s, Vietnam was broke. The economy had collapsed. A famine in 1985 and 775% inflation the following year pushed the country to the edge.

Then came Nguyen Van Linh. In 1986, he launched doi moi (“renovation”) — Vietnam’s answer to reform. The government ditched collectivized agriculture, opened the economy to foreign investment, and began privatizing some state industries. Politically, not much changed — but some press freedom returned, and corrupt officials were (briefly) purged.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the government pulled back again. Vietnam stayed a one-party state, but the economic reforms stuck.

Meanwhile, Soviet aid dried up, and the US still blocked loans from the World Bank and IMF. To normalize relations, Vietnam cooperated in the search for American MIAs (soldiers missing in action). In 1994, President Bill Clinton lifted the US trade embargo, and in 1995, full diplomatic ties were restored.

That same year, Vietnam joined ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), signaling its return to the global stage.

Boom and backlash (1995–1997)

By the late 1990s, foreign investment was surging. Tourism, oil, and manufacturing boomed. Growth hit nearly 10% a year, and economists began calling Vietnam the “next Asian tiger.”

But the success was uneven. City dwellers — especially in Ho Chi Minh City — thrived. Rural areas were left behind. Smuggling, corruption, and red tape surged. Concerned by the creeping Western influence, the government launched a crackdown on “social evils” — porn, advertising, pop culture, and anything else that threatened traditional values.

Then came 1997. Foreign investors pulled out, frustrated by Vietnam’s endless bureaucracy. State-run industries couldn’t compete. Farmers in Thai Binh province, long a Communist stronghold, led mass protests over corruption and land rights. It was a wake-up call.

Between boom and reform fatigue (1997–2000)

By the late 1990s, Vietnam’s post-Doi Moi honeymoon was fading. Foreign investors were growing restless — frustrated by bureaucracy, red tape, and unclear rules. Then came the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-98. Vietnam wasn’t as exposed as Thailand or Indonesia, but the knock-on effects still hurt. Growth slowed. Projects stalled. The rural-urban divide deepened.

In 1998, a corruption scandal hit the highest levels of government. Senior Politburo member Pham The Duyet was arrested, and the public got a rare glimpse of just how deep the rot ran.

Still, Vietnam pushed ahead with market reforms — cautiously. There was no turning back, but the ruling party kept a tight lid on political dissent. Reform-minded officials were walking a fine line between modernization and maintaining control.

By 2000, things began to stabilize. US-Vietnam relations were warming, and the country was positioning itself for WTO membership. The next chapter — global integration — was ready to begin.

The twenty-first century (2000–Present)

Vietnam entered the 2000s with big ambitions — and just as many challenges. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai was re-elected in 2002, and relations with the US kept warming. In 2004, a United Airlines flight landed in Ho Chi Minh City — the first direct American passenger flight since the war. By 2005, Khai himself was shaking hands in Washington.

In 2006, Khai stepped aside for his protégé, Nguyen Tan Dung, who pushed ahead with economic reforms while juggling the contradictions of Vietnam’s “socialist-oriented market economy.” In 2007, after years of negotiation, Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization. Dung was reappointed in 2011, but by 2016 his political rise hit a ceiling. He tried to challenge party leader Nguyen Phu Trong, and lost. The party stayed firmly in control.

Corruption, meanwhile, was the constant undercurrent. In 2010, state shipbuilder Vinashin nearly sank under debt and fraud. In 2014, Vietinbank was rocked by a billion-dollar embezzlement case. More trials followed. More arrests. And still, the scandals kept coming.

Relations with China and the US

Vietnam’s relationship with China is, in a word, complicated. In 2011, the two countries signed an agreement to keep their South China Sea dispute (known in Vietnam as the East Sea) from boiling over. That didn’t last long.

In 2014, when China parked a massive oil rig in contested waters, anti-China riots erupted across Vietnam. Chinese-owned businesses were torched. At least 20 people were killed. Thousands of ethnic Chinese were evacuated. A week later, a Chinese ship rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat. Public fury surged.

Vietnam’s distrust of China may have nudged it closer to the US. When President Obama visited in 2016, he lifted the long-standing arms embargo and pushed for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. That died under President Trump, who pulled out in 2017 — but still signed off on a new trade agreement worth billions.

Modern Vietnam: progress and pressure

Corruption still festers. The government continues to crack down on dissent, control the press, and restrict religious freedom. But for many Vietnamese, daily life is better than it’s ever been.

• Poverty has plummeted — from around 70% in the 1980s to under 6% today.
• Life expectancy is up to 75 years (compared to 65 in 1990).
• Literacy rates hover over 95%.
• Child mortality has dropped sharply.

For a country that came out of the 1970s broken, it’s a remarkable turnaround.

And Vietnam’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic didn’t go unnoticed. In 2020, while most countries locked down or buckled under pressure, Vietnam kept case numbers low with swift action and shut borders. International tourism collapsed — but domestic travel recovered fast, and the economy fared far better than most of its neighbors.