Vietnam - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 821

1858 A French armada captures Da Nang. By 1862, they
control the Mekong Delta, and by 1887 the whole country,
creating the Union of Indochina.
Late 19th century Chinese-style script phased out and
the Romanized quoc ngu alphabet introduced.
1930 Ho Chi Minh establishes the Indochinese Communist
Party at a conference in Hong Kong, its goal an indepen-
dent Vietnam governed by workers, peasants and soldiers.
1941 Ho Chi Minh returns to Vietnam after thirty years,
joining other resistance leaders and forging a nationalist
coalition, known as the Viet Minh.
1941-45 Vietnam is controlled by Japan; in March 1945
they establish a nominally independent state under Bao
Dai, the last Nguyen emperor.
1945 Following Japanese surrender, Ho Chi Minh calls for
a national uprising, known as the August Revolution, and
on September 2 proclaims an independent Vietnam. It is
not recognized by the Allied countries, and Vietnam is put
under British then French control in the south and Chinese
in the north.
March 1946 Ho Chi Minh agrees on a limited French
force to replace the Chinese, with France recognizing the
Democratic Republic as a “free state” within the French
Union in return.
1946-54 The treaty with the French doesn't hold, and
skirmishes between Vietnamese and French troops escalate
into war (the First Indochina War).
May 1954 The French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu on
May 7, just as peace discussions begin in Geneva. France
and the Viet Minh agree to a ceasefire and to divide
Vietnam, pending elections.
July 1954 In Saigon, Emperor Bao Dai's prime minister
Ngo Dinh Diem ousts him, declares himself President, and
begins silencing his enemies, including religious sects and
Viet Minh dissidents - more than 50,000 are killed.
1954 In Ho Chi Minh's Hanoi, thousands of people accused
of being “landlords” are tortured, executed or sent to
labour camps.
1960 The National Liberation Front is formed in South
Vietnam to oppose Diem's regime; its guerrilla forces are
known as the Viet Cong.
August 1964 Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the
US (which had been bankrolling Diem's government since
1950) starts bombing northern coastal bases.
1965 Operation Rolling Thunder begins, a massive
carpet-bombing campaign by the US to try to stop the
North's lines of supply south, along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(see box, p.896). By the end of 1967 there are nearly half
a million GIs in Vietnam.
1968 In January the Viet Cong launch the Tet Offensive,
a surprise attack on more than a hundred towns in the
South. Hundreds of Vietnamese civilians are massacred by
the Americans at My Lai. President Johnson announces a
virtual cessation of bombing and peace talks begin.

1969 Under Richard Nixon there is a gradual US withdrawal
coupled with reinforcing the South's army and a dramatic
increase in bombing. Ho Chi Minh dies of heart failure.
January 27, 1973 The Paris Accords are signed by the
US, the North, the South and the Viet Cong, establishing
a ceasefire; all American troops are repatriated, though
fighting between the North and South continues.
April 30, 1975 Saigon falls to the North.
July 1976 The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is o cially
born, and Hanoi ushers in a rigid socialist state,
nationalizing land, industry and trade. Buddhist monks,
priests, intellectuals and those with connections to
America, Buddhist monks, priests and intellectuals are
interned in “re-education camps”.
December 25, 1978 120,000 Vietnamese troops invade
Cambodia and oust Pol Pot in retaliation for Khmer Rouge
cross-border forays into Vietnam, remaining there until 1989.
1986 The new reformist General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh
introduces sweeping economic reforms, known as doi moi ,
Vietnam's equivalent of perestroika. A market economy is
embraced, and foreign investment encouraged.
1994 The US revokes its trade embargo.
1995 Vietnam is admitted into ASEAN (the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations), and full diplomatic relations
with the US are restored.
2000 Bill Clinton becomes the first US president to
visit Hanoi.
2007 Vietnam joins the WTO; President Nguyen Minh Triet
visits the White House.
2008-9 The global economic crisis rocks Vietnam, as
the stock market loses seventy percent of its value and
property prices plummet.
2009 The world's largest cave - Son Doong - is found in
Vietnam's Phong Nha region.
2010 Hanoi holds lavish celebrations in honour of its
1000th birthday.
2013 Hundreds of thousands evacuated in preparation
for Typhoon Haiyan which made landfall near Haiphong,
killing three people.
2014 The Vietnam International Trade Fair is held in April,
with attendees from more than twenty countries.

11

ARRIVAL
Vietnam has three main international
airports : Noi Bai in Hanoi, Tan Son
Nhat in HCMC and Da Nang in central
Vietnam. he national airline is Vietnam
Airlines, with pricey flights to and from
Asia, Europe, Australia and the US. he
cheapest option to get to Vietnam from
outside Asia is to take a flight to Bangkok
or Singapore, and travel overland or take
a budget connecting flight from there.