France assumed control over the whole of Vietnam after the Tonkin Campaign (1883–1886). In November 1953, the French, weary of jungle warfare, occupied Dien Bien Phu, a small mountain outpost on … Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam, [vîət nāːm] ()), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam), is a country in Southeast Asia and the easternmost country on the Indochinese Peninsula.With an estimated 96.2 million inhabitants as of 2019, it is the 15th most populous country in the world. In 1885, France looked to take over Vietnam and in 1887 they did it. Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is one of just five communist countries still in existence. The French/Spanish punitive expedition landed at Danang in 1858. Japan in the History of Vietnam.
From 1940 to 1945, the Japanese seized the country from France, allowing France just minimal authority.

France received military aid from the United States. North Vietnam and the Viet Cong successfully opposed a series of ineffectual U.S.-backed South Vietnam regimes and beginning in 1964 withstood a decade-long military intervention by the United States. Vietnam has an extensive coastline on the South China Sea and also shares land borders with China, Laos and Cambodia. The "National Army of Vietnam" was created shortly after that, commanded by General Hinh, an admirer of the Emperor. On 8 March, 1949, France recognized what it called the State of Vietnam as an independent country ruled by Emperor Bao Dai. In the United States, the war fought in Vietnam from 1954 to 1975 is known as the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The French started to integrate more Western ideals, education, and religion including, for the first time, introducing Christianity. Vietnam War (1954–75), conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. Unable to push to Hue, the left a holding force in Danang and proceded to Saigon, thereby cutting off the rice supply that sustained the Vietnamese Imperial Army.

The Japanese had occupied French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) in 1940, and they left the fascist Vichy French government, allied with Tokyo’s German partner after the fall of France … French Rule: The French colonized Vietnam in the mid 1800s. French Indochina was formed in October 1887 from Annam (Trung Kỳ, central Vietnam), Tonkin (Bắc Kỳ, northern Vietnam), Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ, southern Vietnam, and Cambodia, with Laos added in 1893). It was part of a larger regional conflict as well as a manifestation of the Cold War. The other four are China, Cuba, Laos, and North Korea. The shape of the country is long and narrow; it is more than 1,600 kilometres in length with an area spanning almost 330,000 square kilometres. Vietnam is situated between the eighth and 24th parallel, north of the equator. The emperor of northern and central Vietnam resigned and the Communist leader, Ho Chi Minh became leader. In Vietnam, it is known as the American War.