government as control ofthe coimtry shifted constantly until it mostly re-stabilized in the
eaiiy 11"" Century. Vietnamese society became largely respectful of scholarship and
mainly practiced Buddhism. Vietnam was highly successful in defending against China
and other neighboring countries until China was finally able to take control of Vietnam
while it was weakened from a recent coup d'etat in 1407. However, the strong
Vietnamese spirit for independence once again allowed them to retake control in a second
revolution, Within the next century, Vietnamese culture developed away from China's,
including the creation of a unique language and a long-lasting sense of individualism.
Vietnam once again repelled the Chinese in 1789 with the support ofthe French.
After this third cojiftict with China, Noi1h, Central and South Vietnam were fully united
for the first time in over 200 years. By the early 19"* Century, tension had grown
between France and Vietnam due to the execution and expulsion of various French
Catholic missionai'ies because the Vietnamese emperors ofthe era saw Catholicism as a
threat to the classic Confucian and Buddhist traditions in Vietnam. During 1847, France '
began military action against Vietnam in retaliation for the mistreatment of their
missionaries. In 1859, France officially took control of Vietnam with the capture of
Saigon. Rebellion, unrest and power struggles continued between Vietnamese guerillas,
the Chinese and the French until France took stable control of Vietnam in 1887.
Occasional resistance by the Vietnamese continued unsuccessftilly up until Worid War II.
The Communist Vietnamese, led by Ho Chi Minh, were ultimately able to gain the most
support from the Vietnamese peasants, who were suffering from sharecropping and often
from terrible working conditions. The Indochinese Communist Party and Viet Minli
were officially founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1930 and eventually had enough power to