7 times liberating the capital in national history

Throughout its thousand-year history, the capital Thang Long - Hanoi has been liberated seven times from occupation by foreign powers.

1. The first war against the Yuan-Mongol army (1258)

At the end of September 1257, after unsuccessfully trying to persuade King Tran to surrender, the Mongols sent troops across the Dai Viet border. After receiving the urgent news, King Tran immediately sent a large army to fight the enemy.

The first major clash took place at Binh Le Nguyen on December 12. The enemy was too strong, realizing that the war could not be prolonged, the Tran army proactively retreated to Phu Lo. On January 18, 1258, the Mongol army attacked Phu Lo. The Tran army retreated once more, at the same time evacuating residents and property from Thang Long citadel. On January 21, 1258, 8,000 Mongol troops poured down to occupy Thang Long.

What lay before the invaders was an empty capital. Without food, the Mongols had to plunder the outskirts, but they could plunder almost nothing and were often ambushed.

On the night of January 28, 1258, the Tran army suddenly counterattacked. The Mongol army was complacent, unable to respond in time and suffered a great defeat at Dong Bo Dau. Outnumbered, the invaders abandoned Thang Long on January 29 and fled straight to Yunnan. The Tran Dynasty won a great victory.

2. The second war against the Yuan-Mongol army (1285)

In 1271, the Mongols established the Yuan Dynasty on Chinese territory. In order to serve the ambition of expanding the territory of Emperor Kublai Khan, on January 27, 1285, 500,000 Yuan troops rushed into Dai Viet territory.

With overwhelming force, the invaders continuously pushed back the Tran army on the battlefields and by mid-February 1285, they were close to Thang Long citadel.

On February 17, the two armies fought a great battle on the banks of the Red River. The Tran army fought and evacuated people from Thang Long. When the capital was empty, the Tran army also retreated. The Yuan army occupied Thang Long on February 19.

After fierce battles to hold back the enemy, the Tran army counterattacked from May 1285, with great victories at Ham Tu - Tay Ket and Chuong Duong Do. Taking advantage of the victory, the Tran army decided to attack and liberate the capital Thang Long.

Faced with the strong attack of the Vietnamese, the Yuan army had to retreat from Thang Long citadel to the northern bank of the Red River. On June 9, 1285, Thang Long citadel was liberated.

On June 10, 1285, 20,000 Dai Viet troops attacked the Yuan army on the northern bank of the Red River. The Yuan army was defeated and had to retreat to the North.

3. The third war against the Yuan-Mongol army (1288)

After failing to conquer Dai Viet in 1285, Emperor Kublai Khan still did not give up his plan to conquer Dai Viet. Almost immediately, the plan to reconquer was deployed. In December 1287, under the pretext of bringing Tran Ich Tac back to the country to establish him as King of An Nam, hundreds of thousands of Yuan troops entered Dai Viet by water and land.

After the Van Kiep battle and many clashes in the Northwest region, the Yuan army approached Thang Long. On February 2, 1288, the Yuan army led by Thoat Hoan began to attack the citadel. After many days of defending, the Tran army withdrew from the citadel.

The Yuan army captured the citadel, but like the previous time, they could not find food for their troops. Meanwhile, the Dai Viet army counterattacked and controlled the Hai Duong and Hai Phong areas, putting Thoat Hoan in danger of being cut off from Van Kiep. Faced with this situation, Thoat Hoan abandoned Thang Long and returned to Van Kiep.

At Van Kiep, due to the increasingly low food supply and frequent attacks by the Tran army, Thoat Hoan decided to withdraw his troops from Dai Viet at the end of March 1288. Along with Thoat Hoan's land army, the Yuan navy commanded by O Ma Nhi and Phan Tiep also retreated and was destroyed by the Tran army at Bach Dang estuary.

4. The war against the Ming army (1428)

In 1406, the Ming Dynasty sent troops to attack the Ho Dynasty. Due to the lack of popular support, the Ho Dynasty collapsed and the country fell into the hands of the Northerners. Thang Long Citadel was captured in January 1407 and renamed Dong Quan. After the defeat of the Ho Dynasty, many uprisings against the Ming occurred, but were all brutally suppressed.

By 1418, the Lam Son uprising led by Le Loi had broken out. After a period of activity in the Thanh Hoa mountains (1418-1423), advancing to the South (1424-1425), the insurgent army grew stronger and stronger and began the period of liberating Dong Quan from 1426.

The insurgents won resounding victories at Tot Dong - Chuc Dong (1426) and Chi Lang - Xuong Giang (1427), forcing the Ming to make peace and withdraw their troops. On January 3, 1428, Dong Quan was liberated. Vietnam no longer had a single invading army.

After the resistance war, Nguyen Trai - a leader of the uprising wrote the Proclamation of Victory over the Wu to announce to all the people about the glorious victory of the Lam Son uprising.

5. The war against the Qing army (1788)

In July 1788, with the request for help from Le Chieu Thong, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty took the opportunity to send Ton Si Nghi with more than 200,000 troops divided into 3 groups to advance to Dai Viet in the name of supporting Le.

With a thin force in the North, the Tay Son army could not stop the Qing army's advance. On December 17, 1788, the Qing army occupied Thang Long citadel. On December 22, Ton Si Nghi held a coronation ceremony for Le Chieu Thong at Kinh Thien palace.

Also on December 22, Nguyen Hue ascended the throne as Emperor at Phu Xuan (Hue), took the reign name Quang Trung and ordered his troops to quickly march north. After just over a month, Quang Trung's army was near Thang Long citadel.

On the 30th day of the 12th lunar month (January 25, 1789), Emperor Quang Trung let his troops celebrate Tet first and then ordered them to advance. The general attack began on the night of the 30th of Tet. In just 6 days, the Tay Son army defeated nearly 10 forts and surrounded Ngoc Hoi fort - the headquarters of the Qing army. Facing the strength of the Tay Son army, Ngoc Hoi fort quickly fell.

On the afternoon of the 5th day of Tet, Emperor Quang Trung entered Thang Long to the welcome of the people, marking the complete collapse of the Qing army on Dai Viet land.

6. August Revolution 1945

In 1858, the French colonialists opened fire to invade Vietnam, starting an unequal war with the Nguyen Dynasty. In this war, Hanoi was occupied by the French army on November 20, 1873. By 1884, the French had invaded the entire territory of Vietnam and established a colonial governing apparatus.

Under French domination, the Vietnamese national liberation movement broke out. A series of uprisings were launched, but were all brutally suppressed by the French colonialists and ended in failure.

Since the 1930s, with the birth of the Indochinese Communist Party and the Viet Minh organization, the Vietnamese national liberation movement had a major turning point. In the face of international upheavals after World War II, the Viet Minh and the Communist Party organized the August Revolution, starting with the Hanoi General Uprising on August 19, 1945 and gradually spreading throughout the three regions and the whole country.

On September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi before a large crowd, officially giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam regained its independence after nearly 100 years of French rule. Hanoi was once again under the control of the Vietnamese people.

7. Liberation of the Capital October 10, 1954

Viet Minh troops took over the capital on October 10, 1954. Photo archive.

After the revolution, the French colonialists hid behind the Allied forces to return to invade Indochina. After a series of provocative actions and armed attacks, on December 19, 1946, the French army recaptured Hanoi. The resistance war against the French by the Vietnamese army and people began.

After 9 years, under the leadership of Viet Minh, the war ended with the victory of Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954. After this historic victory, the Geneva Agreement on the armistice in Indochina was signed.

The agreements on the transfer of Hanoi were signed on September 30, 1954, and October 2, 1954, at the Central Joint Armistice Committee. Afterwards, the Viet Minh government sent police, security, guard, and administrative teams to Hanoi to prepare for the takeover of the city.

On October 10, 1954, Hanoi was cleared of enemies and joyfully welcomed the victorious people back to take over. That event marked a turning point of great significance, opening a new and glorious period in the thousand-year history of the Capital.

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