In the summer of 1945, popular discontent reached a climax and revolutionary action involving both political and armed struggle proliferated throughout the country, from north to south, in villages and cities, and among the ethnic minorities in the mountainous regions.

  On August 31, 1858, a French naval squadron attacked Danang, launching  several episodes of a war of colonial conquest waged by French imperialism between 1858 and 1884 and resulting in the total annexation of the country.

Kings of Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945):

- Gia Long (1802-1819)
- Minh Menh (1820-1840)
- Thieu Tri (1841-1847)
- Tu Duc (1848-1883)
- Duc Duc (1883, 3 days)
- Hiep Hoa (1883, 4 months).
- Kien Phuc (1883-1884)
- Ham Nghi (1884-1885)
- Dong Khanh (1886-1888)
- Thanh Thai (1889-1907)
- Duy Tan (1907-1916)
- Khai Dinh (1916-1925)
- Bao Dai (1926-1945)

Kings of Tay Son Dynasty (1778-1802):
                  - Thai Duc (1778-1793)
                  - Quang Trung (Nguyen Hue) (1789-1792)
                  - Canh Thinh (1793 - 1802) 

Towards the end of the 14th century, a great crisis shook the country. The Ming court, then reigning in China, took advantage of this to invade Dai Viet and to impose a form of direct rule which was to last for twenty years (1407-1427). However, the invaders encountered stiff resistance from the beginning, and national independence was eventually wrested back in 1427 by Le Loi, the founder of the Le Dynasty.