Siamese–Vietnamese wars

The Siamese–Vietnamese wars were a series of armed conflicts between the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom and Rattanakosin Kingdom and the various dynasties of Vietnam mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Several of the wars took place in modern-day Cambodia.

The political, dynastic, and military decline of the Khmer Empire after the 15th century, known as the Post-Angkor Period, left a power vacuum in the Mekong floodplains of central Indochina. United under strong dynastic rule, Siam to the west and Vietnam to the east, both sought to become hegemon in the lowland region and the Lao mountains. The Siamese introduced - and Vietnam soon followed - the hostage system for Cambodian royals, who were relocated to their courts, actively undermining royal affairs and shaping future Cambodian policies.[lower-alpha 1] Eventually territory was annexed by both powers, who conceived, maintained and supported their favorable Cambodian puppet kings. Actual combat mainly took place on Cambodian territory or on occupied lands. The 19th-century establishment of French Indochina put an end to Vietnamese sovereignty and to Siamese policies of regional expansion. Subsequent clashes of the two countries are not caused by regional rivalry, but must be viewed in the context of the 20th-century imperial policies of foreign great powers and the Cold War.[2][3][lower-alpha 2]

Prelude

By the 15th century, the Vietnamese Lê dynasty had been able to annex the modern-day provinces of Lai Châu and Điện Biên in an attempt to conquer the Lan Xang (Lao Qua) kingdom and pacify the Muang Phuan principality of Laos.[5] However this conflict also involved and was fought on Siamese and Burmese soil. As a result, Vietnamese forces under Lê Thánh Tông continued to occupy territory in northern Siam for some additional 10 years. Siam, incapable to oppose this incursion therein saw the origin for all future conflict between the two nations.[6]

List of Siamese-Vietnamese wars

No.	Name	Results	Notes
1	Siamese–Vietnamese War (1717)[7][8]	Siamese victory	Two large Siamese forces invade Cambodia in an effort to help Prea Srey Thomea regain the throne. One Siamese army is badly beaten by the Cambodians and their Vietnamese allies at the Battle of Bantea Meas. The Second Siamese army captures the Cambodian capital of Udong where the Vietnamese supported Cambodian king switches allegiance to Siam. Vietnam loses the suzerainty of Cambodia but annexes several border provinces of Cambodia.
2	Siamese–Vietnamese War (1769–73)[2][7]	Indecisive	In 1769, King Taksin of Siam invaded and occupied portions of Cambodia. The following year a proxy war between Vietnam and Siam erupted in Cambodia when the Nguyễn Lords responded by attacking Siamese cities. At the outset of the war, Taksin advanced through Cambodia and placed Ang Non II on the Cambodian throne. The Vietnamese responded by recapturing the Cambodian capital and restoring their preferred monarch. In 1773, the Vietnamese made peace with the Siamese in order to deal with the Tây Sơn rebellion. Two years later Ang Non II was proclaimed the ruler of Cambodia.
3	Siamese–Vietnamese War (1785)[9]	Vietnamese victory	First Siamese invasion to Southern Vietnam Decisive victory of the Tây Sơn force
4	Cambodian rebellion (1811–12)	Siamese strategic victory Vietnamese tactical victory	First Siamese and then Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia in order to support and enthrone their vassal kings and overthrow their opponent
5	Lao rebellion (1826–28)[10]	Siamese victory	Vietnamese supported Anouvong to revolt against Siam but failed
6	Lê Văn Khôi revolt (1833–1835)[11] and Siamese–Vietnamese War (1831–34)	Vietnamese victory	Second Siamese invasion to Southern Vietnam Siam supports the revolt. Vietnamese defensive victory, invasion of Cambodia
7	Siamese–Vietnamese War (1841–45)[3]	Inconclusive	Siamese and Vietnamese incursions in Cambodia Cambodia becomes vassals of both Siam and Vietnam
8	Franco-Siamese War (1893) (Vietnam as part of French Indochina)	French-Vietnamese victory	French invasion of Laos Laos becomes part of French Indochina
9	Franco-Thai War (1940–41)(Vietnam as part of French Indochina)	Indecisive	Thai invasion of French Indochina Disputed territories given to Thailand by Japan
10	Thai intervention to Vietnam	North Vietnamese victory	Thai involvement as part of the allies Fall of Saigon
11	Vietnamese border raids in Thailand	Inconclusive	Insurgency of Khmer Rouge Undeclared war, but Vietnam achieved the goal of Khmer Rouge's destruction

See also

• Burmese–Siamese wars
• Nam tiến
• History of Thailand
• History of Vietnam
• Military history of Thailand
• Military history of Vietnam
• Thailand–Vietnam relations

Notes

1. At the time of the invasion one group of the royal family, the reigning king and two or more princes, escaped and eventually found refuge in Laos, while another group, the king's brother and his sons, were taken as hostages to Ayutthaya.[1]
2. Laos and Cambodia had been Siamese vassal states since Ayudhya times.[4]

Citations

1. Vickery.
2. Kohn, p. 447.
3. Schliesinger, p. 106.
4. Franco-Siamese War 1893.
5. Nguyen.
6. Zottoli, p. 80.
7. Tucker, p. 13.
8. Tucker (2009), p. 722.
9. Ku Boon Dar.
10. Wyatt, pp. 13-32.
11. Gilley, p. 517.

References

• "Franco-Siamese War 1893". GlobalSecurity. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
• Gilley, Sheridan; Young, Frances Margaret; Stanley, Brian (2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 8, World Christianities C.1815-c.1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81456-0.
• Kohn, George Childs (1999). Dictionary of Wars (Revised ed.). New York: Facts On File, Inc. ISBN 0-8160-3928-3.
• Ku Boon Dar. "Tay Son Uprising (1771-1802) In Vietnam: Mandated By Heaven?". Research Gate. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
• Nguyen, The Thuan (June 5, 2013). "The Biggest War Between Southeast Asian Countries - War of Dai Viet-Lan Dang (1467-1480)". Late Afternoon. Nguyen The Thuan. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
• Schliesinger, Joachim (January 2017). The Chong People: A Pearic-Speaking Group of Southeastern Thailand and Their Kin in the Region. Booksmango. ISBN 978-1-63323-988-3.
• Tucker, Spencer C. (1999). Vietnam. University Press of Kentucky. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8131-2858-0.
• Tucker, Spencer C. (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851096725.
• Vickery, Michael (1996). "Mak Phœun: Histoire du Cambodge de la fin du XVIe au début du XVIIIe siècle" (PDF). Persee. Michael Vickery. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
• Wyatt, David K. (1963). "Siam and Laos, 1767-1827". Journal of Southeast Asian History. Jstor. 4 (2). JSTOR 20067439.
• Zottoli, Brian A. "Reconceptualizing Southern Vietnamese History from the 15th to 18th Centuries: Competition along the Coasts from Guangdong to Cambodia" (PDF). University of Michigan. Retrieved 23 February 2019.