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| Trịnh-Nguyễn civil War | ||||||||||
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| Part of Civil Wars in Vietnam | ||||||||||
 Map of Vietnam circa 1650 Nguyễn Mạc as rump state Kingdom ofChampa . | ||||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||||
| Trịnh lords | Nguyễn lords | Tây Sơn peasant revolt (1771–1775) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||||
Trịnh Tráng Hoàng Ngũ Phúc | Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên | Nguyễn Huệ Nguyễn Nhạc Nguyễn Lữ | ||||||||
TheTrịnh–Nguyễn Civil War (Vietnamese:Trịnh-Nguyễn phân tranh;chữ Hán: 鄭阮紛爭, lit. Trịnh–Nguyễn contention) was a 17th and 18th-century lengthy civil war waged between the two ruling families inVietnam, theTrịnh lords ofĐàng Ngoài and theNguyễn lords ofĐàng Trong, centered in today's Central Vietnam.[1] The wars resulted in a long stalemate and century of peace before conflicts resumed in 1774 resulting in the emergence of theTây Sơn forces following Trịnh Lords at the time, Nguyễn Lords collapsed in Saigon in 1777. During the division of Vietnam,Gianh River was used as the de facto border between both sides in peacetime.
Both the Trịnh and Nguyễn families were descended from aides, namelyTrịnh Kiểm (who is a son-in-law of Nguyễn Kim) andNguyễn Kim himself, to the hero-EmperorLê Lợi who liberatedĐại Việt from Chinese rule ofMing dynasty and started theLê dynasty in 1428. By 1520 a succession of weak emperors had brought the country into a state of civil war (seeLê dynasty's civil war). For the next 20 years theTrịnh andNguyễn clans fought as allies against the usurperMạc Đăng Dung to restore Đại Việt under rule of Lê Emperor. When Lê dynasty was restored in 1533, theMạc dynasty had to retreat toCao Bang.Nguyễn Kim, the father of the first Nguyễn lords, married his daughter to his subordinateTrịnh Kiểm, the first of Trịnh lords. Thus the Trịnh lords and Nguyễn lords are blood related.[2]
The prime mover in the period from 1525 onwards wasNguyen Kim. His daughter married the young head of the Trịnh familyTrinh Kiem. Around 1530, Le dynasty loyalist rebels were forced into exile inLan Xang (modern-dayLaos) but they gathered a new army and captured some southern provinces ofDai Viet. In 1545, Nguyen Kim and subsequently his eldest sonNguyen Uong was assassinated. Nguyen Kim's son-in-law, Trinh Kiem, then took control over the Royal army. In 1558, Trịnh Kiểm gave the rulership over the southernmost province ofQuang Nam toNguyen Hoang, his wife's brother and the second son of Nguyen Kim. The suspicious causes of his father's and brother's deaths, as well as his brother's subsequent takeover, probably caused bitter resentment in Nguyen Hoang and the later rivalry between the two families. For the next 55 years, Nguyen Hoang ruledQuang Nam. He gradually asserted his control over the province and extended his control south into the remainingChampa lands. Periodically, he sent military forces north to help the Trinh in their long fight against the Mạc dynasty. In 1570 Trinh Kiem died and was succeeded by his second sonTrinh Tung, a vigorous leader who capturedHanoi from the Mạc king in 1572. However, the Mạc emperor (Mac Mau Hop) recaptured the city the next year. 20 years later in 1592, Trinh Tung again captured Hanoi and executedMac Mau Hop.[3]
In 1593, Nguyen Hoang went personally to the court, bringing money and an army to help destroy the remaining Mac armies. Once the Mạc were defeated, Nguyen Hoang held the office of Grand Vizier for the next 7 years. However, his nephew Trinh Tung became increasingly wary of Nguyen Hoang's influence in the court and kept Hoàng near him at all times for surveillance purposes. Nguyen Hoang adopted Trinh Tung's two important generals as his nephews and incited them to rebel against their commander. When the rebels stormed the court, Trinh Tung fled with the Emperor while Hoàng took to the Southern Provinces, never to return. In 1600 the old Nguyen ruler broke relations with theTrinh court and titled himself as theVuong (a term meaning prince or king). Hoang died in 1613.The new leader of the Nguyen,Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, continued his father's policy of defiance, but also initiated friendly relations with the Europeans sailing into the area. A foreign trading post was set up inHoi An. By 1615 the Nguyen were producing their own bronze cannons with the aid ofPortuguese engineers.[citation needed]
In 1620, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên officially refused to send taxes to the court in Hanoi. A formal demand was made to the Nguyễn to submit to the authority of the court, and it was formally refused. In 1623 Trịnh Tùng died and was succeeded by his sonTrịnh Tráng. Now Trịnh Tráng made a formal demand for submission, and again Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên refused. Finally in 1627 open warfare broke out between the Trịnh and the Nguyễn. For four months a large Trịnh army battled against the Nguyễn army but were unable to defeat them.[citation needed] The result of this war was that Vietnam had effectively been partitioned intonorthern and southern regions, with the Trịnh controlling most of the north and the Nguyễn controlling most of the south; the dividing line was theGianh River inQuảng Bình Province. This border was very close to theSeventeenth parallel (in actuality theBến Hải River located just to the south inQuảng Trị Province), which was imposed as the border betweenNorth Vietnam andSouth Vietnam during thePartition of Vietnam (1954–75).[citation needed]
While the Trịnh ruled over a much more populous territory, the Nguyễn had several advantages. First, they were on the defensive. Second, the Nguyễn were able to take advantage of their contacts with the Europeans, specifically the Portuguese, to purchase advanced European weapons and hire European military experts in fortifications. Third, the geography was favorable to them, as the flat land suitable for large organized armies is very narrow at this point of Vietnam; the mountains nearly reach to the sea.[citation needed]
After the first assault, the Nguyễn built two massive fortified lines which stretched a few miles from the sea to the hills. The walls were built north ofHuế near the city ofĐồng Hới. The Nguyễn defended these lines against numerous Trịnh offensives which lasted until 1672.[1] The story from this time is that the great military engineer was a Vietnamese general who was hired away from the Trịnh court by the Nguyễn. This man is given the credit in Vietnam for the successful design of the Nguyễn walls. Against the walls the Trịnh mustered an army of 100,000 men, 500 elephants, and 500 large ships (Dupuy "Encyclopedia of Military History" pg. 596). The initial attacks on the Nguyễn wall were unsuccessful. The attacks lasted for several years.[citation needed]
In 1633 the Trịnh tried an amphibious assault on the Nguyễn to get around the wall. The Trịnh fleet was defeated by the Nguyễn fleet at the battle of Nhat-Le.[1] Around 1635 the Trịnh copied the Nguyễn and sought military aid from the Europeans. Trịnh Tráng hired the Dutch to make cannons and ships for the Royal army. In 1642–43, the Trịnh army attacked the Nguyễn walls. With the aid of the Dutch cannons, the Trịnh army broke through the first wall but failed to break through the second. At sea, the Trịnh, with their Dutch shipsKievit,Nachtegaels andWoekende Book were destroyed in a humiliating defeat by the Nguyễn fleet with their Chinese style galleys.[4][5][6][7][8] Trịnh Tráng staged yet another offensive in 1648 but at the battle of Truong Duc, the Royal army was badly beaten by the Nguyễn.[1] The new Lê king died around this time, perhaps as a result of the defeat. This now left the door open for the Nguyễn to finally go on the offensive.[citation needed]
The Nguyễn launched their own invasion of northern Vietnam in 1653. The Nguyễn army attacked north and defeated the weakened Royal army.Quảng Bình Province was captured. ThenHà Tĩnh Province fell to the Nguyễn army. In the following year, Trịnh Tráng died as Nguyễn forces made attacks intoNghệ An Province. Under a new Trịnh Lord, the capableTrịnh Tạc, the Royal army attacked the Nguyễn army and defeated it. The Nguyễn were fatally weakened by a division between their two top generals who refused to cooperate with each other. In 1656 the Nguyễn army was driven back all the way to their original walls. Trịnh Tạc tried to break the walls of the Nguyễn in 1661 but this attack, like so many before it, failed to break through the walls.[9]
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In 1671, the Trịnh made a last effort to conquer the southern Nguyễn. They gathered a massive army of 80,000 men, the largest invasion force of the entire conflict. The attacking army was under the command of Trịnh Tạc and his son,Trịnh Căn, while the defending army was under the command ofNguyễn Phúc Tần's son PrinceNguyễn Phúc Thuận andNguyễn Hữu Dật. The Trinh army crossed the Gianh river, then assaulted on theXiangkhouang citadel and the Nguyen walls, but was halted by the Nguyen navy.[10] The Trinh army lost 17,000 men within the first three days of the offensive against 25,000 Nguyen troops, which forced them to abort the attack and start peace talks.[11] With mediation supplied by the government of theKangxi Emperor, the Trịnh and the Nguyễn finally agreed to end the fighting by making theLinh River the border between their lands (1673). Although the Nguyễn nominally accepted the Lê King as the ruler of Vietnam, the reality was, the Nguyễn ruled the south, and the Trịnh ruled the north. This division continued for the next 100 years. The border between the Trịnh and the Nguyễn was strongly guarded but peaceful.[citation needed]
The long peace came to an end in 1774. At the time, the Nguyễn were under heavy assault fromTây Sơn army and part of their force had been defeated in recent fighting inCambodia. The result was, the army in the north defending Huế was weak.Trịnh Sâm, one of the last Trịnh Lords and ruler of the north, launched his attack on the Nguyễn on 15 November 1774. For the first time, the Nguyễn walls were broken and captured. In February 1775, the Nguyễn capital of Huế was captured by the Royal (Trịnh) army. After some fighting with the army of the Tây Sơn, a treaty was signed and the Trịnh army left the destruction of the Nguyễn to the southern rebels. A dozen years later the Trịnh Lords would be thrown out of Vietnam by the youngest and most popular of the Tây Sơn brothers.[citation needed]
To fight against the larger and more powerful Imperial army under Trịnh clan, Nguyễn lords actively expanded their territory to the South into the former land of the Champa empire. They annexed much of the area that is now the southern half of Vietnam. Both sides were enthusiastic about using foreign technologies and welcoming to outsiders. From foreign traders, craftsmen, and mercenaries (mostly from Portugal, Holland, China and Japan), both sides acquired advanced civil and military technologies such as mechanics, shipbuilding and artillery construction, as well as cultural and religious elements. This long period played an important role in the formation of Vietnamese identity.[citation needed]
The Dutch broughtMontagnard slaves they captured from Nguyễn lord territories inQuảng Nam Province to theircolony in Taiwan.[12]
