The Siamese–Vietnamese wars were a series of armed conflicts between the Siamese
Ayutthaya Kingdom and
Rattanakosin Kingdom and the various dynasties of
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Several of the wars took place in modern-day
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
.
The political, dynastic, and military decline of the
Khmer Empire after the 15th century, known as the
Post-Angkor Period
The post-Angkor period of Cambodia (), also called the Middle period, refers to the historical era from the early 15th century to 1863, the beginning of the French protectorate of Cambodia. As reliable sources (for the 15th and 16th centuries, ...
, left a
power vacuum in the Mekong floodplains of central Indochina. United under strong dynastic rule, both Siam to the west and Vietnam to the east sought to achieve hegemony 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. 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
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
put an end to Vietnamese sovereignty and to Siamese policies of regional expansion. Subsequent clashes of the two countries were 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.
[Kohn, p. 447.][Schliesinger, p. 106.]
Prelude
The roots of the conflict started at the beginning of the 14th century, when Tai people busily expanded their states and came to clash with established Vietnamese state in the east. During the latter centuries, as the Vietnamese expanding southward to the lower Mekong, they came to conflict with Cambodia and the Siamese state.
[Zottoli, p. 80.]
List of Siamese-Vietnamese wars
See also
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Burmese–Siamese wars
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History of the Cham–Vietnamese wars
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Nam tiến
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History of Thailand
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History of Vietnam
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Military history of Thailand
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Military history of Vietnam
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Thailand–Vietnam relations
Notes
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Siamese-Vietnamese wars
Wars involving Thailand
Wars involving Vietnam
Wars involving Đại Việt
Military history of Vietnam
Military history of Thailand
Thailand–Vietnam military relations
es: Guerras siamesas-vietnamitas