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The 17th century in Vietnam was a very chaotic period for the country as the brutal civil war between the Trinh family and the Nguyen family ravage the land and it’s people.

The Trinh and the Nguyen families were descended from close friends and aides to Emperor Le Loi who drove off the invading Ming troops during the Lam Son uprising and secure Vietnam independence from the Chinese rule and started the Le Dynasty in 1428. Later on, they also fought together against the usurper Mac Dang Dung – the chancellor who is second in power only to the emperor himself – after he declare himself the new emperor as the Le Dynasty is going downhill.

While both noble families declare that they are fighting on the behalf of the Lê Emperor, in reality the emperor is now nothing more than a puppet with little to no power.

During the war, the death of the head of the Nguyen family, Nguyen Kim, cause by a surrendering Mac general allow his son-in-law, and also the head of the Trinh family, Trinh Kiem to seize control of the Le Army, sparking the rivalry between the two family.

When the war finally came to an end, the Trinh family became the new ruling family (albeit officially the royal family is still the Le dynasty) while the Nguyen family remain in the south of Vietnam, spearheading the campaign to colonize former Champa’s land, though the head, Nguyen Hoang, remains in Hanoi to serve as Grand Vizier.

Wary of Hoang’s influence in the court, the head of the Trinh tried to put him on surveillance at all time. Under the assumption that the Trinh family is about to eliminate him, Hoang incite two important generals to rebel while he himself fled and took control to Southern Provinces. In 1600 the old Nguyen ruler officially broke relations with the Trinh court and titled himself as ‘lord’.

In 1627 open warfare broke out between the Trinh and the Nguyen after the latter refuse to submit to the authority of the court in Hanoi. The next 50 years saw seven major campaigns made by one family against the other until finally the Trinh army failed in their last offensive against the Nguyen in 1672. Drained and exhausted, the two side agreed to peace with mediation from the Qing Empire, a decision was reached that the Nguyen would rule the south and the Trịnh would rule the north with the Linh River as the border, essentially dividing the country into two.



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During this period, the two families held friendly relations with the Europeans sailing into the area and were enthusiastic in foreign technologies so as to bolster their own forces.

From foreign traders, both sides acquired advanced civil and military technologies such as mechanics, shipbuilding, artillery construction, as well as cultural and religious elements. By 1615 the Nguyễn were producing their own bronze cannons with the aid of Portuguese engineers.

The Trinh–Nguyen War gave European traders the opportunities to support each side with weapons and technology: the Portuguese assisted the Nguyễn in the South while the Dutch helped the Trịnh in the North.

Around 1635 the Trinh copied the Nguyen and sought military aid from the Europeans. Trinh Trang hired the Dutch to make cannons and ships for the Royal army. In 1642 and 1643 the Trinh army attacked the Nguyen walls. With the aid of the Dutch cannons, the Trinh army broke through the first wall but failed to break through the second. At sea, the Trinh, with their Dutch ships: Kievit, Nachtegaels and Woekende Book were defeated by the Nguyen fleet with their Portuguese ships.

The Trinh and the Nguyen maintained a relative peace for the next hundred years, during which both sides made significant accomplishments. The Trinh created centralized government offices in charge of state budget and producing currency, unified the weight units into a decimal system, established printing shops to reduce the need to import printed materials from China, opened a military academy, and compiled history books.

Meanwhile, the Nguyen lords continued the southward expansion by the conquest of the remaining Cham land. Viet settlers also arrived in the sparsely populated area known as "Water Chenla", which was the lower Mekong Delta portion of the former Khmer Empire. Between the mid-17th century to mid-18th century, as the former Khmer Empire was weakened by internal strife and Siamese invasions, the Nguyen Lords used various means, political marriage, diplomatic pressure, political and military favors, to gain the area around present-day Saigon and the Mekong Delta. The Nguyen army at times also clashed with the Siamese army to establish influence over Cambodia.

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A/N: Yay, first TL in AH after years of stalking :D

First few posts will be the same as OTL to give you guys the background story since this period usually isn't talked about much. Gonna be covered all the way to WW1, don't know yet about WW2.
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