Vietnam Military History Museum

Museum in Hanoi

Public Domain / Сергей Белый

The Vietnam Military History Museum, established on 17 July 1956, is one of Vietnam’s seven national museums. Covering an area of 12,800 square meters, it is centrally located in Hanoi, opposite Lenin Park and near the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The Flag Tower of Hanoi is also situated within the museum grounds.

Layout

The museum complex comprises several buildings, each dedicated to different eras of Vietnamese military history. Visitors can explore the first two tiers of the Flag Tower of Hanoi, though the spire remains inaccessible. The museum features a display of decommissioned, captured, or destroyed military equipment and vehicles used by French, Viet Minh, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the United States during the First and Second Indochina Wars. This exhibit, known as “The Garden of Toys,” is located adjacent to the Flag Tower. Additionally, the museum grounds include a Highlands Coffee shop for visitors to rest and souvenir shops offering various products.

Exhibits

The museum’s exhibits, primarily consisting of artifacts, are accompanied by placards in English, French, and Vietnamese, though the context or explanation surrounding the exhibits is sometimes limited. For a comprehensive understanding of the artifacts and references, visitors may benefit from prior knowledge of the First and Second Indochina Wars. Audiovisual elements are predominantly in Vietnamese.

The museum provides a historical overview of Vietnam’s military conflicts, including:

214 – 207 BC: Resistance war against the Qin
208 – 179 BC: Resistance war against the Zhao
40 – 43: Resistance war against the Eastern Han’s domination
542 – 548: Resistance war against the Liang’s domination
603: Resistance war against the Sui’s domination
687 – 905: Resistance war against the Tang’s domination
930 – 938: Resistance war against the Southern Han
1077: Resistance war against the Song
1258 – 1288: Resistance war against the Mongols
1406 – 1427: Resistance war against the Ming’s domination
1785 – 1789: Resistance war against the Siam – Qing
1858 – 1954: Resistance war against the French colonists
1954 – 1975: Resistance war against the American imperialists, liberation of the nation

Pre-Colonial Exhibition

This section highlights invasions from neighboring countries from 214 BC to 1789. Artifacts from these years are displayed alongside quotations and murals from past emperors, with figurines depicting key battles.

Second Indochina War

A significant portion of the museum focuses on the Second Indochina War (Vietnam War), showcasing American tactics and the Vietnamese response, emphasizing the “Vietnamization of War” and the failures of American forces. Exhibits include posters, newspapers, and pictures demonstrating global condemnation of the American involvement, with support from countries like Congo, North Korea, the Netherlands, Venezuela, and Cuba. The “Garden of Broken Toys” displays old machinery and artillery shot down by the Vietnamese, including a B-52 sculpture, a Chinook, Soviet tanks, and torpedo launchers, symbolizing the resilience and strength of the Vietnamese during the war.

The Vietnam Military History Museum appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Hanoi!

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