Categorised by a combination of French colonial rule (1858-1945), the First Indochina War (1946-1954) and the Vietnam War (1955-1975), decades of conflict had left the nation in a state of disrepair.
Uma ngabe ulisotja lakudzala lelilwe eMphini yeMhlaba yekuCala (1904-1918), iMphi yeMhlaba yeSibili (1939-1945), kuvukelwa kwembuso kwemaZulu (1906) nobe eMphini yeKoriya futsi awukhoni kutondla, ungafaka sicelo seSibonelelo seTigayigayi Temphi.