Pontifical Athenaeum S. Apollinare

The Mongol invasions of Vietnam or Mongol-Vietnamese Wars refer to the three times that the Mongol Empire and its chief khanate the Yuan dynasty invaded Đại Việt during the time of the Trần dynasty, along with Champa: in 1258, 1285, and 1287–88. The first invasion began in 1258 under the united Mongol Empire, as it looked for alternative paths to invade Song China. The Mongol general Uriyangkhadai was successful in capturing the Dai Viet capital Thang Long (now known as Hanoi) before turning north in 1259 to invade the Song dynasty in modern-day Guangxi as part of a coordinated Mongol attack with armies attacking in Sichuan under Möngke Khan and other Mongol armies attacking in modern-day Shandong and Henan. The second and third invasions occurred during the reign of Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty. By this point, the Mongolian Empire had fractured into 4 separate entities with the Yuan dynasty being the strongest and largest of the entities. By the end of the second and third invasions, which involved both initial successes and large losses for the Mongols, the Đại Việt and Champa decided to accept the nominal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty and serve as tributary states in order to avoid further conflicts. In studies of China and the Mongols, the campaigns are often treated as a success due to the establishment of tributary relations with Dai Viet despite the Mongols suffering several military defeats. In contrast, Vietnamese historiography emphasizes the Dai Viet military victories.