Bảo Đại
Bảo Đại (Vietnamese: [ɓa᷉ːw ɗâːjˀ], chữ Hán: 保大, lit. "keeper of greatness", 22 October 1913 – 31 July 1997),[2] born Nguyễn Phúc/Phước Vĩnh Thụy (chữ Hán: 阮福永瑞), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam.[3] From 1926 to 1945, he was emperor of Annam and de jure monarch of Tonkin, which were then protectorates in French Indochina, covering the present-day central and northern Vietnam. Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932.
Emperor Bảo Đại
保大帝
8 January 1926 –
25 August 1945
Monarchy abolished
Hồ Chí Minh
(as president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam)
13 June 1949 –
26 October 1955
Position established
Nguyễn Văn Xuân
(as Head of the Provisional Central Government)
Position abolished
Ngô Đình Diệm
(as president of the Republic of Vietnam)
14 July 1949 –
21 January 1950
Position established
10 September 1945 –
16 March 1946
Position established
Position abolished
Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy (阮福永瑞)
22 October 1913
Doan-Trang-Vien Palace, Imperial City of Huế, French Indochina
31 July 1997 (aged 83)
Val-de-Grâce, Paris, France
Bùi Mộng Điệp
Lê Thị Phi Ánh
Christiane Bloch-Carcenac
- Legitimate[1]
- Bảo Long (1936–2007)
- Phương Mai (1937–2021)
- Phương Liên (1938–)
- Phương Dung (1942–)
- Bảo Thăng (1943–2017)
- Unrecognized
- Phương Thảo (1946–)
- Phương Minh (1949–2012)
- Bảo Ân (1951–)
- Bảo Hoàng (1954–1955)
- Bảo Sơn (1957–1987)
- Phương Từ (1955)
- Patrick-Édouard Bloch-Carcenac (1958–)
The Japanese ousted the Provisional French administration in March 1945 and ruled through Bảo Đại, who proclaimed the Empire of Vietnam. He abdicated in August 1945 when Japan surrendered.
From 1949 to 1955, Bảo Đại was the chief of state of the non-communist State of Vietnam. Viewed as a puppet ruler, Bảo Đại was criticized for being too closely associated with France and spending much of his time outside Vietnam. He was eventually ousted in a referendum in 1955 by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm, who was supported by the United States.
Young crown prince Vĩnh Thụy.
Crown Prince Vĩnh Thụy in 1920
Young prince Vinh Thuy (2nd right to left).
Young emperor
Young crown prince Vĩnh Thụy (right) boarding the Azay-le-Rideau steamer bound for Marseille, to study in France,1922.
Crown prince Vĩnh Thụy (right) and his cousin Vĩnh Cẩn in Paris (1926) during studying abroad in France
Bảo Đại in Paris, 1926
Emperor Bảo Đại.
Portrait of Bảo Đại period 1952–1954.
Bảo Đại was born on 22 October 1913 and given the name of Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy in the Palace of Doan-Trang-Vien, part of the compound of the Purple Forbidden City in Huế, the capital of Vietnam. He was later given the name Nguyễn Vĩnh Thụy. His father was Emperor Khải Định of Annam. His mother was the emperor's second wife, Tu Cung, who was renamed 'Doan Huy' upon her marriage. She held various titles over the years that indicated her advancing rank as a favored consort until she eventually became Empress Dowager in 1933. Vietnam had been ruled from Huế by the Nguyễn dynasty since 1802. The French government, which took control of the region in the late 19th century, split Vietnam into three areas: the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin and the colony of Cochinchina. The Nguyễn dynasty was given nominal rule of Annam.
At the age of nine, Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy was sent to France to study at the Lycée Condorcet and, later, the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He became emperor on 8 January 1926, after his father's death, and took the era name Bảo Đại ("Protector of Grandeur" or "Keeper of Greatness").[4][5] He did not yet ascend to the throne and returned to France to continue his studies.[5]
Concubine Phi Ánh
Concubine Mộng Điệp
Bao Dai and Mộng Điệp
Declaration of Empire of Vietnam in 1945
Abdication ceremony of Bảo Đại.
The National assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 March 1946, supreme advisor Vĩnh Thụy (Bảo Đại), sixth from right to left, next to President Hồ Chí Minh (middle).
Bảo Đại (right) as the "supreme advisor" to the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam led by president Hồ Chí Minh (left), 1 June 1946
Members of national assembly of Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Bảo Đại (far right).
In 1940, during the second World War, coinciding with their ally Nazi Germany's invasion of France, Imperial Japan took over French Indochina. While they did not eject the French colonial administration, the occupation authorities directed policy from behind the scenes in a parallel of Vichy France.
The Japanese promised not to interfere with the court at Huế, but in 1945, after ousting the French, coerced Bảo Đại into declaring Vietnamese independence from France as a member of Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"; the country then became the Empire of Vietnam.
Bảo Đại, however, appeared to believe that independence was an irreversible course. In 1944, he wrote to General de Gaulle, leader of the Free French:
The Japanese had a Vietnamese pretender, Prince Cường Để, waiting to take power in case the new emperor's "elimination" was required. Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945, and the Viet Minh (under the leadership of communist Hồ Chí Minh) aimed to take power in a free Vietnam. Due to his popular political stand against the French and the 1945 famine, Hồ was able to persuade Bảo Đại to abdicate on 25 August 1945, handing power over to the Việt Minh – an event which greatly enhanced Hồ's legitimacy in the eyes of the Vietnamese people.[9] Bảo Đại was appointed the "supreme advisor" to Hồ's Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi, which declared its independence on 2 September 1945. The DRV was then ousted by the newly formed French Fourth Republic in November 1946.[10]
Hồ Đắc Khải (left) Minister of Revenue from 1933 to 1945 and Thái Văn Toản (middle), minister of Justice in 1933–1942.
Prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem voting to overthrow chief-of-state Bảo Đại
At first, Ngô Đình Diệm exercised no influence over South Vietnam: the Việt Minh still had de facto control of somewhere between sixty and ninety percent of the countryside (by French estimates), whilst the rest was dominated by the various religious sects. Meanwhile, the new capital of Saigon was under the total control of criminal group Bình Xuyên. According to Colonel Lansdale, it had paid Bảo Đại a "staggering sum" for control of local prostitution and gambling and of Saigon's police force.[11]
Regardless, Diệm's forces embarked on a campaign against the Bình Xuyên, with fighting breaking out in the streets on 29 March 1955. In an attempt to protect his clients, Bảo Đại ordered Diệm to travel to France, but he was disobeyed and Diệm eventually succeeded in pushing his opponents out of the city. Using a divide and conquer strategy, Diệm then employed a mixture of force and bribery to sway the remaining religious sects to his side.[11]
Now with a broad range of support, a new Popular Revolutionary Committee (formed by Diệm's brother Ngô Đình Nhu) was able to call for a referendum to remove Bảo Đại and establish a republic with Diệm as president.[11] The campaign leading up to the referendum was punctuated by personal attacks against the former emperor, whose supporters had no way to refute them since campaigning for Bảo Đại was forbidden.[13]
The 23 October referendum was criticized as being fraudulent. The official results showed a tally of 98.9% in favor of a republic, with the number of votes for a republic exceeding the total number of registered voters by 155,025 in Saigon, while the total number of votes exceeded the total number of registered voters by 449,084, and the number of votes for a republic exceeded the total number of registered voters by 386,067.[13]
Bảo Đại was removed from power, with Diệm declaring himself president of the new Republic of Vietnam on 26 October 1955.
Perception of Bảo Đại[edit]
In Vietnam[edit]
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) considered him to be a traitor. After he was once again helped by France as the Head of State of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh said in an interview with Chinese media: "Vĩnh Thụy brought the French invading army back to Vietnam and killed more compatriots. Vĩnh Thụy is a true traitor. The French colonists conspired to restore slavery in Vietnam. Vĩnh Thụy is the confidant of the colonists. Although Vietnamese law is very tolerant to those who have lost their way, they will severely punish the traitorous orphans. The Vietnamese people are determined to defeat all colonial conspiracies and fight for true independence and reunification."[20][21]
One hand, Bảo Đại remains a highly discussed figure. While labelling him as traitor, the CPV doesn't treat him entirely harsh compared to subsequent leaders of the later South Vietnam, whom the communists engaged in an extensive vilification, and his role continues to be studied, ranged from a somewhat sympathetic figure to the Việt Minh to a moderate figure who tried to avoid war, given Bảo Đại himself agreed to abdicate in 1945 to give power for the Việt Minh.[22]
Vietnamese diaspora[edit]
Most Overseas Vietnamese, who are ardently anti-communist, didn't consider Bảo Đại positively, partly due to his weak-willed reputation and inability to confront with the communist threat, as well as his reclusive life and his perceived cowardice.[23][24] His role is also studied by the diaspora, although recent studies had questioned the perception due to perceived bias by both the Vietnamese diaspora and the CPV.[25]
Emperor in Vietnam after finishing his study in France.
Bảo Đại riding horse.
Bảo Đại (right) at the tennis court and his cousin Vĩnh Cẩn (left).
Emperor in cyclo.
Bảo Đại visits a Catholic church in Hanoi.
Emperor at ceremony.
Bảo Đại Thông Bảo 10 văn Paul the Great reign (1925–1945)
Bảo Đại Thông Bảo plain reverse
Struck Bảo Đại Thông Bảo
