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Summary
- Early Life
- Abdication
- Return to Power and Removal from Power
- Later Life
Key Facts And Information
Let’s know more about Bảo Đại!
Nguyen Phuc Vinh Thuy, famously known as Bảo Đại, was the 13th and last emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was the de jure emperor of Annam and Tonkin, then protectorates in French Indochina, covering present-day central and northern Vietnam. Vietnamese people viewed him as a puppet king due to his close relationship with the government of France. His extravagant lifestyle, which included trips to Europe, was criticised by many. Bảo Đại also earned the nickname ‘night-club emperor’.
Bảo Đại
EARLY LIFE OF BẢO ĐẠI
- Bảo Đại was born on 22 October 1913 and given the name of Prince Nguyen Phuc Vinh Thuy in the Palace of Doan-Trang-Vien, part of the compound of the Purple Forbidden City in Huế, the former capital of Vietnam, and a palace just for the monarchs and their wives, concubines and other subordinates, with everyone else barred from entering. His parents were Emperor Khải Định of Annam and Doan Huy, the emperor’s second wife. In 1933, Doan Huy became an empress dowager since she held various titles and was a favoured consort of the emperor.
- The Nguyễn dynasty ruled Vietnam from Huế from 1802. The French administration, which acquired control of the region in the late 19th century, divided Vietnam into three territories: the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin, as well as the colony of Cochinchina.
- When he was nine, the young prince was taken to Paris for a French education, initially to the Lycée Condorcet. He was 12 years old when his father died in 1925, and he ascended to the kingdom, adopting the name Bảo Đại, which means ‘Keeper of Greatness’, which would prove to be somewhat exaggerated. He later returned to Paris to pursue his studies.
- A regency took over in Annam until Bảo Đại, who was 19 in 1932, came of age. On 20 March 1934, in the imperial capital of Huế, Bảo Đại married Marie-Thérèse Nguyễn Hữu Thị Lan, a commoner from a wealthy Vietnamese Catholic family. Following the wedding, she received the title Empress Nam Phương. They had five children: Bảo Long, Phương Mai, Phương Liên, Phương Dung and Bảo Thăng.
ABDICATION
- The French ruled the country until the Japanese captured French Indochina in 1940. Bảo Đại remained the nominal monarch, and the French administration continued to function, but the Japanese had control. In March 1945, they overthrew the French and, under fear of ‘eliminating’ him, forced Bảo Đại to declare a new Empire of Vietnam, with himself as emperor. The Japanese surrender ended the Second World War in Asia in August.
- Vietnam briefly regained independence from France in 1945 when the Emperor Bảo Đại cancelled the Patenôtre Treaty, terminating French protectorates over Annam and Tonkin and establishing the Empire of Vietnam. However, the country had now become a Japanese puppet state.
- According to Nguyễn Kỳ Nam, a journalist and General Manager of the Ministry of Justice office in Huế during the Trần Trọng Kim ministry, on 12 August 1945, a Japanese general visited Huế and requested a meeting with Minister of Justice Trịnh Đình Thảo, citing urgent and sensitive reasons. Nam was present during the visit.
Hồ Chí Minh
- Nam informed the minister that he had travelled from Saigon, Cochinchina, to have an audience with the emperor to seek authorisation to address the Việt Minh uprising. On 14 August 1945, Hồ Chí Minh, a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician associated with the communist Việt Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) launched a general uprising against French and Japanese colonial rule in Vietnam, citing oppression and the Ất Dậu (Wood Cock) famine caused by the war.
- At the time, Bảo Đại was uninformed of the troubles that plagued his country, such as the horrific Wood Cock famine that killed possibly millions of his citizens in Annam and Tonkin. When the Việt Minh sent a telegraph demanding Bảo Đại’s abdication from his kingdom, Phạm Khắc Hoè, Director of the Imperial Office, received it and informed the emperor about the demands, which startled him as he was unaware of the revolution or its political actors.
- A telegram from Un comité de patriotes représentant tous les partis et toutes les couches de la population set an ultimatum of 12 hours for Bảo Đại to abdicate. Otherwise, they could not guarantee that he or his family would survive the August Revolution, an intense political upheaval in August 1945 that led to the end of French colonial rule and the declaration of Vietnamese independence.
- Bảo Đại claimed that he had attempted to contact United States (US) President Harry S. Truman, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, King George VI and General Charles de Gaulle for assistance, but none responded. He later received a second telegraph from Hanoi requesting his abdication. Following the telegram, the Việt Minh despatched a party to Huế to accept the emperor's announcement of abdication. According to Nguyễn Kỳ Nam, the emperor was aware of the Việt Minh prior to the revolution.
- A Japanese general alerted Bảo Đại, claiming to have gathered intelligence on the secret organisation of Việt Minh revolutionaries across the country. However, Bảo Đại declined the Japanese offer to take down the Communists, believing that enough bloodshed had already occurred during the war. The abdication was officially declared on 25 August 1945. Bảo Đại, with the assistance of Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Cẩn and Phạm Khắc Hoè, draughted the imperial edict that ended the Nguyễn dynasty on 22 August 1945, at the Kiến Trung palace in Huế’s Citadel.
- On 23 August, representatives of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Trần Huy Liệu and Cù Huy Cận, arrived at the palace to receive the documents of resignation. Bảo Đại initially provided Trần Huy Liệu with the declaration, but the latter convinced the emperor to announce the abdication through a formal ceremony.
- In addition to declaring his abdication, he issued an edict to the imperial family of the Nguyễn dynasty, reminding them of his commitment to the dân vi qúi philosophy and vow to be a citizen of an independent country rather than a puppet ruler of an enslaved country.
- He urged members of the royal family to support the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and to struggle to maintain Vietnam’s independence. Both edicts indicated the emperor's willingness to relinquish power in favour of the new Hanoi government. The edicts also stated unequivocally that he was imparting his mandate voluntarily rather than through force.
- On 25 August 1945, President Hồ Chí Minh, the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and the National Committee for the Liberation of the People returned to Hanoi after declaring the August Revolution a success.
- Bảo Đại was selected as the supreme advisor to Hồ’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi, which declared independence on 2 September 1945. In November 1946, the newly founded French Fourth Republic expelled the DRV.
RETURN TO POWER AND REMOVAL FROM POWER
- Bảo Đại served as supreme advisor to the DRV for over a year; Vietnam experienced military warfare with competing factions and the French. He left his position in 1946 after communists abandoned him in China. He relocated to Hong Kong, where the French and Việt Minh tried unsuccessfully to gain his political support. On 17 February 1947, a coalition of Vietnamese anti-communist nationalists formed a National Union in Nanjing. It declared to support the former emperor on the condition he seek independence and unity from France to establish a democratic republic for Vietnam.
- This persuaded him to reject the Việt Minh’s overtures and enter into negotiations. On 7 December 1947, Bảo Đại formally signed the first Ha Long Bay Accords with France. Despite apparently pledging France to Vietnamese independence, it was deemed weakly binding and conferred no effective authority on Vietnam. The accord was immediately criticised by National Union members, including Diệm. The French successfully persuaded Bảo Đại to return from Europe and sign a second Ha Long Bay Agreement on 5 June 1948. Like the first, this agreement made similarly flimsy assurances about Vietnamese independence and was equally unsuccessful. Despite the ongoing conflict in Vietnam, he returned to Europe.
- Diệm and other hardline nationalists were disappointed in the lack of autonomy and declined key government roles, so Bảo Đại filled his administration with affluent persons closely tied to France. His reputation as a French puppet led to increased support for the Việt Minh, whose armed insurgency against the French-backed state escalated into a civil war. Bảo Đại remained Head of State of South Vietnam but relocated to Paris and named Ngô Đình Diệm as his prime minister. Initially, Ngô Đình Diệm had little influence in South Vietnam. According to French estimations, the Việt Minh controlled 60–90% of the countryside, while religious cults dominated the rest.
Anti-Bảo Đại revolutionists gathering at city hall
- Diệm’s army launched a campaign against the Bình Xuyên, resulting in street violence on 29 March 1955. To safeguard his customers, Bảo Đại ordered Diệm to travel to France. However, he was ignored, and Diệm eventually succeeded in pushing his opponents out of the city. With widespread backing, Diệm’s brother Ngô Đình Nhu created the Popular Revolutionary Committee, which called for a referendum to remove Bảo Đại and establish a republic with Diệm as president. On 26 October 1955, Diệm declared himself president of the Republic of Vietnam, replacing Bảo Đại in authority.
LATER LIFE OF BẢO ĐẠI
- In 1972, Bảo Đại gave a public declaration from exile, calling for national reunification. Bảo Đại lived in southern France, specifically Monaco, where he frequently sailed on his luxury yacht, one of the largest in Monte Carlo harbour. He remained influential among local political players in Huế’s Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên provinces.
- The Communist administration of North Vietnam despatched emissaries to France, expecting that Bảo Đại would become a member of a coalition government to unify Vietnam under communism, hoping to draw his supporters in places where he still maintained authority.
- Bảo Đại was disliked in Vietnam and France due to his perceived role as a political puppet for the French colonialist state, lack of political power, cooperation with the French and pro-French ideas. However, The former emperor clarified that his rule was always a perpetual conflict and a compromise between protecting the monarchy and national integrity, and devotion to French authorities.
- Bảo Đại died on 30 July 1997 in Val-de-Grâce military hospital in Paris. He was buried in the Cimetière de Passy.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bảo Đại
- Who was Bảo Đại?
Bảo Đại was the last emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty, which was the final imperial dynasty of Vietnam. He ruled from 1926 to 1945 and again briefly as head of state in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
- What was Bảo Đại’s role during French colonial rule?
He was largely a figurehead under French control. Though officially emperor, real power remained with the French colonial administration in Indochina.
- What happened to Bảo Đại during World War II?
In March 1945, Japan ousted the French and declared Vietnam independent under Bảo Đại. However, he had little actual power and abdicated later that year when Japan surrendered to the Allies.