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Kingdom of Việt Nam (1804–1839) Empire of Đại Nam (1839–1945) Việt Nam Quốc (越南國) Đại Nam Quốc (大南國)
1802–1945
Top: Dragon Star Flag (1802–1839) Bottom: Dragon Star Flag (1920–1945) Imperial Standard
Anthem: "Đăng dàn cung
Việt Nam at its greatest territorial extent in 1829 (under Emperor Minh Mạng), superimposed on the modern political map
Status	Empire (1802–1885)[a] Protectorate of France (1885–1945)
Capital	Huế
Common languages	Vietnamese
Religion	Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism, Catholicism
Government	Absolute monarchy
Emperor
• 1802–1820	Gia Long (First)
• 1926–1945	Bảo Đại (Last)
History
• Nguyễn Ánh defeated Tây Sơn dynasty	1802
• Coronation of Gia Long	1 June 1802
• French invasion	1 September 1858
• Treaty of Saigon	5 June 1862
• Treaty of Huế	25 August 1883
• Treaty of Huế	6 June 1884
• Japanese invasion of French Indochina	26 September 1940
• Abdication of Bảo Đại	30 August 1945
Population
• 1830	7,600,000
• 1860	10,000,000
Currency	Văn (Sapèque), Tiền, and Lạng Piastre (from 1885)
Preceded by Succeeded by Tây Sơn dynasty French Indochina Empire of Vietnam
Today part of	Vietnam  Laos  Cambodia

The Nguyễn dynasty or House of Nguyễn (Vietnamese: Nhà Nguyễn; Hán-Nôm: 阮朝, Nguyễn triều) was the last ruling family of Vietnam.^[1] Their rule lasted for 143 years. The dynasty began in 1802, when Emperor Gia Long ascended the throne after defeating the Tây Sơn dynasty. It ended in 1945, when Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated the throne and transferred power to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Although the nation was given the name Việt Nam (越南) by the Qing dynasty during Gia Long's reign, it was known as Đại Việt Nam (大越南) by nations other than the Qing Dynasty. From the 19th year of Emperor Minh Mạng's reign, Đại Việt Nam was shortened to Đại Nam (大南, which means "Great South");^[2] the abbreviation Đại Việt (大越, which means "Great Viet") was forbidden, since it was the name of several previous dynasties. The end of the dynasty was marked by the increasing influence of French colonialism, and the nation was divided into three parts: Cochinchina became a French colony, and Annam and Tonkin became nominally-independent protectorates.

Origins

The Nguyễn lords was a major family in Vietnamese history, dating back to the first grand chancellor of the Đinh dynasty (Nguyễn Bặc) and the Lê dynasty under Emperor Lê Lợi. After the prosperous later Lê dynasty, Mạc Đăng Dung of the Mạc dynasty took the throne from emperor Lê Cung Hoàng and the Lê dynasty went into eclipse. Nguyễn Kim, who a loyal subject of the Lê, tried to restore power to the dynasty; this was followed by a civil war between the Lê and the Mạc. Due to the war and the weakness of the later Lê, the Nguyễn and Trịnh lords united in opposition to the Mạc. Nguyễn Kim, leader of the alliance, was assassinated in 1545 by a captured Mạc general; Kim's son-in-law, Trịnh Kiểm (who killed the eldest son of Nguyễn Kim), took over the alliance. In 1558, Nguyễn Hoàng (Kim's second son) was given lordship of the newly-conquered territory of mid- and southern Vietnam by Champa. He ruled from the city of Huế for the rest of his life, establishing the dominion of the Nguyễn lords in the southern part of the country. Although the Nguyễn and Trịnh lords paid tribute to the Lê emperors, the emperors were figurehead governors. Nguyễn Hoàng and his successors continued to fight the Trịnh lords, expanding their territory by making Kampuchea a protectorate and invading Laos, Champa and smaller countries in the region. The Nguyễn lords called themselves "lord" (chúa in Vietnamese).

Political history

First Tây Sơn–Nguyễn civil war (1771–1785)

Collapse of the Nguyễn lords

1783 portrait of Nguyễn Phúc Ánh in Siam

The cover of Tân Dân Tử's (1875–1955) 1930 book, Gia Long tẩu quốc, depicted the exile of Nguyễn Ánh.

The Tây Sơn dynasty and the Trịnh lords united to destroy the Nguyễn capital, Phú Xuân, in 1775. Nguyễn leader Nguyễn Phúc Thuần failed to oppose the alliance forces before fleeing Quảng Nam province. Nguyễn Nhạc took the opportunity to pursue water and land routes. The Tây Sơn force defeated the Nguyễn army and seized Quảng Nam; Nguyễn Phúc Thuần escaped to Gia Định by sea, leaving co-ruler Nguyễn Phúc Dương to defend Quảng Nam.^[3] In early 1777, the Tây Sơn army was led by Nguyễn Huệ in an ambush of Gia Định. The battle lasted for six months, and Nguyễn Phúc Thuần, Nguyễn Phúc Dương, several siblings of Nguyễn Ánh and many Nguyễn family members were captured and executed. The 13-year-old Nguyễn Ánh escaped and hid.

Ánh later declared himself the next leader of the Nguyễn lord. He was protected by the Vietnamese Catholic priest Paul Hồ Văn Nghị and his teacher, Rạch Giá. They helped Ánh flee to Hà Tiên, where he stayed at the mansion of Paris Foreign Missions Society missionary Pigneau de Behaine.^[4] He then fled into the jungle to avoid pursuit by the Tây Son army.^[4][5][6] De Behaine returned from Cambodia to avoid pursuit by the anti-Catholic Tây Sơn force. With him was a Frenchman named Jean, who came to meet and support Ánh.^[7] After hiding for a month, Nguyễn Huệ returned to Quy Nhơn; Ánh returned to Long Xuyên, formed an army to fight the Tây Sơn,^[8] and raided the palace of Long Hồ in Gia Định in December 1777. The Tây Sơn returned to Gia Định in February 1778, and quickly captured the province. Ánh (assisted by Pigneau de Behaine) led an army against the Tây Sơn, who retreated.^[8]

By the summer of 1781, Ánh's forces had grown to 30,000 soldiers, 80 battleships, three large ships and two Portuguese mercenary battleships recruited by de Behaine. He organized an unsuccessful ambush of Tây Sơn base camps in the Phú Yên province. Nguyễn Huệ and his older brother, Emperor of Tây Sơn emperor Thái Đức, sent a naval force to attack Ánh in March 1782. Ánh's army was defeated and fled: first to Ba Giồng, and then to the Romdoul District in Cambodia's Svay Rieng province.

Nguyễn–Cambodia alliance against the Tây Sơn

Ánh escaped to Cambodia and met with King Ang Eng, who allowed him to live in exile and allied with him against the Tây Sơn. The Tây Sơn army pursued Ánh, who failed to oppose and fled, in April 1782. The Tây Sơn captured Ang Eng, forced the king to pay tribute, and forced the Vietnamese living in Cambodia to return to Vietnam.^[9]

Chinese Vietnamese support for Nguyễn Ánh

Pigneau de Behaine, the French priest who recruited armies for Nguyễn Ánh during Ánh's war against the Tây Sơn

Support by the Chinese Vietnamese began when the Qing dynasty overthrew the Ming dynasty. The Han Chinese refused to live under the Manchu Qing, and fled to Southeast Asia (including Vietnam). Most were welcomed by the Nguyễn lords to resettle in southern Vietnam for business and trade.

In 1782, Nguyễn Ánh escaped to Cambodia and the Tây Sơn seized southern Vietnam (now Cochinchina). They discriminated against the ethnic Chinese, displeasing the Chinese Vietnamese. That April, Nguyễn loyalists Tôn Thất Dụ, Trần Xuân Trạch, Trần Văn Tự and Trần Công Chương sent military support to Ánh. The Nguyễn army killed grand admiral Phạm Ngạn, who had a close relationship with the emperor Thái Đức, at Tham Lương bridge.^[9] Thái Đức, angry, thought that the ethnic Chinese had collaborated in the killing. He sacked the town of Cù lao (present-day Biên Hòa), which had a large Chinese population,^[10][11] and ordered the oppression of the Chinese community to avenge their assistance to Ánh. Ethnic cleansing had previously occurred in Hoi An, leading to support by wealthy Chinese for Ánh. He returned to Giồng Lữ, defeated admiral Nguyễn Học of the Tây Sơn and captured eighty battleships. Ánh then began a campaign to reclaim southern Vietnam, but Nguyễn Huệ deployed a naval force to the river and destroyed his navy. Ánh again escaped with his followers to Hậu Giang. Cambodia later cooperated with the Tây Sơn to destroy Ánh's force and made him retreat to Rạch Giá, then to Hà Tiên and Phú Quốc.

Nguyễn–Thai alliance

Rama I of Siam

Following consecutive losses to the Tây Sơn, Ánh sent his general Châu Văn Tiếp to Siam to request military assistance. Siam, under Chakri rule, wanted to conquer Cambodia and southern Vietnam. King Rama I agreed to ally with the Nguyễn lord and intervene militarily in Vietnam. Châu Văn Tiếp sent a secret letter to Ánh about the alliance. After meeting with Siamese generals at Cà Mau, Ánh, thirty officials and some troops visited Bangkok to meet Rama I in May 1784. The governor of Gia Định Province, Nguyễn Văn Thành, advised Ánh against foreign assistance.^[12][13]

Rama I, fearing the growing influence of the Tây Sơn dynasty in Cambodia and Laos, decided to dispatch his army against it. In Bangkok, Ánh began to recruit Vietnamese refugees in Siam to join his army (which totaled over 9,000).^[14] He returned to Vietnam and prepared his forces for the Tây Sơn campaign in June 1784, after which he captured Gia Định. Rama I nominated his nephew, Chiêu Tăng, as admiral the following month. The admiral led Siamese forces including 20,000 marine troops and 300 warships) from the Gulf of Siam to Kiên Giang province. In addition, more than 30,000 Siamese infantry troops crossed the Cambodian border to An Giang province.^[15] On 25 November 1784, Admiral Châu Văn Tiếp died in battle against the Tây Sơn in Mang Thít District, Vĩnh Long Province. The alliance was largely victorious from July through November, and the Tây Sơn army retreated north. However, emperor Nguyễn Huệ halted the retreat and counter-attacked the Siamese forces in December. In the decisive battle of Rạch Gầm–Xoài Mút, more than 20,000 Siamese soldiers died and the remainder retreated to Siam.^[16]

Ánh, disillusioned with Siam, escaped to Thổ Chu Island in April 1785 and then to Ko Kut Island in Thailand. The Siamese army escorted him back to Bangkok, and he was briefly exiled in Thailand.

1787 French alliance

Louis XVI of France

Signatures on the 1787 Treaty of Versailles

The war between the Nguyễn lord and the Tây Sơn dynasty forced Ánh to find more allies. His relationship with de Behaine improved, and support for an alliance with France increased. Before the request for Siamese military assistance, de Behaine was in Chanthaburi and Ánh asked him to come to Phú Quốc Island.^[17] Ánh asked him to contact King Louis XVI of France for assistance; de Behaine agreed to coordinate an alliance between France and Vietnam, and Ánh gave him a letter to present at the French court. Ánh's oldest son, Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh, was chosen to accompany de Behaine. Due to inclement weather, the voyage was postponed until December 1784. The group departed from Phú Quốc Island for Malacca and thence to Pondicherry, and Ánh moved his family to Bangkok.^[18] The group arrived in Lorient in February 1787, and Louis XVI agreed to meet them in May.

Treaty of Versailles (1787)

On 28 November 1787, de Behaine signed the Treaty of Versailles with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Armand Marc at the Palace of Versailles on behalf of Nguyễn Ánh.^[19] The treaty stipulated that France provide four frigates, 1,200 infantry troops, 200 artillery, 250 cafres (African soldiers), and other equipment. Nguyễn Ánh ceded the Đà Nẵng estuary and Côn Sơn Island to France.^[20] The French were allowed to trade freely and control foreign trade in Vietnam. Vietnam had to build one ship per year which was similar to the French ship which brought aid, and give it to France. Vietnam was obligated to supply food and other aid to France when the French were at war with other East Asian nations.

French Revolution

On 27 December 1787, Pigneau de Behaine and Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh left France for Pondicherry to wait for the military support promised by the treaty. However, due to the French Revolution and the abolition of the French monarchy, the treaty was never executed. Thomas Conway, who was responsible for French assistance, refused to provide it. Although the treaty was not implemented, de Behaine recruited French businessman who intended to trade in Vietnam and raised funds to assist Nguyễn Ánh. He spent fifteen thousand francs of his own money to purchase guns and warships. Cảnh and de Behaine returned to Gia Định in 1788 (after Nguyễn Ánh had recaptured it), followed by a ship with the war materiel. Frenchmen who were recruited included Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau, Philippe Vannier, Olivier de Puymanel, and Jean-Marie Dayot. A total of twenty people joined Ánh's army. The French purchased and supplied equipment and weaponry, reinforcing the defense of Gia Định, Vĩnh Long, Châu Đốc, Hà Tiên, Biên Hòa, Bà Rịa and training Ánh's artillery and infantry according to the European model.^[21]

Second civil war (1787–1802)

Weakening of the Tây Sơn dynasty

Vietnam at the end of the 18th century. The Tây Sơn army, including Nguyễn Huệ, ruled the north (purple); Nguyễn Nhạc the middle (yellow), and Nguyễn Ánh the south (green).

In 1786, Nguyễn Huệ led the army against the Trịnh lords; Trịnh Khải escaped to the north and committed suicide. After the Tây Sơn army returned to Quy Nhơn, subjects of the Trịnh lord restored Trịnh Bồng (son of Trịnh Giang) as the next lord. Lê Chiêu Thống, emperor of the Lê dynasty, wanted to regain power from the Trịnh. He summoned Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, governor of Nghệ An, to attack the Trịnh lord at the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. Trịnh Bồng surrendered to the Lê and became a monk. Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh wanted to unify the country under Lê rule, and began to prepare the army to march south and attack the Tây Sơn. Huệ led the army, killed Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, and captured the later Lê capital. The Lê royal family were exiled to China, and the later Lê dynasty collapsed.

At that time, Nguyễn Huệ's influence became stronger in northern Vietnam; this made emperor Nguyễn Nhạc of the Tây Sơn dynasty suspect Huệ's loyalty. The relationship between the brothers became tense, eventually leading to battle. Huệ had his army surround Nhạc's capital, at Quy Nhơn citadel, in 1787. Nhạc begged Huệ not to kill him, and they reconciled. In 1788, Lê emperor Lê Chiêu Thống fled to China and asked for military assistance. Qing emperor Qianlong ordered Sun Shiyi to lead the military campaign into Vietnam. The campaign failed, diplomatic relations with Vietnam were normalized, and the Tây Sơn dynasty began to weaken.

Ánh's counter-attack

Ánh began to reorganize a strong armed force in Siam. He left Siam (after thanking King Rama I), and returned to Vietnam.^[22][23] During the 1787 war between Nguyễn Huệ and Nguyễn Nhạc in northern Vietnam, Ánh recaptured the southern Vietnamese capital of Gia Định. Southern Vietnam had been ruled by the Nguyễns and they remained popular, especially with the ethnic Chinese. Nguyễn Lữ, the youngest brother of Tây Sơn (who ruled southern Vietnam), could not defend the citadel and retreated to Quy Nhơn. The citadel of Gia Định was seized by the Nguyễn lords.^[24]

In 1788 de Behaine and Ánh's son, Prince Cảnh, arrived in Gia Định with modern war equipment and more than twenty Frenchmen who wanted to join the army. The force was trained and strengthened with French assistance.^[25]

Defeat of the Tây Sơn

After the fall of the citadel at Gia Định, Nguyễn Huệ prepared an expedition to reclaim it before his death on 16 September 1792. His young son, Nguyễn Quang Toản, succeeded him as emperor of the Tây Sơn and was a poor leader.^[26] In 1793, Nguyễn Ánh began a campaign against Quang Toản. Due to conflict between officials of the Tây Sơn court, Quang Toản lost battle after battle. In 1797, Ánh and Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh attacked Qui Nhơn (then in Phú Yên Province) in the battle of Thị Nại. They were victorious, capturing a large amount of Tây Sơn equipment.^[27] Quang Toản became unpopular due to his murders of generals and officials, leading to a decline in the army. In 1799, Ánh captured the citadel of Quy Nhơn. He seized the capital (Phú Xuân) on 3 May 1802, and Quang Toản retreated north. Ánh then executed all the members of the Tây Sơn dynasty that year.

Origin of the dynasty

Unification of Vietnam

Hoàng Triều luật lệ, law introduced by Gia Long

Nguyễn Phúc Ánh united Vietnam after a three-hundred-year division of the country. He celebrated his coronation at Huế on 1 June 1802 and proclaimed himself emperor (Vietnamese: Hoàng Đế), with the era name Gia Long (嘉隆) and the Thế temple name Nguyễn Thế Tổ (阮世祖). Gia Long prioritized the nation's defense, and feared that it could again be divided by civil war. He replaced the feudal system with a reformist Doctrine of the Mean, based on Confucianism.^[28][29]

Government

Emperor

Nguyễn-dynasty throne (left) and imperial seal

The Nguyễn dynasty maintained the bureaucracy and hierarchic system of former dynasties. The head of state was the emperor, who wielded absolute authority. Under the emperor was the Ministry of Interior (which worked on papers, royal messages and recording) and four Grand Secretariats (Vietnamese: Tứ trụ Đại thần), later renamed the Ministry of Secret Council.^{[citation needed]} East Asia's monarchic system consisted of nobles and mandarins. Mandarins were civil or military.

Civil service and bureaucracy

Taxes

Nguyễn dynasty coins

Vietnam's monetary subunit was the quan (貫). One quan equaled 10 coins, equivalent to ₫600. Officials received the following taxes (Vietnamese: thuế đầu người):

• First senior rank (Chánh nhất phẩm): 400 quan; rice: 300 kg; per-capita tax: 70 quan


• First junior rank (Tòng nhất phẩm): 300 quan; rice: 250 kg; tax: 60 quan


• Second senior rank (Chánh nhị phẩm): 250 quan; rice: 200 kg; tax: 50 quan


• Second junior rank (Tòng nhị phẩm): 180 quan; rice: 150 kg; tax: 30 quan


• Third senior rank (Chánh tam phẩm): 150 quan; rice: 120 kg; tax: 20 quan


• Third junior rank (Tòng tam phẩm): 120 quan; rice: 90 kg; tax: 16 quan


• Fourth senior rank (Chánh tứ phẩm): 80 quan; rice: 60 kg; tax: 14 quan


• Fourth junior rank (Tòng tứ phẩm): 60 quan; rice: 50 kg; tax: 10 quan


• Fifth senior rank (Chánh ngũ phẩm): 40 quan; rice: 43 kg; tax: 9 quan


• Fifth junior rank (Tòng ngũ phẩm): 35 quan; rice: 30 kg; tax: 8 quan


• Sixth senior rank (Chánh lục phẩm): 30 quan; rice: 25 kg; tax: 7 quan


• Sixth junior rank (Tòng lục phẩm): 30 quan; rice: 22 kg; tax: 6 quan


• Seventh senior rank (Chánh thất phẩm): 25 quan; rice: 20 kg; tax: 5 quan


• Seventh junior rank (Tòng thất phẩm): 22 quan; rice: 20 kg; tax: 5 quan


• Eighth senior rank (Chánh bát phẩm): 20 quan; rice: 18 kg; tax: 5 quan


• Eighth junior rank (Tòng bát phẩm): 20 quan; rice: 18 kg; tax: 4 quan


• Ninth senior rank (Chánh cửu phẩm): 18 quan; rice: 16 kg; tax: 4 quan


• Ninth junior rank (Tòng cửu phẩm): 18 quan; rice: 16 kg; tax: 4 quan

Pension

When mandarins retired, they could receive one hundred to four hundred quan from the emperor. When they died, the royal court provided twenty to two hundred quan for a funeral.^{[citation needed]}

Culture

After Gia Long, other dynastic rulers encountered problems with Catholic missionaries and other Europeans in Indochina. China's Qing Jiaqing Emperor refused Gia Long's request to change his country's name to Nam Việt, changing its name to Việt Nam.^[30]

Gia Long's son, Minh Mạng, was then faced with the Lê Văn Khôi revolt in which native Christians and their European clergy tried to replace him and install a grandson of Gia Long who had converted to Roman Catholicism. The missionaries then incited frequent revolts in an attempt to Catholicize the throne and the country,^[31] although Minh Mạng set aside public lands as part of his reforms.^[32]

Minh Mang engineered the final conquest of the Champa Kingdom after the centuries-long Cham–Vietnamese wars. Cham Muslim leader Katip Suma was educated in Kelantan, returning to Champa to declare a jihad against the Vietnamese after Minh Mang's annexation of the region.^{[33][34][35][36]} The Vietnamese forced Champa's Muslims to eat lizard and pig meat and its Hindus to eat beef to assimilate them into Vietnamese culture.^[37]

Ngọ Môn (午門), the main gate of the imperial Nguyễn city in Huế

Minh Mang sinicized ethnic minorities (such as Cambodians), claimed the legacy of Confucianism and China's Han dynasty for Vietnam, and used the term "Han people" (漢人, Hán nhân) to refer to the Vietnamese.^[38][39] According to the emperor, "We must hope that their barbarian habits will be subconsciously dissipated, and that they will daily become more infected by Han [Sino-Vietnamese] customs."^[40] These policies were directed at the Khmer and hill tribes.^[41] Nguyen Phuc Chu had referred to the Vietnamese as "Han people" in 1712, distinguishing them from the Chams.^[42] The Nguyen lords established colonies after 1790. Gia Long said, "Hán di hữu hạn" (漢 夷 有 限, "The Vietnamese and the barbarians must have clear borders"), distinguishing the Khmer from the Vietnamese.^[43] Minh Mang implemented an acculturation policy for minority non-Vietnamese peoples.^[44]"Thanh nhân" (清 人) or "Đường nhân" (唐人) were used to refer to ethnic Chinese by the Vietnamese, who called themselves "Hán dân" (漢 民) and "Hán nhân" (漢人) during 19th-century Nguyễn rule.^[45] Since 1827, descendants of Ming dynasty refugees were called Minh nhân (明人) or Minh Hương (明 鄉) by Nguyễn rulers, to distinguish with ethnic Chinese.^[46]Minh nhân were treated as Vietnamese since 1829.^[47][48]:272 They were not allowed to go to China, and also not allowed to wear the Manchu queue.^[49]

"Trung Quốc" (中國) was used as a name for Vietnam by Gia Long in 1805.^[50] Due to its dominance during the 19th century, Vietnam regards Cambodia and Laos as tributary states.^[51]

1884 drawing of a marriage ceremony in Tonkin

The Nguyen dynasty popularized Chinese clothing.^{[52][53][54][55][56][57]} Trousers were adopted by female White H'mong speakers,^[58] replacing their traditional skirts.^[59] The traditional Han Chinese Ming tunics and trousers were worn by the Vietnamese. The áo dài was developed in the 1920s, when compact, close-fitting tucks were added to Chinese-style clothing.^[60] Chinese trousers and tunics were ordered by Nguyễn Phúc Khoát during the 18th century, replacing Vietnamese sarongs.^[61] Although the Chinese trousers and tunic were mandated by the Nguyen government, skirts were worn in isolated north Vietnamese hamlets until the 1920s.^[62] Chinese Ming-, Tang-, and Han-dynasty clothing was ordered for the Vietnamese military and bureaucrats by Nguyễn Phúc Khoát.^[63]

Nguyễn-dynasty elephant parade in Huế

An 1841 polemic, "On Distinguishing Barbarians", was based on the Qing sign "Vietnamese Barbarians' Hostel" (越夷會館) on the Fujian residence of Nguyen diplomat and Hoa Chinese Lý Văn Phức (李文馥).^{[64][65][66][67]} It argued that the Qing did not subscribe to the neo-Confucianist texts from the Song and Ming dynasties which were learned by the Vietnamese,^[68] who saw themselves as sharing a civilization with the Qing.^[69] Non-Chinese highland tribes and other non-Vietnamese peoples living near (or in) Vietnam were called "barbarian" by the Vietnamese imperial court.^[70][71] The essay distinguishes the Yi and Hua, and mentions Zhao Tuo, Wen, Shun and Taibo.^{[72][73][74][75][76]} Kelley and Woodside described Vietnam's Confucianism.^[77]

Emperors Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị and Tự Đức, were opposed to French involvement in Vietnam, and tried to reduce the country's growing Catholic community. The imprisonment of missionaries who had illegally entered the country was the primary pretext for the French to invade (and occupy) Indochina. Like Qing China, a number of incidents involved other European nations during the 19th century.

The last independent Nguyễn emperor was Tự Đức. A succession crisis followed his death, as the regent Tôn Thất Thuyết orchestrated the murders of three emperors in a year. This allowed the French to take control of the country and its monarchy. All emperors since Đồng Khánh were chosen by the French, and only ruled symbolically.

French protectorate

Napoleon III took the first steps to establish a French colonial influence in Indochina. He approved the launching of a naval expedition in 1858 to punish the Vietnamese for their mistreatment of European Catholic missionaries and force the court to accept a French presence in the country. Factors in his decision were the belief that France risked becoming a second-rate power by not expanding its influence in East Asia, and the expanding idea that France had a civilizing mission. This led to an invasion in 1861.

Signing of the Treaty of Huế, 25 August 1883

By 1862, the war was over. Vietnam conceded three provinces in the south (French Cochinchina), opened three ports to French trade, allowed free passage of French warships to Kampuchea (which led to an 1863 French protectorate of Kampuchea), allowed freedom for French missionaries, and gave France a large indemnity for the cost of the war. France did not intervene in the Christian-supported Vietnamese rebellion in Bắc Bộ (despite missionary urging) or the subsequent slaughter of thousands of Christians after the rebellion, suggesting that persecution of Christians prompted the intervention but military and political reasons drove colonialism in Vietnam.

In 1885, France conquered the rest of Vietnam and promoted development of the Mekong Delta by the Vietnamese. The Nguyễn dynasty nominally ruled the French protectorates of Annam and Tonkin, which were (like Cochinchina) territories of French Indochina. France added new ingredients to Vietnam's cultural stew: Catholicism and a Latin-based alphabet. The spelling used in the Vietnamese transliteration was Portuguese, because the French relied on a dictionary compiled earlier by a Portuguese cleric.

World War I

While seeking to maximize the use of Indochina's natural resources and manpower to fight World War I, France cracked down on Vietnam's patriotic mass movements. Indochina (mainly Vietnam) had to provide France with 70,000 soldiers and 70,000 workers, who were forcibly drafted from villages to serve on the French battlefront. Vietnam also contributed 184 million piastres in loans and 336,000 tons of food.

These burdens proved heavy, since agriculture experienced natural disasters from 1914 to 1917.
Lacking a unified nationwide organization, the vigorous Vietnamese national movement failed to use the difficulties France had as a result of war to stage significant uprisings.

In May 1916, sixteen-year-old emperor Duy Tân escaped from his palace in order to participate in an uprising of Vietnamese troops. The French were informed of the plan, and its leaders were arrested and executed. Duy Tân was deposed and exiled to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

World War II

Nationalist sentiment intensified in Vietnam (especially during and after the First World War), but uprisings and tentative efforts failed to obtain concessions from the French. The Russian Revolution greatly impacted 20th-century Vietnamese history.

For Vietnam, the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939 was as decisive as the 1858 French seizure of Đà Nẵng. The Axis power of Japan invaded Vietnam on 22 September 1940, attempting to construct military bases to strike against Allied forces in Southeast Asia.

The Viet Minh, a communist resistance movement, developed under Ho Chi Minh from 1941 to 1945. During a 1944–1945 famine in northern Vietnam, over one million people starved to death. In March 1945, realizing that Allied victory was inevitable, the Japanese overthrew the French in Vietnam, imprisoned their civil servants and proclaimed an independent Vietnam (under Japanese protection, with Bảo Đại its emperor).

Dynastic succession

The French persuaded Bảo Đại to return as chief of state (Quốc Trưởng) of the State of Vietnam (Quốc Gia Việt Nam), set up by France in areas over which it had regained control during a bloody war with the Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh, in 1948. Bảo Đại spent much of his time during the conflict at his luxurious home in Đà Lạt (in the Vietnamese Highlands) or in Paris. This ended with the French defeat at Điện Biên Phủ in 1954.

The French negotiated with the U.S. to divide Vietnam. It was divided into North Vietnam (governed by the Viet Minh) and South Vietnam, with a new government. Bảo Đại's prime minister, Ngô Đình Diệm, defeated him in a 1955 referendum generally regarded as rigged; an improbable 98 percent of voters supported Diem's proposal for a republic, and the number of votes for the republic far exceeded the number of registered voters. Diem became president of the Republic of Vietnam (Việt Nam Cộng Hòa), ending Bảo Đại's involvement in Vietnamese affairs.

Bảo Đại went into exile in France, where he died in 1997 and was buried in Cimetière de Passy. Crown Prince Bảo Long succeeded him as head of the imperial house of Vietnam on 31 July of that year and was succeeded by his brother, Bảo Thắng, on 28 July 2007.

Bảo Thắng passed away on 15 March 2017 without an heir leaving the succession to the youngest half brother brother Bảo Ân.

Legacy

Art

Historical records

Emperors

The following list is the emperors' era names, which have meaning in Chinese and Vietnamese. For example, the first ruler's era name, Gia Long, is the combination of the old names for Saigon (Gia Định) and Hanoi (Thăng Long) to show the new unity of the country; the fourth, Tự Đức, means "Inheritance of Virtues"; the ninth, Đồng Khánh, means "Collective Celebration".

	Temple name	Posthumous name	Personal name	Lineage	Reign	Regnal name	Tomb	Events
	Thế Tổ	Khai Thiên Hoằng Đạo Lập Kỷ Thùy Thống Thần Văn Thánh Vũ Tuấn Đức Long Công Chí Nhân Đại Hiếu Cao Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Ánh	Nguyễn lords	1802–20	Gia Long	Thiên Thọ lăng	Unified and named Vietnam, founded its last dynasty
	Thánh Tổ	Thể Thiên Xương Vận Chí Hiếu Thuần Đức Văn Vũ Minh Đoán Sáng Thuật Đại Thành Hậu Trạch Phong Công Nhân Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Đảm	Son	1820–41	Minh Mệnh	Hiếu Lăng	Annexed the remaining Panduranga kingdom, renamed Vietnam Đại Nam, suppressed religion
	Hiến Tổ	Thiệu Thiên Long Vận Chí Thiện Thuần Hiếu Khoan Minh Duệ Đoán Văn Trị Vũ Công Thánh Triết Chượng Chương Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông	Son	1841–47	Thiệu Trị	Xương Lăng
	Dực Tông	Thể Thiên Hanh Vận Chí Thành Đạt Hiếu Thể Kiện Đôn Nhân Khiêm Cung Minh Lược Duệ Văn Anh Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm	Son	1847–83	Tự Đức	Khiêm Lăng	Faced French invasion and ceded Cochinchina to France
	Cung Tông	Huệ Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Chân	Nephew (adopted son of Tự Đức)	1883	Dục Đức	An Lăng	Three-day emperor (20–23 July 1883)
	–	Văn Lãng Quận Vương	Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Dật	Uncle (son of Thiệu Trị)	1883	Hiệp Hòa		Four-month emperor (30 July – 29 November 1883)
	Giản Tông	Thiệu Đức Chí Hiếu Uyên Duệ Nghị Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Đăng	Nephew (son of Hiệp Hòa's brother)	1883–84	Kiến Phúc	Bồi Lăng	Eight-month emperor (2 December 1883 – 31 July 1884)
	–	—	Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch	Younger brother	1884–85	Hàm Nghi	Thonac Cemetery, France	Dethroned after one year, continuing his rebellion until was captured in 1888 and fled to Algeria
	Cảnh Tông	Hoằng Liệt Thống Thiết Mẫn Huệ Thuần Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Kỷ	Older brother	1885–89	Đồng Khánh	Tư Lăng	Pro-West
	–	Hoài Trạch Công	Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân	Cousin (son of Dục Đức)	1889–1907	Thành Thái	An Lăng
	–	—	Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh San	son	1907–16	Duy Tân	An Lăng
	Hoằng Tông	Tự Đại Gia Vận Thánh Minh Thần Trí Nhân Hiếu Thành Kính Di Mô Thừa Liệt Tuyên Hoàng Đế	Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo	Cousin (son of Đồng Khánh)	1916–25	Khải Định	Ứng Lăng	Collaborated with the French, and was a political figurehead for French colonial rulers. Unpopular with the Vietnamese people, nationalist leader Phan Châu Trinh accused him of selling Vietnam to the French and living in imperial luxury while the people were exploited.
	–	—	Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy	Son	1926–45	Bảo Đại	Cimetière de Passy, France	Created the Empire of Vietnam under Japanese occupation during World War II; abdicated and transferred power to the Viet Minh in 1945, ending the Vietnamese monarchy. Removed as head of state of the State of Vietnam, changing it to a republic with Ngo Dinh Diem as president. Unpopular, considered an impotent puppet of the French colonial regime.

After the death of Emperor Tự Đức (and according to his will), Dục Đức ascended to the throne on 19 July 1883. He was dethroned and imprisoned three days later, after being accused of deleting a paragraph from Tự Đức's will. With no time to announce his dynastic title, his era name was named for his residential palace.

Lineage

Note:

• Years are reigning years.

See also

• List of monarchs of Vietnam


• 
  Nguyễn Trường Tộ – served Emperor Tự Đức

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nguyễn Dynasty.

• The Nguyễn Dynasty


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