Bao Dai
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Image:Paris-Emperor Bao Dai.jpg Bảo Đại (保大) (October 22, 1913 – July 30, 1997) was the last Emperor of Vietnam, the 13th and last Emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty.
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Biography
Bảo Đại was born Prince Nguyễn Vĩnh Thụy in Huế, which was then the capital of Vietnam. His father was Emperor Khai Dinh. After being educated in France, he became emperor in 1925 following his father's death, and took the name Bảo Đại (but is also known as Nguyen-Phuoc Thien or Vĩnh Thụy). He was subject to French control of his government— Vietnam was part of French Indochina.
On March 20, 1934, at the imperial city of Huế, Bảo Đại married Jeanne Marie-Thérèse (Mariette) Nguyen Huu-Hao Thi Lan (1914-1963), who was renamed Hoang Hau Nam Phuong, or "the Southern Empress".
Bảo Đại had four other wives, three of whom he married during his marriage to Nam Phuong: Phu Anh, a cousin, whom he married circa 1935; Hoang, a Chinese woman, whom he married in 1946 (one daughter); Bui Mong Diep, whom he married in 1955 (two children); and Monique Baudot, a French citizen whom he married in 1972 and whom was styled Imperial Princess (later Empress) Monique Vĩnh Thụy and then renamed Thai Phuong Hoang-Hau.
In 1940 (during World War II), coinciding with their ally Germany's invasion of France, the Japanese invaded Indochina. While they did not eject the French administration, the Japanese 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 threatened Bảo Đại into declaring Vietnam's independence from France as a member of Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". The Japanese had a Vietnamese pretender, Prince Cuong De, waiting to take power in case his 'elimination' was required. The Japanese surrendered to the Allies in August 1945, and the Communist Việt Minh under Hồ Chí Minh aimed to take power. Due to the Japanese associations, Hồ was able to persuade Bảo Đại to abdicate on August 25, 1945, handing power to the Việt Minh—an event that greatly enhanced Hồ's legitimacy in the eyes of the Vietnamese people. Bảo Đại was appointed "supreme advisor" in the new government in Hanoi, which asserted independence on September 2.
As the country descended into violence—rival Vietnamese factions clashing with each other and with the French—Bảo Đại left the country after a year in the advisory role, living in Hong Kong and China. The French persuaded him to return in 1949 as Head of State (Quoc Truong) but not Emperor. He soon returned to France, however, and showed little interest in the affairs of his country when he was not being directly affected. But the war between the French colonial forces and the Việt Minh continued, ending in 1954 shortly after a major victory for the Việt Minh at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ.
The United States, nervous about Hồ Chí Minh's communism, became strongly opposed to the idea of a Vietnam run by Hồ after his government of the north, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, in 1950 gained recognition from the Soviet Union and China. In the south in the same year, the French formed a rival Vietnamese government under Bảo Đại in Saigon which was recognized by the United States, United Kingdom and the United Nations. Image:2EmperorBaoDai.JPG
The 1954 peace deal between the French and the Việt Minh, known as the Geneva Accords, involved a Chinese-inspired, supposedly temporary partition of the country into North and South. Bảo Đại moved to Paris, France, but remained Head of State of South Vietnam, appointing the religious nationalist Ngô Đình Diệm as his Prime Minister.
However, in 1955 Diệm used referendum to remove Bảo Đại and form a republic, taking control of the South himself, while managing to win American support. The referendum was widely regarded as fraudulent, showing an alleged 98 percent in favor of Diệm. Bảo Đại abdicated once again and remained in exile in Paris.
Life in Exile
In 1972, Bảo Đại issued a public statement in France, and appealed to the Vietnamese people for national reconciliation, stating "The time has come to put an end to the fratricidal war and to recover at last peace and accord".
Bao Dai still held great influence among political figures in the Quang Tri and Thừa Thiên-Huế Provinces and also in the city of Huế, the ancient capital of Vietnam. The Communist government of North Vietnam sent representatives to France hoping that Bảo Đại would become a member of a coalition government to re-unite Vietnam, which would also attract his supporters in the regions where he has influence.
As a result of the meetings conducted, Bảo Đại publicly spoke out against the presence of American troops on the territory of South Vietnam, and he also criticized President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's regime in South Vietnam. He called for all political factions to create a free, neutral, peace-loving government that would resolve the tense situation that had taken form in the country.
In 1982, 'Emperor' Bảo Đại and 'Imperial Princess' Monique Vĩnh Thụy along with other members of the Vietnamese Imperial Family visited the United States. His agenda was to oversee and bless Buddhist religious ceremonies, in the Califonia and Texas Vietnamese-American communities.
While in the United States, Emperor Bảo Đại gauged opinion among the exiled Vietnamese-American community, hoping to find a route towards national reconciliation.
Bảo Đại converted to Catholicism before he died at a military hospital in Paris in 1997 and was interred in the Cimetière de Passy, Paris. After his death, his eldest son Bao Long inherited the position of head of the Nguyễn Dynasty.
Quotes
- "What they call a Bảo Đại solution turns out to be just a French solution."
- "I would prefer to be a citizen of an independent country rather than Emperor of an enslaved one."
- "If your government had given me a thousandth of the sum it spent to depose me, I could have won that war."
- "The time has come to put an end to the fratricidal war and to recover at last peace and accord."
- "I do not wish a foreign army to spill the blood of my people." - Emperor Bảo Đại when informed that the Allies had placed the Japanese garrison at his disposal to defend the Imperial City from the Việt Minh.
External links
- Abdication of Emperor Bao Dai
- Emperor Bao Dai and Princess Monique Vinh Thuy visit Thiên-Lý Bửu-Tòa Cao Dai Temple Dec. 2, 1982 at San Martin, California
- Emperor Bao Dai's Obituary from The New York Times, August 2, 1997
- Emperor Bao Dai and Empress Monique Vinh Thuy meet supporters in France (in French)
| Preceded by: Emperor Khai Dinh | Emperors of Vietnam}}}}| 1925 – 1955|}}}}}}| with {{{regent1}}}|}} }}}}| ({{{years1}}})|}}}}}}| {{{regent2}}}|}} }}}}| ({{{years2}}})|}}}}}}| {{{regent3}}}|}} }}}}| ({{{years3}}})|}}}}}}| Served alongside: {{{alongside}}}|}} | Succeeded by: Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem |
| Nguyen Dynasty}}}}| 1925 – -|}}}}}}| with {{{regent1}}}|}} }}}}| ({{{years1}}})|}}}}}}| {{{regent2}}}|}} }}}}| ({{{years2}}})|}}}}}}| {{{regent3}}}|}} }}}}| ({{{years3}}})|}}}}}}| Served alongside: {{{alongside}}}|}} | Succeeded by: Crown Prince Bao Long |
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