Empire of Vietnam
Encyclopedia
The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state
of Imperial Japan
governing the whole of Vietnam
between March 11 and August 23, 1945.
and establishment of the French State
, the French had lost practical control in French Indochina
to the Japanese, but Japan stayed in the background while giving the Vichy French administrators nominal control. This changed on 9 March 1945 when Japan officially took over. To gain the support of the Vietnamese people, Imperial Japan declared it would return sovereignty to Vietnam. Emperor Bảo Đại
declared the treaty made with France in 1884 void. Trần Trọng Kim
, a renowned historian and scholar, was chosen to lead the government as prime minister
.
Kim and his ministers spent a substantial amount of time on constitutional matters at their first meeting in Huế
on 4 May 1945. One of their first resolutions was to alter the national name to Việt Nam. This was seen as a significant and urgent task. It implied territorial unity; "Việt Nam" had been Emperor Gia Long
's choice for the name of the country since he unified the modern territory of Việt Nam in 1802. Furthermore, this was the first time that Vietnamese nationalists in the northern, central and southern regions of the country officially recognized this name. In March, activists in the North always mentioned Đại Việt (Great Việt), the name used prior to the 15th century used by the Lê Dynasty
and its predecessors, while those in the South used Vietnam, and the central leaders used An Nam (Peaceful South) or Đại Nam (Great South, which was used by the Nguyễn Lords). Kim also renamed the three regions of the country-the northern (former Tonkin
or Bắc Kỳ) became Bắc Bộ, the central region (former Annam or Trung Kỳ) became Trung Bộ, and the southern areas (former Cochinchina
or Nam Kỳ) became Nam Bộ. Kim did this even though at the time the Japanese had only given him direct authority over the northern and central regions of Vietnam. When France had finished its conquest of Vietnam in 1885, only southern Vietnam was made a direct colony under the name of Cochinchina, while the northern and central regions were designated as protectorates as Tonkin and Annam. When the Empire of Vietnam was proclaimed, the Japanese retained direct control of Cochinchina, in the same way as their French predecessors.
Thuận Hóa
, the pre-colonial name for Huế, was restored. Kim's officials also worked to find a French substitute for the word "Annamite", which was used to denote Vietnamese people and their characteristics as described in French literature and official use. "Annamite" was considered to be derogatory and it was replaced with "Vietnamien" (Vietnamese). Apart from Thuận Hóa
, these terms have been internationally accepted since Kim ordered the changes. Given that the French colonial authorities emphatically distinguished the three regions of "Tonkin", "Annam", and "Cochinchina" as separate entities, implying a lack of national culture or political integration, Kim's first acts were seen not only as symbolic but the end of generations of frustration among Vietnamese intelligentsia and revolutionaries.
On 12 June 1945, Kim selected a new national flag
-a yellow, rectangular banner with three horizontal red stripes modeled after the Li Kwai in the Book of Changes - and a new national anthem, the old hymn Dang Dan Cung (The King Mounts His Throne). This decision ended a three-month-long period of speculation concerning a new flag for Vietnam.
and intended to use Vietnamese in the advanced tests. Education minister Hoang Xuan Han strove hard to Vietnamise public secondary education. The planned sweeping reforms required more than four months to achieve their full results, but were regarded as having been a major stepping stone which prepared the groundwork for the successor Vietminh government to launch its compulsory mass education program. In July, when the Japanese decided to grant Vietnam full independence and territorial unification, Kim's government was on the verge of a new round of reform, beginning with the creation of a national committee responsible for the creation of a new national education system.
of others. This led to the release of a number of Communist cadres who returned to their former cells, and actively participated in the destruction of Kim's government.
to slain anti-French revolutionaries such as Nguyễn Thái Học, the leader of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang
) who was executed with twelve comrades in 1930 in the aftermath of the Yen Bai mutiny
.
A committee was organised to select a list of national heroes for induction into the Temple of Martyrs (Nghia Liet Tu). City streets were renamed. In Huế, Jules Ferry
was replaced on the signboards of a main thoroughfare by Lê Lợi, the founder of the Lê Dynasty
who expelled the Chinese in 1427. General Tran Hung Dao, who twice repelled Mongol invasions in the 13th century, replaced Paul Bert. On August 1, the new mayor of Hanoi
, Tran Van Lai, ordered the demolition of French built statues in the city parks in his campaign to Wipe Out Humiliating Remnants. Similar campaigns were enacted in southern Vietnam in late August. Meanwhile, the freedom of the press
was instituted, resulting in the publication of the pieces of anti-French movements and critical essays on French collaborators. Heavy criticism was even extended to Nguyen Huu Do, the great grandfather of Bảo Đại who was notable in assisting the French conquest of Dai Nam in the 1880s.
Kim put particular emphasis on the mobilisation of youth. Youth Minster Phan Anh, attempted to centralise and heavily regulate all youth organizations, which had proliferated immediately after the Japanese coup. On May 25, an imperial order decreed an inclusive, hierarchical structure for youth organizations. At the apex was the National Youth Council, a consultative body, which advised the minister. Similar councils were to be organised down to the district level. Meanwhile, young people were asked to join the local squads or groups, from provincial to communal levels. They were given physical training and were charged with maintaining security in their communes. Each provincial town had a training centre, where month-long paramilitary courses were on offer.
The government also established a national center for the Advanced Front Youth (Thanh nien tien tuyen) in Huế. It was inaugurated on June 2, with the intention of being the centrepiece for future officer training. In late July, regional social youth centers were established in Hanoi, Huế, and Saigon. In Hanoi, the General Association of Students and Youth (Tong Hoi Sinh vien va Thanh Nien) was animated by the fervor of independence. The City University in Hanoi became a focal point of political agitation. By May and June, there was evidence that communist Cadres of the Vietminh front, had infiltrated the university's youth and famine relief associations. In the face of the rising Vietminh front, the Japanese attempted to contact its leaders, but their messengers were killed by the Vietminh. The Kempeitai
retaliated, arresting hundreds of pro-communist Vietnamese youths in late June.
(in 1862) and Annam and Tonkin
(both in 1884). Cochinchina was placed under direct rule while the latter two were officially designated as protectorates. Immediately after the coup which terminated French rule, the Japanese authorities were not enthusiastic about the territorial unification of Vietnam. However, after the formation of Kim's cabinet in April, Japan quickly agreed to return what was then Tonkin and Annam to Kim's authority, although it retained control of the cities of Hanoi, Haiphong
, and Da Nang
. Meanwhile, southern Vietnam remained under direct Japanese control, just as Cochinchina had been under French rule.
Beginning in May 1945, Foreign Minister Tran Van Chuong
entered into negotiations with the Japanese in Hanoi for the return of the three cities to Vietnamese rule, but the Japanese stalled because Hanoi and Haiphong were seen as strategic points in their war defense. It was only in June and July that the Japanese allow the process of national unification to take place. On June 16, Bảo Đại issued a decree proclaiming the impending reunification of Vietnam. On June 29, General Tsuchihashi signed a series of decrees transferring some of the duties of the government general-including customs, information, youth and sports- to the governments of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, effective July 1. This was followed by Bảo Đại's issuing of four imperial orders: establishment of the National Consultative Committee (Hoi dong Tu van Quoc Gia); a committee of fifteen to work on the creation of a constitution; a fifteen-member committee to examine administrative reform, legislation, and finance; and a committee for educational reform. For the first time, leaders from southern regions were invited to join these committees.
Other developments in southern Vietnam in early July were seen as preparatory Japanese steps towards granting territorial reunification to Vietnam. In early July, when southern Vietnam was abuzz with the spirit of independence and mass political participation due to the creation of the Vanguard Youth organizations in Saigon and other regional centres, Governor Minoda announced the organisation of the Hoi Nghi Nam (Council of Nam Bo) to facilitate his governance. This council was charged with advising the Japanese based on questions submitted to it by the Japanese and for overseeing provincial affairs. Minoda underlined that its primary aim was to make the Vietnamese population believe that they had to closely collaborate with the Japanese, because "if the Japanese lose the war, the independence of Indochina would not become complete." At its inauguration of the Council of Nam Bo on July 21, Minoda implicitly referred to the unification of Vietnam. Tran Van An was appointed as the president of the Council, and Kha Vang Can, a leader of the Vanguard Youth, was appointed to be his deputy.
On July 13, Kim arrived in Hanoi to directly conduct negotiations with Governor-General Tsuchihashi. Tsuchihashi assented to return control of Hanoi, Haiphong, and Da Nang to Kim's government, taking effect on July 20. After protracted negotiation, it was also agreed that Nam Bo was to be reintegrated into Vietnam and that Kim would journey to Saigon to attend the reunification ceremonies on August 8.
issued a declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of Japan. Japan was on the defensive and quickly losing ground, and its aim was no longer to win the war, but simply to find an honorable ceasefire. On the Vietnamese front, the possibility of future punishment by the Allied forces for collaboration with the Japanese discouraged many possible supporters of Kim. His ministers and public servant corps began to dwindle in number. The Imperial Commissioner of Bac Bo, Phan Ke Toai, accompanied by his son and other Vietminh sympathisers and secret communists such as Nguyen Manh Ha and Hoàng Minh Giám submitted his resignation. Nguyen Xuan Chu, a leader of the Vietnamese Patriotic Party (Viet-Nam Ai Quoc Dang) and one of the five members of Cường Để's National Reconstruction Committee refused the offer of replacing Toai. Returning to Thuận Hóa, Kim arrived to find increasing conflict among his ministers. Chuong wanted credit for arranging the integration of the three ceded cities and southern Vietnam to Kim's government and was regarded as having Prime Ministerial designs himself. The government meetings of August 5 and 6 were headlined by personal disputes and the resignation of the ministers of interior, economy, and supplies. Ho Ta Khanh, the economy minister, went further and demanded the resignation of the government. Khanh proposed that the Vietminh be given a chance to govern because of its strength. The government resigned on August 7. Bảo Đại asked Kim to form a new government, but the end of the war made this impossible.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria
. The following day, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and Japan's resistance to the Allies was quickly ended. Japan decided to give Kim and Vietnamese nationalists the full independence and territorial unification that they had sought for decades. Kim was urged many times to come to Saigon to officially accept control of Nam Bo. Multiple factors prevented Kim from leaving the capital. From August 8 onward, Pham Khac Hoe, Bảo Đại's office director, was instructed by Ton Quang Phiet (the future chairman of the Vietminh's Revolutionary Committee in Huế) to persuade the Emperor to abdicate voluntarily.
In order to carry out his mission, Hoe persistently disrupted Kim's activities, particularly by citing Kim's failure to call the most influential figures to Thuận Hóa to form a new government. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nam, cited the communist uprisings in Thanh Hóa
and Quang Ngai in central Vietnam to discourage Kim from traveling to Saigon. The acceptance of the handover of Nam Bo was thus temporarily placed at the feet of the Council of Nam Bo.
On August 14, Bảo Đại appointed Nguyen Van Sam, former president of the Journalists' Syndicate, to the post of Imperial Commissioner of Nam Bo. Sam left Thuận Hóa for Saigon. However, he was delayed ‘’en route’’ as the Vietminh had taken advantage of the military power vacuum caused by the Japanese surrender to launch a general insurrection with the aim of seizing control of the country.
On the eve of Japan's surrender, Kim and his supporters tried to take control of the situation. On August 12, Kim's outgoing government was retained as "Provisional Government" to oversee the day to day running of the country. Kim asked Bảo Đại to issue an imperial order on August 14 repealing the treaties of 1862 and 1874, thus removing the last French claims to sovereign rights over Vietnam. Messengers were sent from the central capital to northern and southern Vietnam to reunify diverse groups under the central government in Thuận Hóa, but they were apprehended en route by the Vietminh.
Even though Bảo Đại's messengers were cut off, non-communist leaders in northern and southern Vietnam attempted to challenge the Vietminh. In Bac Bo, Nguyen Xuan Chu obtained Kim's approval to form the Committee for National Salvation, and he was appointed by Kim as chairman of the Political Directorate of Bac Bo. In Nam Bo, on August 17, it was announced that all non-Vietminh factions, including Trotskyites and the southern religious sects of Cao Dai
and Hoa Hao
, had joined forces to create the Mat Tran Quoc Gia Thong Nhut (National Unified Front). Tran Quang Vinh, the Cao Dai leader, and Huynh Phu So, the founder of the Hoa Hao, also issued a communique proclaiming an alliance. On August 19 in Saigon, the Vanguard Youth organised their second official oath-taking ceremony, vowing to defend Vietnamese independence at all costs. The next day, Ho Van Nga assumed the interim office of Imperial Commissioner and appointed Kha Vang Can, the Vanguard Youth leader, commander of Saigon and Cholon. Nguyen Van Sam's arrival in Saigon on August 22 provided the National Unified Front with the official declaration of national independence and territorial reunification.
Nevertheless, the Vietminh prevailed in the power struggle with their August Revolution
. On August 17, Vietminh cadres in Hanoi took control of a mass demonstration organised by the General Association of Civil Servants. The rally was originally aimed at celebrating independence and territorial reunification and supporting Kim's government. Two days later, Nguyen Xuan Chu was forced to hand over authority to the Viet Minh. Combined with the official cease-fire of the Japanese army on August 21, this threw Kim's government into disarray and it collapsed. On August 23, the Vietminh seized power in Huế. Two days later, Bảo Đại officially abdicated, and Nguyen Van Sam handed over power to the Vietminh in Saigon. The Empire of Viet-Nam had fallen along with Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
.
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
of Imperial Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
governing the whole of Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
between March 11 and August 23, 1945.
History
During the Second World War, after the fall of FranceBattle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and establishment of the French State
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, the French had lost practical control in French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
to the Japanese, but Japan stayed in the background while giving the Vichy French administrators nominal control. This changed on 9 March 1945 when Japan officially took over. To gain the support of the Vietnamese people, Imperial Japan declared it would return sovereignty to Vietnam. Emperor Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
declared the treaty made with France in 1884 void. Trần Trọng Kim
Tran Trong Kim
Trần Trọng Kim was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the short-lived Empire of Vietnam, a puppet state created by Imperial Japan in 1945...
, a renowned historian and scholar, was chosen to lead the government as prime minister
Prime Minister of Vietnam
-Office:The Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the head of the executive branch of the Vietnamese government. The Prime Minister presides over the Vietnamese cabinet, and is responsible for appointing and supervising ministers...
.
Constitutional issues
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
on 4 May 1945. One of their first resolutions was to alter the national name to Việt Nam. This was seen as a significant and urgent task. It implied territorial unity; "Việt Nam" had been Emperor Gia Long
Gia Long
Emperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam...
's choice for the name of the country since he unified the modern territory of Việt Nam in 1802. Furthermore, this was the first time that Vietnamese nationalists in the northern, central and southern regions of the country officially recognized this name. In March, activists in the North always mentioned Đại Việt (Great Việt), the name used prior to the 15th century used by the Lê Dynasty
Lê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....
and its predecessors, while those in the South used Vietnam, and the central leaders used An Nam (Peaceful South) or Đại Nam (Great South, which was used by the Nguyễn Lords). Kim also renamed the three regions of the country-the northern (former Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
or Bắc Kỳ) became Bắc Bộ, the central region (former Annam or Trung Kỳ) became Trung Bộ, and the southern areas (former Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
or Nam Kỳ) became Nam Bộ. Kim did this even though at the time the Japanese had only given him direct authority over the northern and central regions of Vietnam. When France had finished its conquest of Vietnam in 1885, only southern Vietnam was made a direct colony under the name of Cochinchina, while the northern and central regions were designated as protectorates as Tonkin and Annam. When the Empire of Vietnam was proclaimed, the Japanese retained direct control of Cochinchina, in the same way as their French predecessors.
Thuận Hóa
Thuận Hóa
Thuận Hóa is a commune and village in Tuyên Hóa District, Quang Binh Province, in Vietnam....
, the pre-colonial name for Huế, was restored. Kim's officials also worked to find a French substitute for the word "Annamite", which was used to denote Vietnamese people and their characteristics as described in French literature and official use. "Annamite" was considered to be derogatory and it was replaced with "Vietnamien" (Vietnamese). Apart from Thuận Hóa
Thuận Hóa
Thuận Hóa is a commune and village in Tuyên Hóa District, Quang Binh Province, in Vietnam....
, these terms have been internationally accepted since Kim ordered the changes. Given that the French colonial authorities emphatically distinguished the three regions of "Tonkin", "Annam", and "Cochinchina" as separate entities, implying a lack of national culture or political integration, Kim's first acts were seen not only as symbolic but the end of generations of frustration among Vietnamese intelligentsia and revolutionaries.
On 12 June 1945, Kim selected a new national flag
Flag of the Republic of Vietnam
The flag of South Vietnam was designed by Emperor Thành Thái in 1890 and was revived by Emperor Bảo Đại in 1948. It was the flag of the former State of Vietnam from 1949 to 1955 and later of the Republic of Vietnam from 1955 until April 30, 1975 when the south unconditionally surrendered to the...
-a yellow, rectangular banner with three horizontal red stripes modeled after the Li Kwai in the Book of Changes - and a new national anthem, the old hymn Dang Dan Cung (The King Mounts His Throne). This decision ended a three-month-long period of speculation concerning a new flag for Vietnam.
Educational reform
Kim's government strongly emphasised educational reform, focusing on the development of technical training, particularly the use of romanised script (quốc ngữ) as the primary language of instruction. After less than two months in power, Kim organized the first primary examinations in VietnameseVietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
and intended to use Vietnamese in the advanced tests. Education minister Hoang Xuan Han strove hard to Vietnamise public secondary education. The planned sweeping reforms required more than four months to achieve their full results, but were regarded as having been a major stepping stone which prepared the groundwork for the successor Vietminh government to launch its compulsory mass education program. In July, when the Japanese decided to grant Vietnam full independence and territorial unification, Kim's government was on the verge of a new round of reform, beginning with the creation of a national committee responsible for the creation of a new national education system.
Judicial reform
The Justice minister Trịnh Dinh Thao launched an attempt at judicial reform. In May 1945, he created the Committee for the Reform and Unification of Laws in Huế, which he headed. His ministry reevaluated the sentences of political prisoners, releasing a number of anti-French activists and restoring the civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
of others. This led to the release of a number of Communist cadres who returned to their former cells, and actively participated in the destruction of Kim's government.
Encouragement of mass political participation
One of the most notable changes implemented by Kim's government was the encouragement of mass political participation. In memorial ceremonies, Kim honoured all national heroes, ranging from the legendary national founders, the Hung kingsHung Vuong
Hùng Vương is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Vietnamese rulers of the Hồng Bàng) period. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Vietnam...
to slain anti-French revolutionaries such as Nguyễn Thái Học, the leader of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang
Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang
The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng , also known as the Việt Quốc and the Vietnamese Kuomintang, is the Vietnamese Nationalist Party, a revolutionary socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century...
) who was executed with twelve comrades in 1930 in the aftermath of the Yen Bai mutiny
Yen Bai mutiny
The Yên Bái mutiny was an uprising of Vietnamese soldiers in the French colonial army on 10 February 1930 in collaboration with civilian supporters who were members of the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang ....
.
A committee was organised to select a list of national heroes for induction into the Temple of Martyrs (Nghia Liet Tu). City streets were renamed. In Huế, Jules Ferry
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
was replaced on the signboards of a main thoroughfare by Lê Lợi, the founder of the Lê Dynasty
Lê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....
who expelled the Chinese in 1427. General Tran Hung Dao, who twice repelled Mongol invasions in the 13th century, replaced Paul Bert. On August 1, the new mayor of Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
, Tran Van Lai, ordered the demolition of French built statues in the city parks in his campaign to Wipe Out Humiliating Remnants. Similar campaigns were enacted in southern Vietnam in late August. Meanwhile, the freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
was instituted, resulting in the publication of the pieces of anti-French movements and critical essays on French collaborators. Heavy criticism was even extended to Nguyen Huu Do, the great grandfather of Bảo Đại who was notable in assisting the French conquest of Dai Nam in the 1880s.
Kim put particular emphasis on the mobilisation of youth. Youth Minster Phan Anh, attempted to centralise and heavily regulate all youth organizations, which had proliferated immediately after the Japanese coup. On May 25, an imperial order decreed an inclusive, hierarchical structure for youth organizations. At the apex was the National Youth Council, a consultative body, which advised the minister. Similar councils were to be organised down to the district level. Meanwhile, young people were asked to join the local squads or groups, from provincial to communal levels. They were given physical training and were charged with maintaining security in their communes. Each provincial town had a training centre, where month-long paramilitary courses were on offer.
The government also established a national center for the Advanced Front Youth (Thanh nien tien tuyen) in Huế. It was inaugurated on June 2, with the intention of being the centrepiece for future officer training. In late July, regional social youth centers were established in Hanoi, Huế, and Saigon. In Hanoi, the General Association of Students and Youth (Tong Hoi Sinh vien va Thanh Nien) was animated by the fervor of independence. The City University in Hanoi became a focal point of political agitation. By May and June, there was evidence that communist Cadres of the Vietminh front, had infiltrated the university's youth and famine relief associations. In the face of the rising Vietminh front, the Japanese attempted to contact its leaders, but their messengers were killed by the Vietminh. The Kempeitai
Kempeitai
The was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie...
retaliated, arresting hundreds of pro-communist Vietnamese youths in late June.
Territorial unification
The most notable achievement of Kim's Empire of Vietnam was the successful negotiation with Japan for the territorial unification of the nation. The French had subdivided Vietnam into three separate regions: CochinchinaCochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
(in 1862) and Annam and Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
(both in 1884). Cochinchina was placed under direct rule while the latter two were officially designated as protectorates. Immediately after the coup which terminated French rule, the Japanese authorities were not enthusiastic about the territorial unification of Vietnam. However, after the formation of Kim's cabinet in April, Japan quickly agreed to return what was then Tonkin and Annam to Kim's authority, although it retained control of the cities of Hanoi, Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
, and Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
. Meanwhile, southern Vietnam remained under direct Japanese control, just as Cochinchina had been under French rule.
Beginning in May 1945, Foreign Minister Tran Van Chuong
Tran Van Chuong
Trần Văn Chương was South Vietnam's ambassador to the United States in the early 1960s and the father of the country's de facto first lady, Madame Nhu .-Family life:...
entered into negotiations with the Japanese in Hanoi for the return of the three cities to Vietnamese rule, but the Japanese stalled because Hanoi and Haiphong were seen as strategic points in their war defense. It was only in June and July that the Japanese allow the process of national unification to take place. On June 16, Bảo Đại issued a decree proclaiming the impending reunification of Vietnam. On June 29, General Tsuchihashi signed a series of decrees transferring some of the duties of the government general-including customs, information, youth and sports- to the governments of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, effective July 1. This was followed by Bảo Đại's issuing of four imperial orders: establishment of the National Consultative Committee (Hoi dong Tu van Quoc Gia); a committee of fifteen to work on the creation of a constitution; a fifteen-member committee to examine administrative reform, legislation, and finance; and a committee for educational reform. For the first time, leaders from southern regions were invited to join these committees.
Other developments in southern Vietnam in early July were seen as preparatory Japanese steps towards granting territorial reunification to Vietnam. In early July, when southern Vietnam was abuzz with the spirit of independence and mass political participation due to the creation of the Vanguard Youth organizations in Saigon and other regional centres, Governor Minoda announced the organisation of the Hoi Nghi Nam (Council of Nam Bo) to facilitate his governance. This council was charged with advising the Japanese based on questions submitted to it by the Japanese and for overseeing provincial affairs. Minoda underlined that its primary aim was to make the Vietnamese population believe that they had to closely collaborate with the Japanese, because "if the Japanese lose the war, the independence of Indochina would not become complete." At its inauguration of the Council of Nam Bo on July 21, Minoda implicitly referred to the unification of Vietnam. Tran Van An was appointed as the president of the Council, and Kha Vang Can, a leader of the Vanguard Youth, was appointed to be his deputy.
On July 13, Kim arrived in Hanoi to directly conduct negotiations with Governor-General Tsuchihashi. Tsuchihashi assented to return control of Hanoi, Haiphong, and Da Nang to Kim's government, taking effect on July 20. After protracted negotiation, it was also agreed that Nam Bo was to be reintegrated into Vietnam and that Kim would journey to Saigon to attend the reunification ceremonies on August 8.
Decline
Kim's historic achievement was immediately overshadowed by external pressure and domestic infighting. On July 26, the leaders of the AlliesAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
issued a declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of Japan. Japan was on the defensive and quickly losing ground, and its aim was no longer to win the war, but simply to find an honorable ceasefire. On the Vietnamese front, the possibility of future punishment by the Allied forces for collaboration with the Japanese discouraged many possible supporters of Kim. His ministers and public servant corps began to dwindle in number. The Imperial Commissioner of Bac Bo, Phan Ke Toai, accompanied by his son and other Vietminh sympathisers and secret communists such as Nguyen Manh Ha and Hoàng Minh Giám submitted his resignation. Nguyen Xuan Chu, a leader of the Vietnamese Patriotic Party (Viet-Nam Ai Quoc Dang) and one of the five members of Cường Để's National Reconstruction Committee refused the offer of replacing Toai. Returning to Thuận Hóa, Kim arrived to find increasing conflict among his ministers. Chuong wanted credit for arranging the integration of the three ceded cities and southern Vietnam to Kim's government and was regarded as having Prime Ministerial designs himself. The government meetings of August 5 and 6 were headlined by personal disputes and the resignation of the ministers of interior, economy, and supplies. Ho Ta Khanh, the economy minister, went further and demanded the resignation of the government. Khanh proposed that the Vietminh be given a chance to govern because of its strength. The government resigned on August 7. Bảo Đại asked Kim to form a new government, but the end of the war made this impossible.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
. The following day, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and Japan's resistance to the Allies was quickly ended. Japan decided to give Kim and Vietnamese nationalists the full independence and territorial unification that they had sought for decades. Kim was urged many times to come to Saigon to officially accept control of Nam Bo. Multiple factors prevented Kim from leaving the capital. From August 8 onward, Pham Khac Hoe, Bảo Đại's office director, was instructed by Ton Quang Phiet (the future chairman of the Vietminh's Revolutionary Committee in Huế) to persuade the Emperor to abdicate voluntarily.
In order to carry out his mission, Hoe persistently disrupted Kim's activities, particularly by citing Kim's failure to call the most influential figures to Thuận Hóa to form a new government. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nam, cited the communist uprisings in Thanh Hóa
Thanh Hóa
Thanh Hóa is the capital city of Vietnam's Thanh Hoa province. The population is nearly 200,000 with an area of only 57.9 square kilometers....
and Quang Ngai in central Vietnam to discourage Kim from traveling to Saigon. The acceptance of the handover of Nam Bo was thus temporarily placed at the feet of the Council of Nam Bo.
On August 14, Bảo Đại appointed Nguyen Van Sam, former president of the Journalists' Syndicate, to the post of Imperial Commissioner of Nam Bo. Sam left Thuận Hóa for Saigon. However, he was delayed ‘’en route’’ as the Vietminh had taken advantage of the military power vacuum caused by the Japanese surrender to launch a general insurrection with the aim of seizing control of the country.
Vietminh takeover
In August, Vietnam went through a period regarded as one of its most eventful phases, amidst the backdrop of rapid change in global politics. On the one hand, the Allies began to put into effect their postwar plans for Vietnam, which included the disarmament of Japanese troops and the division of Vietnam into spheres of influence. The Japanese military and civilian personnel in Vietnam were hamstrung by the unconditional surrender of their government and the possibility of Allied retribution. With respect to the Vietnamese, the Japanese were split psychologically and ideologically. Some Japanese favoured the Vietminh, releasing Communist political prisoners, arming the Vietminh front, and even volunteering their services. Others, including senior military officers, wanted to use their forces to support Kim's government and to crush the communists. Amid the political confusion and power vacuum engulfing the country, a race to power by diverse Vietnamese political groups took place.On the eve of Japan's surrender, Kim and his supporters tried to take control of the situation. On August 12, Kim's outgoing government was retained as "Provisional Government" to oversee the day to day running of the country. Kim asked Bảo Đại to issue an imperial order on August 14 repealing the treaties of 1862 and 1874, thus removing the last French claims to sovereign rights over Vietnam. Messengers were sent from the central capital to northern and southern Vietnam to reunify diverse groups under the central government in Thuận Hóa, but they were apprehended en route by the Vietminh.
Even though Bảo Đại's messengers were cut off, non-communist leaders in northern and southern Vietnam attempted to challenge the Vietminh. In Bac Bo, Nguyen Xuan Chu obtained Kim's approval to form the Committee for National Salvation, and he was appointed by Kim as chairman of the Political Directorate of Bac Bo. In Nam Bo, on August 17, it was announced that all non-Vietminh factions, including Trotskyites and the southern religious sects of Cao Dai
Cao Dai
Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. Đạo Cao Đài is the religion's shortened name, the full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ...
and Hoa Hao
Hoa Hao
Hòa Hảo is a religious tradition, based on Buddhism, founded in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ, a native of the Mekong River Delta region of southern Vietnam. Adherents consider Sổ to be a prophet, and Hòa Hảo a continuation of a 19th-century Buddhist ministry known as Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương...
, had joined forces to create the Mat Tran Quoc Gia Thong Nhut (National Unified Front). Tran Quang Vinh, the Cao Dai leader, and Huynh Phu So, the founder of the Hoa Hao, also issued a communique proclaiming an alliance. On August 19 in Saigon, the Vanguard Youth organised their second official oath-taking ceremony, vowing to defend Vietnamese independence at all costs. The next day, Ho Van Nga assumed the interim office of Imperial Commissioner and appointed Kha Vang Can, the Vanguard Youth leader, commander of Saigon and Cholon. Nguyen Van Sam's arrival in Saigon on August 22 provided the National Unified Front with the official declaration of national independence and territorial reunification.
Nevertheless, the Vietminh prevailed in the power struggle with their August Revolution
August Revolution
On August 19, 1945, the Việt Minh under Hồ Chí Minh began the August General Uprising Tổng Khởi Nghĩa, which was soon renamed the August Revolution . Whether or not this series of events should be called a "revolution" is disputable; what is clear is that, from August 19 onwards, demonstrations and...
. On August 17, Vietminh cadres in Hanoi took control of a mass demonstration organised by the General Association of Civil Servants. The rally was originally aimed at celebrating independence and territorial reunification and supporting Kim's government. Two days later, Nguyen Xuan Chu was forced to hand over authority to the Viet Minh. Combined with the official cease-fire of the Japanese army on August 21, this threw Kim's government into disarray and it collapsed. On August 23, the Vietminh seized power in Huế. Two days later, Bảo Đại officially abdicated, and Nguyen Van Sam handed over power to the Vietminh in Saigon. The Empire of Viet-Nam had fallen along with Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a concept created and promulgated during the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It represented the desire to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers"...
.
See also
- AnnamAnnam (French Colony)Annam was a French protectorate encompassing the central region of Vietnam. Vietnamese were subsequently referred to as "Annamites." Nationalist writers adopted the word "Vietnam" in the late 1920s. The general public embraced the word "Vietnam" during the revolution of August 1945...
- TonkinTonkinTonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
- CochinchinaCochinchinaCochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
- Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of VietnamProclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of VietnamThe Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was written by Hồ Chí Minh, and announced in public at the Ba Đình flower garden on September 2, 1945. It led to the secession of North Vietnam.-History:Vietnam became a colony of France in the late nineteenth century...
- Vietnam during World War IIVietnam during World War IIWorld War II was an event as decisive to Vietnam as the French taking of Đà Nẵng in 1858. Nationalist sentiments intensified in Vietnam, especially during and after the First World War, but all the uprisings and tentative efforts failed to obtain any concessions from the French overseers...
- Invasion of French Indochina