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| Gia Long |
The
Nguyen Dynasty held power for more than a decade. It began with the reign of
Emperor Gia Long in the early 19th century. It faced threats during the middle
of the same century. But by 1880’s, Nguyen fell prey and became puppets of the
French. They role as puppets smeared their reputation and by 1945, through the
decision of the largest independence movement of that time, the Nguyen Emperor,
Bao Dai, abdicated.
Ruling
for almost a century, not to mention, during the rise of colonialism,
colonialism itself, and the formation of modern Vietnam, How did the Nguyen’s
played a role in Vietnam’s History? How the Dynasty began? How did it weakened?
Finally, how did this dynasty ended?
The
Imperial Dynasty of the Nguyen traced their origins from the 17th century.
During that time, the Nguyens and the Trinhs divided the nation. They both ruled
under the name of the powerless Le Kings. The Trinhs ruled the north while the
Nguyens ruled the south with their capital at Phu Xuan (later called Hue). The
two families competed for power and domination of whole Vietnam.
In
the 18th century, however, the Nguyen and the Trinh Lords faced a new player in
Vietnam. The Tay Son Rebellion erupted. It weakened the authority and control
of the Nguyens in 1771. In 1775, with the Tay Son Rebellion ravaging, the Trinh
Lords took advantage the waning power of the Nguyens and invaded their territory.
Their invasion led to the fall of the Nguyen capital Hue to their hands. The Trinh
and the Tay Son then decided to work together against the Nguyens. Eventually,
the Trinh decided to withdraw back to the North. But the Nguyens did not lose
all of its dominions. The province of Gia Dinh remained under its control with
the center located in a city also called Gia Dinh (later known as Saigon and
present day Ho Chi Minh). The Nguyens made it their bastion. But in 1776, the
Tay Son Rebels attack the province successfully and the city of Gia Dinh fell.
Many of the Nguyens died. A surviving Nguyen Prince, named Nguyen Phuc Ahn escaped
to neighboring Cambodia. In 1783, Nguyen Anh attempted to retake Southern
Vietnam from the Tay Son Rebels. However, it failed tremendously and he fled to
the island of Phu Quoc. A year later, King Rama I, wanted to expand his
influence to Vietnam, decided to support Nguyen Anh. In 1785, Nguyen Anh along
with a huge Siamese expeditionary forced attacked the Mekong Delta. However,
the Tay Son inflicted a humiliating defeat to Nguyen Anh and the Siamese. The
defeat made Nguyen Anh to flee to Siam. Although defeated, Nguyen Anh never
lose hope in recovering his family’s honor, lands, and power.
Meanwhile,
during the time when Nguyen plotted military campaigns against the Tay Son, he
also became friends with some French missionaries. Pigneau de Behaine became
one of Nguyen Anh’s closest associates. De Behaine and other missionaries soon
became a player in Nguyen Anh’s re-conquest of Vietnam. The French missionaries
also had a displeasure with the Tay Son because the rebels showed dislike
towards Christians and discriminated and persecuted them. Hence, they decided
to support Nguyen Anh. These missionaries convinced Nguyen Anh to seek help
from France. In the late 1770’s, he made a visit to France personally. He went
to the Palace of Versailles and had an audience with King Louis XVI himself.
The French and the Nguyen forged an agreement where France would provide an
army to the Vietnamese Prince in exchange of control over two Vietnamese ports.
However, it never materialized. The French Revolution erupted ending the French
monarchy and its commitments to Prince Nguyen Anh.
Nevertheless,
the French missionaries made ways to raise an army for Nguyen Anh. In the early
1790’s, the French missionaries managed to form mercenary army in India. This
army then landed in Vietnam and helped Nguyen Anh in achieving his desire. By
the time Nguyen Anh returned to Vietnam in early 1800’s, the Tay Son had
defeated the Trinh Lords, dethroned the Le Kings, and ruled a unified Vietnam.
Thus, if Nguyen Anh defeated the Tay Son, he would also take the whole of
Vietnam. In 1802, Nguyen, along with his mercenary army, landed in Vietnam. On
June 1, 1802, he succeeded in defeating the Tay Son. As a result, he finally
achieved his long time quest.
Afterwards,
he established the new Nguyen Dynasty. He crowned himself Emperor. And in the
process, he wanted to show the unification of Vietnam. He took the reign name
of Gia Long. Gia from the southern capital of Gia Dinh and Long from the
northern capital of Thang Long. To complete his display of unity, he moved the
capital back to his family’s traditional capital in the middle of Vietnam – the
city of Hue. There, he built a palace complex similar to that of China’s
Forbidden City. As a reward for his missionary supporters, he relaxed the
control over the evangelical mission of Western missionaries. For the following
years, Gia Long consolidated the power of the newly established Nguyen Dynasty
until he passed away in 1820.
After
the deceased Gia Long, succession of Emperor continued to consolidate and even
expands the power and control of the Dynasty. Gia Long’s successor, Minh Mang,
launched a local administration reform and competed with Siam for control over
Cambodia. His successor, Thieu Tri, attempted to modernize the country but
failed due to stringent opposition from conservative Confucian elements within
the court. Under both Emperors, the state began to restrict the activities of
Christian missionaries, especially the French. The condition became worse to
the point that Vietnamese authorities began to launch persecution campaigns
against the Christians, both foreigners and Vietnamese. The cause of the shift
in policy towards the Christians lay in the fact that they saw them as an
initial waves leading to a foreign invasion. They saw them threatening the religious,
cultural, and social balance of Vietnam.
Eventually,
the issue of Christian missionaries fell to the hands of Emperor Tu Duc. During
his reign, persecution of the Christian continued. However, the missionaries
began to fight back. The missionaries exploited the fact that the French wanted colonies in the east. They urged the French government to intervene in Vietnam
and with the concluding idea to annex the whole country. Later on, the French
government agreed and from 1850’s to 1880’s, they carefully and slowly absorbed
the whole of Vietnam along with Cambodia, and, in the 1890’s, Laos. These three
countries eventually formed the French colony of Indochina. While in the
process of conquest, the Nguyen’s power weakened to the point that by 1880’s
they only became figureheads for the French colonial administrations. After Tu
Duc, successive emperors served as puppet rulers.
In
1925, a new young Prince became Emperor. Emperor Bao Dai ascended to the throne
of Vietnam. However, the French kept him in France during the first seven years
of his reign. He attempted to revive the Emperor’s power but failed. This
failure made him realize that he was only a puppet and decided to live his life
in the most luxurious way. However, his hope of regaining power never died.
In
1945, World War II reached Vietnam. With the fall of France in Europe, the
Japanese invaded Indochina, in the process, Vietnam. Japan invaded Asian
countries in the name of liberation from western control. They promised
independence to the countries that fell to them. And in Vietnam, they saw
Emperor Bao Dai to show an illusion of independence and sovereignty. Emperor Bao
Dai, in turn, collaborated with the Japanese in hope of regaining power and
control. But, from a French puppet, he became the Japanese’s figurehead.
At
the end of World War II, a new political force emerged that promoted the
independence of Vietnam – Viet Minh. The Viet Minh, under Ho Chi Minh, wielded
vast popular support. They had more support than the Bao Dai Emperor, whom many
Vietnamese saw as a collaborator of the French and the brutal Japanese. In
1945, the Viet Minh forced the abdication of the Bao Dai Emperor. The Emperor
agreed. With just one quick swoop, the century old Nguyen Dynasty ended.
The
Nguyen Dynasty helped in the formation of modern Vietnam. In a way that it
consolidated Vietnam into a unified Empire. Its administrative system helped to
keep the kingdom united. Controversially, some and the Nguyens claimed, without
them, the French might had inflicted harsher treatment of the Vietnamese people
during the colonial times. But the Nguyens are better known as the
last monarchical dynasty of Vietnam.
See also:
French Conquest of Indochina
Lefebvre Affair and the Bombardment of Tourane
Paknam Incident
Rama I
Bibliography:
Corfield, J. The History of
Vietnam. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008.
Tucker, S. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History.
California: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011.
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