Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina (1946–1948) Republic of South(ern) Vietnam (1948–1949) Cộng-Hòa Tự-trị Nam-Kỳ République Autonome de Cochinchine (1946–1948) Cộng-Hòa Nam-Phần Việt-Nam République du Sud-Viêtnam (1948–1949) | |||||||||||
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1946–1949 | |||||||||||
Motto: "Ne vendez pas la Cochinchine aux Français" ("Do not betray Cochinchina to the French") "Ta phải lập quốc bằng nhơn đạo" ("We must establish a benevolent nation")[a] "Xứ Nam Kỳ của người Nam Kỳ" ("Cochinchina for the Cochinchinese")[b] | |||||||||||
Anthem: Chinh phụ ngâm ("Lament of the soldier's wife") | |||||||||||
Insignia![]() | |||||||||||
![]() The (claimed) territories of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam and the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina. | |||||||||||
Status | Constituent territory of French Indochina | ||||||||||
Capital | Saigon–Cholon | ||||||||||
Common languages | French Vietnamese Chinese Khmer | ||||||||||
Religion | Buddhism Confucianism Taoism Catholicism Animism Caodaism Hòa Hảo Islam | ||||||||||
Demonym(s) | Cochinchinese | ||||||||||
Government | Autonomous Republic | ||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||
• 1946 | Nguyễn Văn Thinh | ||||||||||
• 1946-1947 | Lê Văn Hoạch | ||||||||||
• 1947-1948 | Nguyễn Văn Xuân | ||||||||||
• 1948-1949 | Trần Văn Hữu | ||||||||||
Commissioner | |||||||||||
• 1945-1947 | Jean Henri Arsène Cédile[c] | ||||||||||
• 1947 | Robert Dufour | ||||||||||
• 1947-1949 | Pierre Boyer De LaTour du Moulin | ||||||||||
Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||||
2 September 1945 | |||||||||||
• Autonomy established | 1 June 1946 | ||||||||||
• Merged to the Central Government | 4 June 1949 | ||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||
65,478 km2 (25,281 sq mi) | |||||||||||
Currency | French Indochinese piastre | ||||||||||
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Today part of | Vietnam | ||||||||||
History of Vietnam |
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The Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina (Vietnamese: Cộng Hòa Tự trị Nam Kỳ; French: République Autonome de Cochinchine), sometimes the Republic of Cochinchina (Vietnamese: Cộng Hòa Nam Kỳ; French: République de Cochinchine), was an autonomous region of French Indochina that existed from 1 June 1946 until 4 June 1949. It was established during the power vacuum that had occurred following the surrender of Japan that ended World War II and the August Revolution that overthrew the Nguyễn dynasty and the Japanese colonial institutions in former French Cochinchina and installed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Republic of Southern Vietnam (Vietnamese: Cộng Hòa Nam phần Việt Nam; French: République du Sud-Viêtnam)
History
editBackground
editIn 1945, Cochinchina was ruled directly by the Japanese after they had taken over from the French in March. In August, it was briefly incorporated into the Empire of Vietnam. Later that month, the Japanese surrendered to the Việt Minh during the August Revolution.[1] On September 2, 1945 Việt Minh established Democratic Republic of Vietnam with territory of Annam, Tonkin and Cochinchina.[1] The independentists held the general election on January 6, 1946 in order to establish the first National Assembly in Vietnam.[2] The elections were supposedly organized in all areas of Vietnam including Cochinchina, but the southern colony was by then back under the control of the French.
On June 1, 1946, while the Viet Minh leadership was in France for negotiations, southern autonomists proclaimed a government of Cochinchina, at the initiative of High Commissioner d'Argenlieu and in violation of the March 6 Ho–Sainteny agreement. The colony was proclaimed an "Autonomous Republic".[3] War between France and the Viet Minh followed (1946–1954).
Under Nguyễn Văn Thinh
editUnder Lê Văn Hoạch
editUnder Nguyễn Văn Xuân, Trần Văn Hữu, merger with the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam, and the formation of the State of Vietnam
editIn the year 1948 the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam was proclaimed with the merger of Annam and Tonkin: Xuân became its Prime minister and left office in Cochichina, where he was replaced by Trần Văn Hữu. Xuân and the French had agreed to reunite Vietnam, but Cochinchina posed a problem because of its ill-defined legal status. The reunification was opposed by the French colonists, who were still influential in the Cochinchinese council, and by Southern Vietnamese autonomists: they delayed the process of reunification by arguing that Cochinchina was still legally a colony - as its new status as a Republic had never been ratified by the French National Assembly - and that any territorial change therefore required the approval of the French parliament. Xuân issued a by-law reuniting Cochinchina with the rest of Vietnam, but it was overruled by the Cochinchinese council.[4]
Cochinchina remained separated from the rest of Vietnam for over a year, while former Emperor Bảo Đại – whom the French wanted to bring back to power as a political alternative to Ho Chi Minh – refused to return to Vietnam and take office as head of state until the country was fully reunited. On March 14, 1949, the French National Assembly voted a law permitting the creation of a Territorial Assembly of Cochinchina. This new Cochinchinese parliament was elected on April 10, 1949, with the Vietnamese representatives then becoming a majority. On April 23, the Territorial Assembly approved the merger of the Provisional Government of Southern Vietnam with the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam. The decision was in turn approved by the French National Assembly on May 20,[4] and the merger was effective on June 4.[5] The State of Vietnam could then be proclaimed, with Bảo Đại as head of state.[4]
Aftermath
editNational anthem
editThe lyrics of the national anthem of the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina were based on the old poem Chinh phụ ngâm ("Lament of the soldier's wife") written by Đặng Trần Côn (鄧陳琨) in văn ngôn, meanwhile the translation of this poem in Nôm (or quốc âm) written by Đoàn Thị Điểm is much more prevalent as served as the national anthem's inspiration.[6]
"Thuở trời đất nổi cơn gió bụi, Khách má hồng nhiều nỗi truân chuyên.
Xanh kia thăm thẳm tầng trên, Vì ai gây dựng cho nên nỗi này.
Trống Trường Thành lung lay bóng nguyệt, Khói Cam Tuyền mờ mịt thức mây.
Chín tầng gươm báu trao tay, Nửa đêm truyền hịch định ngày xuất chinh.
Nước thanh bình ba trăm năm cũ. Áo nhung trao quan vũ từ đâỵ Sứ trời sớm giục đường mây, Phép công là trọng, niềm tây sá nào.
Chàng tuổi trẻ vốn giòng hào kiệt, Xếp bút nghiên theo việc đao cung. Thành liền mong tiến bệ rồng, Thước gươm đã quyết chẳng dung giặc trời."
- National anthem of the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina.
Government
editMilitary
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam". historymatters.gmu.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
- ^ Trương Đắc Linh (December 12, 2008). "Cuộc tổng tuyển cử đầu tiên năm 1946 - Một mốc son lịch sử của thể chế" [The first general election in 1946 - A historic milestone of the institution] (in Vietnamese). Trường Đại Học Luật TP. Hồ Chí Minh. Archived from the original on 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
- ^ Frederick Logevall Embers of War Random House 2012 p. 137
- ^ a b c Philippe Franchini, Les Guerres d'Indochine, vol. I, Pygmalion - Gérard Watelet, Paris, 1988, pp. 399-406
- ^ Fac-similé JO du 5 juin 1949, page: 05502 Legifrance.gouv.fr. (in French).
- ^ Bản Quốc ca của nước Cọng-hoà Nam-kỳ,” Tân Việt, no. 103, 3 June 1946. (in Vietnamese).
Sources to use
editUnrelated sources to possibly use in the future
editTo research in the future
editNguyễn Ngọc Huy's 1988 article only confirmed the existence of yellow-blue-white version of its the flag Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina yet, unfortunately for us, did not mention its author nor what the three blue stripes stood for. According to these two articles, one by Nam Quốc] and another by Nguyễn Anh, the three blue stripes supposedly stand for the three great rivers in Southern Vietnam: Đồng Nai river, Tiền River, Hậu River. NA also claims that originally, from 01 Jun 1946 to 30 Oct 1946, the two white stripes did not exist, but was only added on Oct 31 to make the flag "less dark" đỡ tối; NA included many photographs as evidence yet none of the colored ones showed the yellow flag with only three blue stripes & zero white stripes: the one subtitled Ra mắt Chính phủ Nam Kỳ tự trị năm 1946 phía sau là cờ Pháp và cờ vàng ba sọc xanh (Presenting the government of the Autonomous South in 1946, after the French flag comes the yellow flag with three blue stripes) was not a colored photo so no way I can tell if two stripes (alternating with the three dark ones) were yellow or white. NQ cited historian Chính Đạo (Vũ Ngự Chiêu) who claimed that ARVN general NguyễNguyễn Khánh claimed that the yellow flag with three red stripes had been influenced by the yellow flag with three blue stripes. I'm skeptical of NQ's & NA's claims though because their academic credentials are unknown, while NNH was a professor of Political Studies and Constituional Law at Học viện Quốc gia Hành chánh, so NNH is more reliable. Erminwin (talk) 22:14, 21 August 2021 (UTC)