User:Donald Trung/Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina

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)

Background


In 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. On September 2, 1945 Việt Minh established Democratic Republic of Vietnam with territory of Annam, Tonkin and Cochinchina. The independentists held the general election on January 6, 1946 in order to establish the first National Assembly in Vietnam. 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". War between France and the Viet Minh followed (1946–1954).

Under Nguyễn Văn Xuân, Trần Văn Hữu, merger with the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam, and the formation of the State of Vietnam
In 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.

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, and the merger was effective on June 4. The State of Vietnam could then be proclaimed, with Bảo Đại as head of state.

National anthem
The 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.

Government
https://indomemoires.hypotheses.org/25032

Sources to use

 * https://www.newmandala.org/saigons-hidden-presidential-palace-and-forgotten-president-the-republic-of-cochinchina-and-nguyen-van-thinh/


 * https://indomemoires.hypotheses.org/23734


 * https://francearchives.fr/facomponent/726938d317b4571cce7ebbdc3a83d55e8aee9988


 * https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1947/04/28/recrudescence-des-activites-terroristes-en-cochinchine_1885714_1819218.html


 * https://indochine.uqam.ca/en/historical-dictionary/294-cochinchina.html


 * https://indochine.uqam.ca/en/historical-dictionary/295-cochinchinese-civil-guard.html


 * https://indochine.uqam.ca/en/component/content/article/1068-nguyn-vn-thnh-18881946.html


 * https://indochine.uqam.ca/en/component/content/article/1120-pacification.html


 * https://www.nytimes.com/1946/06/02/archives/france-will-recognize-cochin-china-republic.html


 * https://canhco.net/giao-su-vnch-len-an-viet-tan-bia-co-vang-ba-soc-do-co-tu-thoi-thanh-thai-p465205.html


 * https://indomemoires.hypotheses.org/25032

Unrelated sources to possibly use in the future

 * https://leminhkhai.blog/revisiting-the-vietnamese-annexation-of-cambodia-5-clothing/

To research in the future

 * Copied from: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1039978132

Nguyễn 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)

Template for its history

 * User:Donald Trung/History of South Vietnam template.