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Bảo Đại

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Bảo Đại (Template:IPA, Template:Lang-vi-hantu, lit. "keeper of greatness", 22 October 1913Template:Spnd31 July 1997),<ref name=NYT>Template:Cite news</ref> born Nguyễn Phúc (Phước) Vĩnh Thụy (Template:Lang-vi-hantu), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam.<ref>Nghia M. Vo Saigon: A History 2011 – Page 277 "Bảo Đại was born in 1913, the 13th and last monarch of the Nguyễn dynasty. He ruled from 1926 to 1944 as emperor of Annam and emperor"</ref> From 1926 to 1945, he was de jure emperor of Annam and Tonkin, which were then protectorates in French Indochina, covering the present-day central and northern Vietnam. Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932.

The Japanese ousted the Vichy French administration in March 1945 and ruled through Bảo Đại, who proclaimed the Empire of Vietnam. Following the surrender of Japan and the subsequent August Revolution, he abdicated in August 1945 in favor of Hồ Chí Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam and briefly served as an advisor in its government.

Between 1946 and 1949, Bảo Đại left Vietnam to travel across China, Hong Kong and Europe. During this time, he switched his support from Hồ's Việt Minh to other anti-communist nationalist groups before signing a series of accords with the French Fourth Republic that established the State of Vietnam (as part of the French Union) in opposition to Hồ's Democratic Republic. He served as its Chief of State (國長, Quốc trưởng) between 1949 and 1955. Towards the end of his term in office, Bảo Đại lost power to his Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm, who was supported by the United States, and was eventually ousted in a referendum in 1955. He later lived in exile in Paris, France, until his death in 1997.

Viewed as a puppet ruler, Bảo Đại was criticized for being too closely associated with France and for his lavish lifestyle, including months-long pleasure tour in Europe that earned him the sobriquet "night-club emperor".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He is perceived negatively by both the current Vietnamese government and the anti-communist diaspora.

Early life

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Bảo Đại was born on 22 October 1913 and given the name of Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy in the Palace of Doan-Trang-Vien, part of the compound of the Purple Forbidden City in Huế, the former capital of Vietnam. He was later given the name Nguyễn Vĩnh Thụy. His father was Emperor Khải Định of Annam. His mother was the emperor's second wife, Tu Cung, who was renamed 'Doan Huy' upon her marriage. She held various titles over the years that indicated her advancing rank as a favored consort until she eventually became Empress Dowager in 1933. Vietnam had been ruled from Huế by the Nguyễn dynasty since 1802. The French government, which took control of the region in the late 19th century, split Vietnam into three areas: the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin and the colony of Cochinchina. The Nguyễn dynasty was given nominal rule of Annam.Template:Citation needed

At the age of nine, Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy was sent to France to study at the Lycée Condorcet and, later, the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He became emperor on 8 January 1926, after his father's death, and took the era name Bảo Đại ("Protector of Grandeur" or "Keeper of Greatness").<ref name="Chapman2006">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Currey2011">Template:Cite book</ref> He did not yet ascend to the throne and returned to France to continue his studies.<ref name="Currey2011" />

Marriages and children

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On 20 March 1934, age 20, at the imperial city of Huế, Bảo Đại married Marie-Thérèse Nguyễn Hữu Thị Lan (died 15 September 1963, Chabrignac, France), a commoner from a wealthy Vietnamese Catholic family. After the wedding, she was given the title Empress Nam Phương.

The couple had five children, two sons and three daughters:

Although Bảo Đại later had additional children with other women, these are the only ones listed in the clan genealogy.<ref name="nyugenphuc"/>

Wives and mistresses

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Nam Phương was granted the title of empress in 1945. By one count, Bảo Đại had relationships with eight women and fathered 13 children. Those named "Phương" are daughters, while those named "Bảo" are sons.<ref name="viet">Viet, Dan, "vua Bảo Dại co bao nhieu vọ con?," Nghệ Thuật Xưa</ref>

Name Title Issue Note
Nguyễn Hữu Thị Lan Empress
Nam Phương 		Crown Prince Bảo Long (1936–2007)

Princess Phương Mai (1937–2021)

Princess Phương Liên (b. 1938)

Princess Phương Dung (b. 1942)

Prince Bảo Thăng (1943–2017)

The emperor's first wife. "Nam Phương" translates as "Southern virtue".
Bùi Mộng Điệp Thứ phi Phương Thảo (b. 1946)

Bảo Hoàng (1954–1955)

Bảo Sơn (1957–1987)

Called thứ phi phương Bắc ("Northern secondary consort").
Lý Lệ Hà Mistress Won Vietnam's first beauty contest in 1938 in Hà Đông. She publicly dated Bảo Đại in Hanoi in 1946. The couple later lived together in Hong Kong, according to her account.<ref>"'Gái quê' thành vũ nữ đa tình nức tiếng", Người đưa tin, 17 January 2013.</ref>
Variously called Huang Xiaolan, Hoàng Tiểu Lan, Jenny Woong, and Trần Nỷ Mistress Phương An Mixed Chinese-Vietnamese Hong Kong actress who had an affair with Bảo Đại 1946 when he was in Hong Kong.<ref name="viet"/>
Lê Thị Phi Ánh Thứ phi Phương Minh (1949–2012)

Bảo Ân (b. 1953)

Sister-in-law of Prime Minister Phan Văn Giáo
Vicky Mistress Phương Từ (1955) This daughter by a French woman has "a half European Asian beauty."<ref name="viet"/>
Christiane Bloch-Carcenac Mistress Patrick-Édouard Bloch-Carcenac (b. 1958) Affair occurred in 1957–1970
Monique Baudot Imperial princess

Self-styled Empress Thái Phương

Second wife. She was a French citizen whom Bảo Đại married in 1972.

Independence and abdication

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In 1940, during the second World War, coinciding with their ally Nazi Germany's invasion of France, Imperial Japan took over French Indochina. While they did not eject the French colonial administration, the occupation authorities 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, after ousting the French, coerced Bảo Đại into declaring Vietnamese independence from France as a member of Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"; the country then became the Empire of Vietnam.

Bảo Đại, however, appeared to believe that independence was an irreversible course. In 1944, he wrote to General de Gaulle, leader of the Free French:

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The Japanese had a Vietnamese pretender, Prince Cường Để, waiting to take power in case the new emperor's "elimination" was required. Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945, and the Viet Minh (under the leadership of communist Hồ Chí Minh) aimed to take power in a free Vietnam. Due to his popular political stand against the French and the 1945 famine, Hồ was able to persuade Bảo Đại to abdicate on 25 August 1945, handing power over to the Việt Minh – an event which greatly enhanced Hồ's legitimacy in the eyes of the Vietnamese people.<ref>Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History p162 "Nothing has reinforced the Vietminh cause more than the mercurial Bao Dai's decision to abdicate. For his gesture conferred the 'mandate of heaven' on Ho, giving him the legitimacy that, in Vietnamese eyes, had traditionally resided in the emperor."</ref> Bảo Đại was appointed the "supreme advisor" to Hồ's Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi, which declared its independence on 2 September 1945. The DRV was then ousted by the newly formed French Fourth Republic in November 1946.<ref>David G. Marr Vietnam: State, War, Revolution, 1945–1946 p20 "The royal mandarinal hierarchies for education, administration, and justice were abolished, while Mr. Vĩnh Thụy (formerly Emperor Bảo Đại) was appointed advisor to the DRV provisional government."</ref>

Flag of Bảo Đại
Flag of Bảo Đại (保大)

Return to power and Indochina War

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Bảo Đại spent nearly a year as "supreme advisor" to the DRV, during which period Vietnam descended into armed conflict between rival Vietnamese factions and the French. He left this post in 1946 after communists abandoned him in China. He moved to Hong Kong, where the French and Việt Minh both attempted unsuccessfully to solicit him for political support.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Bảo Đại returns to Vietnam postcard - French Indo-China (1949).jpg
Postcard depicts the return of Bao Dai from Hong Kong

Eventually a coalition of Vietnamese anti-communist nationalists (including future South Vietnamese leader Ngô Đình Diệm and members of political/religious groups such as the Cao Dai, Hòa Hảo, and VNQDĐ) formed a National Union on 17 February 1947 in Nanjing and declared to support Bảo Đại on the condition he would seek independence and unity for Vietnam.<ref>Guillemot, François. Dai Viêt: Indépendance et révolution au Viêt-Nam, léchec de la troisième voie (1938-1955). Paris: Les Indes Savantes, 2012.</ref> This persuaded him to reject Việt Minh overtures and enter into negotiations with the French. On 7 December 1947, Bảo Đại officially signed the first of the Ha Long Bay Accords with France. Despite ostensibly committing France to Vietnamese independence, it was considered minimally binding and transferred no actual authority to Vietnam. The agreement was promptly criticized by National Union members, including Diệm. In a possible attempt to escape the resulting political tension, Bảo Đại travelled to Europe and commenced on a four-month pleasure tour which earned him the sobriquet "night club emperor". After persistent efforts by the French, Bảo Đại was persuaded to return from Europe and sign a second Ha Long Bay Agreement on 5 June 1948. This contained similarly weak promises for Vietnamese independence and had as little success as the first agreement. Bảo Đại once again travelled to Europe whilst warfare in Vietnam continued to escalate.<ref name=":0" />

After months of negotiations with French President Vincent Auriol, he finally signed the Élysée Accords on 8 March 1949, which took effect on 14 June and led to the establishment of the State of Vietnam with Bảo Đại becoming the Chief of State (國長, Quốc trưởng) on 14 June 1949; the French also oversaw the creation of the Domain of the Crown where he was still officially considered to be the Emperor, this territory existed until 1955.<ref name=":0" />

However, the country was still only partially autonomous and the handover of power was gradual, with France initially retaining effective control of the army and foreign relations. Bảo Đại himself stated in 1950: "What they call a Bảo Đại solution turned out to be just a French solution... the situation in Indochina is getting worse every day".<ref name=":0" />

As Diệm and other hardcore nationalists were disappointed in the lack of autonomy and refused high government posts, Bảo Đại mainly filled his government with wealthy figures strongly connected to France. He then spent his own time in the resort towns of Da Lat, Nha Trang, and Buôn Ma Thuột, largely avoiding the process of governing. All this contributed to his reputation as a French puppet and a rise in popular support for the Việt Minh, whose armed insurgency against the French-backed regime was developing into a full-fledged civil war. Nonetheless, in 1950 he attended a series of conferences in Pau, France where he pressed the French for further independence. The French granted some minor concessions to the Vietnamese, which caused a mixed reaction on both sides.<ref name=":0" />

In addition to the increasing unpopularity of the Bảo Đại government, the communist victory in China in 1949 also led to a further revival of the fortunes of the Việt Minh. When China and the Soviet Union recognized the DRV government, the United States reacted by extending diplomatic recognition to Bảo Đại's government in March 1950. This and the outbreak of the Korean War in June led to U.S. military aid and active support of the French war effort in Indochina, now seen as anti-communist rather than colonialist. Despite this, the war between the French colonial forces and the Việt Minh started to go badly for the French, culminating in a major victory for the Việt Minh at Điện Biên Phủ. This led to the negotiating of a peace deal between the French and the Việt Minh on 21 July 1954, known as the Geneva Accords, which partitioned Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The north side was given to the DRV, with the State of Vietnam receiving the south. Before that, the State of Vietnam gained complete independence from France on June 4. Bảo Đại remained "Head of State" of South Vietnam, but moved to Paris and appointed Ngô Đình Diệm as his prime minister.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite video</ref>

Second removal from power

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Template:Main At first, Ngô Đình Diệm exercised no influence over South Vietnam: the Việt Minh still had de facto control of somewhere between sixty and ninety percent of the countryside (by French estimates), whilst the rest was dominated by the various religious sects. Meanwhile, the new capital of Saigon was under the total control of criminal group Bình Xuyên. According to Colonel Lansdale, it had paid Bảo Đại a "staggering sum" for control of local prostitution and gambling and of Saigon's police force.<ref name=":0" />

Regardless, Diệm's forces embarked on a campaign against the Bình Xuyên, with fighting breaking out in the streets on 29 March 1955. In an attempt to protect his clients, Bảo Đại ordered Diệm to travel to France, but he was disobeyed and Diệm eventually succeeded in pushing his opponents out of the city. Using a divide and conquer strategy, Diệm then employed a mixture of force and bribery to sway the remaining religious sects to his side.<ref name=":0" />

Now with a broad range of support, a new Popular Revolutionary Committee (formed by Diệm's brother Ngô Đình Nhu) was able to call for a referendum to remove Bảo Đại and establish a republic with Diệm as president.<ref name=":0" /> The campaign leading up to the referendum was punctuated by personal attacks against the former emperor, whose supporters had no way to refute them since campaigning for Bảo Đại was forbidden.<ref name=":2" />

The referendum was criticized as being fraudulent. The official results showed a tally of 98.9% in favor of a republic, with the number of votes for a republic exceeding the total number of registered voters by 155,025 in Saigon, while the total number of votes exceeded the total number of registered voters by 449,084, and the number of votes for a republic exceeded the total number of registered voters by 386,067.<ref name=":2">Direct Democracy</ref>

Bảo Đại was removed from power, with Diệm declaring himself president of the new Republic of Vietnam on 26 October 1955.

Life in exile

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In 1957, during his visit to Alsace region, he met Christiane Bloch-Carcenac with whom he had an affair for several years. The relationship with Bloch-Carcenac resulted in the birth of his last child, Patrick-Édouard Bloch-Carcenac, who still lives in Alsace in France.<ref>oral communication (Patrick-Edward Bloch-Carcenac) and sections of the "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace" (D.N.A), n°. 264 of 10 November 1992 and from 7 August 2007.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:When

In 1972, Bảo Đại issued a public statement from exile, appealing 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".<ref name=NYT /> At times, Bảo Đại maintained residence in southern France, and in particular, in Monaco, where he sailed often on his private yacht, one of the largest in Monte Carlo harbor. He still reportedly held great influence among local political figures in the Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên provinces of Huế. The Communist government of North Vietnam sent representatives to France hoping that Bảo Đại would become a member of a coalition government which might reunite Vietnam under communism, in the hope of attracting his supporters in the regions wherein he still held influence. Template:Citation needed

As a result of these meetings, Bảo Đại publicly spoke out against the presence of American troops in South Vietnam, and he criticized President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's regime in South Vietnam. He called for all political factions to create a free, neutral, peace-loving government which would resolve the tense situation that had taken form in the country.

In 1982, Bảo Đại, his wife Monique, and other members of the former imperial family of Vietnam visited the United States. His agenda was to oversee and bless Buddhist and Caodaist religious ceremonies, in the California and Texas Vietnamese American communities. In this visit, he became an honorary citizen of the city of Westminster in the United States.<ref>https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-trong-nuoc/cuu-hoang-bao-dai-va-nguoi-vo-cuoi-cung-107118.htm</ref>

In 1988, Bảo Đại was baptised in France as Roman Catholic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Throughout Bảo Đại's life in both Vietnam and in France, he remained unpopular among the Vietnamese populace as he was considered a political puppet for the French colonialist regime, for lacking any form of political power, and for his cooperation with the French and for his pro-French ideals. The former emperor clarified, however, that his reign was always a constant battle and a balance between preserving the monarchy and the integrity of the nation versus fealty to the French authorities. Ultimately, power devolved away from his person and into ideological camps and in the face of Diem's underestimated influences on factions within the empire.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Mo cuu hoang Bao Dai.jpg
Bảo Đại's burial place in the Cimetière de Passy, Paris

Bảo Đại died at Val-de-Grâce, a military hospital in Paris, on 30 July 1997. He was interred in the Cimetière de Passy.

Perception of Bảo Đại

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In Vietnam

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The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) considered him to be a traitor. After he was once again helped by France as the Head of State of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh said in an interview with Chinese media: "Vĩnh Thụy brought the French invading army back to Vietnam and killed more compatriots. Vĩnh Thụy is a true traitor. The French colonists conspired to restore slavery in Vietnam. Vĩnh Thụy is the confidant of the colonists. Although Vietnamese law is very tolerant to those who have lost their way, they will severely punish the traitorous orphans. The Vietnamese people are determined to defeat all colonial conspiracies and fight for true independence and reunification."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Trả lời điện phỏng vấn của Dân quốc nhật báo (1949)(1), Hồ Chí Minh toàn tập, Tập 5 (1947–1949) Template:Webarchive, Nhà Xuất bản Sự thật, Hà Nội, 1985, trang 211, 212.</ref>

On one hand, Bảo Đại remains a highly discussed figure. The CPV labels him a traitor, but does not treat him as harshly as subsequent leaders of the later South Vietnam; his role continues to be studied, ranging from a somewhat sympathetic figure to the Việt Minh to a moderate figure who tried to avoid war, given Bảo Đại himself agreed to abdicate in 1945 to give power for the Việt Minh.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Vietnamese diaspora

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Most Overseas Vietnamese, who are ardently anti-communist, didn't consider Bảo Đại positively, partly due to his weak-willed reputation and inability to confront with the communist threat, as well as his reclusive life and his perceived cowardice.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His role is also studied by the diaspora, although recent studies had questioned the perception due to perceived bias by both the Vietnamese diaspora and the CPV.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Pictures

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  • Bảo Đại was portrayed by actor Template:Ill in the 2004 Vietnamese miniseries Ngọn nến Hoàng cung (A Candle in the Imperial Palace).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • On 13 May 2017, a watch owned by Bảo Đại, a unique Rolex ref. 6062 triple calendar moonphase watch made for him while he was working in Geneva, became one of the most expensive watches ever sold, selling for a then record price of US$5,060,427 at a Phillips auction in Geneva.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Bảo Đại coins

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The last cash coin ever produced in the world bears the name of Bảo Đại in Chữ Hán. There are three types of this coin. Large cast piece with 10 văn inscription on the reverse, medium cast piece with no reverse inscription, and small struck piece. All were issued in 1933.

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Quotes

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  • In 1945 when the Japanese colonel in charge of the Hue garrison told Bảo Đại that he had (in line with the orders of the Allied commander) taken measures ensuring the security of the Imperial Palace and those within it against a possible Việt Minh coup, Bảo Đại dismissed the protection declaring "We do not wish a foreign army to spill the blood of our people."<ref name="V45">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • He explained his abdication in 1945 saying "We would prefer to be a citizen of an independent country rather than Emperor of an enslaved one."<ref name="V45"/>
  • When, after World War II, France attempted to counter Hồ Chí Minh's popularity and gain the support of the U.S. by creating an associated state with him, he said "What they call a Bảo Đại solution turns out to be just a French solution."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • In a rare public statement from France in 1972, Bảo Đại appealed to the people of Vietnam for national reconciliation, saying "The time has come to put an end to the fratricidal war and to recover at last peace and accord."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours

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National honours

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Foreign honours

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Reign symbols

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Symbols created and / or used during the reign of Bảo Đại
Symbol Image Description
Emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty
8 imperial seals created for Emperor Bảo Đại.<ref name="VNBN-Seals">Template:Cite web</ref> File:Imperial seal of Emperor Bảo Đại of the Nguyễn Dynasty on a document (保大拾肆年 - 1939).png See Seals of the Nguyễn dynasty.
Personal standard of emperors Khải Định and Bảo Đại File:Imperial Standard of Nguyen Dynasty1.svg Flag ratio: 2:3.
Personal coat of arms of Bảo Đại. File:Coat of arms of Annam - S.M. Bao Daï, Le Dragon d'Annam (1980) Bảo Đại (保大).svg A sword per fess charged with the ramparts of the Purple Forbidden City in Huế, inscribed with two Traditional Chinese (Hán) characters (保大) and supported by a single dragon.
Influences: File:Coat of arms of Annam - S.M. Bao Daï, Le Dragon d'Annam (1980) colour scheme - Đại Nam (大南).svg
Bảo Đại Thông Bảo
(保大通寶)		 File:Three different types of Bảo Đại Thông Bảo (保大通寳) cash coins - Donald Trung Quoc Don (徵國單) 01.png The last cash coins issued by a government in both Vietnam and the world.
Bảo Đại Bảo Giám
(保大寳鑑)		 File:Bảo Đại Bảo Giám (保大寳鑑) - Nhị Nghi (二儀) 02.png A series of silver coins bearing his reign era.
Chief of State of Vietnam
Seal as the chief of state of Vietnam. File:Seal of Bảo Đại as Chief of State of Vietnam (1949–1954).svg A seal with the inscriptions "Quốc-gia Việt-Nam", "Đức Bảo Đại Quốc-trưởng" written in Latin script and "保大國長" in seal script.
Personal standard File:Personal Standard of State-Chief Bao Dai.svg Flag ratio: 2:3. Influences: File:Nguyen Imperial Pennon (m3).png

References

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Further reading

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  • Anh, Nguyên Thê. "The Vietnamese Monarchy under French Colonial Rule 1884–1945." Modern Asian Studies 19.1 (1985): 147–162 online.
  • Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai (Greenwood, 2000).
  • Chapman, Jessica M. "Staging democracy: South Vietnam's 1955 referendum to depose Bao Dai." Diplomatic History 30.4 (2006): 671–703. online
  • Hammer, Ellen J. "The Bao Dai Experiment." Pacific Affairs 23.1 (1950): 46–58. online
  • Hess, Gary R. "The first American commitment in Indochina: The acceptance of the 'Bao Dai solution', 1950." Diplomatic History 2.4 (1978): 331–350. online
  • Template:Cite book
  • Szalontai, Balázs. "The 'Sole Legal Government of Vietnam': The Bao Dai Factor and Soviet Attitudes toward Vietnam, 1947–1950." Journal of Cold War Studies (2018) 20#3 pp 3–56. onlineTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore

Other languages

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Photos of Bảo Đại's summer palaces

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Template:Emperors of the Nguyen dynasty Template:Nguyễn dynasty topics Template:Monarchs of Vietnam Template:Pretenders to the Vietnamese throne Template:Heads of state of Vietnam Template:Prime ministers of Vietnam Template:Authority control

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