The Bao Dai Experiment

Abstract

W5 THEN Bao Dai abdicated as Emperor of Annam on August 26, I945, he called on parties and groups, all classes of society as well as the Royal Family, to strengthen and support unreservedly the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in order to consolidate our national independence. As for Us, he said, have known great bitterness during the twenty years of Our rule. Henceforth, We are happy to assume the status of a free citizen in an independent country. We will allow no one to abuse Our name or that of the Royal Family to sow discord among Our compatriots. Long live the independence of Vietnam! Long live our democratic Republic! Today, less than five years later, Bao Dai has returned to Vietnam to head a government in opposition to the Republic. He has been recognized by several countries, including the United States and Great Britain. The impressive emphasis on legal formalities has obscured the facts that the new regime enjoys few of the usual attributes of sovereignty and that, indeed, Bao Dai has yet to find a nation over which to rule. The buttressing of Bao Dai has been a laborious and lengthy process. The French launched the policy in December I947 with the announcement of its decision to give Emile Bollaert, High Commissioner in Indochina, full powers to carry on, outside Ho Chi Minh's government, all activities and negotiations necessary for the restoration of peace and freedom in the Vietnamese Previously the French had been on record as desiring to reach an agreement with the Republic and its President, Ho Chi Minh, with whom they had signed two accords in I946, one in March and the other in September, neither of which had amounted to much. The first had recognized Vietnam as a free state within the Indochinese Federation and the French Union, but its terms had been so general as to mean very little. The second, following the failure of a Franco-Vietnamese conference, had avoided the major issues between the two countries. French and Vietnamese representatives had met first in Indochina