Changes in political - economic - social life in Thua Thien Hue (1858 – 1883)
The Nguyen court (Tu Duc emperor) on the one hand sent troops to Da Nang to support, on the other hand actively carried out the work of organizing the defense of ports and sea gates on the land of Thua Thien and Hue capital, organized drills to ensure the support of the capital once the French army advanced.
In that context, the army and the people of Thua Thien joined hands to fight against the enemy. From Hue 2.000 Forbidden soldiers, 200 Vu Lam soldiers, and 400 soldiers of Hai Van customs entered Da Nang to fight the French. In addition, the Hue court also ordered the Thua Thien officials to recruit Chien Tam soldiers. In December 1858, the Chien Tam Army was changed to the Nghia Dung, reinforced into Quang Nam to fight the war.
After 18 months of advancing into Da Nang but failing to achieve the goal of advancing inland, on March 23, 1860, the Franco-Spanish coalition had to withdraw all its forces to the south.
Although the French and Spanish forces were driven out of Da Nang, then the imperial army could not exert its power to defend the country on the southern front, so from 1860 to 1862, the provinces of Gia Dinh, Bien Hoa, Dinh Tuong and Vinh Long fell respectively. Under pressure from the French, the Hue court agreed to sign the Nham Tuat Treaty (1862) with 12 clauses, cutting off three provinces in the Southeast (Gia Dinh, Bien Hoa, Dinh Tuong) and the Con Lon Islands for France.
The people of Thua Thien Hue as well as the people of the whole country are extremely opposed to the concessions and land cutting off for the enemy of the Nguyen court. The risk of losing a country is becoming a serious threat.
The loss of the three southeastern provinces of Nam Ky exposed the weakness of many aspects of the country and the limited capacity of the Nguyen Dynasty. In this context, Vietnamese people who have the knowledge and enthusiasm to save the country want to renovate the country in order to create real strength and promote self-reliance to help the country escape from foreign invasion.
Hue, as the capital of the whole country, automatically became the center of the national reform movement - where reformers across the country as well as in the locality gathered to discuss, exchange new letters, draft and bring innovative petitions to Hue court. The petitions mentioned innovation in many fields: economics, politics, military, defense, law, culture and education. The proponents of the reform movement are quite diverse from Christians, ordinary educated people, Confucianists, passers-by, dismissed officials..., In Thua Thien Hue, there are Dang Huy Tru and Nguyen Lo Trach.
However, Hue court did not implement reforms on a large scale, was very timid and exploratory, and carried out discrete, urgent, perfunctory and not radical reforms. As a result, both the reform trend and the reform work of the Hue court came to a complete failure.
Political upheaval followed changes in economics, culture and education in Thua Thien Hue
Economically, the court encouraged the development of agriculture, reclamation and water treatment in order to boost production and store rice on the spot to cope with the impossibility of transporting rice from the South (in 1860, France invaded the South). Invest in a number of industries such as mulberry cultivation, and mining industry. The court also focused on transportation and commercial development, Bao Vinh port of Hue at that time was recorded by Dutreuil de Rhins in the book Kingdom of Annam and the Annamites as follows: "Many An Nam boats and ships cramped on the narrow and deep river. Under the mats and leaves covering the hulls of the ships are cheap goods such as pepper, silk, ivory, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, indigo, tobacco, tea, contraband opium, cloth, faience, ivory handicrafts, silver, black copper, weapons, carved tables and chairs or mother-of-pearl. ”
In terms of culture and education, besides the development of traditional Confucianism, pragmatic learning has begun to be focused on by the court, the court encourages learning foreign languages, and Western techniques, and studying abroad. Recruit martial arts officials by opening the exam for Martial Arts. Build temples, organize sacrifices for faithful examples of filial piety, and remember those who died for the cause of the country.
However, the life of the people of Thua Thien Hue in this period was not better, the epidemic broke out continuously, and natural disasters occurred continuously along with the loss of famine season, causing riots and plunder to rage. Yet a number of mandarins and royal families abused the people, especially the weak attitude and compromise of the Nguyen Dynasty towards the French colonialists since the treaty of 1862, so the wave of opposition to the Hue court was increasing, creating many uprisings throughout the country, which the peak of the anti-Vietnamese movement in this period was the uprising "Chay Voi" led by Doan Huu Trung on Thua Thien Hue land.
After the Treaty of Nham Tuat (1862), Hue court continued to make mistakes when using foreign policy to regain the three provinces on the Southeast region, the peaceful attitude of the Nguyen Dynasty in the issue of country protection was one of the reasons that motivated the French colonialists to expand and occupy the territory. In 1867, the French colonialists occupied three provinces in the west, Vinh Long, An Giang, Ha Tien, and Hue court had no military response.
Just under pressure from the French colonialists in the South, the Hue court also had to deal with peasant uprisings, and Chinese bandits in Tonkin and had to resort to the Qing to suppress the rebellion. It was the turmoil in the North that allowed the French colonialists to send troops to Hanoi to intervene, and make the first invasion of Tonkin in 1873. For various reasons not allowing military occupation at this time, plus the negotiations of the Nguyen Dynasty, the French colonialists came to sign with the Hue court the Treaty of Giap Tuat (March 15, 1874). After the Treaty of Giap Tuat, the Hue court was forced to recognize French sovereignty in all southern provinces and was even more diplomatically bound to the French colonialists.
Intent to expand the area of occupation and increasingly heavy diplomatic pressure of the French colonialists threatened even the land of Hue capital, forcing the Hue court to strengthen its defenses to protect its survival.
The policy of détente and negotiation through the diplomatic lines of the Hue court could not prevent the French colonialists from attacking Tonkin a second time. On January 25, 1882, they attacked Hanoi, Ha Thanh fell. As a result, they captured Son Tay, Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang.
After the fall of Hanoi, many officials supported Ton That Thuyet to ask for a fight against the French, but King Tu Duc and the court in the Privy Council disagreed and continued to maintain the negotiation policy to ask for Hanoi again.
On March 27, 1883, Nam Dinh fell to the French, the Hue court began to change its attitude, strengthen defenses at Thuan An port and the capital and advocated advancing against the French in Tonkin. The simmering anti-French spirit of the court and people of Hue caused the French envoy Rheinart to panic and flee to Gia Dinh. The French army in Hanoi was repeatedly attacked and defeated at the Battle of Giay Bridge on May 19, 1883. The French governor in Cochinchina expelled the Hue court's negotiating delegation, and the French government decided to strengthen the army to seize Tonkin.
While the country was standing at the brink of the abyss, the Hue court took place the overthrow. Tu Duc himself died on July 19, 1883. The pacifist faction in the court wanted to support Thuy Quoc Cong Duc Duc. The warring faction Ton That Thuyet led Lang Quoc Cong Hong Dat to the throne with the name Hiep Hoa.
The ascending of Hiep Hoa emperor to the throne was a calculated act of the Hue court, at the beginning, Hiep Hoa emperor satisfied a number of requirements in the anti-French cause that the warring faction wanted. But the real power was not in the hands of the faction, because emperor Hiep Hoa was still the one to decide and have his own opinion. That was the premise leading to political upheavals within the Hue court at a later stage.
The anti-French struggle for national independence in Thua Thien Hue (1883 – 1885)
The French colonialists immediately sensed the chaos of deposition in the court, and in the midst of their reinforcements, they wanted to strike a decisive blow to end the war of aggression. Capturing the plots of the enemy, the warring faction strengthened the defense mouth of Thuan An and placed obstacles on the Perfume River. The defense system in Thuan An at that time had 13 fortresses, two gates with two main fortresses. In front of the mouth of the Perfume River, there are more cannons.
On the morning of August 17, 1883, the enemy from Da Nang loudly attacked Thuan An with a force of 800 warships and 800 soldiers (600 marines, 100 trainees and 100 soldiers). From the flagship Le Bayard, French General Courbet sent an ultimatum to the Hue court to hand over the entire Thuan An coastal defense system unconditionally within 24 hours. Rejected, 16h30 on August 18, 1883, the French colonialists began shelling our fort. The court army also shot back. The two sides fought until 20h00.
On August 19, 1883, bad weather and rough seas were detrimental to the French army. On that occasion, the imperial artillery attacked first, overwhelming the French army, the French warship only fired back, not actively attacked. The court troops had more time to fortify their fortifications and add artillery.
But due to the overwhelming military strength, on the morning of March 20, 1883, the French army reorganized and shelled until afternoon, then more than 1,000 troops landed. The garrison fell one by one until the French army captured Thuan An.
The Thuan An garrison, Le Sy and Le Chuan, were all killed, Lam Hoang and Nguyen Trung committed suicide.
In the battle to protect the gate of Hue Capital at Thuan An Gate, the Imperial forces sacrificed hundreds of people, mainly concentrated in the defense of Tran Hai. The Thuan An defenders lay down in the last hour of national independence under the Nguyen Dynasty, in the position of heroes determined to fight the French, to pay their debts to the country.
Hearing the news of the fall of Thuan An, King Hiep Hoa was extremely afraid and hurriedly sent people to ask for an armistice and forced the warriors to withdraw from the garrisons and spit up obstructions on the Perfume River. King Hiep Hoa's decision to make peace created discontent among the militia, but they were powerless. Ton That Thuyet responded by bringing the flag and military cards back to the king, while Ong Ich Khiem destroy the army (about 700 people).
Thuan An fell, the Hue court had to sign the Harmand Treaty on August 25, 1883, which included 27 provisions recognizing the French protectorate throughout Vietnam, and the French had diplomatic control of the court. Vietnam is officially divided into three regions with three different dependencies.
With this agreement, the French colonialists expect our people to surrender to them. However, the people of the whole country still did not lay down their arms, even in the court of Ton That Thuyet and the warring faction still burned with the will to fight the French.
Accepting the Treaty of Harmand, King Hiep Hoa failed to follow the path of the militia and the people's will and was deposed after 4 months on the throne. The policy of peace and surrender of King Hiep Hoa had almost turned the Hue court into a French ruling machine, but the efforts of Ton That Thuyet and the militant faction promptly stopped that danger.
Emperor Kien Phuc ascended the throne on December 2, 1883, creating conditions for the warring factions to consolidate their power, strengthen military power in provinces and capitals, strengthen and build a system of paint rooms in the central provinces and the northern provinces. The preparation against the French under Emperor Kien Phuc did not create a significant change in the relationship between the French colonialists and the Vietnamese people, but it was still a very basic and favorable premise, affirming the anti-French stance of the warring faction and Hue court for the people.
The hardline reaction of the warring factions under Emperor Kien Phuc led to a fierce confrontation between the court and representatives of the French colonialists. To reduce that confrontation, the French government had to make a policy of amending some of the contents of the Harmand Treaty. The French minister in China, Patenôtre and Rheinart, went to Hue, the court-appointed Thuong Thu Bo Ho Pham Than Duat to be the Governor General, and the Minister of Public Works Ton That Phan to be the deputy to negotiate.
On June 6, 1884, the two sides signed the Treaty of Patennotre, which contained 19 provisions. The treaty marked the recognition of the French colonial dominance in Vietnam, the sovereignty of the Hue court was about to be lost to the French colonialists, the period of independence of the Nguyen feudal court was coming to an end. However, the warring faction under Emperor Kien Phuc made every effort to fight to the end. It was the fierce struggle of the warring factions that resulted in the Central boundary stretching to Bien Hoa land in the South and Ninh Binh land outside the North. The Hue court only recognized France as a patron, not a protector.
The power of the militant faction in the Hue court under Kien Phuc was going smoothly, on the night of July 31, 1884, after a few months of illness, the king died.
On August 2, 1884, Ung Lich ascended the throne with the title Ham Nghi. The ascension to the throne, although covered in the name of the King of Kien Phuc, is in fact derived from the policy of the warring faction, led by the Grand Master, the General of the Army Ton That Thuyet. This action was met with a fierce reaction from the French and was under detraction from pro-French elements within the Royal Family. But facing the warring factions resilient, the French side was forced to accept.
Based on the victory achieved through maintaining the throne of Emperor Ham Nghi, Ton That Thuyet and the warring faction on the one hand promoted the preparation of military forces, suppressed French factions in the court, provoked anti-French spirit, on the other hand, tried to fight with the French to claim the sovereignty of the court, seeking to delay the implementation of the Patenôtre Agreement.
Conflicts between the warring factions and the French side were constantly tense, the French government decided to send Lieutenant General Ruossel de Cuorcy to Vietnam with very broad powers to deal with the tough attitude of the Ham Nghi emperor's court. Ton That Thuyet and his associates in the court were also aware that the confrontation with France was about to erupt.
De Cuorcy, after understanding the situation in Vietnam, decided to choose Hue as the starting point for his pacification plan.
On July 2, 1885, De Cuorcy brought 3 infantry companies, 1 pursuit infantry detachment, 1 trumpet squad, a total of 19 officers, 1,024 soldiers and 2 warships arrived at Thuan An port - Hue. On July 3, 1885, De Courcy requested a meeting with the ministers of the Imperial Court of Hue and the Privy Council to discuss the details of the transfer of the Treaty of Patenôtre, and at the same time to take this opportunity to arrest Ton That Thuyet. But De Courcy's plot was exposed, and Ton That Thuyet was not present. Due to the unsuccessful plot to capture Ton That Thuyet, De Courcy immediately put forward a blatant claim to demand the Hue court within three days to pay war fees. The French provocation to the Ham Nghi court reached its climax. Unable to withstand the disgrace, Ton That Thuyet decided to act. He attacked first without allowing the enemy to respond.
At midnight on July 4, 1885, he divided the camp into two troops. A troop led by Ton That Le, his younger brother, crossed the Perfume River to attack the French Embassy. And he will command the second troop to beat the French camp in Binh Dai Fort (Mang Ca). At one o'clock in the morning on July 5, 1885, Ton That Thuyet gave the order to open fire on Binh Dai Fort.
The sound of cannons exploding on the ground. The enemy troops in Binh Dai were very panicked at first, but after they had consolidated and entrenched themselves to wait for dawn. Seeing that the enemy did not react, the warriors thought they were dead, so they switched their firing lanes to the other side of the river, supporting Ton That Le army to attack the embassy.
Our troops suddenly attacked the French concession, fighting with the enemy. The French were in a panic. They gathered all their forces to protect the ammunition depot and the post office. De Courcy urgently requested reinforcements from outside Haiphong.
By early morning, the French had consolidated their forces and resumed their counterattack. The fighting was fierce in the city. At 9 am on July 5, 1885, the Imperial City fell, and the French army completely controlled the situation. General Ho Van Hien and Nguyen Van Tuong process Ham Nghi emperor and army withdraw from the capital at the southwest gate. Guarding the back are the Ton That Thuyet troops. The escort troops met Ton That Le pick-up troops at La Chu High School with a total of more than 100 people.
Capturing the Citadel, the French army tried to burn, loot, shoot and kill. All the treasures in the palace were emptied. Ton That Thuyet infantry and his army were burned to the ground.
Although the city was captured, this was not the goal of the French colonialists. It is true that after the victory De Courcy was greatly troubled by the bloodshed of 5 July which had changed everything in the country of Annam. The young king has left the capital, in Hue, there is no government, no authority, and no one can enforce the treaty of association that I signed with the land of Annam. "
In contrast, Ton That Thuyet failed to destroy the French army in the Citadel, but made the most feared thing of the French colonialists come true - in the name of Emperor Ham Nghi he organized a resistance war against the French throughout the country called the Can Vuong movement.
From August 18, 1883, to July 5, 1885, it was the period when the people of Thua Thien Hue and the Nguyen court directly confronted the French invading army on the land of Hue capital. Although only very short in time, this was the end of the existence of national independence in general, of Thua Thien Hue in particular at the end of the nineteenth century.
(to be continued)