Thua Thien Hue fought against the French colonialists (1885 - 1916)

After the two announcements of Can Vuong were issued, an armed uprising against the French erupted throughout Central and Tonkin (Can Vuong Movement), lasting from 1885 to 1898.

Unable to bring Ham Nghi emperor back to Hue, panicked at the rising Can Vuong resistance to France, the French colonialists decided to establish a new king instead of Ham Nghi emperor. On September 19, 1885, Prince Chanh Mong - Ung Duong officially ascending the throne at Thai Hoa Palace with the title Dong Khanh.

Dong Khanh ascended to the throne as a puppet king under the control of the French colonialists, and immediately set out to destroy the militant faction headed by Ton That Thuyet, Tran Xuan Soan and Nguyen Van Tuong by demoting all the nobles, confiscating property, hunting down, If caught, kill immediately.

Responding to Can Vuong, in Thua Thien, the rebellion of Dang Huy Cat (8/1885) gathered the soldiers of the two districts of Huong Tra, Quang Dien to prevent the arrest of imperial soldiers, arrest envoys of Quang Dien district, raid on Quang Dien district. Because the insurgent forces lacked a specific plan, they quickly failed.

On November 1, 1888, king Ham Nghi was arrested, and on November 22, 1888, the king was brought back to Thuan An. On November 25, 1888, the king was taken on a ship to Lang Co to be transferred to Saigon. December 13, 1888, king Ham Nghi was put on a ship called Bien Hoa to cross the ocean to Africa. On January 13, 1889, the king arrived in Algeria and began his exile. The patriotic king died here in 1943.

The disintegration of the Can Vuong movement in the 90s across the country sowed the hearts of the educated class the thoughts of melancholy, despair, but the democratic struggle for national salvation was unleashed by progressive Confucian intellectuals.

With its position as the capital of the country, Thua Thien Hue in the early twentieth century was the convergence of many progressive patriotic ideologies, patriotic movements also took place continuously and many famous patriots were present here such as Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Tran Quy Cap, Huynh Thuc Khang... The activities of patriots have contributed to making the people aware of their oppressed status and standing up to participate in the struggles in response to Duy Tan and Dong Du movements, and most notably, the anti-tax struggle took place massively in 9 central provinces, including Thua Thien Hue in April, 1908.

In particular, during this period, Thua Thien Hue was also a place attached to the adolescence of President Ho Chi Minh during the years when he and his family lived, studied and participated in activities here through two periods of 1895 – 1901; 1906 – 1909.

Continuing the tradition of the continuous struggle of our people, the only revolutionary organization in Vietnam at the beginning of this century was Quang Phuc Hoi which conducted a large-scale uprising in the South of Central region and in Hue in 1916.

Thua Thien Hue continued its struggle against colonialism and feudalism and campaigned for the establishment of the Communist Party (1916-1930).