From: giao@informix.com (Giao Tien Vu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: Re: {HIS] Ai co' chu? quye^`n na(m 1945
Date: 16 Apr 92 20:34:48 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

In article <1992Apr14.204223.11985@lsil.com> ltran@dsp.lsil.com writes:
>Two paragraphs at the end of Vietnam Pha'p Thuo^.c Su"? cu?a Phan Khoang
>(p.495).
>
>	Ironically, the Japanese has given back to Vietnam its independence
>on the 10th of March 1945.
>

Note the use of the words "gia nha^.p kho^'i DDa.i DDo^ng A'."  In effect,
the Japanese declared the French ownership of the country null and void.
But...  Vietnam would have to join the new Great East Asian bloc.  In 1939,
Soviet tanks rolled into Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia.  According the Soviet
propaganda, the people of those countries gladly joined the Soviet bloc.
Note the irony of "co+` Nha^.t pha^'t pho+'i tu+` Nam Quan dde^'n
Ca` Mau" on the day Vietnam "regained" its independence.  This reminds me
of the Bertolucci movie "The Last Emperor."  Manchuria became "independent"
at around the same period.

Before 1945, the government of the emperor Ba?o DDa.i was the French's
puppet.  After the coup, it became Japanese puppet.  At least, the Japanese
had the sensitivity to discard the "three regions" model of the French
(divide to conquer).

In my understanding, the Japanese was forced into the coup because they
were losing the war.  The loyalty of their uneasy French ally was
questionable at best.  Rather than risking being stabbed in the back by
this force, the Japanese decided to remove the threat.  The obvious way
of being successful was to enlist the help of the wronged native people.
So there was the offer of independence.  But Japan could not afford the
loss of resource-rich Indochina at such a crucial moment of the war.  So
there was the "invitation" to join the Japanese-led coalition.  The age-old
trick: give the kid some candy to make him happy.

The final irony was that the powers-that-be in the Western world considered
both the Japanese rejection of the French colonial system in Indochina
and the declaration of independence of the Communist-led Vietnamese
government in 1945 invalid.  Being good chums that they were, the
superpowers (including the USA - where was that always-for-democracy
attitude?) decided that the Vietnamese did not know any better in choosing
independence because they still had a lot to learn from the colonial system
namely how to make war in the 20th century efficiently.  Unfortunately, some
of the Vietnamese did learn exactly that really well.

Giao

>
>----------- begin quote ---Vietnam Pha'p Thuo^.c Su"? --- Phan Khoang----
>
>	Cuo^'i tha'ng 11 na(m 1944, o^ng Yoshizawa, vie^n dda(.c su"' o^n 
>ho`a, bi. trie^.u ho^`i. o^ng Matsumoto dde^'n thay the^'. DDe^m 9 tha'ng 3
>na(m 1945, o"? Sa`i Go`n, Matsumoto dde^'n phu? toa`n quye^`n (*1), ddu"a
>to^'i ha^.u thu" cho Toa`n Quye^`n Decoux (*2) ye^u ca^`u dda(.t qua^n
>ddo^.i, ca?nh sa't, co^ng an, ca'c co" quan ha`nh cha'nh, kinh te^' du"o"'i 
>quye^`n ddie^`u khie^?n cu?a qua^n ddo^.i Nha^.t Ba?n. Decoux kho^ng chi.u .
>Qua^n ddo^.i Nha^.t lie^`n bao va^y phu? Toa`n Quye^`n. Trong dde^m a^'y, 
>o"? ca'c no"i kha'c tre^n la~nh tho^? Vie^.t Nam, qua^n ddo^.i Nha^.t cu~ng
>dda~ ba('t giu"~ ca'c nha` chu"'c tra'ch va(n, vo~ Pha'p, va` chie^'m giu"~
>ca'c co" quan ha`nh cha'nh va` qua^n su". .
>
>	Sa'ng nga`y 10 tha'ng 3, co"` Nha^.t pha^'t pho"'i tu"` Nam Quan 
>dde^'n Ca` Mau . Nga`y a^'y, DDa.i Su"' Yokohama ye^'t vua Ba?o DDa.i o"?
>ddie^.n Kie^'n Trung, tuye^n bo^' trao tra? ddo^.c la^.p cho nu"o"'c Vie^.t 
>Nam . Nga`y ho^m sau, vua Ba?o DDa.i tuye^n bo^' hu?y bo? ca'c ho`a uu"o"'c
>nu"o"'c Vie^.t Nam dda~ ky' vo"'i nu"o"'c Pha'p (*3), va` nu"o"'c Vie^.t Nam ddo^.c
>la^.p gia nha^.p kho^'i DDa.i DDo^ng A' . Cuo^.c ddo^ ho^. cu?a nu"o"'c Pha'p
>ca'o chung . (*4)
>------------- end quote --------(p495).
>
>_____________
>Notes are from Linh Tran.
>(*1): Until that day, Japan let the French hold administrative power in Vietnam.
>(*2): Toa`n Quye^`n Decoux was the highest French office in Vietnam at the time.
>(*3): France said the abolishing by Vietnam of the treatises between Vietnam and
>	France was unilateral. That was their claim in order to come back to 
>	Vietnam later on in 1945, when Japan surrendered in September 1945.
>(*4): There was a dda?o cha'nh on the 9th, Japan took power from France. There
>	was a transfer of power on the 10th, of March, from Japan to vua Ba?o
>	DDa.i . Any dda?o cha'nh after was to take power from vua Ba?o DDa.i .
>	(Again, I note this as constitutional facts. Interpretation may vary 
>	depend on where each of us stand). 
>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese