Bảo Đại in the context of "Republic of Vietnam"

The Nguyễn dynasty (Vietnamese: Nhà Nguyễn or Triều Nguyễn, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until the start of the French protectorate in 1883. Its emperors were members of the House of Nguyễn Phúc. During its existence, the Nguyễn empire expanded into modern-day Southern Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos through a continuation of the centuries-long Nam tiến and Siamese–Vietnamese wars. With the French conquest of Vietnam, the Nguyễn dynasty was forced to give up sovereignty over parts of Southern Vietnam to France in 1862 and 1874, and after 1883 the Nguyễn dynasty only nominally ruled the French protectorates of Annam (Central Vietnam) as well as Tonkin (Northern Vietnam). Backed by Imperial Japan, in 1945 the last Nguyễn emperor Bảo Đại abolished the protectorate treaty with France and proclaimed the Empire of Vietnam for a short time until 25 August 1945.

The House of Nguyễn Phúc established control over large amounts of territory in Southern Vietnam as the Nguyễn lords (1558–1777, 1780–1802) by the 16th century before defeating the Tây Sơn dynasty and establishing their own imperial rule in the 19th century. The dynastic rule began with Gia Long ascending the throne in 1802, after ending the previous Tây Sơn dynasty. The Nguyễn dynasty was gradually absorbed by France over the course of several decades in the latter half of the 19th century, beginning with the Cochinchina Campaign in 1858 which led to the occupation of the southern area of Vietnam. A series of unequal treaties followed; the occupied territory became the French colony of Cochinchina in the 1862 Treaty of Saigon, and the 1863 Treaty of Huế gave France access to Vietnamese ports and increased control of its foreign affairs. Finally, the 1883 and 1884 Treaties of Huế divided the remaining Vietnamese territory into the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin under nominal Nguyễn Phúc rule. In 1887, Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin, and the French Protectorate of Cambodia were grouped together to form French Indochina.

The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French Indochina War) was fought in Indochina between France and the Việt Minh, and their respective allies, from 19 December 1946 until 1 August 1954. The Việt Minh was led by Võ Nguyên Giáp and Hồ Chí Minh. The conflict mainly happened in Vietnam.

At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff decided that Indochina south of latitude 16° north was to be included in the Southeast Asia Command under British Admiral Mountbatten. The French return to southern Indochina was also supported by the Allies. On V-J Day, September 2, Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed in Hanoi the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). Also in September 1945, Chinese forces entered Hanoi, and Japanese forces to the north of that line surrendered to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. At the same time, British forces landed in Saigon, and Japanese forces in the south surrendered to the British. The Chinese acknowledged the DRV and the communist-led Việt Minh, then in power in Hanoi, even though they also supported pro-Chinese nationalist factions. The British refused to do that in Saigon, and deferred to the French. The DRV ruled as the only civil government in all of Vietnam for a period of about 20 days, after the abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại, who had governed Vietnam since 1926.

South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng hòa, VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the associated State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon. Since 1950, it was a member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War. Following the 1954 partition of Vietnam, it became known as South Vietnam and was established as a republic in 1955. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957. It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. In 1976, the Republic of South Vietnam and North Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The aftermath of World War II saw the communist-led Viet Minh, under Ho Chi Minh, seize power and proclaim the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi in September 1945, initiating civil conflicts. In 1949, during the First Indochina War, the French and anti-communist nationalists established the State of Vietnam (SVN), led by former emperor Bảo Đại. Returning from exile in June 1954, Ngo Dinh Diem, recognized as the prominent anti-communist and anti-colonialist figure, was appointed prime minister of the SVN.

Prior to the abdication of Bảo Đại on 25 August 1945 during the August Revolution, Vietnam was ruled by a series of dynasties of either local or Chinese origin. The following is a list of major dynasties in the history of Vietnam.

The House of Nguyễn Phúc, also known as the House of Nguyễn Phước, is a family and a branch of the surname Nguyễn in Vietnam. Its members were the Nguyễn lords (1558–1777, 1780–1802) and emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty (1802–45). Its member Bảo Đại was also emperor of the State of Vietnam (1949–55) and Domain of the Crown (1950–55). Nguyễn Bặc (924–79), an official of the Đinh dynasty, was its founder.

Under Emperor Gia Long, the family's rule was not only restored, but extended to the whole of Vietnam in 1802, thus marking the start of the unified Nguyễn dynasty. The Nguyễn dynasty agreed to French supervision in 1883. In 1887, Vietnam became part of the Indochinese Union, which was administered by a French governor general.

French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled Cochin-China; French: Cochinchine française; Vietnamese: Xứ thuộc địa Nam Kỳ, chữ Hán: 處屬地南圻) was a colony of French Indochina from 1862 to 1949, encompassing the Mekong Delta and adjacent provinces in what is now the southern region of Vietnam, with its administrative capital in Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City). In the face of recurring peasant unrest, and of growing political agitation in Saigon, the French operated a plantation economy whose primary strategic product was rubber.

After the end of the Japanese occupation (1941–1945) and the expulsion from Saigon of the Communist-led, nationalist Viet Minh in 1946, the territory was reorganized by the French as the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina, a decision that helped trigger the First Indochina War. In a further move to deny the claims of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam declared in Hanoi by the Viet Minh, in June 1949 Cochinchina was united with the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin under their former de jure emperor Bảo Đại as the State of Vietnam within the French Union.

Tonkin (chữ Hán: 東京), or Bắc Kỳ (北圻), was a French protectorate encompassing modern Northern Vietnam from 1883 to 1949. Like the French protectorate of Annam, Tonkin was still nominally ruled by the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty. In 1886, the French separated Tonkin from the Nguyễn imperial court in Huế by establishing the office of "Viceroy" (經略衙, Kinh lược nha). However, on 26 July 1897, the position of Viceroy was abolished, officially making the French resident-superior of Tonkin both the representative of the French colonial administration and the Nguyễn dynasty court in Huế, giving him the power to appoint local mandarins. In 1887, Tonkin became a part of the Union of Indochina.

In March 1945, the emperor Bảo Đại rescinded the Patenôtre Treaty, ending the French protectorates over Annam and Tonkin, establishing the Empire of Vietnam, a Japanese-backed state. Following the surrender of Japan, ending World War II, the Việt Minh launched the August Revolution which led to the abdication of Bảo Đại and the declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan between March 11 and August 25, 1945. It was a member of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. It was ruled by the Nguyễn dynasty and created when Emperor Bảo Đại declared independence for Vietnam (Tonkin and Annam) from French protection. At the end of its existence, on 14 August 1945, the empire also successfully reclaimed Cochinchina as part of Vietnam.

The Treaty of Huế, (Vietnamese: Hòa ước Harmand, Hòa ước Quý Mùi) concluded on 25 August 1883 between Vietnam (Nguyễn dynasty) and France, recognising a French protectorate over Vietnam being divided into Annam and Tonkin. Dictated to the Vietnamese by the French administrator François-Jules Harmand in the wake of the French military seizure of the Thuận An forts, the treaty is often known as the 'Harmand Treaty'. Considered overly harsh in French diplomatic circles, the treaty was never ratified in France, and was replaced on 6 June 1884 with the slightly milder 'Patenôtre Accords' or 'Treaty of Protectorate', which formed the basis for French rule in Vietnam until the 1949 Élysée Accords signed between France and emperor Bảo Đại.